March 21, 1980: The CBS drama Dallas airs its 3rd-season finale, "A House Divided." In so doing, the show invents the season-ending cliffhanger, to the detriment of J.R. Ewing. (Yes, TV seasons ended in March in those days, not May.)
The question wasn't just, "Who shot J.R.?" but why. His portrayer, Larry Hagman, wanted more money, so they let him know that they were considering doing the show without him.
It backfired: Hagman, previously known for playing good guy Tony Nelson on the 1960s NBC sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, became more popular than ever. The shooting and the guessing game turned J.R. from just another TV villain into a pop culture icon. CBS caved, and gave Hagman the money he wanted. And so, the character survived, though he was paralyzed for the 1st 4 episodes of the next season.
There was no shortage of suspects: The oil executive had given plenty of people motive, from personal to business. As pointed out when the question was finally answered, 8 months later:
Sue Ellen Ewing (his estranged wife, played by Linda Gray): "I really wanted to kill him!"
Cliff Barnes (his arch-rival, played by Ken Kercheval): "So did I. So did half the people in Dallas."
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March 21, 1980 was a Friday. This was also the day that, in response to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter announced that America would boycott the upcoming Olympics in Moscow. He had threatened it on January 20, gave the Soviets this day as a deadline for withdrawal. They did not withdraw, so, on this day, Carter made it official. I have a separate entry for this event.
Also on this day, Angelo Bruno, boss of the Philadelphia Mob, was assassinated. I have a separate entry for this event as well.
That same day, Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldinho was born. So was Deryck Whibley, leader of the Canadian rock band Sum 41.
Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-99 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 108-95 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 134-128 in triple overtime at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors, 121-93 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers, 116-109 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. George Gervin scored 41 points.
* The Kansas City Kings beat the Utah Jazz, 102-98 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-100 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the San Diego Clippers, 107-104 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
And there were 5 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Hartford Whalers played to a 5-5 tie at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Washington Capitals, 4-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 9-2 at the Northlands Coliseum. Wayne Gretzky had 3 goals and an assist.
* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Denver.
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