Few storytelling choices are more frustrating than discovering that an entire adventure, mystery, or dramatic storyline never actually happened. The dream reveal can work when it adds meaning or exposes something important about a character, but too often it feels like an easy escape from having to explain an outrageous plot. After investing time in the characters and everything they went through, viewers are left with the same disappointing realization: none of it mattered. It is one of our least favorite storytelling tropes, and these fifteen examples show just how often writers have reached for it.IMDbDallas (1985)After viewers watched Bobby Ewing die, the show brought him back in the shower and revealed that his death, along with the entire ninth season, had been Pam’s dream; an entire season of television, apparently, could simply be erased.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});IMDbNewhart (1990)The series finale revealed that the entire eight-season story had been a dream, with Bob Newhart waking up beside his wife from The Bob Newhart Show; it was clever, but imagine investing years in a show just to find out it never happened.IMDbSt. Elsewhere (1988)In one of television’s most controversial finales, the entire medical drama was revealed to exist in the imagination of a boy staring at a snow globe, making six seasons of storylines part of someone else’s fantasy.IMDbRoseanne (1997)The original series finale revealed that much of the final season was something Roseanne had imagined while coping with the real events of her life, including Dan’s death, turning an entire season into a fictional escape.IMDbMarried… with Children (1995)An episode revealed that several major developments involving the Bundy and D’Arcy families had been part of Al Bundy’s dream, conveniently undoing storylines that had become difficult to continue.IMDbThe Wizard of Oz (1939)After visiting Oz, meeting unforgettable characters, and surviving a wicked witch, Dorothy wakes up in Kansas and is told that the entire adventure was a dream, which is sweet the first time but still a frustrating way to end such a magical journey.IMDbClick (2006)After watching Michael use a magical remote to skip through years of his life, the movie reveals that the devastating future he experienced was a dream, giving him another chance to change his behavior.IMDbAlice in Wonderland (1951)Alice spends the entire adventure chasing a White Rabbit through a world of bizarre characters, impossible situations, and talking animals, only to wake up and discover she had fallen asleep under a tree.IMDbThe Woman in the Window (1944)After a professor becomes involved in a murder mystery, the film suddenly reveals that the entire frightening chain of events was a dream, undoing practically everything the audience had just watched.IMDbThe Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)A trumpet player dreams that he has been summoned to Heaven to blow a horn announcing the end of the world, meaning the bizarre heavenly adventure was never actually happening.IMDbPsycho Beach Party (2000)After a story filled with beach parties, murder, and increasingly ridiculous twists, the movie reveals that the whole thing was a psychiatric patient’s dream, then adds another layer just to make the experience even more confusing.IMDbWisdom (1986)Emilio Estevez’s crime drama follows a young man who turns to bank robbery, only for the story to reveal that his criminal adventure was actually a daydream, making the entire dramatic journey feel like a wasted detour.IMDbPhineas and Ferb: “Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!” (2009)After Candace finally seems to succeed in getting her brothers sent away, the episode reveals that the entire adventure was a dream, taking away the victory just as viewers thought she had finally done it.IMDbWill & Grace (2017)The revival opens by revealing that the original series finale’s future involving the characters’ children was actually a dream, effectively undoing the emotional conclusion viewers had been given years earlier.IMDbVanilla Sky (2001)The film leaves viewers questioning whether David’s entire experience after his accident was a dream created through suspended animation, ending on an ambiguity that makes the audience wonder what was real in the first place.The post 15 Times it Was All a Dream, and We Hate That appeared first on Den of Geek.