The mythic structure of the popular television melodrama, "Dallas," may be analyzed in order to shed light on the reasons underlying the program's wide appeal. First of all, "Dallas" combines the conventions of the crime formula in such a way as to create a new mythology of crime for television, one similar to that found in the movie, "The Godfather." Furthermore, the similarity between "Dallas" and "The Godfather" is connected to the disparate roles of the organization and the family, while the difference between the two dramas is connected to the type of crime committed--white collar crime in "Dallas" and gangland crime in "The Godfather." Finally, the overarching formula of "Dallas," melodrama, allows the audience to approach the edge of the abyss and to experience the tension between what happens on the surface and what is going on beneath surface realities. (FL)