- We did not think. We were in thrall of Ronnie Reagan.
- I was a kid in the 80s and Dynasty was very popular, along with Dallas. They were both huge ratings hits and very much a part of mainstream pop culture. My mother, aunts and their female friends would watch both shows every week and talk about them afterwards. I also remember my female teachers in elementary school discussing Dynasty and Dallas when I over heard their conversations in the hallways.
I didn't know any gay men (that I knew about, anyway) when I was a kid, but as an adult, older gay male friends of mine told me Dynasty was a big hit with gay men in the 80s as well. Dallas was also popular with gay men, but not as much.
- It was pretty much a mini sensation back in the 80s. The shoulder pad power suits, the epic catfights. Not exactly a critics' favorite, but it got high ratings at least until the last season or two.
It even warranted attention from Prince: "You don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude..."
- Dynasty was for old line rich folks and blue state gays.
Dallas was the soap for all of the Republicans and all of the nouveau riche in the South.
- I'm watching Dallas too, and I'm enjoying it for the most part, after making it through the first season that is. Dallas doesn't seem as outrageous as Dynasty, but both are a lot of fun.
Dallas lasted so much longer than Dynasty, which is why I questioned whether it was the hit the former was.
OP
- Both Dallas and Dynasty were huge, even though Dallas lasted longer. I liked both.
- Dynasty was not an instant hit. You'll notice, OP, that after the second season, Dynasty's quality starts to go down as it gets ever campier. But the ratings went up the campier it got. Out of its 9 seasons, it was in the Nielsen Top Ten for 4 (seasons 3-6). Season 5 it was the #1 show.
Dallas was on for 13 seasons (14 if you count the miniseries of 5 episodes). It was in the Nielsen Top Ten for 7 seasons (seasons 3-9) and was #11 for season 10.
Dynasty never became the phenomenon that Dallas was in its heyday. Overall, I think Dallas was the better show for a lot longer. But Dynasty certainly was popular and symbolized 80s excess and greed.
- DYNASTY was like a Xanadu for gay people. A place where shoulder pads, bugle beads and bitches collided once a week to form such a enticing cocktail.
- Dynasty got stupid faster than Dallas, that's why Dallas lasted longer.
Dynasty was way over the top, compared to Dallas.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like Dallas retained the original production team longer than Dynasty did... new hands kept getting brought on for Dynasty hence the increasingly stupid. Dallas, for the most part, also retained a significant number of the original cast. Dynasty was a bit of a revolving door. Like Dynasty, Dallas faded more as they start producing more and more long lost relations.
Dynasty's original strength was they really made their millionaires look like millionaires. Dallas, except for the Mercedes and occasional fur coat, was much less glam. The Carrington mansion was a mansion. Southfork was a McMansion.
- We didn't think of them as campy back when they aired, because that was the style then. We were just enthralled by the elaborate and expensive 80s lifestyle and drama.
When my bf and I visited Ireland during that time, we walked into a country pub and Dynasty was on the TV. The audience was mostly men and they seemed really into the show. I remarked to my bf: "Oh, I've seen this episode already" and almost in unison, the guys all turned and shouted: "Don't tell us what happens!"
- Linda Evans was the most popular woman in America in the 1980s, she was basically like Princess Diana in other words, regarded as a fairy tale queen- pure royalty. People had that deep rooted need and she gave them what they wanted so much so that Linda won the People's Choice award for 5 five straight years. Each time, the audience reacted to her like she was their sovereign.
Linda Evans Favorite Actress 1982:
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D0GryiI_MN7o
- Linda Evans Favorite Actress 1983:
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D0tajWHD0JNo
- Linda Evans Favorite Actress 1984:
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dac34AQb3C68
- Linda Evans Favorite Actress 1985:
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DHSZtl-ZOsI4
- Linda Evans Favorite Actress 1986:
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DmkHVZY7CKLc
- By all accounts, Linda Evans is actually a pretty lovely person as well.
- As campy and shitty as it looks now, having an out gay couple in the days of AIDS/Rock Hudson was groundbreaking. It was way ahead of its time as it made the gay protagonist (Stephen) very realisitic in his search for love with his family mostly in opposition
- Oh, Dex Dex Dex Dex Dex. I would love a hot dog.
