JuicyTalk
The world of TV has seen many trends, some exciting and beneficial, and others that have become controversial, and one from the latter category was popularized by a classic drama show almost 40 years ago. Trends can define an entire decade and genre, and while some are harmless and can benefit a TV show, others do a lot more harm than good.
In the latter category are trends that completely change an episode, season, or even an entire show. One of them is the “it was all a dream” trope, which is so infamous that many shows have at least one theory following that concept. However, the popularization of this trope can be attributed to a classic drama series, which controversially used it 39 years ago.
Dallas Popularized The “It Was All A Dream” TV Trope In Season 10
One of the best TV dramas of all time is Dallas, created by David Jacobs. Dallas premiered on CBS in 1978 and ended in 1991 after 14 seasons. Dallas followed the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family who owned the independent oil company Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of greed and betrayal in the family.
Leading Dallas were J. R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) and his younger brother Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), who had different and clashing personalities and plans for the family’s company. J. R. was ambitious, manipulative, egocentric, and showed psychopathic tendencies, while Bobby was altruistic, compassionate, and had a strong sense of justice. Thanks to this, J. R. mostly served as an antagonist.
J. R. was the breakout character of Dallas, and he was at the front and center of the famous “Who Shot J. R.?” phenomenon, but in season 8, it was Bobby’s turn. When Bobby was leaving the house of his ex-wife, Pam, whom he was about to remarry, someone drove at high speed towards her.
Bobby jumped to save Pam but was run over, and he died at the hospital. Dallas season 9, then, was the first without Bobby, but the season’s finale completely changed this. In it, Pam, who had married Mark Graison, woke up to hear the shower running. Believing that Mark was there, Pam opened the shower door and found Bobby there, alive and well.
Season 10’s premiere episode revealed that the entirety of season 9 had been a dream of Pam, so Bobby never died, they remarried, and many other major moments and deaths never happened. Dallas did so as ratings dropped after Bobby’s death, but they continued to drop after the “dream season” twist.
St. Elsewhere Famously Used The Trope In Its Finale A Year Later
Just one year after Dallas pulled the “it was all a dream” trick to bring Bobby back, another TV show famously used this trope in its finale: St. Elsewhere. Created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, St. Elsewhere was a medical drama TV show that aired on NBC from 1982 to 1988, for a total of six seasons.
Set in the fictional St. Eligius Hospital in Boston’s South End neighborhood, St. Elsewhere follows the hospital’s staff as they do their best to deal with the daily harsh realities of working at a big-city hospital. St. Elsewhere brought together drama and dark humor, and it has been praised for its realism and darker tone (compared to most medical dramas).
However, St. Elsewhere is now best known for its ending, as it pulled a huge twist, bigger than a “dream season”… because it was a “dream TV show.” At the end of St. Elsewhere, it’s revealed that the hospital is inside the snow globe that Tommy, an autistic boy, has been playing with, implying the entire show was in his imagination.
St. Elsewhere’s final episode is one of the most unforgettable TV finales ever, as well as one of the most shocking ones. St. Elsewhere took the “it was all a dream” trope even further, and while it worked for it, that isn’t always the case for every TV show that uses this trick.
Why The “It Was All A Dream” TV Trope Is So Controversial
Dallas moved on after using the “it was all a dream” trope, and St. Elsewhere escaped the controversy that this trope causes, but it’s generally a controversial and disliked trick. Shows like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Married… with Children, and Newhart used this trope with different results and for different reasons, whether due to behind-the-scenes complications or for comedic purposes.
However, the “it was all a dream” trope is disliked because it’s often used to undo creative decisions (like killing Bobby Ewing), fix a mistake by the writers, or give a completely new meaning and/or tone to the show. The problem with the trope is that it invalidates character development, storylines, twists, and more, and the audience usually feels understandably betrayed.
Luckily, the “it was all a dream” trope isn’t used often on TV, perhaps due to how controversial it can be and how complicated it is to use effectively, but most of its most popular uses can be credited to Dallas and the surprise return of Bobby Ewing.
