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Dynasty appreciation thread

I am a gayling and I have just finished watching the first episode. I'm hooked already. It has a lot of cliches but it's still watchable . Krystal has to be the dumbest woman on earth. Matthew is a redneck asshole so I can totally understand why his wife had a nervous breakdown

by Anonymousreply 270June 11, 2018 9:53 PM

[quote]I am a gayling and I have just finished watching the first episode.

=

I'm an eldergay and want to talk about this ancient trash.

by Anonymousreply 1February 28, 2017 9:01 PM

Seasons 1 to 8 streams free on Amazon Prime Video, but they charge $19.95 to watch the final season! WTF?

by Anonymousreply 2February 28, 2017 9:14 PM

Lol@R1 Im 26 which might make me eldergay According to dl Amazon is always money grubbing @R2

by Anonymousreply 3February 28, 2017 10:36 PM

The only things that kept me watching that first season were Forsythe, Evans, Martin, and the cuteness of John James and Al Corley. Otherwise, I found it quite dull. I'm in the minority on that. Once it tightens up with the build up to the cliffhanger(one of my all-time favorites for drama), through the additions of the next season, it was much more must-see tv.

by Anonymousreply 4February 28, 2017 11:34 PM

When did Joan Collins join the cast?

by Anonymousreply 5February 28, 2017 11:36 PM

Middle of season 5 is where it starts to fall apart.

by Anonymousreply 6February 28, 2017 11:44 PM

I studied Fashion Design (but never pursued it) and am surprised by the costumes. At the time, I thought Nolan Miller's work was the epitome of glamour and elegance. But looking at the images now, they appear dull and cheap. And it isn't a particularity of the 1980's, either... there is a lot of great fashion from that era that holds up today (Lacroix, 1987).

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by Anonymousreply 7February 28, 2017 11:44 PM

Joan joins at the beginning of season 2. Heather Locklear several eps later.

by Anonymousreply 8March 1, 2017 12:05 AM

I'm watching it on Amazon and just finished the 7th season, which has to be the absolute worst. I know people point to the 6th season (Alexis obsessed with Moldavia, Krystle/Rita) as being Dynasty's highest point of mediocrity, but almost nothing during the 7th season worked.

For starters, it was shockingly homophobic. Sammy Jo was constantly slinging gay slurs at Steven. Ted McGinley's Clay even got in on the act and told Steven, "You're not even a man." Then, at Alexis' Black and White Ball at the mansion, a dude came onto Steven, who freaked out and told him it was "unacceptable" for him to do that at his parents' house.

Characters were suddenly dropped with no build-up and no fanfare (Caress, Ben, Amanda). Granted, Karen Cellini's tenure was disastrous, but Amanda didn't even say goodbye to anyone.

Most of the plots were recycled from previous seasons: Is or isn't Adam really a Carrington, Michael working with Neil McVane to bring down Alexis, Clay's paternity.

They brought back TWO dull characters (Michael and Matthew) who were dropped after the FIRST season because they fizzled with the audience.

And worst of all, Joan wore a ponytail wig for most of the season.

by Anonymousreply 9March 1, 2017 3:36 AM

[quote]For starters, it was shockingly homophobic. Sammy Jo was constantly slinging gay slurs at Steven.

She wasn't the only one. It was depressing. I was a gayling then, even younger than our sweet, innocent OP is now.

by Anonymousreply 10March 1, 2017 4:04 AM

Yes I was hoping that The father would become more accepting of the gay son. Wasn't it kind of bold to have a gay character on a prime time show like that? The dad reminds me of my own grandfather and add

by Anonymousreply 11March 1, 2017 5:10 AM

I guess dynasty was the 80's version of the Forsyte saga

by Anonymousreply 12March 1, 2017 5:11 AM

Amanda, Ben, Caress, and Sammy Jo are my favorites. Season 6 is my favorite. Season 5 after that. Season 7 was the end. The WORST. Replacing Amanda was a very bad move.

by Anonymousreply 13March 1, 2017 5:36 AM

Loved Caress. She should have been on longer.

by Anonymousreply 14March 1, 2017 5:39 AM

My ex-BF used to watch Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, and also taped One Life to Live (he admitted later that when we first met, I reminded him of John Loprieno). We sort of had an agreement that, when I'd come over, I'd watch Dynasty, but none of the others. I didn't particularly want to watch Dynasty, either, but I could at least appreciate the camp value, especially once Joan joined the cast. And about Al Corley's character and the homophobia, the whole point of a soap opera is drama. If his whole family loved and accepted him and embraced him without reservation, where would be the drama?

by Anonymousreply 15March 1, 2017 5:47 AM

Really R13? The Krystle/Rita year? I don't think there was ever a more definitive shark jumping than the Moldavian Massacre. Season 5 was pretty much going along on par with the other seasons. Then, suddenly this absurd, badly filmed scene where everyone gets shot up, and we tune into season six to find only Ali McGraw died? They must have switched writers and/or show runners because it seemed like a different show in some ways.

And Emma Samms was TERRIBLE as Fallon. When Dynasty started Pamela Sue Martin played Fallon was a wild child who was fun and spoiled and loved sex. Samms played her as a symp.

I'm so curious to hear the REAL story as to why Pamela Sue Martin left. In her final season on the show, she looks like she's been on a days long coke binge.

by Anonymousreply 16March 1, 2017 5:50 AM

SPOILER ALERT: When Pamela Bellwood threw that doll off the top of the building: BEST TV MOMENT EVER!!!!

by Anonymousreply 17March 1, 2017 6:00 AM

R17 not sure if you meant to do it, but I think you just fucked up big time.

by Anonymousreply 18March 1, 2017 6:02 AM

OP forget R17's post. It's without meaning.

by Anonymousreply 19March 1, 2017 6:02 AM

I have to give ABC and Spelling credit for salvaging the second half of Season 6. They knew they fucked up and within a single episode, George Hamilton, Michael Praed and the King of Moldavia -- and those awful storylines -- were all gone.

by Anonymousreply 20March 1, 2017 5:22 PM

The writers always had this knack for ending the good plots way too soon and keeping the bad ones going far too long.

by Anonymousreply 21March 1, 2017 5:29 PM

R16 YES. Haha. Love season 6. It has my favorite Caress scenes and with Emily Fallmont! Love it. And Ben. And I love Catherine Oxenberg as Amanda. So striking beautiful and glamourous. She really added to the show. I still can't believe they cut her! Makes me so mad. When Season 7 premiered and they revealed that damn new Amanda and it was Michael the limo driver from season 1! It died for me with Claudia in the fire. Claudia is HILARIOUS. Just like Caress, they always tried so hard to win. Scheming. But they never did. Nope. They never did. Haha. I know what you mean. That stupid massacre and everything and krystle/rita is way dumb but I still liked it for some reason. I think because I like Caress so much and Ben and Amanda and Sammy Jo and the Clay Fallmont story line getting good in the finale with Amanda fucking shit up. I try to forget about Emma Samms. I LOVE Season 2 also. Steven picking that boy up and coming out and Fallon standing by his side. THE TWO PRINCES. Krystle always carried herself with grace. The Dominique storyline in Season 5 is hilarious. Love it. I HATED HATED Alexis. I really wanted her to get hers. If you had someone like that in your life! You would beat her fucking ass. I understand Blake choking her ass out! Haha. She shot that gun too in season 2! Alexis was a horrible human being.

by Anonymousreply 22March 1, 2017 5:32 PM

Writing the delicious Caress(why Caress? Cassandra was such a better name) out was such a mistake! And making it seem as if she was going to find the dirt on Ben and come back to ruin him, but she just disappears. Pfffft. Like poor Leslie, although I never particularly cared for her. Last we saw of her she was beaten and bloody, but seemingly okay, and then poof! No more Leslie.

by Anonymousreply 23March 2, 2017 4:10 AM

Love season six. Alexis was at her most venomous. Making a pass at Blake in her office out of hous, and thenot spending the rest of the season trying to destroy him when he knocked her back. So funny. 'I'll make you pay for this Bkake'! I think her relationship with Dexter got dull and repetactive after season 5.

by Anonymousreply 24March 2, 2017 4:20 AM

The thing that made Emma Samms so charming was her accent. So to cast her as Fallon and make her lose the accent was ridiculous. To take nothing away from Oxenberg, Samms would have made a great Amanda. But a total miss as Fallon.

by Anonymousreply 25March 2, 2017 4:31 AM

Catherine Oxenberg was such a wonderfully bad actress. Who can forget her immortal line to Alexis when tucking into dinner: "You know I hate pigeon, Mummy."

I miss Krystle and Alexis duking it out - especially in the koi pond. I read somewhere that in the first draft the ladies were smacking each other with the koi, but then the writers pulled themselves together. Too bad.

by Anonymousreply 26March 2, 2017 4:52 AM

[quote]Love season six. Alexis was at her most venomous. Making a pass at Blake in her office out of hous, and thenot spending the rest of the season trying to destroy him when he knocked her back.

I loved the storyline with Blake's South China Sea oil leases. No matter what Blake did, Alexis managed to one-up him at every turn.

by Anonymousreply 27March 4, 2017 6:09 PM

Claudia… Claudia… Claudia, I love you…

by Anonymousreply 28March 4, 2017 8:44 PM

I can't believe Blake raped Krystal and she just forgave him like that. And the show just moved on. Wtf?

by Anonymousreply 29March 5, 2017 12:33 AM

Just been watching Season 6 recently, and agree that Amanda has to be one of the worst actresses ever. "Oh Mummy!" The smarmy Ted McGinley character is almost unwatchable. The OTT fashions are fun however.

by Anonymousreply 30March 5, 2017 1:31 AM

All of Spelling's series are garbage, horribly wriiten, badly acted. Those oldsoaps were mind numbing drivel.

by Anonymousreply 31March 5, 2017 1:49 AM

I loved that series. Pure trash ! My first crush was Jeff Colby. I've actually named my cat after him. I forget which series it was but it was, but it was hilarious when crystal got kindnapped and replaced with an imposter.

by Anonymousreply 32March 5, 2017 7:17 AM

And now Jeff is going to be black in the new series.

And Blake will be played by Jake from "Melrose Place"

by Anonymousreply 33March 5, 2017 8:29 AM

"Claudia, we need you, Lindsay and me..."

by Anonymousreply 34March 5, 2017 9:01 AM

Emma Samms was charming on General Hospital as Holly Scorpio. She and Tristan Rogers were a fun, crime solving couple, a la The Thin Man.

Taking her away from General Hospital helped run GH, and putting her on Dynasty helped ruin Dynasty.

When they brought Emma back to GH a few years ago I was excited, until they seems to change history and make her a bad guy. So fucking lame.

by Anonymousreply 35March 5, 2017 9:05 AM

If I remember correctly, the character or Alexis was introduced at the end of the season one finale. But Collins had not yet signed a contract so an extra wearing a veil and sunglasses walked into the courtroom (Blake was charged with murdering Steven's lover) as a surprise prosecution witness and was photographed mainly from behind. Then lots of stunned reaction shots from the various principals who recognize who she is.

