Patrick Duffy Talks About Changes In Bobby After He Returned

[Grangehill1]

I can't blame Duffy for getting tired of playing the good guy. It's just more fun playing the villain or a less hero-like character like Bobby. But the show needed the white knight so that the whole Cane/Abel structure worked. I can sympathize with Duffy. He was a major player in an international hit show in his prime, and still he was stuck in the same place (there are maby example like Connory's James Bond).
A villain character for example though must be more fun to explore with fewer limits set and therefor more appealing for an actor. If Duffy had played the villain before he left, I somehow think his career would have taken another turn. Somehow iconic villain characters seem to be preferred in other roles, in contrast to the good guys who seem to remain typecast.
Nonetheless it's his right to not like his characters first years - I did not like the last ones, but that was due to the writing only.

From everything I read over the years though, I regard Katzman as the driving force behind the show for better (early years) or worse (last years). I don't think Duffy and/or Hagman (despite having a good relationship with him), had any significant input in the show, let alone the scripts. (David Paulen: Leonard would hire a director and tell him exactly how he wanted them to do the show. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/2018121...dallas.com/dallasinterviews/davidpaulsen.html)

The writing was poor especially during the dream season. The show should have fired on all cylinders:
- Pam fighting JR at EwingOil with everything
- Jenna (pregnant with Bobby's child) should have fought Bobby's will/Pam with JR helping her

If the writing had not been that poor (except the mostly well-done S9/DVD10)
there would not have been any need to bring Bobby back.

But with declining US ratings and international sales in jeopardy, there just was.

Pam should have been the one pregnant in the dream season with Bobby’s child. Imagine the drama of her having to keep it a secret and then the secret comes out

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

I preferred Bobby before he died.

I don't think he changed that much after he came back from the dead. He was still the moral compass of the show. His character I thought lost his way a bit following the departure of Pam.

 

[isobel]

In 2021

 

[Guzzler’s Frightening Hair]

I didn’t see all that much change in Bobby after coming back. If anything, he was less involved in some of the main Ewing Oil storylines - BD Calhoun and especially the year when JR was trying to take over Weststar.

Sure, he “got the Ewing Oil name back”, but that was just a handful of low-key scenes in an office with Dave Culver and/or that senator he had to bribe.

By the end of season 11 Bobby was nominally the head of the official Ewing Oil but it didn’t seem like he did much of anything that year businesswise. It was all about JR and Weststar, with Bobby’s quest a minor story in comparison.

Maybe his Rambo/James Bond action hero exploits during the range war were an example of when he was more aggressive and macho?

But enough of that - the real question is…. did he wear underwear 100% of the time after he came back from the dead?!?

 

[Monzo]

Was Patrick Duffy ever asked in an interview if he felt "guilty" that other actors lost their jobs because of his return? John Beck would probably never have returned if Patrick Duffy hadn't left, but he still was fired after Patrick Duffy's return. Jack as a character might never have been necessary if Bobby had stayed on the show, but Dack Rambo probably wouldn't have been written out in season 10 without Bobby's return. Solomon Smaniotto would probably have stayed on as Tony for a while longer if he hadn't turned out to be a dream character. And how much longer would Susan Howard have been allowed to stay on the show if she hadn't been able to complain about the dream season? Jack was supposed to be the new partner for Jenna, so there would have been no reason for Ray and Donna to break up. On the other hand, Jenilee Harrison was still able to earn some money thanks to Patrick Duffy's return, and the same might be true for Deborah Shelton. Still, I wonder if some cheeky journalist ever asked Patrick Duffy about his "guilt".

 

[KayLloyd]

Was Patrick Duffy ever asked in an interview if he felt "guilty" that other actors lost their jobs because of his return? John Beck would probably never have returned if Patrick Duffy hadn't left, but he still was fired after Patrick Duffy's return. Jack as a character might never have been necessary if Bobby had stayed on the show, but Dack Rambo probably wouldn't have been written out in season 10 without Bobby's return. Solomon Smaniotto would probably have stayed on as Tony for a while longer if he hadn't turned out to be a dream character. And how much longer would Susan Howard have been allowed to stay on the show if she hadn't been able to complain about the dream season? Jack was supposed to be the new partner for Jenna, so there would have been no reason for Ray and Donna to break up. On the other hand, Jenilee Harrison was still able to earn some money thanks to Patrick Duffy's return, and the same might be true for Deborah Shelton. Still, I wonder if some cheeky journalist ever asked Patrick Duffy about his "guilt".

Not that I've seen, but I doubt that he felt any guilt, he's too self centered for that.