A Milhouse Divided Marge because the writers felt that tertiary characters could not carry an audience's interest for an entire episode. Bill Oakley has said that he felt the episode would have failed had they stuck with the Van Houtens for the third act and most of the other writers also felt that it was the right move. The idea for the dinner party came from Oakley, who had wanted to have a party similar to the one in "The War of the Simpsons". For the second half of the episode, Luann was redesigned to look more youthful and was given a new
A House Divided (Dallas) man so venal, so low, so mean, so diabolical that he has become an absolute delight to an estimated quarter of a billion viewers around the globe." His "New York Times" colleague John J. O'Connor described him as "the eldest son of the oil-rich Ewing family... [who is] a sadistic bully and a swindler" that "captured the public's imagination". Season 3 left the viewer with numerous people to suspect for the murder. Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray) is J.R.'s wife. J.R. had threatened to reinstitutionalize her for alcoholism. Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby) is J.R.'s ex-mistress and Sue Ellen's sister. J.R.