In the season two opener, Collins removes the sunglasses and Fallon exclaims "Oh my God, that's my mother!"

by Anonymousreply 36March 6, 2017 12:53 AM

I just checked Wikipedia and stand slightly corrected. Fallon exclaims "Oh my God, that's my mother!" at the end of the season one finale but the veiled character doesn't lift the veil and take off the sunglasses to reveal Joan Collins until the season two opener.

by Anonymousreply 37March 6, 2017 1:03 AM

It's been years, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but when Alexis first came back wasn't she an artist or something? She had a studio near the big house for some reason. At some point they turned her into a business tycoon.

by Anonymousreply 38March 6, 2017 11:07 PM

She had been a painter in her spare time when she was married to Blake. As a present for giving him his (then) two children, Blake had an art studio built on the grounds for her and gave her the deed to it. So she owned the studio and the property on which it sat. Somehow despite being forced to desert her children, she owned the studio the entire time she was an outcast.

by Anonymousreply 39March 7, 2017 12:22 AM

[quote]I can't believe Blake raped Krystal and she just forgave him like that. And the show just moved on. Wtf?

I don't think Krystle had much of a problem with rape. I remember when Kirby told Krystle that Adam had raped her and was the father of her unborn child, not Jeff. Krystle totally ignored the rape part, and was like, "Well, Kirby, you have to be strong and tell Jeff about the paternity before he figures it out on his own."

There was a really fucking gross scene on The Colbys when Sable told Miles that he was the father of Fallon's baby. Miles admitted to her that he had raped Fallon, yet Sable didn't care and was glad it had happened, since it was giving Miles a child. She told him, "Oh, darling, no one is a perfect human. These things happen."

by Anonymousreply 40March 7, 2017 8:37 PM

Every season, there was an attempted rape on Dynasty! Mark tried to rape Krystle, Ben tried to rape Alexis, Michael tried to rape Amanda, some dude tried to rape Sammy Jo (and she was rescued by Jeff). The worst? When STEVEN tried to rape Claudia. Ugh.

by Anonymousreply 41March 7, 2017 8:56 PM

[quote]She had been a painter in her spare time when she was married to Blake. As a present for giving him his (then) two children, Blake had an art studio built on the grounds for her and gave her the deed to it. So she owned the studio and the property on which it sat. Somehow despite being forced to desert her children, she owned the studio the entire time she was an outcast.

Yes, she went from homeless boho painter to the female version of Rex Tillerson with remarkable rapidity.

by Anonymousreply 42March 7, 2017 10:33 PM

A bit more on the history of Ms. Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan. Such a full life she led! Please overlook the burned champagne.

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by Anonymousreply 43March 7, 2017 11:18 PM

My all time favourite line in any TV show is "I [italic]prefer[/italic] Petrossian beluga".

by Anonymousreply 44March 7, 2017 11:21 PM

They should have recast Lindsay as a mini crazy Claudia with a side of Sammy Jo teen nymphet.

She could've gotten involved with Jeff or Adam

by Anonymousreply 45March 8, 2017 3:11 PM

Why were all the women in love with Dr. Toscani? Was his look popular at the time?

by Anonymousreply 46March 8, 2017 3:17 PM

My favorite thing EVER on [italic]Dynasty[/italic] y'all

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by Anonymousreply 47March 8, 2017 3:23 PM

R46 Holy shit, yes. James Farentino would have been an excellent candidate for the "men women find attractive, but not gay men" thread. I never ever got him. Somewhere here recently, maybe in the Burton diaries thread, someone described women swooning over him in the early 60s. I don't get it at all. I don't find him remotely attractive.

I remember him stalking Tina Sinatra in the early '90s, too.

by Anonymousreply 48March 8, 2017 3:24 PM

R48 yea i don't get it either. Him out of all the men to cast? Bizarre. R47 that shit still cracks me up.

by Anonymousreply 49March 8, 2017 3:29 PM

What season had Claudia burn the hotel (motel?) down? I remember having a Dynasty viewing party where 60 folks came to our apartment to watch the cabin fire season ender. Some dressed as Alexis, some as Krystal. San Francisco, good times.

by Anonymousreply 50March 8, 2017 3:36 PM

R50 that was the season 6 finale

by Anonymousreply 51March 8, 2017 3:46 PM

Nobody dressed as Kirby?

by Anonymousreply 52March 8, 2017 5:54 PM

Farentino always had crazy eyes. Beady, little crazy eyes. Never found him appealing.

by Anonymousreply 53March 8, 2017 8:52 PM

Poor Linda looks like Lisa Lampanelli's mother now.

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by Anonymousreply 54March 8, 2017 9:12 PM

I don't think she looks THAT bad in the pic. She looked worse years ago around the time of the CATFIGHTS AND CAVIAR reunion and LEGENDS.

by Anonymousreply 55March 9, 2017 12:23 AM

I think Linda Evans looks pretty damn good compared to what's in my mirror.

by Anonymousreply 56March 9, 2017 12:46 AM

NO SHIT! Buuuuurrrrp!

by Anonymousreply 57March 9, 2017 12:55 AM

From Oxenberg to Oxen.

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by Anonymousreply 58March 9, 2017 11:37 PM

R54

Linda looks like Eve Arden in Grease.

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by Anonymousreply 59March 10, 2017 12:57 AM

What could have been ...

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by Anonymousreply 60March 10, 2017 1:10 AM

Even though Dominique Devereaux was an internationally renowned and celebrated lounge singer wealthy enough to have pronounced caviar preferences, still no one in Denver knew who she was!

by Anonymousreply 61March 10, 2017 1:20 AM

That saloon singer? Internationally known? Let's see her match my performance of this!

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by Anonymousreply 62March 11, 2017 10:46 AM

I am one of those rare gay men who loves the first season over the entire series. It was brilliant writing, emerging in the early 80s when TV was still situated somewhat in 70s storytelling, where social issues were at the forefront. It was a show about class structure (the oil rich, the middle class, the servant class) and about outsiders in conflict with those privileged few. Characters were talking about the burgeoning environmental crisis that was exacerbated by power-hungry oil corporations; they were talking about homosexuals within one's own family (instead of a one-episode guest star you would never see again); and they dealt with the hypocrisy of sexual inequality in a patriarchal society (issues that are, btw, still being talked about today). Fallon noted with her unique, sledgehammer wit that although she had what it takes to carry on her father's dynastic ambitions, being a woman kept her out of the boardroom: " ... there's an unwritten law at Denver-Carrington: at the upper-management level there are no blacks, no Jews, no Eskimos and... no women". THAT line alone could never be written today. It was a show with wit, heart, intellect, and honesty, as brutal as need be. Speaking of brutality, I don't think there was anything more shocking that than Blake's drunken and hate-filled rape of his wife before and since. That scene kind of defined the entire first season's theme of absolute power and how it corrupts absolutely.

It was smarter than DALLAS, more daring, more brutal in its honesty, and much more sophisticated in its structure and storytelling.

by Anonymousreply 63March 12, 2017 12:30 AM

cont. from r63

Then it changed. The second season became more soapy to attract a bigger audience, and it found a niche in the more popular mainstream. The network hooked onto a moonbeam and went for the ride. And the direction they chose was camp, with one-note black/white characterization, and superficial soapy plots where the rich was heroic and the beautiful was the norm. The very cruel reality which was a consistent dark undercurrent of the cerebral first season was disregarded completely for fantasy and illusion: the earthy and ephemeral outsider that was Krystle in the first season became the cardboard cut-out blonde sky goddess of the rest of the series; the frightening and very complex villain that Blake was in the first season became the heroic and principled knight in shining armor that was an extension of TV's classic Bachelor Father; Fallon - a TV original brought alive by another TV original Pamela Sue Martin - was watered down to give room for a more sensational villaness to grow (her more soapy mother Alexis). Any outsider that represented what was real in the TV audience was written out and only the neurotic was kept (simply Claudia, who unrealistically became a permanent houseguest and later a Carrington herself). The outside world was kept from view from the TV viewer as the show became more and more claustrophobic, reduced to the privileged class's opulent fantasy domain.

I loved the original incarnation of Alexis when she first appeared: the bohemian artist with a Pandora's Box of secrets and unleashed potential for endless family drama. She was complex, fresh and familiar. The story was begging for her input. But then she became the main focus. Producers have a tendency to do that - they seize the bankable popularity of a character at the expense of substance and plausibility (HAPPY DAYS was a thoughtful family show until ABC shoved Fonzie to the forefront and down our throats until there was nothing left for him to do but to literally jump-the-shark; GOOD TIMES lost its sociological edge by becoming a vehicle to sell the JJ Walker franchise). What I most regretted as DYNASTY skyrocketed to epic phenomenal heights was the sacrifice of story and substance for style and sensationalism. It lasted longer than I thought it would, but you could see during the last season they were trying to recapture the same sense of identity they were cultivating in the first, opening the isolated world of the Carringtons to the outside world full of blue collars, the middle class and rugged Italian cops, but it was too late.

by Anonymousreply 64March 12, 2017 12:30 AM

The John Forsythe interview for the Archive of American Television ... he speaks extensively about DYNASTY in Part 5 (found under the Interview Tab). He isn't very articulate about the actual story, even at times struggling to remember obvious parts (he can't remember who John James' character was supposed to be, for instance), but he is vocal about what he thought was DYNASTY's major flaw and its eventual downfall: the lack of good stories. He wanted the show to cultivate better story instead of over-the-top plots.

When asked to give feedback on various actors from the show, he feels comfortable using the word talented for nearly everyone (and "beautiful" for all the women). He felt Gordon Thomson was "underutilized" (so did I), describes Michael Nader as "frantic", and regrets Pamela Sue Martin is nowhere to be seen anymore. He obviously adored Linda Evans, saying that although she wasn't the most talented actress, she was "beautiful" and perfect for the role. And he admits that he did not feel comfortable at all with Joan Collins, but that the tension made the animosity between Blake and Alexis more genuine because of it.

He also said "The Colbys" was the beginning of the end for "Dynasty".

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by Anonymousreply 65March 12, 2017 1:17 AM

When the first Mrs Carrington made her surprise courtroom appearance at the end of season one, the part had not yet been cast. Actress Norma Martinelli, wife of the show's editor John Martinelli, was the woman who made the initial appearance in the infamous black and white dress, large brimmed hat and sun glasses.

Over the subsequent months, producers searched for the perfect actress to play Blake's ex-wife, originally named "Madeline". DYNASTY folklore has always maintained that Sophia Loren was the first choice (Joan Collins thanked Loren for turning it down during her People Choice Awards acceptance speech); when she turned it down, they considered Elizabeth Taylor. After she turned it down, several actresses were auditioned and a few narrowed down, including, according to Collins in a Larry King interview, Jessica Walter. There is a story that Candy Spelling suggested Joan Collins to her husband after seeing Collins guest on a Fantasy Island episode.

