Pamela "Pam" Barnes Ewing is a fictional character from the CBS primetime soap opera, Dallas. Pamela is portrayed by actress Victoria Principal, first appearing on the show in the first episode, entitled "Digger's Daughter", which was first broadcast on April 2, 1978. Dallas follows the trials of the wealthy Ewing oil family in the city of Dallas, Texas, which Pam has married into. Principal played Pam until the end of the tenth season of Dallas in 1987, when the character crashes into an oil tanker and her body is severely burned. After this, she is briefly played by actress Margaret Michaels in an attempt to write the character out. Pamela's storylines in season 1 focus on her relationship with her new husband, Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), and her fight against the considerable suspicion and hostility from within the Ewing family, due to Pamela being a member of the Barnes family. Pamela's love for Bobby remains a strong character trait throughout her tenure on the show, noted for its similarities to Romeo and Juliet, with two people from hostile families falling in love.