CBS Drama Lines Up Soap Weekend For Easter

UK digital channel CBS Drama is lining up a weekend of soaps for Easter under the banner Easter Soap-tacular Weekend.

CBS Drama has announced a weekend of soap related programming over the Easter weekend. As the broadcaster reaches the end of its Dallas repeats CBS Drama will broadcast the three Dallas television movies; The Early Years (the prequel produced in the mid 1980s), JR Returns and War of the Ewings.

Arguably one of the most famous episodes in the entire run of Dallas will also be repeated during the weekend; A House Divided. The third season finale – originally broadcast in March 1980 – ended with J.R Ewing (Larry Hagman) being shot in his office sparking the ‘Who Shot J.R’ storyline which gripped millions of viewers around the world. There were certainly no shortage of suspects with rival Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), vengeful wife Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) and scorned lover Kristen (Mary Crosby) were all prime suspects.

The huge success of the storyline prompted other soaps and dramas to re-create the storyline such as EastEnders‘ Who Shot Phil Mitchell/Who Killed Archie Mitchell, Emmerdale’s Who Killed Tom King and Hollyoaks’ Who Pushed Claire?

As well as repeats of Dallas over the weekend the 1990s Dynasty reunion movie will also be aired. The movie was produced to tie-up loose ends left over from the 1989 series finale in which we saw Blake (John Forsythe) being shot, Fallon (Emma Samms) trapped in a mine and Alexis (Joan Collins) and Dex (Michael Nader) falling off a balcony. ABC hoped the reunion movie would be the first in a series of Dynasty television movies but poor ratings put pay to that idea.

As well as the Soap-tacular Weekend CBS Drama recently announced it will repeat the Dallas spin-off Knots Landing from the very beginning. The Los Angeles based soap opera starring Joan Van Ark, Ted Shackelford and Michele Lee will air on the digital channel from April.

The Easter Soap-tacular Weekend will air on CBS Drama on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st March between 3pm and 9pm. CBS Drama is available on Virgin Media channel 197 and Sky channel 149. It is also available on Freesat channel 134.