However, during this interview, creators and executive producers Esther and Richard Shapiro claim that they wanted Joan Collins from the very start and fought to have her although the network branded Collins too "menopausal". The Shapiro refused to have the role cast for the final episode of season 1 because Esther was going to hold out for Collins. They gained an ally in Aaron Spelling, who insisted that Collins was still sexy for the role because she "was too vain to be fat".

It was season two's new headwriter Bob Pollock who renamed Madeline as the more masculine "Alexis".

Segment starts at mark 19:20:

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by Anonymousreply 66March 12, 2017 1:37 AM

R63 So well said. Season 1 is great, and I think season 2 is still moored to the ideals of season 1, even if it did get soapier. Fallon embodies the downfall of the show. She starts off as this fresh, original, sexually liberated and whip smart character. By the time Pamela Sue Martin leaves, she's something of a symp. And then Emma Samms takes over, and there is basically no substance at all, no character to speak of. Think of Emma Samms as Fallon. How would you describe her personality? You couldn't! She had none.

I worked on that John Forsyeth interview. We got him a little late in life, but he was still pretty good.

by Anonymousreply 67March 12, 2017 1:40 AM

R58 her and emma samms are the worst recasts in the history of television

by Anonymousreply 68March 12, 2017 1:48 AM

You're all a bunch of dried up twats!!!

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by Anonymousreply 69March 12, 2017 2:04 AM

Esther Shapiro talks in that above linked interview about how she planned to spin-off DYNASTY into a project called HOTEL, which would have taken place in Miami and star Pamela Sue Martin and John James and a cast of younger characters, but it conflicted with Aaron Spelling's HOTEL series. A couple of years later, ABC ordered a spin-off that eventually became The Colbys, which she felt was too much like Dynasty with Dynasty-like characters and filled with veteran actors. She felt the younger demographic should have been zeroed on instead.

She also keeps referring to Stephanie Beachum as Stephanie Dunnham (who was an actress on their other show Emerald Point NAS).

by Anonymousreply 70March 12, 2017 2:28 AM

The way they treated Steven's homosexuality was horrible. It eventually became bi-sexuality, and then it seemed he just decided to be hetro.

What started out as a positive step for gay people, turned into just another demeaning, caricature. It was eventually implied that it was Steven's inability to grow up that made him gay.

by Anonymousreply 71March 12, 2017 5:41 AM

r71, I saw that step backward as metaphorical of not only DYNASTY's run but also society in general. The 70s seemed so open to explore and experiment, which the first season of DYNASTY, just on the exiting cusp of 70s TV, did and was full of promise to do more. As the early 80s became the early-to-mid-80s, both DYNASTY and the social standard went through a kind of backward renaissance and moved away from that open-ended landscape, choosing instead to hide behind allusion and fantasy. It was truly symbolic of the Reagan age.

by Anonymousreply 72March 12, 2017 6:02 PM

[quote]I saw that step backward as metaphorical of not only DYNASTY's run but also society in general. The 70s seemed so open to explore and experiment, which the first season of DYNASTY, just on the exiting cusp of 70s TV, did and was full of promise to do more. As the early 80s became the early-to-mid-80s, both DYNASTY and the social standard went through a kind of backward renaissance and moved away from that open-ended landscape, choosing instead to hide behind allusion and fantasy. It was truly symbolic of the Reagan age.

Perhaps... although "Soap" did the same thing with the Jodie Dallas character a few years earlier (in the late 70s).

by Anonymousreply 73March 12, 2017 7:10 PM

Good point, r73. There were baby steps being taken to integrate the homosexual character in the television landscape in the late 70s. Dare I introduce THREE'S COMPANY Jack Tripper as exhibit A (a straight man pretending to be gay may be deemed homophobic today, but it may have helped to lessen the fear of homosexuals through laughter for those open-minded viewers who were more and more comfortable with the prospect of anything gay on their television). Jodie Dallas took the next step forward and forced viewers to accept a man as inherently gay, but again it had to be safe by having gay Jodie want to be a woman so he and his lover could live in a normal relationship; when that failed to bring Jodie happiness, he then went on to become involved with a woman and fathered a child with her. But the idea of the homosexual as friend and family member was being planted in the cultural consciousness.

by Anonymousreply 74March 12, 2017 8:32 PM

[quote]The way they treated Steven's homosexuality was horrible. It eventually became bi-sexuality, and then it seemed he just decided to be hetro.

The 1986-87 season (which coincided with growing AIDS hysteria) was when this happened. In every other episodes, Sammy Jo would waltz into the Carrington Mansion and make really nasty and disparaging remarks about Steven's sexuality, and he would just stand there and take it. Worst of all, it seemed to make him fall in love with her again!

by Anonymousreply 75March 12, 2017 8:43 PM

r75, that was so depressing. I remember when Sammy Jo was with Ted McGinley's character and wanted to get full custody of Danny. She told Steven something like, "Well, if Danny is with us, at least he will be raised by a man."

by Anonymousreply 76March 12, 2017 8:59 PM

I watched the entire series for the first time a couple years ago and I'm a bit confused. Blake always treated Steven like garbage: with the insults, forcing him to marry women, and , oh yeah, killing his boyfriend! He was also a greedy oil tycoon obsessed with money and power, who also raped his wife. Alexis on the other hand, was always accepting of Steven, never tried to force him to change, never called him a fag or queer. So I'm confused, why is Blake the good guy and Alexis the bad guy? I was always rooting for Alexis and against Blake (and his gold-digging wife). It seems that the only reason she's a villain because we're supposed to root against an ambitious, powerful woman.

by Anonymousreply 77March 12, 2017 9:16 PM

You could always tell when the writers were bored with a character and that their days were numbered.

For instance, Claudia. Pamela Bellwood would disappear for episodes at a time, and when she did appear, she just had two scenes, max. The only thing she had to do the entire season was when she tried to get her inherited oil well back from Denver Carrington (and it was just the same scene/dialogue played over and over).

Same thing with Dominique the next season. Diahann Carroll would come and go from the opening credits. The only I remember from her last season was the catfight with Alexis ("Retract this, you VIPER!") and her half-baked romance with Nick.

And even though Jack Coleman appeared in all of the episodes from his last season, Steven would often just have an obligatory single scene. They didn't have anything left for him.

by Anonymousreply 78March 12, 2017 9:31 PM

THE BEST season was when Dominique was first introduced. Billy Dee Williams (oooh!) and Diahann Carroll giving John and Joan a run for their money.

Moldavia, Rock Hudson and Ali MacGraw (yikes!) is when everything started to turn for the worse. The Colby's despite the always welcome appearance of Miss Barbara Stanwyck literally finished Dynasty off.

by Anonymousreply 79March 12, 2017 9:32 PM

Oh, r79, Carroll and Williams really could have given Collins and Forsythe a run for their money - with better writing and stories. As it was, the Dominique character was just a flash-in-the-pan. All hype. Window dressing. Propping. Stunt casting and token character. Carroll stayed longer than I thought she would through terrible half-baked plots that meant nothing and went nowhere. Dominique could have been such a great character. That really could have been one of DYNASTY's BEST stories.

by Anonymousreply 80March 12, 2017 9:43 PM

Carroll did several episodes of The Colbys during its first season, and even on that series, Dominique had nothing to do.

by Anonymousreply 81March 12, 2017 9:54 PM

BTS question: Was Joan going to be back for season 10 had Dynasty been renewed?

Also, did Leann Hunley leave by choice, or was she fired?

by Anonymousreply 82March 12, 2017 10:10 PM

I disagree with your view of Alexis, R77. She was supportive on the surface about Steven's sexuality, but it was more to "claim" him as hers than really being supportive. She had lost Fallon. She wasn't going to lose Steven too. Just a few episodes in she was giving him the lecture about living up to his status by marrying the right girl, but maybe with a man on the side. The way Steven was presented, despite tptb's motives behind it, was more realistic and complicated than just being gay, no ifs, ands, or buts.

by Anonymousreply 83March 12, 2017 10:54 PM

Why was Karen Cellini fired? I just watched her first episode and she seemed like an improvement over sulky, wooden Catherine Oxenberg.

by Anonymousreply 84March 12, 2017 11:00 PM

I had no problem with other characters' feelings towards Steven's homosexuality - it mirrored the hypocrisy and homophobia that is latent in even the most open-minded person. What I didn't like is the network's fear and homophobia that prevented writers from continuing an exploration of a very complex subject.

by Anonymousreply 85March 12, 2017 11:44 PM

Joan Collins was not going to return in the 10th season. Diahann Carroll, however, was. Dominique was going to turn out to be behind the mystery faction looking for Nazi treasure under the Carrington mansion.

by Anonymousreply 86March 12, 2017 11:50 PM

r84, are you fucking serious?

by Anonymousreply 87March 12, 2017 11:51 PM

R84 Cellini was let go. Oxenberg was no Meryl Streep but she fit into the Dynasty universe with her pouty beauty.

by Anonymousreply 88March 13, 2017 12:11 AM

R88 here . Cellini was let go because she was horrible in the role. Duh?

by Anonymousreply 89March 13, 2017 12:12 AM

R82 Huntley left on her own. But the last season the budget was slashed for the show (thus Collins appearing in less episodes) and with the addition of Beacham it may have been mutual that she left.

by Anonymousreply 90March 13, 2017 12:15 AM

R90 here I mean Hunley. ^^^

by Anonymousreply 91March 13, 2017 12:19 AM

R80 I agree Carroll was wasted on the show. Making her Blakes sister was probably a mistake.

by Anonymousreply 92March 13, 2017 12:21 AM

The other options they played around with was making Dominique Kirby's biological mother, Cecil Colby's ex-wife and even a wife Blake had no idea he had during a drunken teenage indiscretion. Making her a Carrington gave her more of legacy connection, but it felt like the writers were truly not invested in this story and failed to give all involved the material these actors really could have fed on.

In hindsight, making Dominique the secret wife of Cecil Colby would have been made a better idea. It certainly would have made a lot more sense for Dominique's custom-made hatred for Alexis. As they played it, it just came across as juvenile and cartoonish, insinuating that women have got to hate each other just for the enjoyment of hating one another. I always felt those scenes between Carroll and Collins were a lowpoint for those actresses and for women in general.