Alexis%20Morell%20Carrington%20Colby%20Dexter%20Rowan
- Girlfriends watched it just to look at the fashion trends. Some have always been curious about the lifestyles of the rich, powerful, famous, and beautiful; others need to make fun of their frivolousness.
- These are some great responses, thanks!
Funny everyone loved Linda Evans so much. I mean she's great, but Collins is the hoot.
I guess it's also interesting how you say it wasn't camp at the time and only became regarded as such later.
The other two shows I'm interested in are Knot's Landing and Falcon's Crest. How did they compare to Dallas and Dynasty?
OP
- If they make a Dynasty movie, I have the new Krystle & Alexis at the link:
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DgVqYayQHq24
- It was boring to me. Never watched it.
- I had no problem giving it up when I found something more interesting to do that night of the week (a cooking class).
I thought the Gay Stephen story was stupid, and everything else was even stupider.
- Lara Pulver would make a great Alexis... may be a bit too young. I think Alexis was early forties when she first appeared.
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D2b5wkGMmKVE
- Three of us (my partner and I, plus a friend) used to watch this EVERY week. We'd have happy hour first on the way home from work, then continue the party during the show. Great fun. (We knew it was camp, even at the time.)
- I thought the first season of Dynasty was a drama. Overall, it was pretty restrained in how it tackled some tricky storylines (marital rape, gay son.)
Season two was a melodrama: they pulled out all the stops as Alexis wreaked havoc and her various secrets and nasty stunts came home to roost.
After season three, all hell broke loose after this (Spoiler alert for OP!)
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DlsyEFlANwtw
- The assassination cliffhanger in "Moldavia" (or wherever) was just . . . weird.
- Does Bo Derek still work? She has the same look as Linda.
- OP, regarding your question about Falcon Crest and Knots Landing, I think Knots Landing retained the quality of its show longer than any nighttime soap. It was also the most grounded in that, although it went a little crazy making some of the characters wealthy, it focused more on the characters than their money. Over the years, it also successfully added new characters who fit in (e.g., Mac, Paige, Sumner, Nick, Claudia), thus revitalizing the show. Its last couple seasons were the most disappointing, but up until then I watched it religiously.
Falcon Crest was pretty good for about the first 3-4 seasons. I liked when David Selby came on. I always preferred his chemistry with Susan Sullivan over Robert Foxworth's. But the show went a little crazy and campy by the later 80s and never recovered.
- Alexis and Sable... what a pair!
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Ffeature%3Dendscreen%26NR%3D1%26v%3DhhKVxMvfH94
- and more. I promise to stop now... such fun though, those two...
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3FNR%3D1%26feature%3Dendscreen%26v%3D8GwNWjSfXPI
- Dynasty was more popular than Dallas once Joan Collins joined the cast. It always beat Dallas in the ratings. Dallas was running on fumes the last 2 or 3 years it was on, and people barely noticed when it was canceled. Knot's Landing was more popular than Dallas towards the end.
The women on Dynasty wore gorgeous Nolan Miller gowns and furs, while Miss Ellie walked around in a housecoat.
- I did love Sable - the ONLY good thing about that dreadful Colbys spinoff.
But here's another fabulous twosome....
http%3A//youtu.be/qB7ywr2cNMM
- The Dallas actors sometimes drank during filming (that was real booze they were drinking on-camera) and sometimes you could tell when they were half in the bag. Larry Hagman in particular was a huge lush during the Dallas days.
- Lee was so pretty when she was young.
I read a biography of her--"In Her Sister's Shadow." It was so relentlessly critical that I felt bad for her.
http%3A//pinterest.com/katja2511/capote-s-swans-lee-radziwill/
- Check your facts, R32. Dynasty only beat Dallas once in the season ratings race (84-85) when it was #1 with Dallas #2. Every other year Dallas beat it. Dallas stayed on longer. And when Dynasty fell, its ratings were much lower then when Dallas started to slip. So, it didn't "always beat Dallas in the ratings." Dallas also had a longer run (13 seasons plus a 5 episode original miniseries vs. 9 seasons for Dynasty).
