The biggest change to the show didn’t last.
The Big Picture
- Bobby Ewing’s return to
Dallas
in the infamous shower scene completely changed the show’s storyline, erasing an entire season. - The show’s declining ratings prompted Patrick Duffy’s return, leading to a major plot twist that revitalized the series.
- Dallas continues to be remembered as an iconic television staple due to the impact of Bobby’s resurrection on the show’s longevity and cultural significance.
Dallas premiered in 1978 on CBS and completely changed how Americans watch television. The show gave Americans soap operas after dark episodic story-telling that continued weekly, not in self-contained episodes. Splashy cliffhangers kept audiences talking all summer, eagerly waiting for the new season to start. “Who Shot J.R.?” was the question of the summer in 1980. Spoiler alert: the sister of his wife, Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), who also happened to be J.R.’s (Larry Hagman) ex-mistress, Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby), shot J.R. because he threatened to frame her for prostitution if she didn’t leave town. But no Dallas cliffhanger managed to shock the world or change the show more than the Season 9 cliffhanger when Patrick Duffy‘s character, Bobby Ewing, returned from the dead in that infamous shower scene. Not only was the return of a dead character shocking, but the show’s explanation of how it happened changed Dallas forever.
Dallas (1978)
Dallas is the saga of the Ewing family and its massive oil empire. Patriarch Jock has three sons. The eldest is J.R., the relentless CEO of Ewing Oil. Less obviously malicious are Bobby and Gary. Over a decade-plus of backstabbing, inbreeding, lust and greed, dozens of characters enter and exit the Dallas universe.
- Release Date
- June 13, 2012
- Cast
- Josh Henderson , Jesse Metcalfe , Jordana Brewster , Julie Gonzalo , Brenda Strong , Patrick Duffy , Linda Gray , Ken Kercheval
- Main Genre
- soap opera
- Seasons
- 3
- Studio
- CBS
Bobby Ewing Dies a Hero, But ‘Dallas’ Begins to Sink
Bobby Ewing was the youngest son of Jock and Miss Ellie Ewing (Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes). He was a young man who always tried to do the right thing, which usually put him at odds with his older brother, J.R. The series begins with Bobby bringing his new wife, the daughter of an Ewing rival, Pamela Ewing née Barnes (Victoria Principal), to the ancestral Ranch, Southfork, to meet his disapproving family. Their love story would help drive Dallas to the top of the ratings charts for most of the 1980s and cement Duffy as leading man material. When his contract ended in 1985, Patrick left the show that made him a household name. Bobby Ewing was killed off heroically, saving his beloved Pam. Viewers were devastated, and Dallas lost a core member that helped make the show a ratings hit.
Duffy had no plans to return to the show. In a 2014 interview with HuffPost, he spoke about his decision to leave, “My contract was for seven years. It was obviously an ensemble show, and I thought if it was ever a time at the height of the popularity of that show, that I might be able to launch into something that was more of a single, starring venue, that that would be the time to do it. I left the show, and that did not happen.” A few television movies had dropped into his lap, but none of the success he had hoped for.
Meanwhile, Dallas was slipping in the ratings, falling from the top 5 shows in America for the first time since 1980. A call from Larry Hagman had Duffy rethinking his stance on whether to return to the show that had made him a household name. The two sides agreed to terms, and the show announced that Patrick Duffy would be returning to the show but wouldn’t say if he was coming back as Bobby or another character. On May 16th, 1986, Pam Ewing opened the shower door, and Dallas was never the same.
‘Dallas’ Seasons Change Like the Weather as Bobby Returns
With the equivalent of a bomb being dropped, Bobby’s return to Dallas shook the show to the core. All 31 episodes that made up ceased to exist in the show’s canon. Bobby being hit by a car, his death, and everything that came afterward was a dream. Sue Ellen and J.R. did not reconcile. Jenna (Pricilla Presley) didn’t have a nervous breakdown. Pamela didn’t marry Mark (John Beck). Donna and Ray (Susan Howard and Steven Kanaly) never adopted Tony (Solomon Smaniotto). Angelica Nero (Barbara Carrera) never blew up Ewing Oil’s offices as revenge against J.R. Instead, Pam and Bobby marry. Jenna gives birth to Bobby’s child. J.R. loses Ewing Oil to the justice department. Some characters ceased to exist thanks to Pam’s dream or never died.
In an interview with People Magazine in 2023, Steven Kanaly opened up about that time, saying, “It was about a 10 percent audience loss, at least from that, because people were offended to see the [death] storyline just tossed.” He went on to speak about the crew’s reaction, saying, “I don’t want to mention them, but various cast members were pissed because their storylines were lost as a result of that. And it had a big impact.” Victoria Principal leaves the show at the end of Season 10, with her character burned in a fire blast, never to be seen again. Viewers that had tuned in for Bobby and Pamela’s love story began to tune out, and Dallas dropped to 48th on television before its cancelation in 1991.
Patrick Duffy Talks DALLAS Then and Now
Patrick Duffy talks about coming back to DALLAS, who his character is now, reuniting with Larry Hagman and Linda Gray & working with new cast members
‘Dallas’ Remains an Iconic Television Staple
Decades later, people still roll their eyes when this episode is discussed. It was wild, but it worked. The show had gone off the rails with Season 9 and probably would not have run another 150 episodes without Pamela’s dream. The character of Bobby Ewing wouldn’t be as prevalent in our culture without this episode. Sue Ellen and J.R. might have buried the hatchet eventually. But without Bobby, J.R. would fall into his old ways (not that he strayed very far from them on a good day) and would have stopped at nothing to keep Southfork and the family business under his control. Without his brother, he got into a fight with a cartel, and his wife was blown up because of it. Thank god for Pamela’s dream, which made Dallas what it is. Even people who have never seen an episode of Dallas experienced the impact because Family Guy wouldn’t have made “Da Boom” without Dallas deciding to make an entire season completely moot.
Someone should send Victoria Principal some flowers.
Dallas is streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.
Watch on Prime Video
This article was originally published on collider.com