If Dominique had to be Blake's sister, Dominique and Alexis should have actually started out as friends with a common enemy in Blake. As they moved to takeover Denver-Carrington, the two would inevitably become foils over sharing the spoils of war. And an affair between Alexis and Brady would have added fuel to the fire. Feuds need a reason other than just for sheer bitchery.

by Anonymousreply 93March 13, 2017 1:57 AM

Dom being behind the search for The Collection was a possible, but not what they decided on. They were going to bring on Lauren Hutton as a mysterious woman from Blake's past. She is even supposedly the voice heard from the limo in the last ep.

by Anonymousreply 94March 13, 2017 1:58 AM

I always had a problem with that too, R93. Dominique came to Denver locked and loaded with Alexis in her sights.....why, exactly? Because that's how it was written, it would seem. It made little sense. Beyond the initial camp factor of Blake having a sister who's a sistah(you know they loved the shock value of that, but then were too scared to play it up), she was a minor threat. Despite all her emoting about getting what was rightfully hers, the plot was hardly compelling. Maybe if she had been the owner of a company that could actually be a threat to Denver Carrington or Colbyco, but she really must have been more of what Alexis called her, a "saloon singer," since it seemed no one in Denver recognized her.

by Anonymousreply 95March 13, 2017 2:12 AM

R84 come on now. You don't compare when you don't compete. Cellini isn't even on the radar.

by Anonymousreply 96March 13, 2017 2:40 AM

The 80s was hugely homophobic. When Dynasty started it was still illegal to be gay in Texas and many other states, so having a gay character on a prime time show was still highly progressive.

by Anonymousreply 97March 13, 2017 2:45 AM

Dynasty? Puh-lease.

by Anonymousreply 98March 13, 2017 2:46 AM

Kirby is as exciting as a limp, dirty dishrag.

by Anonymousreply 99March 13, 2017 2:49 AM

The story with Karen Cellini was that at the end of season six, the writers were making noise about getting rid of Amanda Carrington. They outlined an idea where Michael the Chauffeur would come back to Denver, fall in love with Amanda, and half way though season seven she would be murdered. Of course, Michael would be the prime suspect, and there would be a big trial- the whole nine yards.

During the Summer, Catherine Oxenberg demanded more money than Spelling was willing to give her, and she was dismissed. The problem was that the production of the show was very disjointed and disorganized. The right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing, especially with The Colbys having been added to the mix. If Spelling and co had checked with the writers, they likely would have said "don't bother replacing her, we'd run out of ideas for her anyway".

But as it was, Karen Cellini had been a finalist for one of the roles on The Colbys. She didn't get the part, but when Oxenberg left, Spelling immediately suggested calling her up and telling her she was the new Amanda Carrington. The writers now planned to keep the Michael storyline, and see where it went.

It was a terrible, terrible decision on Spelling's part. Cellini was no more like Oxenberg than Emma Samms had been like Pamela Sue Martin. It was simply a different character, who'd lost her British accent seemingly overnight. The disarray the show was in can be summed up by the fact that they kept the London Bridge in the credits, and simply replaced Oxenberg with Cellini, even though it didn't sound as if Cellini had never stepped foot in London.

The first few weeks of shooting for Cellini were a disaster. She had no handle on the character, such as it was, and she was quite wooden and uncomfortable on camera. The day the second episode of season 7 aired, it was announced she'd been dismissed from the show. Amanda didn't even get murdered, she just disappeared, never once to be mentioned again, even in the reunion movie. Her final appearance on the show was in the first week of January of 1987.

I think this story makes Spelling and the Shapiros look horrible and incompetent. It was a terrible thing to do to a young actress. A big public humiliation.

by Anonymousreply 100March 13, 2017 8:08 AM

Well well well you know

by Anonymousreply 101March 13, 2017 11:41 AM

That John Forsythe link at r65 is sad. He seemed to be in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

by Anonymousreply 102March 13, 2017 3:41 PM

Interesting how both Pamela Sue Martin and Al Corley will show up for any DYNASTY reunion after they were so hellbent on putting the show behind them.

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by Anonymousreply 103March 15, 2017 12:29 AM

They wasted the character of Dominique Devereaux...Diahann Carroll deserved better than what they gave her. A few tantrums, a catfight and some nice clothes. Originally her character was supposed to be Kirby's mother, but the Shapiros chickened out.

by Anonymousreply 104March 15, 2017 12:36 AM

I remember Diahann Carroll saying "I'm going to be television's first BLACK bitch". But Dominique was never a bitch. She was basically as nice as Krystle. I wonder if Joan Collins made it clear at some point that she was to be the only "bitch" on the show. The scene where Dominique arrives in Denver was great. The couple of confrontations with Alexis were also great. Other than that, I have no memory of any of her storylines. I remember her having a daughter, and her being Blake's sister (so bad), but other than that nothing.

by Anonymousreply 105March 15, 2017 9:34 PM

Why all Steven's boyfriends ended up dying?

by Anonymousreply 106March 15, 2017 11:58 PM

bump

by Anonymousreply 107March 17, 2017 10:27 PM

I am with R63.... season 1 was a well crafted drama.... seasons 2 and 3 excellent melodrama. After that it started to sag for me.

Collins and Alexis were delightful in the beginning. She could toy with a line. She is actually a much better actress than her body of work suggests. Listen to the line: "Well, that could have been a regiment."

BTW this YoutTube page is a treasure trove of best of from Season 2.

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by Anonymousreply 108March 17, 2017 11:18 PM

Bitches...

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by Anonymousreply 109March 17, 2017 11:19 PM

so delightfully full of herself

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by Anonymousreply 110March 17, 2017 11:29 PM

[quote]Seasons 1 to 8 streams free on Amazon Prime Video, but they charge $19.95 to watch the final season! WTF?

Because season 9 was the best. DL once had a long thread, "Colby vs Colby," about that one season alone.

by Anonymousreply 111March 18, 2017 2:04 AM

This was the one and only time I liked an Alexis-Krystle fight ... it was the culmination of a season's worth of comeuppance for Alexis, who had caused nothing but anxiety, tension, trouble and heartache for Krystle. It was motivated by Krystle's discovery that Alexis was responsible for her miscarriage. Alexis deserved the shit beaten out of her, and Krystle proved herself a woman who could fight her own battle and deal with the enemy. It was really a first for TV (or appeared to be ... on DALLAS, men were always brawling).

After that, all their subsequent catfights became ridiculous (the pond fight), contrived (the mud fight), formuliac (the reunion fashion fight), making both women look petty, superficial and childish.

PS: the prospect of the introduction of Samuel "Mark" Jennings promised a whole new exciting story, which fell flat in the third season with wimpy writing and a less than capable actor (Geoffrey Scott) who just could not hold his own with Forsythe or Evans. Mark was never any real threat at all. The original idea was to have Wayne Rogers in the role, a man who might have better but in all honesty was not the right fit for the campy stylish third season. Personally, I would have cast someone like James Franciscus.

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by Anonymousreply 112March 18, 2017 3:22 AM

One of the funniest things on the show was the reveal of who killed Mark Jennings. Steven had seen his mother push Jennings off a balcony, and was willing to testify. Alexsis looked done for. But, at the last minute, a photo was discovered. It was taken at an event in the building across the street. They blew it up, to find some congressman, dressed as Alexis with a wig on, pushing Mark Jennings off the balcony. The picture of the man in the Alexis costume was the funniest thing I ever saw.

by Anonymousreply 113March 18, 2017 3:52 AM

[quote]They blew it up, to find some congressman, dressed as Alexis with a wig on, pushing Mark Jennings off the balcony. The picture of the man in the Alexis costume was the funniest thing I ever saw.

Better yet, the actor, Paul Burke, is only known for the movie Valley of the Dolls. It was hilarious casting.

by Anonymousreply 114March 18, 2017 4:16 AM

Nothing's limp if I'm around, R99. Jealous, aren't we??

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by Anonymousreply 115March 18, 2017 11:03 AM

I always thought the script title for Kirby's first episode was funny:

"Enter Kirby"

by Anonymousreply 116March 18, 2017 3:00 PM

How come did the writers never came up with a long lost lesbian girlfriend for Alexis Carrington?

by Anonymousreply 117March 18, 2017 9:43 PM

R117, how come the writers never played up the lesbian tension between Alexis and Krystle?

by Anonymousreply 118March 19, 2017 1:42 AM

[quote][R117], how come the writers never played up the lesbian tension between Alexis and Krystle?

God, YES! Now we're talking! Would have loved to see this plot play out, maybe with a little Kirby on the side.

by Anonymousreply 119March 19, 2017 9:50 AM

Because there was none? Yes, that's it!

by Anonymousreply 120March 19, 2017 11:21 AM

Good point, r120.

by Anonymousreply 121March 19, 2017 1:25 PM

I agree with other posters who say Diane Cahrrol was underused.

Some other points on the show :

1) The first two seasons were the most serious and grounded.

2) They obviously tightened the budget by season six as you can see costumes and props being used over and over again on different characters, and in different places.

3) I agree with John Forsythe The Colby's did mark the begining of the end for the show. How can you just start a spin-off show when the original is at its peak and needs attention? talk about greed.

4) The relationship between Alexis and Dex became a parody of its self. For six seasons they broke up and got back together, even though it was obviously just a sexual relationship, and Alexis only loved Blake. The relationship should have ended for good after Dex slept with Amanda imo.

5)Lesley spoils season 8, which although not a great season was still entertaining. She is just strange and the actress was awful.

6) My main critisism is that they kept bringing in more uneeded characters every season instead of developing the ones they had.

by Anonymousreply 122March 19, 2017 1:51 PM

The catfight between Alexis and Krystle, at least the first one, was lame. I mean, Krystle realized that Alexis was responsible for her fucking MISCARRIAGE and all she does is basically have a pillow fight with her? She should have beaten her to a bloody pulp. I guess Hollywood knows best when it comes to these things, but still.

by Anonymousreply 123March 19, 2017 3:22 PM

R123 it was more than a pillow fight. They completely DESTROYED that place. Krystle more than took it out on Alexis and her British ass.

by Anonymousreply 124March 19, 2017 3:35 PM

Diahann Carroll was badly handled because she was a stunt casting. She pitched the idea of TV's first black bitch, the execs leapt at it and then went right back to thinking about Forever Krystle and that shit. The long lost BLACK sister was hard to sell at the time... far more effective would have been Cecil Colby's secret first wife, He sent her off, with a payment, because prejudice defeated their relationship. For all he knew she was dead so he never actually divorced her. So when she arrives the stating of the claim, the proving of the claim and the implications of the claim could have spun three solid seasons of story. But Dynasty had a strong start, which I credit mostly to Richard Shapiro as a writer, As it got bigger it felt like (from interviews I read) it seems like Esther Shapiro got swept away in the success of it all and was a willing accomplice in milking the cash cow. And who can blame them... this is about money... if good storytelling survives the process what a happy surprise.

by Anonymousreply 125March 19, 2017 3:36 PM

R125 having Carroll as Cecil's ex wife would've been brilliant. I never really bought Dominique going after Alexis just for the hell of it. There has to be a REASON for conflict. Carrolls debut in 1984 unfortunately started all these Carrington and Colby relatives coming out of the woodwork with very little for them to do.

by Anonymousreply 126March 19, 2017 3:52 PM

The thing about the catfights is that there were only two between Alexis and Krystle the whole series. Yes, only two, the studio, and the pond fight. In spitof this everyone talks about them like they happened every seasoon, they did not. Other characters dd but only two for Alexis and Krystle.

by Anonymousreply 127March 19, 2017 4:20 PM

You forget Alexis and Krystle in the mudslide (so contrived) and Alexis and Krystle in the fashion studio (Dynasty:the Reunion) and, if had been worked out, Alexis and Krystle in the hydrotherapy room (Dynasty: Assisted Living.)

