Patrick Duffy on Keeping a Secret
Ask anyone to recall the top moments in prime-time TV history, and most likely two from DALLAS will make the list: The gripping “Who Shot JR?” cliffhanger, and the infamous Bobby-coming-out-of-the-shower scene in the 1986-’87 season premiere. That shocker turned the show on its ear, revealing that Bobby’s death (not to mention the entire 1985-’86 season!) was merely a figment of Pam Ewing’s imagination.
Keeping that revelation under wraps was no small feat, as Patrick Duffy (ex-Bobby, now THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTUFUL’s Stephen) fondly recalls. “We actually shot the shower scenes [under the guise] of filming a bona fide television commercial (for Irish Spring soap) in another part of town, utilizing another soundstage and a completely different crew, so nobody knew what was going on,” Duffy says, proudly. “It was terrific — a well-thought-out piece of spy work.”
They did such good work keeping the secret under wraps that none of the rest of the DALLAS cast knew about it — not even Victoria Principal (Pamela) herself. “She didn’t know it until it was on the air,” Duffy reveals with a laugh. “She was the first person to call my house, like, 30 seconds after [Bobby] said, ‘Good morning.’ She was screaming on the phone, because when she filmed those scenes it was John Beck (ex-Mark) in the shower. She thought the whole scene had just been dropped because the rest of her version of that scene — with her waking up, going in the shower and talking to him, etc., took place earlier in the episode. All of a sudden, there she is waking up and hearing the shower. [Principal] thought, ‘I wonder what they’re gonna do?’ Open up the door: It was me!” laughs Duffy.
Contrary to TV myth, it was not Duffy’s wife who gave the show the idea to bring Bobby back that way. “She didn’t invent it, but she simultaneously came to the same conclusion that (executive producer) Leonard Katzman did,” he clarifies. “Which was that, in reality, the only way you could come back and still be Bobby was if that whole year had been a dream. When I spoke with Leonard, I didn’t say that to him until he said, ‘Here’s my plan.’ Then I said, ‘Well, it must be a good idea, because my wife thought of it, too!’ It really was the only way to do it.”
Duffy says at the time, he and Katzman realized that this twist might resonate differently with fans, though he had no idea it would take on the mythical proportions it did.
“We were hoping,” Duffy admits. “We had enough experience on DALLAS, in terms of cliffhangers and shockers, that we figured this would be as good, hopefully, as some of the best. We weren’t totally surprised. We were pleased, obviously, although some people didn’t like it. Some people felt cheated, quite honestly. Even some fans of my character [said,] ‘How could you do this to us?’ But I think they were mainly talking about, ‘How could you have died in the first place?'”
In the end, though, the verdict of viewers was positive. “The ratings went back up and we got five more years out of the show,” he smiles. “It’s certainly hard to keep a secret in this town — that was pretty damn good!”
For more on Patrick Duffy, check out our feature interview with him in the April 25 edition of Soap Opera Weekly.
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