After a well-known plot twist turned season 9 into a dream, numerous actors reportedly expressed dissatisfaction “because their storylines were lost,” according to “Dallas” star Steve Kanaly.

Bobby Ewing’s return to Dallas at the close of season 9 is remembered as a defining moment in primetime soap opera history. Many fans were happy to find the beloved character alive and well, but some individuals—including his co-stars—were not pleased.

After being seemingly killed off at the end of season 8 when actor Patrick Duffy left the show, Bobby was revived in a long dream by Bobby’s wife Pam (Victoria Principal), who woke up in the final scene of season 9 to find Bobby in the shower.

At a cast reunion in Palm Springs, California, Steve Kanaly, 77, who played Ray Krebbs on the show, “It was about a 10% audience loss, at least from that, because people were offended to see the [death] storyline just tossed.”

In September, the cast gathered in front of Dallas’ 45th anniversary, and Krebbs remarked, “I don’t want to mention them, but various cast members were pissed because their storylines were lost due to that.” And it had a huge impact.

The show’s makers knew they were taking a big risk when they came up with such a unique tale twist at the time.

Kanaly said, “We’ve got Patrick back. “Patrick rejoins the show. How can we explain what took place over the entire eighth season? Making a decision was challenging. I know everyone in production was looking for a way out, and the easiest way was to throw it all out the window and say, “Oh, it was all a dream, and then you can resume where you left off and omit the whole year.”

Despite the conflicting reactions to Bobby Ewing’s return, Duffy advised PEOPLE fans who were pleased to see him again to congratulate his co-star Larry Hagman, who portrayed the main antagonist and Bobby’s older brother J.R. Ewing.

“I received a message on my answering machine from Larry Hagman, who asked me to invite Patrick to the house so he could get wasted in the jacuzzi. I want to talk to you,'” Duffy, 74, recounted. “I told my wife that Larry would ask me to return to the show, and I did it because Haggy asked me to,” the speaker said.

Duffy’s wife’s “literary knowledge” allowed the couple to anticipate how his comeback would play out. The actor recalls that his wife immediately remarked, “Well, you can’t come back on the show unless that entire season was a dream.” After that, we discussed what she said for a very long time, and she based it on her understanding of literature. Dreams appear in about half of Shakespeare’s plays.

Linda Gray, 82, who portrayed J.R. Ewing’s wife, Sue Ellen, in Dallas, comments on the program’s legacy, telling PEOPLE that “because the show ran for so many years, the audience got to know the characters so genuinely, and they cared for [them], and the characters all went through so much.”

“And I believe the fans loved to relate to the larger-than-life scenarios. They were larger than life so they might experience those characters’ lives via them. Dallas had enormous influence.

Dallas may be seen in its whole on Amazon Freeview.

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