Census Dallas 'it was all a dream' season

To give those who have never witnessed this infamous moment in television some context:

 

Yes, I was bored when I made this poll

 

Yes - when in doubt, screw the audience. See also St. Elsewhere, the Dallas reunion special (Where it was revealed that JR somehow did not die despite literally all evidence to the contrary), and the greatest episode of television in the history of forever, The Prisoner finale "Fall Out."

 

It was only a good idea in that Bobby was the only male character on the show besides the old man, who had died previously(If I remember right), and bringing Bob Ewing back was a good idea.


Having said that(yeah, that's a great cop out phrase)

It's TERRIBLE.

Forget jump the shark! Jump the whole friggin sea world!

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Bob Newhart

 

Also a great ending.

 

Well the Dallas TNT continuation (which is essentially a Next Gen story with JR, Bobby, and Sue Ellen heavily involved and Cliff in cameo appearances) pretty much ignores the two 90s Dallas reunion movies, so *shrugs*. Though the TNT Dallas is awesome and has it's on twists and turns

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like the season finale where Christopher's bride is revealed to be Cliff's daughter.

I don't remember the St. Elsewhere ending, but I've certainly heard about it over the years. It's an... Interesting ending to be sure.

And this is why, while I'll read fix - it fanfic when a character horribly dies, and I did like the Dallas dream sequence, 99% of the time today (outside of a soap opera, because nobody really stays dead in soaps), I would be so pissed off if a producer did such a reset. Like say for example, if

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Russell T. Davies had brought back Ianto in Miracle Day

, I would kind of feel cheated, because I invested all those emotions in the death, that, depending on how it was done, it would be hard to accept the reset of the character coming back from the dead. And I think it's why very few nighttime dramas ever tried something like that again after the Dallas 'dream' season.

DT421 I was going to mention the Newhart ending. Dangit for beating me too it, LOL!

 

They kept the only thing about them I really, truly hated. Just... ugh. The only good JR is a JR who shoots himself in the head because Satan tells him to.

And I really like the St. Elsewhere ending, but I'm not fond of its (Admittedly much later) impact on internet "speculation." There is always some dumb "All just imagined by one character" theory now. Quite tedious.

 

but the show wouldn't be half as fun without JR being JR. It would get boring very very fast.

Well you could argue that Steven Moffat took the idea to the extreme by

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having the whole universe be rebooted from Amy Pond's head at the end of New!Who's s5 finale.

 

In a book I have about the worst moments in TV history, they tell about how the "it was all a dream" season caused Dallas to forever part ways with its spinoff series, Knots Landing.

It's kind of funny to think about, the Knots Landings producers telling the Dallas producers, "As far as we're concerned, Patrick Duffy's character is still dead", and going through with it, and sticking to it.

 

Yet JR and Bobby would still mention Gary from time to time after the dream season.

Though if you think about it, wiping out that whole Bobbyless season would have likely wiped a whole season of work for Knots Landing as well, not the least of which Gary and Va's twins, one of which they named after Gary's 'dead' brother.

Which kind of begs the guestion: if you were writing Dallas at the time and were tasked with having to bring Patrick Duffy back? What would you have done? Heretofore unmentioned identical twin? Con artist? Bobby himself?

 

Clearly you have Bobby come back and have it be unexplained. Everyone reacts with surprise, since, y'know, they saw him die. Bobby himself is similarly clueless. You periodically remind the viewers that no one knows how Bobby came back. Bam - mystery to increase the ratings. A mystery you don't answer.

And then in the series finale you reveal that death itself is dead and have philosophical nonsense sprinkled over abstract images and psychedelia. Scenes occur, but they are disjointed, seemingly unconnected. Characters die in one scene and are okay two scenes later. A woman screams. You end on a close up shot of Bobby laughing. Then over the credits you play this song:


After the credits, a single image: A fish on a wooden table, and beneath it, the words "ROCK IS DEAD."

Everyone proceeds to debate your ending for decades, and you achieve infamy.

 

Actually, this is what the original finale to the Sopranos was, but they got really worried about how it would go over and just took it all out. They couldn't finish the replacement episode in time, which is the only reason the end is unfinished.

 

Well

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with Gary and Val due to return to Dallas this season, perhaps we'll finally get an answer on whether anybody told Gary his brother was actually alive or not in that alternate universe known as California.

 

Thing is, the show was already running on fumes when they killed off Bobby (due, iirc, to Patrick Duffy wanting to "leave and explore other avenues"). With him gone, they had nothing, so you can certainly understand their willingness to bring him back (when those "avenues" all turned out to be dead ends). And, given it's a prime time soap, don't go for the most realistic route, make it as crack-pot, wacked-out as possible. So, really, they should be congratulated.

EDIT: And I remember the St Elsewhere ending, I know alot of people hated it but I thought it rather inspired.

Double-ditto for the Newhart ending, which is the most brilliant series conclusion ever.

 

True, and there weren't too many other avenues for even remotely bringing back Duffy as Bobby.

Can't comment on St. Elsewhere (as I never really saw the finale), but I thought the Newhart ending was absolutely inspired, despite the fact at the time that I knew little to nothing about Newhart's other series (and even better the Bob Newhart reunion special followed up on the Newhart ending. i.e. discussing the Newhart 'dream' )

 

Yeah I think it's a good idea. I can think of several shows that could benefit from something like that.

 

Larry Hagman, aka, JR Ewing dead at 81

 

Fixed.

 

I know of Dallas's existence.

 

And Jeannie?

 

Was Brad Pitt in this season?

 

What's Family Guy?