Dynasty (1 Viewer)

[David Rain]

Joan Collins has publicly said that Dynasty essentially went down the drain once The Colbys was launched. All of the creative effort went into the spinoff and Dynasty was left to fend for itself with a former EP of Dallas at the helm, whom Ms. Collins disliked. She insisted that Alexis needed to be reunited with Dex, which did not happen. She & Linda Evans eventually cut down their appearances but we still managed to get that infamous "balcony cliffhanger". For those who never saw the final episode (or the reunion movie) I won't spoil the surprise of how the series ended. Let's just say the audience wasn't the only one left hanging.

 

[Ben King]

Do you mean David Paulsen? Who only produced the ninth and final season and who had not been responsible for the post-Moldavia decline of the show overall. This was happening and the ratings had been in freefall for years under the old producers, but since the show was being canned they thought they'd better find a scapegoat. During the ninth season, Paulsen tightened up the scripts, brought in Stephanie Beacham's Sable as a regular character and generally made Dynasty a better, more entertaining show than it had been for *years*.

Oh, and Joan Collins doesn't like the guy because he reduced her involvement in the series due to budgetary concerns. Collins was in fact all set to follow Linda Evans and leave Dynasty at the end of season nine, although she publically complimented the new producer on the quality of the scripts and had agreed in theory to do a limited number of guest appearances on the show should it go to a tenth season. JC had been demanding more money (as she had done for every season after 1985 - the first time quite rightly, since she was the most visible actress on the show and one of the most photographed women on the planet) despite the fact that the series was circling the drain and in no way justified the increased budget/wages. In other words, David Paulsen had the balls to say NO to her.

 

[Ben King]

Sable was a fantastic character indeed, IMO, much classier than Alexis but both bitches pale compared to Knots Landing's Abby Cunningham Ewing!

The mini-series, Dynasty: The Reunion, was in fact made by the show's old producers rather than David Paulsen, who had produced the ninth season and brought in Sable as an antagonist of Alexis. This meant that many of the storylines set up in season nine were simply ignored by these producers. The Reunion did however resolve the Jeff/Fallon/Miles triangle, which had of course been a major storyline in The Colbys.

 

[Charles Ellis]

I also loved Stephanie Beacham as Sable Scott Colby. I also liked that fact that she and Krystle became friends, considering that they both couldn't stand Alexis. The last nail in the show's coffin was when Linda Evans left- after that, the show limped to its end a few months later.

The first big error the show made was of course the Moldavian Massacre, followed by the hiring of Emma Samms as Pamela Sue Martin's replacement. Without a doubt it was the worst soap recasting ever: it was like replacing Ann-Margret with Mia Farrow. Emma was just too ladylike and physically was a different type than Ms. Martin. Pamela Sue played Fallon as a sexy spitfire who could tell you exactly where to go, whereas Emma was very much the proverbial English rose, and made Fallon more of a helpless victim than a victimizer.

 

[Ben King]

Well, the writing during seasons 3 & 4 took the fire out of Fallon's character and made her more of a victim. We just tend not to notice so much because Pamela Sue Martin was the better actress.

The Fallon of The Colbys was written and played as a more conventional damsel in distress and the very British Emma Samms could do nothing with it other than clutch her American accent nervously, since the amnesia-stricken Fallon spent all her time quivering over Miles and Jeff. I don't think Pamela Sue could do much with it either, although it would've been fun to see her play off Stephanie Beacham and Barbara Stanwyck.

The Fallon of season nine however was written more like her old spoilt, spirited self and Emma Samms, by now more experienced and comfortable in the role, rose to the challenge.

A worst recast was Steven. Al Corley's sensitive, subtle, full-bodied portrayal of Steven's angst over his sexuality, his relationship with Blake and life in general was replaced by Jack Coleman's Ken doll mannequin looks and vacant performance which made Steven simply grumpy, obnoxious and someone best avoided.

The recast of Amanda was also pathetic. Catherine Oxenberg had noted that she was one of the most popular figures on the show and had asked for more money. She was rudely and pointlessly shown the door, only to be replaced by the truly awful Karen Cellini. The recast didn't work, Cellini was dropped and the character wiped from the show's history. I don't think Amanda was even mentioned in the show after that - Blake refers to his "three children".

 

[Ben King]

Double post.

 

[Ben King]

I received an e-mail from Paramount today confirming that the release of season two has been put back to August 14th. At the moment they have no definite plans to release the following seasons of Dynasty or The Colbys so it's all entirely dependent on how well season two sells.