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by Anonymousreply 128March 19, 2017 4:25 PM

Krystle was actually kind of unhinged most of the time.

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by Anonymousreply 129March 19, 2017 4:27 PM

The mudslide was NOT a fight, and the other one doesn't count because it was only in the reuinion which was seperate from the series. Again I say there were only two!

by Anonymousreply 130March 19, 2017 5:34 PM

Fine, fussy. Do you have an erection?

by Anonymousreply 131March 19, 2017 5:39 PM

I thought they made a serious mistake making Amanda a long-lost Carrington daughter - the credibility of a show suffers when you contrive a story out of a plot purpose. Amanda would have made more sense if she had been Alexis' secret illegitimate child with Roger Grimes.

by Anonymousreply 132March 19, 2017 9:51 PM

r125, I don't know if I agree about Richard Shapiro. I know he wrote that stunning scene in the pilot between Blake and Steven when Blake lambasts his just-returned son for being gay (Blake even suggests that it's normal to experiment and have some fun on the side, but to commit to the homosexual lifestyle was a social sin). But he also came up with the UFO cliffhanger. The interview with both Shapiros shown above shows Richard playing second fiddle to the much more dominant Esther, who claims she felt the show lost its substance in the latter years and seems to regret the crazy ride it took. But I do agree the Shapiros sold out.

by Anonymousreply 133March 19, 2017 9:58 PM

R132 the Amanda character was introduced to fill the void when Pamela Sue Martin left in 1984. I actually liked the character at least when Oxenberg played her. Don't get me started on Karen Cellini.

by Anonymousreply 134March 19, 2017 10:05 PM

[quote]2) They obviously tightened the budget by season six as you can see costumes and props being used over and over again on different characters, and in different places.

The lower floor of the Carrington mansion actually SHRANK by season 7. It went from long halls to short ones.

by Anonymousreply 135March 19, 2017 10:24 PM

R133 God help me, it's kind of hot that Blake told that to Steven. Blake basically acknowledges having had sex with dudes, but moving on from it and becoming a "man". Big Daddy says something similar to Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

And I totally agree that making Dominique Cecil's ex would've been wonderful. But, again, I wonder if Joan Collins made it known that she wanted to be the only true bitch on the show.

by Anonymousreply 136March 19, 2017 10:36 PM

It's a fair point about the Shapiros... I don't know the backstory... but I think the thing got bigger than anybody imagined and they all went Hollywood.

I always hated the changes to the mansion set, which I assume were for economy. Aphrodite all of a sudden replacing the French doors... the stairs going to opposite the front door. As so often, the house became a character in the show. Though I though the Colby mansion just looked like a McMansion that achieved puberty.

by Anonymousreply 137March 19, 2017 10:41 PM

Wow that really is a great scene between Blake and Steven. Damn it, why did they have to change him saying "I'm not sure I'd want to (be "cured " of being gay)".

I was wrong, what Blake says to Steven isn't quite what Big Daddy say to Brick. It's still a riveting, realistic, heartbreaking scene. Blake sounds exactly like my dad.

by Anonymousreply 138March 19, 2017 11:06 PM

Meant to post the scene.

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by Anonymousreply 139March 19, 2017 11:07 PM

Oxenberg's Amanda was a triumph of attitude over acting ability. The accent and the petulance sold the character, then when Cellini came on trying to ACT, it just didn't work at all. Not to mention that when Amanda first appeared every character was required to prattle on about how she was SO SIMILAR TO FALLON. Ugh!

by Anonymousreply 140March 20, 2017 12:43 AM

It was probably Catherine Oxenberg's real accent and pronunciation, but I always loved whenever Amanda would refer to Blake and say "Oh, dah-dee!"

by Anonymousreply 141March 20, 2017 2:18 AM

[quote]Oxenberg's Amanda was a triumph of attitude over acting ability. The accent and the petulance sold the character

I bought her as Alexis' daughter, especially as her mother was Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. She hit her highest point playing Princess Diana, who she resembled, as she was related distantly to both Charles and Di.

by Anonymousreply 142March 20, 2017 3:00 AM

^^whom she resembled

by Anonymousreply 143March 20, 2017 3:01 AM

Lee Grant was the second choice (after Sophia Loren) for the role of Alexis. This was based on her role as the villain Stella on Peyton Place. She demurred as she wanted to focus on her directing career.

However she did play an Alexis type character on the miniseries Bare Essence.

Here Linda Evans plays a scene with Lee Grant. Imagine them as Krystal and Alexis!

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by Anonymousreply 144March 20, 2017 3:05 AM

Hearing Grant attempt a honeychile accent reminds me of Elizabeth Ashley, who could have kicked serious butt on a nighttime soap. Or any where else, for that matter. Was she busy in the legitimate theatah?

by Anonymousreply 145March 20, 2017 4:24 AM

Joan and Diahann are actually good friends in real life. Collins and Evans and Forsythe were another matter. Things were especially frosty between Collins and Forsythe. Evans never played diva, so working relations between her and Collins were cordial and professional.

by Anonymousreply 146March 20, 2017 5:01 AM

I know, r134. What I'm saying is that Amanda could still have filled the void left by Martin but Amanda didn't have to be a convenient custom-made Carrington daughter, which made things absurd. Exit Fallon; immediately afterward, enter from the left Amanda. She could have just been the new "daughter figure" only on Alexis' side. Blake could have used her as a Fallon replacement, despite her being Roger's daughter. It would have been a much more interesting story.

by Anonymousreply 147March 20, 2017 5:06 AM

r144, Ashley was actually one of the actresses they approached to play Sable Colby, along with Angie Dickinson (yes, they approached her again after she turned the Krystle role down years before), Elizabeth Taylor and Faye Dunaway.

They really appeared to want Dickinson badly, offering her the chances to play Krystle, Lady Ashley Mitchell and Sable Colby.

Falcon Crest also made a bid for Dickinson into joining their cast as a long-lost daughter of Angela's that she thought had died at childbirth. When Dickinson declined, the story was rewritten to have Richard Channing as the thought-dead baby.

by Anonymousreply 148March 20, 2017 5:18 AM

I'm still baffled by the career, such as it was, of Kathleen Beller.

Before playing Kirby, she was only known, essentially, as the title role in 1978's The Betsy. (She played Betsy.)

This film's cast was made up of an asonishing number of award-winning actors such as Oscar nominees/winners: Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall, Katharine Ross, Tommy Lee Jones, Jane Alexander, and (for fun) Lesley-Anne Down.

Beller showed her tits and bush but not much talent, especially against such a cast of serious actors. Did this film get her Dynasty?

by Anonymousreply 149March 20, 2017 5:35 AM

She did another movie that was well-received around the time of THE BETSY, but I don't recall the title. Plus she had some TV movies under her belt by the time she was hired as Kirby.

by Anonymousreply 150March 20, 2017 5:39 AM

I'm still baffled by the career, such as it was, of Kathleen Beller.

Before playing Kirby, she was, essentially, the title role in The Betsy. (She played Betsy.)

This film's cast was made up of an asonishing number of award-winning actors such as Oscar nominees/winners: Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall, Katharine Ross, Tommy Lee Jones, Jane Alexander, and (for fun) Lesley-Anne Down.

Beller showed her tits and pussy/bush but not much talent, especially against such a cast of serious actors. Did this film get her Dynasty?

by Anonymousreply 151March 20, 2017 5:50 AM

I think season 8 was ok. Better than season 7. The English fayre was fun and Alexis wore that gorgeous red evening gown.

by Anonymousreply 152March 20, 2017 5:57 AM

Did the mansion really shrink? It's never occurred to me before. Wow they really did cut back. Dynasty is one of those shows that takes me back to my childhood era. It symbolises the 80s, like Cagney and Lacey, Hill Street Blues and The A Team. When I hear their theme tunes I am instantly transported.

by Anonymousreply 153March 20, 2017 6:05 AM

R153 They initially filmed on location on and in the Filoli propriety, and later built sets in LA to match exteriors. The interiors were scaled down for practicality in lighting.

R153 In Season 9, they returned to long tracking shots, down those grand halls, with servants running around in the background.

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by Anonymousreply 154March 20, 2017 6:43 AM

Here's an interesting find:

[quote]The name of the estate is an acronym formed by combining the first two letters from the key words of William Bourn's credo: "Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life."

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by Anonymousreply 155March 20, 2017 6:52 AM

And this:

[quote]Filoli has served as the set for many Hollywood films.[15] Most famously, it is the mansion seen from the air in the opening credits of the television series Dynasty. The mansion's plush interiors were also featured in the first episodes of the series but were subsequently replicated on sound stages at the Fox Studios, Century City.

by Anonymousreply 156March 20, 2017 7:01 AM

[quote] It was a show with wit, heart, intellect, and honesty, as brutal as need be. Speaking of brutality, I don't think there was anything more shocking that than Blake's drunken and hate-filled rape of his wife before and since.

Mary!

by Anonymousreply 157March 20, 2017 7:02 AM

[quote] the prospect of the introduction of Samuel "Mark" Jennings promised a whole new exciting story, which fell flat in the third season with wimpy writing and a less than capable actor (Geoffrey Scott) who just could not hold his own with Forsythe or Evans.

It's amazing to think that there could be an actor who could not hold his own with Linda Evans. The imagination staggers.

by Anonymousreply 158March 20, 2017 7:08 AM

The Shapiros have some weird loyalties... Beller... the odd inclusion of Michael Brandon in that hideous reunion movie (in fact the odd inclusion of Kathleen Beller in that hideous reunion movie.) I am chalking it up to the Shapiros.... maybe it wasn't... but somebody was always on the verge of casting an ABC movie of the week for the 1970s.

by Anonymousreply 159March 20, 2017 12:24 PM

God that scene between Blake and Steven was so real! how did the show go from being that well written and performed, to being the major campfest it turned into by season 3?

by Anonymousreply 160March 20, 2017 5:19 PM

Even Alexis was different, and at her most interesting in Season 2. She hadn't turned into the big camp image that we all remember. All the seasons are fun in their own way, but the first two seasons are where the real drama was.

by Anonymousreply 161March 20, 2017 5:23 PM

[quote]But he also came up with the UFO cliffhanger.

