the ending to a storyline in tv soap history.. I remember my mum watching it and feeling so cheated that she was actually gonna write to the producers.
I always thought their reasons for making it a dream wasnt to just bring Bobby back but to cut out the poor story quality from the previous year. Had David Paulsen been around to right season 8 they could have easily made Bobby's return more gothic and fit more of reality. Season was like waking up out of a dream. Sue Ellen, Donna, Ray, Cliff, Pam all more in character and the women were far more stronger in season 9 with out losing their interesting kinks to there character.
I definitely didn't miss Mark either, even though I would have liked to have seen Bobby come back on the show in a different way without having to wipe out the other storylines in season 8.