I Shot J.R.

There's a fascinating meme going around LiveJournal: List ten things you've done that nobody else (at least on your Friends list) has done. For no real reason, Sherwood Smith's #3 is my favorite:

3: Well, I knew who shot JR before the big show. Now, I never watched TV, but I read all the Lorimar scripts that went through, and that day it seemed odd that the writer himself brought it down and stood there while I copied it—he, of course, didn’t know that I am an extremely fast speed reader when I need to be. So when I hand it back I say, “Interesting choice of murderer,” he gives me this strained look. Ten minutes later the producer calls me up and almost threatens to have me eviscerated. “At this point, Miz Smith, the only three people in the world who know that information are you, me, and the writer. My wife doesn’t even know. The writer’s wife doesn’t even know.” In other words: we know where you live. And oh, did I mention that in those long ago days everyone whispered that Lorimar was backed by the Mafia? Of course I kept the secret.

Now I never watched Dallas, ever, (and indeed a variant of the "things I've done" list is "things I've never done that you probably have"), so as far as I'm concerned, the cute girl I saw on Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh that spring day so long ago - the one in the "I Shot J.R." T-shirt - was the culprit.

I never saw Dallas, not once, but even I knew J.R. needed killin' as they say in Texas.

Sherwood Smith's ten things
Mine, in case you were at all curious

No, Sherwood Smith and I don't know each other. When it's a slow day, I follow links all over the Web. You'd be amazed.