Dynasty - The Official Thread for all things Carrington & Colby (2 Viewers)

[Nick*Z]

Personally, I always felt the Moldavian massacre was the best of the cliffhangers for Dynasty, the show falling apart in its aftermath; what with only two secondary characters biting the dust when the show came back for Season 6; Steven's gay lover and Jeff's paramour - a simple way to get two characters (Jeff and Steven) whose story lines had derailed throughout the previous season, back on track.


But then we had the whole King Galen deceiving Alexis thread that went on much too long and made a fool out of Alexis - a woman much to devious and enterprising to be fooled by such a transparent fop. Introducing Christopher Cazanove as Blake's evil brother, and particularly Kate O'Mara as Alexis' sister, Caress, out for revenge, saved Season 6 from becoming a total disaster. O'Mara should have stayed the course. Her story line was particularly strong and her character great fun. But the writers, again, lost interest in her by the end of the season, throwing her under the proverbial bus by having Ben drug and ship her back to the third world hell-hole prison from whence she had escaped. After that, there wasn't even much mention of what became of Caress.


I love Dynasty, but I absolutely despised the way characters like Caress were given the big build up and attractive story lines, then just as easily and uselessly discarded. They did the same thing to Diahann Carroll's sultry Dominique, James Farentino's formidable baddie, Nick Toscani and Helmut Berger's wily Peter De Vilbis, while clinging on far too long to chestnuts like Michael Praed's Prince Michael, Leann Hunley, Ted McGuinley and Deborah Adair.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

I agree Kate O'Mara was awesome on the show. I was hoping she was going to be on Dynasty a lot longer but no such luck.

 

[bretmaverick2]

My single favorite DYNASTY character was Kirby. Was very sorry to see how they ended up treating her character.

Second was Emma' Fallon.

 

[classicmovieguy]

Nick, remember Caress DID escape from jail again after Ben had her sent back. She returned for a few more episodes during Season 7 before leaving altogether.

 

[Gabriel Maxwell]

Seriously? Because the Krystle/Rita storyline was Emmy-quality writing?

Did I ever say it was Emmy-quality writing? Dynasty was on the creative decline starting with the season 3 premiere, getting worse and worse each year.


The Krystle / Rita storyline was therefore a complete disaster. Nevertheless, I find the sight of a hypnotized Krystle staring into that fan in the Reunion the very bottom of the B-movie barrel.


Season 2 was the show's finest year. It hit the right balance between fun soap opera and serious drama while keeping the characters and the stories as grounded in reality as possible. There was coherence in the narrative and character motivation that made sense. It was very, very good.


They did ramp up the show's trademark glitz after season 2 (especially in terms of Nolan Miller's budget), but the quality of scripts went plummeting down.

 

[JayHink]

The more I hear about the reunion mini series the more I want to finally see it! lol

 

[classicmovieguy]

Did I ever say it was Emmy-quality writing? Dynasty was on the creative decline starting with the season 3 premiere, getting worse and worse each year.


The Krystle / Rita storyline was therefore a complete disaster. Nevertheless, I find the sight of a hypnotized Krystle staring into that fan in the Reunion the very bottom of the B-movie barrel.


Season 2 was the show's finest year. It hit the right balance between fun soap opera and serious drama while keeping the characters and the stories as grounded in reality as possible. There was coherence in the narrative and character motivation that made sense. It was very, very good.


They did ramp up the show's trademark glitz after season 2 (especially in terms of Nolan Miller's budget), but the quality of scripts went plummeting down.

The sad thing is that the writers were starting to get that balance back in Season 9 - then the show was canned. Had it continued for at least one more year, I'm positive that the series would have recovered.

 

[Gabriel Maxwell]

The sad thing is that the writers were starting to get that balance back in Season 9 - then the show was canned. Had it continued for at least one more year, I'm positive that the series would have recovered.

Yes, I absolutely agree with that.


Though not as glamorous as in its hey day and clearly operating on a reduced budget (Collins appeared in only 13 episodes), in terms of the quality of writing - season 9 was a vast improvement over what preceded it. The characters and the dialogue they were given suddenly began to make sense again. And bringing in Sable to battle Alexis was an excellent decision when Evans insisted on leaving.


This is because after several years of rapid declines in the ratings and a couple of unsuccessful mid-season attempts at retooling the show midway through seasons 6 and 7 - for which Spelling went as far as to call press conferences with the Shapiros and the key actors and announce the new direction - the brass just gave up on the show and hired David Paulsen from Dallas to rejuvenate it.


Paulsen fired the line producers and the writing staff and began from scratch. Unfortunately it was too little too late as more than half the audience had already abandoned the series and the new penny-pinching owners of ABC didn't like Spelling's schlock. It's really sad, because both The Colbys and then Dynasty experienced creative renaissance before they were abruptly axed.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I loved how the writers were utilising the oft-discussed but never really explored Carrington 'mythology' of the Roger Grimes scandal, weaving him into the plot as, quite literally, a ghost from the past. It was a fabulous final year.

 

[AlanP]

Sable was being groomed to take over as Collins wanted out as did Evans. Very unfortunate they canceled it would love to have seen the cliffhanger resolved and where the show went!

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

I started re-watching the series last weekend and breezed thru the first season episodes. I missed Matthew the most once season 2 hit. I like Claudia at times I just wish they didn't have her character so back and forth I liked it when she was together. I hated that the show and writers kept going back on forth on Steven being gay. It was obvious the subject matter was too much for them to handle.


and poor Katy Kurtzman they just made her in tears constantly and as annoying as it could be I can't fault her she did it well.


but damn re-watching it from the start Pamela Sue Martin my god I loved her character so much I only dread when the show starts sabotaging her character to the point of boredom.