You're right about the clothes, though!
- OMG Blake isn't Fallon's father?!?!
This show is so good! Onto the next episode...
OP
- Sammy Jo Caludia slapfest.
http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DvKY3n9lemr8
- Dynasty ran from 1981 -89 and Dallas ran from 1978 -91. Dallas was a huge hit from the get-go, but Dynasty didn't really get big until its second season, when Joan Collins joined the cast. By its third season, Dynasty was beating Dallas in the ratings and in 1984 and 1985 it was the #1 rated show on television.
Joan Collins MADE that show.
- Dallas may have been on the air longer, but it sunk in the ratings the last few years. Nobody watched it towards the end.
- Season 5 may have been number one in the ratings (tied with Cosby) but I've found it the most dull so far. Joan Collins and Michael Nader had no chemistry, Catherine Oxenberg should have been mute and only able to communicate with sign language, they have no idea what to do with Dominique so they throw her in a hospital bed for several episodes and the once fun, crazy Claudia is dull, Rock Hudson's character is pointless and this rift between Blake and Krystle is so contrived, even for this show.
Season Six isn't a mindblower but it seems to move better. Linda Evans isn't even half bad as Rita. But poor Dominique, saddled with a storyline with two uninteresting men.
- Nobody watched Dynasty in its last few years either. After its #1 season, it slipped to #7 the next season, then #24. In the same seasons, Dallas was #2, #6, and #11. Dynasty fell a lot faster. I liked both shows back in the day, but Dallas was overall more popular. Dynasty only beat it one year (84-85).
I agree that Joan Collins made the show. Go over to the favorite cliffhangers thread to see her give poor Cecil Colby a heart attack during sex!
- I'd rather not, R42. Cecil Colby's hairy back and shoulders were enough just once.
- Alexis was a vacuous drag queen from Season 3 onwards. At least in Season 2 there was a semblance of naturalism and natural femininity to her - she wasn't some two note vamp, she was a talented painter and an introspective lady. You really did root for her in some respects as she had a certain rebellious quality (that great scene in the deserted art studio between her and Joseph the cynical butler who she addresses as "still the IMPOTENT voyeur!")
Linda Evans was incredibly strong in those early seasons. I adored her subtle dignity, her sense of self-worth - what Krystle and Alexis shared in Season 2 besides being outsiders who stuck to their guns was their mutual respect for Steven as a gay man and I always remember the tender scenes there, especially between Krystle and Steven.
In later seasons, there can be no doubt that Stephanie Beacham's Sable was the most majestic synthesis of both Alexis and Krystle in the early seasons - I'd go as far to say that she was a progression from both of them and one of the greatest, most captivating and unforgettable characters ever created in any medium. I relish the friendship between Krystle and Sable in Season 9 - if you think Beacham pulls off being a bitch, she pulls off the loyal to the end friend with equal skill. Sable was the Mother Lioness and protected everybody she loved.
- WEHT to Pamela Sue Martin? I only remember her in season one.
I hated it when they replaced Al Corley with that dullard Coleman.
- OP, I lived in Denver, and everyone was still watching DALLAS but getting a sick of the Texas thing, so when DYNASTY started it was considered an epochal moment in American social and cultural life. Every queen I knew participated in weekly DYNASTY parties, often at the bars. Alexis' character catching fire was the kick that did it. Coloradans acted like they had arrived, especially since it was the moment when Marvin Davis bought 20th Century Fox and Farrah was still occasionally being seen in Evergreen as her and Lee Majors' marriage was still in free fall.
Heady times. Big hair. Big shoulders. Nasty shiny dresses. Angst without intelligence. Flash without dignity, class or styles. And Linda Evans' hair looking like a pile of dry brush waiting for the tiniest spark to burn Boulder down.
- UK DLer here - we aren't as familiar with American soaps as you are, so when they go a bit mental, we tend to be a a bit "WHAT THE FUCK???"
We do miserable very well (Eastenders does a death every Christmas)
They showed Sunset Beach over here - the voodoo doll storyline was...interesting.
As was the Moldavian wedding in Dynasty. What nice hair they apparently had in Eastern Europe...
