At 9:58 P.M. on Friday, May 16, 1986, a plot twist played out on one of television's most popular dramas that would leave viewers stunned, some claiming it jumped the shark, but ultimately it did its job and kept everyone talking, as one of television's most beloved characters was seen simply taking a shower.
Previously, in 1985, viewers watched as Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) was killed off during the season 8 finale of the primetime hit soap opera Dallas.
Duffy explained that after 8 years, he was ready to leave the series and diversify his career. Only, there wasn’t a ton of work headed his way. The actor later explained he filmed a movie of the week, some commercials, and traveled, but everything changed when he got a phone call from his former co-star, Larry Hagman.
“I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about,” Duffy shared with The Television Academy. “I turned to my wife at the time and said, ‘They're going to ask me to come back on the show,’” and that is exactly what transpired.
The conversation, Duffy shared, was brief. “Well, first we got drunk,” he jokingly added, but all Hagman said was, "Damn it, come on back." To which he simply said, “Okay,” and the rest was history.
Thus, with Duffy on board to return, showrunner Leonard Katzman was hired to return to the series and bring it back to its former glory. Thus, the plan was devised to bring Bobby back from the dead.
In a last-minute scene added to the Season 9 finale, Bobby’s wife, Pamela Barnes Ewing (Victoria Principal), woke up from her dream and went to the shower. She opened the door, and there was her husband, Bobby, taking a shower.
?On May 16, 1986, Bobby Ewing was revealed to be alive and showering in his ex-wife Pam's bathroom in the season nine finale of the CBS series, 'Dallas' pic.twitter.com/yvY0IlyL0E
— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) May 16, 2026Viewers were shocked. How had Bobby survived? What was he doing in the shower? What did this mean? With this happening in the final seconds of the season 9 finale, viewers had to wait all summer for their answer.
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When Dallas finally returned, viewers found out that everything that had occurred from just prior to Bobby’s death until his return in the shower had all been a part of Pam’s nightmare, and in reality, none of the events of the previous season had actually taken place.
On the one hand, this event served as a creative reboot for the series, allowing it to pivot storylines and fix mistakes made by previous regimes. On the other hand, it caused distrust among viewers.
Duffy revealed, “Some of the fanbase were not upset that I was coming back, but rather that they felt shortchanged by having invested a year [that was erased].”
Things were even more complicated when viewers also watched the Dallas spinoff series Knots Landing. Following Bobby’s death, his older brother Gary named one of his children after his deceased brother, so from that point forward, the shows existed in separate universes and the crossovers that had occurred previously ceased to exist going forward.
Though some may consider it the jump-the-shark moment, Dallas would go on to air for an additional five years and over 120 more episodes, with Duffy remaining in place until the very end.
Reflecting on the plot twist, one fan wrote on X, "Criticize this all you want, we’re still talking about it 40 years later. Incredible finale, incredible comeback."
A second pointed out that while it may have been a far-fetched plot line, it led to one of the best seasons of the show, writing, "Jumped the shark moment? Maybe. But the following season was probably the best since the first four seasons."
Following the cancelation of Dallas, Duffy would appear on the sitcomStep By Step, as well as soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, before reprising his role as Bobby once again for the Dallas reboot on TNT for three additional seasons.
Dallas is available for purchase on VOD platforms.
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