It was shitty that the Shapiros ended "The Colbys" with a cliffhanger. During the 1986-87 season, it was getting ratings on par with the epic bomb "Life With Lucy" (another ABC series from Spelling, which was swiftly canceled), and they knew it would not be renewed for a third year.

by Anonymousreply 162March 20, 2017 8:51 PM

I LOVED that artist's studio that Alexis lived in in the second season. I had a studio apartment once that was very similar. God, I loved that place.

Why didn't we ever see Alexis paint again?

by Anonymousreply 163March 21, 2017 1:20 AM

The Shapiros were friends with Harding Lemay, famed headwriter of the daytime soap Another World and creator of the psycho-driven triangle between millionaire Mac (Blake), his younger wife Rachel (Krystle) and his incestuous daughter Iris (Fallon). Iris' married name was Carrington; the original names of the Shapiro's family in their pilot was Packhurst, then changed to Carrington. Cosmopolitan and worldly Iris would also be the inspiration for Alexis, who eventually would be placed in a modern and sleek penthouse that would resemble Iris' state-of-the-art penthouse suite. Years after DYNASTY ended, Joan Collins would step in the role for a brief period on Guiding Light to play Alexandra Spaulding, the character originated and most identified with Beverlee McKinsey, who played Lemay's iconic villainess Iris.

by Anonymousreply 164March 21, 2017 1:22 AM

OMG, the acting and writing in this scene is just atrocious - nothing genuine about it at all. Season 3 was a completely different season from the first.

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by Anonymousreply 165March 21, 2017 1:56 AM

Alexis wearing someone's poodle on her head:

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by Anonymousreply 166March 21, 2017 2:07 AM

Randy Hamilton was on DYNASTY:

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by Anonymousreply 167March 21, 2017 2:50 AM

[quote]I think season 8 was ok. Better than season 7.

Season 7 was when the writers just gave up on the series. In fact, there was one specific point where every single story on the show was recycled from early seasons: Michael teaming up with McVane to destroy Alexis (Mark Jennings had teamed up with McVane to destroy Alexis), Sarah moving into the Carrington mansion after her losing her daughter/suicide attempt (Claudia had moved into the Carrington mansion after losing her daughter/suicide attempt), Adam's paternity (which was revisited for a THIRD time). The only "original" story was Clay and Leslie's bickering work romance (which they were obviously copying from Moonlighting!).

After the Moldavia mess, you would think that ABC and Spelling would've invested in decent writers to stop the bleeding. Hiring David Paulsen to run the show for the ninth season was a good move, but it was too late by then.

by Anonymousreply 168March 21, 2017 7:18 PM

Were we supposed to believe that an old man like Blake could wrestle a big Nordic Amazon like Krystle onto the bed and rape her? LOL, that was so fake. She could snap his ass in half. And she FORGAVE him? Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit....

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by Anonymousreply 169March 22, 2017 12:55 AM

Simon MacCorkindale was on DYNASTY?!

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by Anonymousreply 170March 23, 2017 3:04 AM

I don't blame PSM for leaving. Fallon's character was wiped out end of season 2 into season three when they decided to make her a good wife and mother.

by Anonymousreply 171March 23, 2017 3:06 AM

She and Jeff should have been the latter day Blake and Alexis... at war and in love, sometimes at the same time. But in that instance Jeff should have been cast with an actor who didn't seem better suited to playing Mrs. Steven Carrington.

by Anonymousreply 172March 23, 2017 3:07 AM

r169, I would love to known what the Shapiros originally intended for this couple. The soap writers Elaine and Bob Pollock hired for the second season began to change the original style of the show. Soon, fucked up villain Blake would be retooled as a romantic lead. But in the first season, he was a hard-ass thug. Did the Shapiros envision Blake and Krystle as a J.R./Sue Ellen type couple with years of antagonism and love-hate looping in a vicious cycle? It would have been interesting to see their story evolve through the years if DYNASTY hadn't sold out and gone campy.

by Anonymousreply 173March 23, 2017 3:13 AM

I think from what I read the Shapiros intended the characters to be much more real and complex... warts and all.... as they were in the first season. But the first season ratings weren't anything spectacular. The show didn't really tale off until it got heavily glam across the board and the characters became more soapy staples.

by Anonymousreply 174March 23, 2017 3:17 AM

R163 I think Alexis was painting again wgen she whisked Blake off to an island.

R165 I rather liked that scene, one of the few civil conversations between Alexis and Krystle.

by Anonymousreply 175March 23, 2017 3:24 AM

[quote]Adam's paternity (which was revisited for a THIRD time).

That was so played out. Also, I seem to remember Adam later learned that some old prisoner had made the whole thing up, and he really was a Carrington. However, he didn't even bother to tell Blake or Alexis that he was their son by blood!!

by Anonymousreply 176March 23, 2017 3:31 AM

Why did Pamela Sue Martin retire from acting?

by Anonymousreply 177March 23, 2017 10:34 AM

Bump.

by Anonymousreply 178March 23, 2017 11:10 PM

She suffered hair loss from the stress of her career. She quit NANCY DREW earlier as well.

I've been binge watching the show and as usual have some of the same questions. Such as WTH was up with JEFF AND NICOLE'S LESS THAN EXCELLENT ADVENTURE? Was it just some sort of time waster until they brought Fallon back? And if they were going to do a treasure hunt story, why so cheap?

by Anonymousreply 179March 24, 2017 5:31 AM

WEHT Maxwell Caulfield, who played Miles Colby? I used to cream in my jeans when I saw him. I heard he is married to a woman who is about 20 years older than him. It must be a cover marriage as Max was too pretty to be straight.

by Anonymousreply 180March 24, 2017 6:05 AM

R179 she was way too drugged up to hold a steady job anywhere

by Anonymousreply 181March 24, 2017 6:07 AM

let's talk about the Sean Rowan storyline surely one of the shows silliest. I will never forget how it started with Alex is weirdly driving off a bridge, and having to he rescued by the strapping sean.

by Anonymousreply 182March 24, 2017 6:13 AM

Pamela Bellwood?

by Anonymousreply 183March 24, 2017 3:49 PM

Wasn't the Sean storyline a recycled version of the Nick Toscanini story? Both of them came to Denver to avenge a sibling. It was Kirby in Sean's case. As well as "Papa."

by Anonymousreply 184March 24, 2017 4:59 PM

Sean had a really raspy, Harvey Fierstein voice. Would have made a good drag queen. And who can forget he and Alexis bonding over Alexis' fear of thunder - "oh hold me Sean, I'm so scared!" - one of the worst scenes ever committed to prime time television.

by Anonymousreply 185March 24, 2017 5:06 PM

Caulfield is married to Juliet Mills, who played 300-year-old witch Tabitha on NBC's Passions. She looked about the right age for the part in 1999 when it started so I can just imagine now.

by Anonymousreply 186March 24, 2017 5:27 PM

Sean Rowan's story was absurd beginning with his very first scene. I guess it was understandable that he wanted Alexis dead for what she did to his father and sister, but he could have achieved those results by simply letting her drown!

by Anonymousreply 187March 24, 2017 10:27 PM

I always thought a Sean Rowen story would have been better if it had been about the real Adam Carrington coming to Denver to enact revenge on everyone, but they had to give Alexis a new lover so that would have been impossible (although they did flirt with incest between Adam and Fallon in season 3, and even had the unwitting siblings share saliva in a kiss scene, but it would have been too much to ask viewers to accept Alexis finding out she was seduced by her own son). I don't know why the writers always ignored the Roger Grimes angle (until the last season). It would have made sense that Nick Toscanni was Roger's brother, considering we had just heard all about Roger at the beginning of season 2. Ditto for Sean - it would have been a full circle story for Alexis if Sean was his younger brother.

Funny story: the actor who played Sean (forget his name) was asked by a director to suck on Joan Collins' toes for a love scene, and he adamantly refused, protesting it was a gross thing to do. Poor Joan didn't get her piggies sucked.

by Anonymousreply 188March 26, 2017 5:39 AM

Jon-Eik Hexum was up for the role of Dex Dexter. He and Joan were dating around the time of the Making of a Male Model, and the producers opted against hiring Joan's toyboy.

by Anonymousreply 189March 26, 2017 5:41 AM

R188, his name was James Healey

by Anonymousreply 190March 26, 2017 6:18 AM

Dean Paul Martin also auditioned for the role of Dex Dexter.

by Anonymousreply 191March 26, 2017 6:22 AM

Dex Dexter is up there with Caress as stupid character names.

by Anonymousreply 192March 26, 2017 12:55 PM

[quote]Such as WTH was up with JEFF AND NICOLE'S LESS THAN EXCELLENT ADVENTURE? Was it just some sort of time waster until they brought Fallon back? And if they were going to do a treasure hunt story, why so cheap?

It was Dynasty's take on Romancing the Stone, which had just been a big hit at the box office.

by Anonymousreply 193March 26, 2017 6:40 PM

The writers always seemed to have a disdain for the audience.

Dominique's exit is a prime example. She had been on the show for three years, yet didn't even warrant a farewell scene. She accepted that dude's (can't even remember his name) marriage proposal and was never seen again. I believe the next season it was mentioned Dominique had sold all of her interests in Denver Carrington and its related ventures, and that was bogus and out of character.

by Anonymousreply 194March 26, 2017 6:58 PM

There were three alternatives for Dominique

Cecil's long lost first wife; Blake's sister; Kirby's mother

by Anonymousreply 195March 26, 2017 7:01 PM

Dominique as Kirby's mother would totally have worked. But the Shapiros were afraid of going there. That would have forced them to be more talented and delve into America's race problem. They didn't have the guns for that. And they didn't need them. DYNASTY was about temper tantrums in sequined gowns and men barking orders in tuxedos.

by Anonymousreply 196March 26, 2017 8:13 PM

I agree Diahann Carroll deserved better. She was game to play a real bitch and looked like she was having fun. But the stories were underwhelming. And they softened her too much so that she basically became another Krystle.

Agree about Beller. Kirby was an annoying character. I hated how they made her to be this wilting flower. She was such a drama queen. Thankfully they got rid of her.

Linda Evans was great in the first season. Krystle was smart and I loved watching her adjust to living as the wife of a rich man. The show captured the outsider perfectly.

And loved shirtless Tony.

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by Anonymousreply 197March 26, 2017 8:37 PM

Yeah I never get the hate for Linda in Season 1.... She was forced to start playing the Perils of Pauline in Season 2. But in one she had dignity and a sense of self and a clear sense of right and wrong. She wasn't a great actress in Season 1 but she wasn't a bad one either. Like some other performers she's cursed with a soft voice that has limited range.

by Anonymousreply 198March 26, 2017 9:38 PM

There originally was talk about Kirby being Blake's daughter with Alicia, which would have been more interesting as it would have set up a major rivalry with Fallon, but they went with a SABRINA/UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS knockoff instead. I like Beller, but she was often not up to the dramatics she was given to play. And despite it being talked up that she was fluent in French, she gave the impression that she would hardly be able to order a croissant from the local bakery without needing a U.N. translator.