- The first season of "Dynasty" is a very serious, complex story. That all gets tossed out the window in the second season but it was still very enjoyable. The first cat fight between Alexis and Krystle had power because it was the culmination of months of tension and the revelation of Alexis being out shooting the day Krystle miscarried was a great way to have everything explode. People remember the lily pond fight more but that season, there was no real buildup to any tension, the fight just came out of two minutes of angry dialogue. Of course, the audience loved it.
- [quote] We do miserable very well (Eastenders does a death every Christmas)
I never understood that. I was a big fan of Eastenders when it first came to the states (then PBS fucked with the order and continuity and I got lost).
But I thought that the whole point of having your favorite shows have a Christmas special would be...to be...special. Seeing Pauline dead in the snow doesn't strike me as very heartwarming. And then to do a death every year....seems repetitive.
- DYNASTY, it's DYNASTY,
The dumbest show on TV,
And I mean really dumb:
There's Krystal, and Alexis,
And Blake Carrington,
And his faggy son.
And everyone is rich,
And Alexis is a bitch,
And Sammi Jo's a whore,
And Claudia's a bore,
And Steven swings both ways,
With the straights and with the gays,
And Adam is a creep,
The plots are really deep,
Which is more than you can say,
About the dialogue
on DYNASTY... etc.
Sing along with me!
- Wait till you meet ME, OP!
http%3A//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/DynastyKarenCellini.jpg/190px-DynastyKarenCellini.jpg
- We had a cliff hanger blow-out party in SF most years it ran with dozens of nelly queens. TVs in every room and costumes.
The best was the the cabin fire cliff hanger where we decorated the front of the house with huge "flames" and hot lights and had valet service with shirtless ( burrrr) hotties serving.
Ah, those were the days. Nothing said SF like shoulder pads and Dynasty.
- I was 18 in 1981, and had recently moved to NYC. I always worked nights, but I do recall Dynasty was on Wednesday nights, and that they would play it on all the televisions down at Uncle Charlie's on Greenwich. It was the big thing for quite awhile.
- Knots Landing was my show. The characters were well developed. Remember Julie Harris as Mama? What other show could get Lisa Hartmann (twice!) Ruth Roman, Red Buttons and Alec Baldwin when he was a nobody?
- There's a deliciously troll.
- You really missed out on those times, OP. That initial run in the 80s was great. Everyone was glued to their TVs when Dynasty came on, and you were either Team Dynasty, Team Dallas, or Team Knots Landing (I loved them all). Dynasty was most revered for the catfights and the beautiful cast.
- Knots was the best. Except for that Mills creature.
Constance%20McCashin%2C%20indulging%20in%20a%20PopTarts%20midnight%20snack%20
- Yeah, 'deliciously' is actually a word, R55. Every literate English speaker is a 'deliciously' troll.
The%20Eyes%2C%20They%20Roll
- To me Dynasty alwaya was the soap that was good but could have been great. Even if some story lines were interesting, the characters remained very underdeveloped. It was like the producers had a true fear of depth. In addition there were those wooden dialogues and cheap production design. Yes, the dresses looked or even were expensive. But the sets looked cheap, even the interior of the Carrington mansion looked like too much card board with no character . Other shows did a much better job with their sets. I also thought it was remarkable how few scenes were filmed outdoors. Just look at Falcon Crest for the opposite approach.
And finally, I thought it was ridiculous how Joan Collins insisted on Alexis being a strong business woman and role model of the 80s. Please. She was fucking around for whatever she wanted. She wasn't a business woman at all.
Still, great fun to watch. Loved PSM's Fallon. Ifvthey ever do Dynasty 2.0 I hope they bring her back. Loved the last season too. Big change to the crappy years before.
- [quote]'m watching Dallas too, and I'm enjoying it for the most part,
Wow! Do you have any sort of real life, OP?
A guy in his 20s spending his whole life watching crappy 1980s soap operas? Peculiar.
- r60=collecting Social Security during the first run of Peyton Place.
- [quote] Constance McCashin, indulging in a PopTarts midnight snack
I would SO pay $18 a year if we just had at least one permanent Constance McCashin thread. LOL
