In the closing second ofDallas’sninth time of year finale on May 16 , 1986 , Pamela Ewing arouse to the sound of running water . walk into the bath , she see her ex - husband , Bobby Ewing — the very numb , recently - tend - over - by - a - speed - vehicle Bobby Ewing — greet her with a smiling .
The Associated Presscalled itthe “ most famous shower scene sincePsycho . ” viewing audience were shocked . harmonise to Patrick Duffy ( who played Bobby Ewing ) , not even the cast , gang , or CBS executives knew the scene had been shoot . It was edited in less than an 60 minutes before airtime ; Victoria Principal , who play Pam , had n’t even been on set with Duffy . She wasreactingto another actor in the shower bath .
It was the show ’s most audacious move since they make a mystery around who test to dispatch Larry Hagman ’s J.R. Ewing six yr prior . For the next four months , viewers wonder if this Bobby was a Twin Falls , an imposter , or if the entire previous season had been a risky dream .
Speculating on the latter , TV Guidewrotethat it was the least likely . “ Besides rendering the intact past time of year ’s episode meaningless , ” they save , " what a cheat that approach would be for audiences . ”
For most of its runnel , Dallashad enjoy the kind of ratings dominancethat was feasible only in the eighties , when three networks ruled and audiences had an appetency for bigger - budgeted versions of the daytime soaps . When Duffy ’s Bobby Ewing was struck by a hit - and - hightail it driver in the eighth season finish in May 1985 , more than300 million viewersin 80 countries watched as form members cried existent tears over his deathbed : Duffy was well - liked , particularly by lead actor Larry Hagman .
Duffy , however , felt he had taken Bobby as far as he could . sense movie opportunities , he decide to leave the serial publication and shut the doorway on any electric potential for a takings by allowing the fictitious character — one of the heir to the Ewing oil fate — to choke on rubber . As the fan siteUltimateDallas.comdescribed the narrative radioactive dust , the Ewings right away tumble in the aftermath of his dying :
Duffy ’s loss coincide with a government change behind the scenes . Longtime executive manufacturer Leonard Katzman leave behind , replace by Philip Capice . The switch peeved Hagman , who got along better with Katzman and matte up adrift without Duffy on set . During the post - Bobby time of year , the series fell from turn one tonumber sevenin the ratings . A web poll indicatedDallaswas one of the showsexperiencinga mensurable decay in audience interestingness . As show manufacturer / executive level editor David Paulsen put it , warring buddy J.R. and Bobby were a take on Cain and Abel ; now that there was no Abel , the narrative steam had been drained .
One day , Duffy come home to a message on his answering machine . It was from Hagman , who wanted to meet for dinner party . He asked whether Duffy would be interested in returning . Duffy ’s wife , Carlyn , joked that the only way that could hap was if the entire 9th time of year had been a dream .
Katzman — who had been reenlisted by a barnstorming Hagman — didn’t think it was so curious . sovereign of Carlyn ’s gag , he envisioned a scenario in which Bobby ’s fatal hitting - and - running play would be nothing more than the result of Pam ’s restless eternal rest . Duffy , who had appear in a few TV movies but had otherwise not get the vocation spate he had been require , was agreeable to returning — if not for the creative theory , then for the prominence in pay he ’d be begin , from $ 40,000 to $ 75,000 per episode .
In April 1986 , CBSannouncedthat Duffy would be look on the show , but whether it would be as Bobby Ewing was still a secret . Katzman and Duffy go to a New York speech sound stage — the show filmed in Los Angeles — and set up a shoot they declare was a commercial message for Irish Spring soap . Duffy lathered up , turned , and say , “ Good sunrise . ” Out of context , it did n’t intend much . The footage was later splice into a reaction shot of Principal , who believed her character had just stumbled upon the dead body of her novel husband , played by actor John Beck .
As the episode aerate , however , the report of Duffy ’s restitution seemed previous . The show had already setoff two bombsduring its climax , ostensibly drop what dramatic energy it had . It was only in the remaining 30 second that Principal discovered Bobby , direct to rampant speculation about who , exactly , she had found .
In interviews , Duffy and Katzman were coy about how Bobby Ewing could be revived . They eventually soften up to narrow it down to three alternative , all of which were shot at a toll of $ 25,000 , one of which include Bobby surviving the car impact and recover in individual . To throw tabloids off their lead , Katzman even had some still photos have of Duffy inhead bandages . Closer to the fall premiere , CBS took out an advertizement inTV Guidedeclaring one of the three explanations was correct , but that viewers would have to tune up in to obtain out which one .
aerate diametrical NBC ’s increasingly popularMiami Vice , Dallasrevealed all on September 26 , 1986 . Principal — who now frolic slightly longer hair’s-breadth owing to the break in shooting — explained to Bobby that she had dreamed his end .
“ Pam , what ’s the affair ? ” Duffy asked . “ You look like you ’ve seen a ghost . ”
For many witness , that may have been a good choice . Katzman ’s dream account essentially wiped out a class ’s worth of continuity , resurrecting one role player ’s character killed the yr before ( Jenilee Harrison , bombing victim ) , erasing Pam ’s man and wife to Beck , and eroding the audience ’s faith in the show . ThoughDallaslasted another four season , it never again captured the top time slot , ceding the top nighttime soap honors toDynasty .
Hitting the reset button seemed the logical solution at the time . For his part , Duffy remained unapologetic , calling it a “ get out of jail devoid card ” andbemoaningthe fact that Bob Newhart ’s sitcom , Newhart , got away withdepicting its integral runas the pipe dream of Newhart ’s former character onThe Bob Newhart Show . When TNT revivedDallasin 2012 , itran an adwith the cast — admit a return Duffy — in the shower bath , promising fans “ No , you ’re not dreaming . ”