Dom/Diahann was wasted. It never made sense that she was so antagonistic to Alexis when she first arrived in Denver, except that the writers wanted someone else to trade bitchy barbs with La Collins. After she was accepted by the Carrington clan and survived her illness, she was just wandering around doling out advice. It's a shame we never saw the mansion she was building, but that young, hot dick came a callin', and awaaaaaay she went, never to be seen again!

by Anonymousreply 199March 26, 2017 9:57 PM

[quote]There originally was talk about Kirby being Blake's daughter with Alicia, which would have been more interesting as it would have set up a major rivalry with Fallon, but they went with a SABRINA/UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS knockoff instead.

It is amazing how many great stories they abandoned for stupid folly. Well, I guess when you're perfecting a perfume...

by Anonymousreply 200March 26, 2017 10:50 PM

They had some real doozys(doozies?), as Hazel would say. One cliffhanger they tossed around was Krystle having acid splashed in her face. YUCK! That would have been absolutely too much. And I'm sure most every DYNASTY nut knows by now that they wanted the Krystle/Rita kidnapping story to last the entire season. When it didn't go over--ahem--quite like they thought it would they cut it short, and hinted that Linda Evans' lack of acting prowess was why the storyline wasn't as popular as they knew it would be. There really was an arrogance about tptb once the show gained ratings.

by Anonymousreply 201March 26, 2017 10:59 PM

IT'S BURNT

by Anonymousreply 202March 26, 2017 11:00 PM

[quote]They had some real doozys(doozies?), as Hazel would say.

Fallon boarding a UFO...

by Anonymousreply 203March 26, 2017 11:01 PM

I kinda liked the Rita story (but I love the tension of impostor stories and easily suspend disbelief because of it)... but the should have done the reveal down the road... Evans was a lousy Rita as red head (with that terrible Su-thun accent)... it might have gone down better if Krystle started showing the tension of Rita faking Krystle, and revealing the source of the tension in due course.

by Anonymousreply 204March 26, 2017 11:14 PM

When watching it with a week in between eps it seemed interminable. Binge watching it is actually very entertaining. I really enjoyed the interaction between Sammy Jo and Daniel Reece in their couple of eps together. It's a pity Rock Hudson became too ill to shoot all of his contracted episodes.

by Anonymousreply 205March 26, 2017 11:24 PM

I really like Season One. I like that the stories take their time. The acting is pretty strong throughout. Pamela Sue Martin is gold in the first season. Pamela Bellwood and Al Corley have excellent chemistry as friends. The love affair still works surprisingly although I wish they didn't waffle with Steven then. The sets are sumptuous.

But dear God, I hate both Matthew and Lindsay. Such terrible characters. And Lindsay is so whiney. Thank God they didn't bring her back like they did Matthew.

Matthew was horrible to Claudia. The hypocrisy when he leaves her and takes Lindsay when he cheated on Claudia.

by Anonymousreply 206March 27, 2017 12:24 AM

Kirby was about as compelling as a wet, greasy dishrag.

by Anonymousreply 207March 27, 2017 12:37 AM

r192, the character's name was Farnsworth "Dex" Dexter.

by Anonymousreply 208March 27, 2017 1:20 AM

And there was Cassandra "Caress" Morrell... big deal... they were stupid Jackie Collinsy names on what became a Jackie Collinsy show.

by Anonymousreply 209March 27, 2017 1:22 AM

Diahann Carroll's lowest point ...

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by Anonymousreply 210March 27, 2017 1:23 AM

"Dynasty" always had to go to those loooong shots for the catfights because the stuntwomen didn't look anything like the stars.

My favorite was when Blake lunged at Alexis at the top of the stairs and started to strangle her. It was edited poorly and you see a rather butch lady in Alexis' wig about to be strangled (freeze it at 1:20)...

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by Anonymousreply 211March 27, 2017 1:51 AM

Watching the clip at R211 I was reminded at how handsome Christopher Cazenove was. He died a few years (2010?) in his 60s.

by Anonymousreply 212March 27, 2017 2:04 AM

I LOVE the season 6 cliffhanger 'Take this junk, and your blonde tramp, and get out of my house'

I hated the Rita / krystle storyline it was totally unbeleievable and dumb. The only good thing was that one scene with Alexis running into the fake Krystle in a boutique, and questioning her over what she thinks is an affair with her doctor. 'You know you amaze me Krystle' then 'Krystle' gets angry and Alexis says 'careful Krystle your'e sounding more and more like a fishwife' haha!

by Anonymousreply 213March 27, 2017 8:59 AM

R206, I am NOT whiney!

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by Anonymousreply 214March 27, 2017 7:59 PM

I loved when Claudia told off Krystle in one of her last episodes. She called her the worst Carrington of them all because she just sits back and looks concerned while the family lies, manipulates, connives, etc. I can't remember the exact quote, but it was great.

by Anonymousreply 215March 27, 2017 8:29 PM

Get me some matches, R215, and I'll do the whole speech for you.

Liar....

by Anonymousreply 216March 27, 2017 9:27 PM

I always wondered why they never brought Lindsay back - in the form of another actress, of course. Adam boinking Steven's stepdaughter would have added good brother conflict, other than just the "I'm your bad brunette straight brother so I have to hate my good blonde bisexual brother" rivalry that was all about plot than anything remotely interesting.

Why did all the brunettes have to be bad on Dynasty?

by Anonymousreply 217March 28, 2017 12:25 AM

r214 Good Lord, I can hear her shrieking just looking at that pic!

But it's a shame what they did to Claudia. She was a great character.

by Anonymousreply 218March 28, 2017 12:45 AM

"I think it is marvellously acted, splendidly directed, crisply characterised. But I do not approve of all those immoral goings on. There's everything from men eyeing men, to women groping after married men; even the horses are homosexual."

by Anonymousreply 219March 28, 2017 1:58 AM

I loved Claudia in season 1. The Shapiros had a true grasp on who she was and were genuinely interested in creating a very real character fit for a talented actress.

I remember a scene in season 1 when Claudia went to a bar looking for some male attention that was right out of a 70s TV movie.

by Anonymousreply 220March 28, 2017 2:02 AM

Do you think that when Rock Hudson guest starred he regaled Michael Nader with stories about his uncle George Nader's cock?

by Anonymousreply 221March 28, 2017 2:04 AM

[quote] Get me some matches, [R215], and I'll do the whole speech for you.

I cackled at this one.

by Anonymousreply 222March 28, 2017 3:24 PM

They should have brought Sabella Scott Colby to Dynasty immediately after The Colbys ended, instead of waiting for a year. Jeff and Fallon were both useless during the 8th season.

by Anonymousreply 223March 28, 2017 6:16 PM

r215, here it is:

"You know you've always fascinated me. While the rest of this family manipulates and turns brother against brother, you stand by radiating this glow of passive acceptance. You allow the treachery and that makes you the most dangerous Carrington of them all."

by Anonymousreply 224March 28, 2017 6:22 PM

I agree, r223 -- even though Emma/Fallon (the actress and the character) did get better during the final season.

Speaking of The Colbys, was it ever revealed how the cliffhangers from that show were resolved? Did the Shapiros ever say what they had planned if the show had been renewed? I know they wrapped up the UFO stuff on Dynasty, but don't remember any mentions of the other characters.

by Anonymousreply 225March 28, 2017 7:16 PM

[quote]Why did all thIe brunettes have to be bad on Dynasty?

Spelling believed in typecasting based on haircolor. He famously referred to Jaclyn Smith as a brunette with a blonde personality.

R225 Sable said Alexis told Jason that the twins weren't his so he disinherited Miles and Monica and ran off with Sable's sister Francesca/Frankie. Thus her intense hatred for Alexis.

by Anonymousreply 226March 28, 2017 7:41 PM

John James, in a commentary on the COLBYS dvds suggested that the explanation for Fallon's kidnapping was going to be some sort of post partum delusion. Which would be interesting since the viewers saw much of what happened as spectators. They never really did much with the resolution when she returned to DYNASTY other than attending a couple of meetings of UFO abductees. BTW--what was up with her sporting a blonde wig for one episode? Had Samms had some sort of hair accident?

by Anonymousreply 227March 28, 2017 11:14 PM

Reading a bitch to filth

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by Anonymousreply 228March 28, 2017 11:15 PM

R216 This one's for you

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by Anonymousreply 229March 28, 2017 11:17 PM

Crazy Claudia had a point there.

Too bad it wasn't Rita underneath, she coulda clocked Claudia, throwing her from the second floor into the lily pond.

by Anonymousreply 230March 28, 2017 11:18 PM

You gotta give Bellwood props for bothering with inflection in that stupid thing.

La Mirage plainly wasn't following state regulations with regard to flammable materials.

by Anonymousreply 231March 28, 2017 11:22 PM

"Dallas" did a much better job of maintaining a core cast of characters and more believable story lines. If you watch Dallas you can tell that the story arcs were plotted across the length of the season, while on Dynasty they just seemed to bounce from one thing to another from week to week.

by Anonymousreply 232March 28, 2017 11:25 PM

[quote]Watching the clip at [R211] I was reminded at how handsome Christopher Cazenove was.

He was gorgeous, and I loved him in The Duchess of Duke Street. However, Ben was another character who was a mere plot device. You could tell they were just burning off Cazenove's contract during the last half of Season 7 (?). For around 8 episodes in a row, he would appear in a scene, begging for a relationship with Leslie and that was it. But then, after he established a relationship with Leslie, he told her he wasn't cut out to be a father and left Denver...

by Anonymousreply 233March 28, 2017 11:56 PM

Does anyone know why they changed the name of the hotel, and to something so similar? It was originally La Mirada, a sexy name; it means "the glance, the look" in Spanish. Then it was La Mirage which is ungrammatical French for "mirage."

by Anonymousreply 234March 29, 2017 1:25 AM

R234, because Oi sawr all dat gogeous little gold funnacha at Candy's drawin' room and I realized somethin': everythin French is classy!

by Anonymousreply 235March 29, 2017 1:27 AM

Thread died too soon.

by Anonymousreply 236March 31, 2017 12:26 AM

R236

Just like Steven's boyfriends.....

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by Anonymousreply 237March 31, 2017 1:16 AM

Better than Dynasty AND Dallas, Knots Landing lasted a lot longer. And it was because of continuity. With the exception of the CG/Cathy Geary/Alec Baldwin arc, they NEVER strayed from the focus of the show (i.e. Aliens, whole season that was a dream).

