The ‘Dallas’ stars reunite 45 years after the show debuted — check out the pics! (Exclusive)

dallas off to Palm Springs!

dallas stars Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray, Charlene Tilton, Audrey Landers, Steve Kanaly, Joan Van Ark, Sheree Wilson and Cathy Podewell, along with director Michael Preece, reunite at the Oscars in Palm Springs, Calif., on Tuesday ahead of the 45th anniversary of the show – and PEOPLE has the exclusive photos.

Speaking about the show’s legacy, Gray, 82, tells PEOPLE, “I think dallas was like daytime soaps which were very popular and dallas came into play and it was massive and it fulfilled that same need that people like to have a recurring story and suspense and something to look forward to.”

Emma McIntyre

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“Because the show ran for so many years, audiences got to know the characters so sincerely, and they really cared about them. [them] and the characters have all been through so much,” Gray continues. “And I think fans have really loved relating to larger-than-life stories. I think they were definitely larger than life to be able to live vicariously through these characters. Dallas was so influential.”

Emma McIntyre

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Duffy, 74, echoes his co-star’s sentiments, comparing dallas to the tastes of Succession And Yellowstone.

“Sometimes I look and think we did it. If you think of pretty much every family drama except for Breaking Bad, we clung to the premise that hadn’t started dallasbut with Peyton Squarebut it was forgotten and dallas took over.”

Emma McIntyre

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“The path dallas was written, it’s a standard writing pattern for shows that span a span of a few episodes to years. But yeah, it all started with us,” adds Duffy. “I really thought about it with Succession.”

Said Tilton, 64: “I think it was, to my knowledge, the first show that gave you characters that were really flawed, but they were loved by the audience. And each of us had a major flaw, but they were still human and the audience still loved them.”

The story continues

Emma McIntyre

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Related: Victoria Principal, Who Now Rescues Animals on Her California Ranch, Revisits ‘Dallas’; 40 years later

dallas ran for 14 seasons from 1978 to 1991, winning four Emmys along the way. The show followed the wealthy Ewing family and the drama that surrounded their booming oil business and tangled personal lives.

When the show celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018, Victoria Principal (who played Pamela Barnes from 1978 to 1987) told PEOPLE that she found the first five years of dallas to be “one of the best televisions I have ever seen”.

Emma McIntyre

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“When I came in for the role on dallas, I had already fallen in love with the show and the role,” said Principal, 73. “So my feeling from the moment I read it was that it was incredibly special and that I really, really wanted be part of it. . I couldn’t imagine not being Pam.

In Season 10, Principal’s run as Pam ended when her character, who was pregnant, died in a car accident. “I wanted a definitive ending,” the actress said. “And I certainly felt that being blown up was final.”

Related: Patrick Duffy Compares “The Bold and the Beautiful” Back to "dallas" : "A true clash of the titans"

dallas continued for four more seasons and inspired a revival on TNT in 2012 that ran for three seasons. Fan-favorite characters return, including Duffy’s Bobby, Gray’s Sue Ellen, and even JR Ewing himself: Larry Hagman.

Related: Farewell to an Icon: Larry Hagman (1931-2012)

Unfortunately, after season 1 of dallas broadcast revival, Hagman died at age 81 in November.

“Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years. He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew,” Gray, 82, said in a statement to PEOPLE at the era.” He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented and I will miss him dearly. He was an original life and lived to the full. The world was a brighter place thanks to Larry.

Related: Why Dallas Star Charlene Tilton Never Thought She Was Beautiful: ‘I Couldn’t Wait To Get Older’

Much of the cast – including Hagman, Principal, Duffy, Gray, Kanaly and Tilton – reunited in 2004 for a television special called Dallas Reunion: Return to Southforkreferencing the fictional land of Texas where the primetime soap opera took place.

“When I was on dallas, it was such a whirlwind,” Tilton, 64, recalled to PEOPLE earlier this year. “At my age now, I’m more present. I don’t feel the need to take every job, but I force myself to say yes to most things because I believe in saying yes, trying new things and having opportunities.”

Tilton also said she “can’t wait to get older” during her dallas days.

“I’ve always seen myself as a character actress,” she said. “I really did. I always said, ‘One day I’m going to be a great character actress and I was chomping at the bit to do it.’

While in Palm Springs, the actors will appear in a panel at the Oscars on Tuesday night. Duffy and Gray are also set to go on tour together.

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The original 13 seasons of dallas can be streamed on Amazon Freevee.

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