J. R. Ewing subterfuges to plunder his foes' wealth. The original series concept was a blend of "Bonanza" with a rich, western patriarch and his three dissimilar sons, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with its rival brothers, and their scheming wives, and "Romeo and Juliet" with two star-crossed lovers whose families are sworn enemies. The focus of the series was initially the feuding families, with J.R. just a supporting character, but his popularity grew and the producers acknowledged he became the breakout character. Two highly rated 1980 episodes became part of a cultural phenomenon that year known as "Who shot J.R.?". In
And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks the title is unconfirmed and may have been related to a zoo incident in Egypt, or possibly even a fire that occurred at a circus. Kerouac often based his fictional characters on friends and family. In later years, Burroughs did not consider "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks" worth retrieving from obscurity. In the 1986 documentary "What Happened to Kerouac?" he dismissed it as "not a distinguished work." According to James Grauerholz, numerous attempts were made by Kerouac and others to get the book published, until Burroughs brought a lawsuit over the use of quotations from the manuscript