Besides Abby was the bomb! NO ONE did eyeliner like she did. Not even Erica! So evil, but SO beautiful! Alexis wouldn't have stood a chance against her.

by Anonymousreply 238March 31, 2017 10:32 AM

I agree with you 100%, R238... Knots Landing did have its occasional missteps (as opposed to the MULTIPLE shark-jumping moments exhibited on both Dallas and Dynasty), but overall I think it was the better show (and yes, Abby totally fucking ROCKED that world)! For me, part of the draw was that the characters on Knots were very-relatable upper-middle-class folks living their very-relatable upper-middle-class lives in very-relatable upper-middle-class suburbia (as opposed to the totally-unrelatable filthy-rich swine on Dallas and Dynasty constantly stabbing each other in their totally-unrelatable filthy-rich backs in their totally-unrelatable filthy-rich mansions), so yeah...

by Anonymousreply 239April 1, 2017 10:34 AM

[quote]My favorite thing EVER on Dynasty y'all

One of mine too, R47! I loved how the entertainment press of the time snarkily dubbed Cecil's cause of death here as "Coitus-Alexis"...

by Anonymousreply 240April 1, 2017 10:48 AM

I wished that Aaron Spelling could have added Marisa Berenson on Dynasty to play a villain to go against Joan Collins. That would have been a gas. Then again maybe most TV producers didn't think of her so much. Marisa did work with Joan on the mini series called Sins in 1986.

by Anonymousreply 241April 2, 2017 2:01 PM

claudia was spot on about Krystle. She even allowed Blake to get away with raping her.

by Anonymousreply 242April 2, 2017 2:21 PM

Actually Knots Landing was a tiresome, suburban soap about a cul de sac. When that didn't work, they tried to glamorize it but never reached the grand, operatic heights of Dynasty.

by Anonymousreply 243April 2, 2017 3:53 PM

Knots had the same sort of stumbles as any long lived night time soap but not as many as the glamour soaps and always within the context of Knots for the most part. But by the end I was watching sporadically and wondering who so many of the characters were. Once that central core was gone - started with Karen and ended at Abby, with the familiar faces in between, I wasn't as engaged personally.

Ben, Carress, Leslie, fat Virginia on Dynasty... they weren't Dynasty. They were just fill.

(It'

by Anonymousreply 244April 2, 2017 4:23 PM

Is there a single person here who appreciates The Reunion miniseries? It had almost no continuity. Alexis was running Jason Colby's Colby Enterprises, instead of ColbyCo. Sammy Jo was once again a poor, trashy cunt, who was struggling with her modeling career, and there was no explanation as to what happened to her millions and Delta Rho.

Other bizzare stuff: We learned that Fallon and Jeff had married and divorced for a THIRD time since the series ended, Fallon and Kirby both reunited with the men who had raped them, Alexis was doing a cheap Kmart fashion line, and more things I have blocked out.

by Anonymousreply 245April 2, 2017 5:47 PM

[quote]Is there a single person here who appreciates The Reunion miniseries? It had almost no continuity. Alexis was running Jason Colby's Colby Enterprises, instead of ColbyCo. Sammy Jo was once again a poor, trashy cunt, who was struggling with her modeling career, and there was no explanation as to what happened to her millions and Delta Rho.

The locations were the worst. They didn't cough up the money to recreate the mansion, so Blake and Krystle lived in a tract house (!), supposedly for security reasons. Alexis' glamorous office/headquarters of evil became a generic Century City office. When Alexis had her fashion show, it looked like they just rented a Holiday Inn meeting room and called it a day.

At the end, when they got back in the mansion, it was obviously a hotel, all heavy dark wood, and the characters stood around in the lobby and pretended it was the Carringtons' entryway.

by Anonymousreply 246April 2, 2017 5:56 PM

The reunion was awful. Gordon Thompson didn't return. A poor attempt at a catfight between Krystle and Alexis. It was too soon a reunion but I don't think one would have ever worked.

I just don't think the desire for a Dynasty reunion or reboot is there. The original show dipped in quality pretty fast so all those seasons are mostly poor writing and just over-the-top shenanigans. Dynasty didn't age as well as Dallas or Knots Landing because the quality wasn't as good.

It's fun to watch for nostalgic reasons but even that becomes a chore after awhile. Some of the stories are just god-awful (Fallon and Peter).

by Anonymousreply 247April 2, 2017 6:30 PM

Amen, r247. Dynasty belongs in the 1980's and not the 21st century.

by Anonymousreply 248April 2, 2017 6:38 PM

When I was in 7th grade, me and the girls in the class tried to make up lyrics to the Dynasty theme song. How I ever pulled off pretending to be straight, I'll nevah know! Mercifully I only remember the first few lines:

Dy-nas-ty, oh Dynasty!

Alex-as and Kry-s-stle, Blake and Dex De-eh-xter

Are en-eme-myyyys, but they love each otherrr, deep down inSIIIDE very muchuh

AND Clau-d-a loves Steven, but Steven is gay so it doesn’t really matter much any way-ayyy-ayy-ayy-ayy-ayy-aay-aay-aay-aay-aay-ayy

by Anonymousreply 249April 10, 2017 6:18 PM

U TRULY IN DANGER r243!

I see SOMEONE doesn't know how to play with others. I was NOT knocking Dynasty which l loved. It's just that KL was much more grounded in reality. Sort of like everyone on reality TV meets the man or the woman vs. That shit ain't happening. Have you looked in the mirror lately GURL?

Knots was far from boring. The twins abducted. The way Baldwin left the show. Danny raping his BLACK neighbor and everything THAT implied (it was the eighties). The back and forth between Karen and Abby. Oh and JR occasionally butting in.

by Anonymousreply 250April 10, 2017 11:26 PM

r250 Knots Landing had some great writing (I remember from the late '80s/early '90s). Wasn't there a gay couple who worked in Paige's office and they would comment on things in a sarcastic way?

by Anonymousreply 251April 11, 2017 1:34 AM

[quote]When I was in 7th grade, me and the girls in the class tried to make up lyrics to the Dynasty theme song. How I ever pulled off pretending to be straight, I'll nevah know!

Yeah, I'd say that's up there with the Dyatlov Pass Incident in terms of mysteries!

I love you for sharing that.

by Anonymousreply 252April 11, 2017 1:37 AM

First look at the new series...

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by Anonymousreply 253May 18, 2017 6:28 PM

I've been watching Season 7, and it is amazing how clumsily they wrote out Amanda. One episode she's there. Then three or four episodes go by in she doesn't appear and her storyline is ignored, then out of the blue they announce she's missing and has run off to London, never to be heard from again. Simultaneously cousin Leslie appears out of the blue to be a new female lead. Continuity was never a strong suit of the show.

by Anonymousreply 254June 24, 2017 1:23 AM

THere was a clip on Youtube of Joan Collins and Christopher Cazenove on an English Talk show. They obviously liked each other and Cazenove said that Collins used to invite him over to her house for dinner (which she cooked!) when they were on Dynasty. They did a fun demonstration of soap opera kissing for the camera which wouldn't displace their makeup. Joan was at his funeral.

by Anonymousreply 255June 24, 2017 1:41 AM

Christopher Cazenove was quite adept at bulging his eyeballs, which one supposes is quite a useful skill for a soap opera actor.

by Anonymousreply 256June 24, 2017 1:47 AM

The clip at R253 is awful. Couldn't finish it.

by Anonymousreply 257June 26, 2017 5:56 PM

R253 Sammy Jo (or Sammy Joe?) is a cute young gay.

See, I hate to sound all "get off my lawn" but the problem is there are no interesting CHARACTER actors anymore. Pamela Sue Martin was sexy and bratty, but she had substance. She was interesting to watch, and to look at. This Fallon seems so bland. Grant Show just doesn't have the gravitas of John Forsythe.

I'm going to watch it. Maybe I'm wrong, and there is more to these actors than I'm seeing.

I hope they have the courage to make Blake a real, Trump supporting type right wing asshole, along the lines of season one Blake from the original. Also, I hope Steven isn't already out. I love shameful coming out plots. Tee hee.

Who will eventually play Alexis? The obvious guess is Heather Locklear, of course. But, again, she isn't half of the character that Joan Collins was.

by Anonymousreply 258June 28, 2017 7:27 PM

Always love that album....one of my favorites.

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by Anonymousreply 259June 28, 2017 7:30 PM

[quote]I've been watching Season 7, and it is amazing how clumsily they wrote out Amanda.

Dynasty was always bad at writing off characters. Out of nowhere, someone would suddenly announce they were leaving Denver, and then, you'd never see them again.

by Anonymousreply 260July 2, 2017 6:59 PM

I have been watching the final season. They reduced Joan and Linda's episode orders, so they could free up money for new sets and location shoots. So, they spent (wasted) some of that money to build this huge exterior of the Carrington Mansion. Even though they obviously spent a lot of money on it, it still looked like a set, especially with that cheap sky backdrop.

by Anonymousreply 261July 2, 2017 7:02 PM

[quote]They reduced Joan and Linda's episode orders, so they could free up money for new sets and location shoots

I always thought dropping Krystle was a good move, creatively. However, I remember reading an old WSJ article about dying primetime soaps, which said that Dynasty lost 35% of its female audience after Evans left.

by Anonymousreply 262July 2, 2017 7:33 PM

John Forsythe hated doing Dynasty without Linda..

by Anonymousreply 263July 2, 2017 8:55 PM

Fallon was my first fag hag. She was such a bitch. Loved her.

by Anonymousreply 264July 2, 2017 9:29 PM

Anbody having more on The Colbys? Feel free to show some appreciation for that show too.

by Anonymousreply 265July 3, 2017 12:28 PM

R264 Fallon was the kind of woman every gay guy thinks they would be if they were a girl. Fucking tons of hot guys (including her dad's football team), and witty/world weary.

by Anonymousreply 266July 5, 2017 4:26 PM

I'm halfway through season 9, and I can see why it was cancelled at the end of the season. It just seems tired. It's really odd how many characters are written out each season.

R261, didn't Linda Evans ask to leave the show? I didn't think it was for budget reasons.

by Anonymousreply 267June 2, 2018 11:48 PM

i stopped watching after like episode 7 of season 7. I hated the new Amanda as we all did. I couldn't watch anymore. I just recently finally watched the last episode and liked it. Emma Samms finally looked like Fallon to me and it ended on a crazy cliffhanger. Typical Dynasty. Favorite seasons are 5 and 6. Love Caress, Ben, and Amanda. Hilarious show. I wore that show out.

by Anonymousreply 268June 2, 2018 11:56 PM

What is weird is that once a supposedly central character is written out they go down the memory hole. Dominique, Ben, Leslie, Steven, Amanda, Kirby, Caress and Dana don't just vanish, they are all never mentioned again.

by Anonymousreply 269June 3, 2018 11:18 AM

One of my all-time favorite moments: Blake telling Alexis "I'LL KILL YOU," then lunging for the throat of her stuntwoman (Joan got the closeups, but this was hilarious).

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by Anonymousreply 270June 11, 2018 9:53 PM
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