I forgot how over the top the ending of season one was with everyone's reaction to the entrance of the surprise witness. For some odd reason I always thought the entrance was filmed again but as Joan Collins, but the scene starts with her on the stand.

 

[Mark Collins]

News for Dynasty fans who have never seen the Reunion. The show will air for two hours each on Thursday and Friday next week on the POP channel 10:00 EST-12:00 EST.

 

[JayHink]

Just started watching S6 for the first time on DVD (& overall since mid-90s syndication I think.)

I held off several years to wait for a Colbys release so I could watch both series intertwined as they originally aired. (Still surprised we got that release! Thanks Shout!)

I just finished the first 6 episodes & up next is the Nov. 20, 1985 episode that aired the same night as the Colbys series premiere (as least according to what I found online. And I'm assuming Dynasty aired first that night.)

I didn't recall these earliest Emma Samms episodes and man, I'm really feeling like they should have just left Fallon a mystery. I like Emma; she's just not *Fallon*! Pamela Sue Martin really made that role hers. But it's still in the early goings; maybe I'll come around to Emma (as Fallon; I think she'd make a great new 'not Fallon' character.)

Also excited to begin the Colbys. Unlike Dynasty, I never saw it originally or in reruns, so it'll be all-new to me. (I'll keep my eye out for any alien abduction foreshadowing. )

 

[classicmovieguy]

Emma Samms really comes into her own as Fallon in Seasons 8 and 9.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I don't think the writers knew what to do with Emma and/or Fallon on "The Colbys." She was 'Fallon' in name only. Honestly, the character of Fallon should have been doing the things that Bliss and Monica were doing -- somewhere in between those two was a "Fallon."

I think the "Colbys" didn't last because it took itself too seriously in terms of the melodrama. There are moments on that show that seemed to have been written for a 1930s potboiler...yet this was 1985. They never struck as good a balance as the parent show. And Stephanie Beacham--god bless her, how I love her--was unable to deliver the withering comments as well as her tv cousin, Alexis.

Emma did come into her own on Dynasty, late in the run, but it was too late by then

 

[JayHink]

I don't think the writers knew what to do with Emma and/or Fallon on "The Colbys." She was 'Fallon' in name only. Honestly, the character of Fallon should have been doing the things that Bliss and Monica were doing -- somewhere in between those two was a "Fallon."

I think the "Colbys" didn't last because it took itself too seriously in terms of the melodrama. There are moments on that show that seemed to have been written for a 1930s potboiler...yet this was 1985. They never struck as good a balance as the parent show. And Stephanie Beacham--god bless her, how I love her--was unable to deliver the withering comments as well as her tv cousin, Alexis.

Emma did come into her own on Dynasty, late in the run, but it was too late by then

Good discussion. Enjoyed my first glimpse of Sable in the Dynasty 2-hour episode. She looked like a great choice for the 'Alexis role' in California.

I'll be watching the Colbys series premiere for the first time in just a few short hours!

 

[Rowi]

I hope you're enjoying The Colbys! I'm watching it for the very first time too, since it was never shown in the Netherlands during the '80's. Now I'm enjoying both Dynasty and The Colbys in chronological order.

 

[David Rain]

I always thought Emma Samms was hopelessly miscast as Fallon. Better to have brought on a Pamela Sue Martin lookalike.

 

[Rowi]

Like Kim Morgan Greene.

 

[JayHink]

I hope you're enjoying The Colbys! I'm watching it for the very first time too, since it was never shown in the Netherlands during the '80's. Now I'm enjoying both Dynasty and The Colbys in chronological order.

I'm only about 5 episodes in, but so far I'm enjoying the Colby's a lot. It's much more down to earth and 'back to basics' than Dynasty was at this point, save for Fallon's amnesia subplot.

Do Dynasty enthusiasts point to Season 6 as its 'Jump the Shark' season? The show's original appeal was pulling back the curtain on the rich folk, seeing how they live, work and play. Viewers were so hungry for that stuff in the pre-E! and pre-reality show era! I can only imagine that upping the ante to include a royal family and a royal wedding (along with a royal massacre) was the pinnacle of what people wanted to see. (Dynasty ranked 1st in the Neilsens for season 5, after all.) How much "grander" could they go?

But holy cow, season 6 is off the rails! And I love it! lol The Moldavia rescue mission, the actress who's soooo good she can pass as an evil twin (except to the 5-year-old, of course) ... God bless you, 1985 TV.

But back to the Colby's ....

I really really really like Emma Samms, but gosh, I just can't feel it with her being Fallon. My heart can't muster the emotional response appropriate for Fallon coming back from the dead. If it was Pamela Sue Martin, I'd feel properly. She was just too irreplaceable.

In fact, through these first few episodes, I found Tracy Scoggins to be a better Fallon/Pamela Sue (both in spirit and appearance) than Emma Samms. That said, I'm enjoying the series and wish it would have caught on and lasted longer. The entire cast is great, IMO.

I've read a lot of criticism that Maxwell Caulfield is an awful actor. From what I see here, I think he's great in this role! To me, he's better in that young, womanizing, fast-car-driving playboy part than Lorenzo Lamas is in early Falcon Crest.

I remember fall of '85 well. I was 9 years old & my grandmother (a big soap fan) would watch my favorite show with me every week, Knight Rider. Years later, as an adult, I'd laugh to myself thinking what it must have been like for her to sit through that with me.

But now, seeing Alexis & Dex A-Team their way through Moldavia to save a King, Krystle's 'evil twin' living in the mansion with Blake while real Kristle is held hostage, and Fallon coming back from the dead with amnesia ........ well, my grandmother probably thought a talking car was pretty standard fare.