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 And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks is a novel by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. It was written in 1945, a full decade before the two authors became famous as leading figures of the Beat Generation, and remained unpublished until 2008. The book consists of alternating chapters by each author writing as a different character. Burroughs (as William Lee, the pseudonym he would later use for his first published book, "Junkie") writes the character "Will Dennison" while Kerouac (as "John Kerouac"), takes on the character of "Mike Ryko". According