Patrick Duffy Reveals the Lucrative Truth Behind His Famous ‘Dallas’ Resurrection

It is one of the biggest shocks in TV soap opera history.

And It was also a giant payday for Patrick Duffy when he agreed to return to Dallas in 1986.

Duffy, 77, who reflected on his return in a September 10 interview with KATU Lifestyle, played Bobby Ewing on the primetime series from 1978 until 1985, when he decided to leave and his character was killed off after being struck by a car.

But with ratings slipping, bosses took the unprecedented step of bringing him back from the dead at the end of the next season in May 1986 by revealing the events of the previous season had been a dream.

Ewing returned in the now-famous shower scene, looked at the camera and said simply, “Good morning.”

Looking back, Duffy said, “That was the most well-paid two words in my entire career.”

Duffy also admitted the return wasn’t universally loved by viewers at the time.

He explained, “Well, it disappointed some people, you know, because our fan base on Dallas has always been dedicated. And so, the year I was off the show, even though I was off the show, they were dedicated to Dallas, right?”

“And so, when I came back, and the premise was that that year did not happen; it was all a dream — there were certain people that were upset about it. They didn’t leave the show, but I got some, you know, like, ‘How could you?’ and all of this other kind of stuff.”

Duffy also acknowledged his return had the desired effect for CBS bosses.

“The ratings went back up, not just for myself, but the storylines improved again,” he said.

Duffy’s memorable return was filmed in total secrecy and did not leak before it aired.

The actor said many of the “crew and executives did not know,” and to help keep it secret, he had pretended to film an Irish soap commercial complete with a fake script.

Duffy would go on to play Bobby Ewing until 1991, when Dallas ended after 357 episodes, and he later brought the character back for a Dallas revival in 2012.