David Jacobs, creator of the hit prime-time television soap operas Dallas and Knots Landing, died on August 20 at age 84.

He had battled Alzheimer’s disease for several years, and died from complications brought on by several infections.

Dallas, which aired on Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC-TV), was a huge hit when it premièred in Jamaica during the late 1970s.

Fae Ellington, veteran broadcaster, media practitioner, and actress, worked with the media house at the time.

“Jamaicans always had a love for soap operas. We have been listening to radio dramas from the 1950s and 1960s and that was entertainment back then. We had no YouTube or social media, so people went to watch plays. When television came around in those day it was all about local programming,” she recalled.

She said when JBC began airing ‘soaps’, such as Dallas, it became appointment television.

“There was cultural penetration, all the cultural productions were coming from North America. The music was coming in, you had country and western that became popular, then it became cultural domination. Later on, those who could afford it owned satellite dishes so they had access to overseas content. The JBC was providing shows for free; it was like appointment television,” said Ellington.

Veteran playwright Basil Dawkins recalled the drawing power of Dallas, which starred Larry Hagman as the scheming Texas oil baron, J R Ewing.

“My recollection is that Dallas must have been among the most successful weekly drama series at the time in Jamaica. It allowed ordinary viewers to get an insight into the internal operations of a really wealthy family with the clear theme and reminder that ‘all that glitters is not actually gold,’ but that money does not solve all problems and wealthy families have serious and dangerous conflicts too,” he said.

Dallas set the pace for other soaps on JBC, including its spin-offs Knots Landing, Dynasty and Falcon Crest. Another popular series that ran during the early 1980s was The Thornbirds, starring Richard Chamberlain.

Dallas aired on CBS from 1978 to 1991, with a reboot of the series running for three seasons on TNT between 2012 and 2014. When the show ended, Hagman’s was the only character to have appeared in every episode.

The main cast included Barbara Bel Geddes as matriarch of the Ewing clan; Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing; Linda Gary as Sue Ellen, J R’s wife; and, Victoria Principal, as Pam, Bobby’s wife.