 

[Ethan Riley]

(crosses fingers)

 

[Ethan Riley]

(crosses fingers)

 

[andyEckles]

Totally disagree. I couldn't stand Al Corley. His Steven was TOO whiny. Like a little bitch. I was so glad to see him presumed dead.

 

[Ben King]

I find Al Corley's portrayal far more believable and engaging than Jack Coleman's charmless, robotic "interpretation" of Steven.

 

[Richard Michael Clark]

I have to say I LOVE the packaging used for Season 2.
Now, it's obviously a way to minimise costs but to me this is the PERFECT way to package a whole tv season of any show.
It's the size of one amaray case (which is clear plastic). The cover sleeve is double sided with the episode info on the reverse (viewable from the inside). The cover image itself is great!
There are 6 single sided (whoo!) discs all of which are in their own spaces (on the case faces or on flaps) with the best disc holder clips I've ever encountered in a dvd set (they hold the discs firmly but don't make you feel like the disc will break to remove it and the discs release easily) and best of all there is none of that ludicrous overlapping discs business!
This in my humble opinion is how all tv seasons should be packaged! It's affordable and unfussy, compact yet secure. With space for tv sets being such an issue for many of us it's great to find such a superb example of how it should be done. I hope the remaining seasons are packaged in the same way (until now my favourite packaging for a 6 disc set had been 3 thin double disc cases in a card sleeve but this is even better and even more compact).

Also, I'm impressed with the video transfer as the colours are nice and bold and the image is solid. It's looks far better than any version I've seen before. Obviously being an old tv show it'll never look perfect (I doubt it's been restored in any way) but I am just very impressed with the colour and detail on display.

Each disc has a 'play all' option too which is always most welcome.

A shame the extras are limited to a truly crap text screen "family tree" but hey ho I guess it's another cost saver for CBS DVD. I don't really mind the lack of extras if the sets remain affordable and the transfers remain worth paying to own!

Anyway, that's my mini review (if you can call it that)! Just wanted people to know what I think of the packaging and I hope it's a style that gets more use with other shows.

 

[AlanP]

Who cares about extras !!!
I just want the whole enchilada and include "THE COLBYS" with the seasons that they overlap. Because, the series doesn't make sense for two seasons with Jeff and Fallon missing and "THE COLBY'S" showing up for four episodes and then some of "THE COLBYS" return for season nine. So, hopefully they will have the fore sight to include them. "THE COLBY'S" should have been included when "DYNASTY" was syndicated !!! So, it all made sense.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

yeah you can call it that sortat a teaser for the release. It gets me more pumped up to buy the set on tuesday. I am rewatching S1 over the weekend so i am set to dive right in. I just hope Paramount is going to follow through with future seasons. I don't really care one way or the other on the colby's but i would buy it if released though.

 

[AlanP]

I just had a thought !!!!!!!
WAIT, watch all the season sets be released.
Then, at the end PARAMOUNT will release ONE BIG BOX SET. Like they have with other season sets of series on DVD. And then they add extras that were not in the season sets. So, they might hold back and release "THE COLBYS" with the BIG SEASON SET after all nine seasons have been released.
MARK MY WORDS............... or the "DYNASTY" wrap up movie !!!!!!

 

[Ethan Riley]

Got it!

The packaging is more or less the same as used for "Beauty & The Beast." There are 6 one-sided discs--take that, Dallas! Overall, it's a very smart, space-saving and attractive package. The back cover art/montage is quite nice. The spine art is also very attractive and much more professional-looking than the season one spine.

Okay, soap fans--get your buns out there and buy it! You all know very well that the studios look very closely at first week sales figures. If you want Season Three, get out there now, and anyway, it's usually cheaper the first week. Best Buy has it for $27.99 and Target was $29.99 (where I got mine). You've all been waiting for years for this one, so let's see some $ales please!

 

[MatthewA]

I'm concerned about the variance of running times. Could it be because they cut the intros/recaps, or is anything else missing?

 

[Ethan Riley]

There wasn't too much licensed music used in the series; I'm gonna check the episodes when I (FINALLY) get off work. Can you point out to me any of the shorter episodes so I can have a look at them? I have the original episodes on vhs, taped off the network MANY years ago, so I can compare=-=-

 

[MatthewA]

Here's the running times as posted on the sitcomsonline.com review:

Disc one
1. Enter Alexis 46:52
2. The Verdict 48:27
3. Alexis' Secret 48:11
4. Fallon's Father 48:24

Disc two
5. Reconciliation 48:22
6. Viva Las Vegas 48:23
7. The Miscarriage 48:30
8. The Mid-East Meeting 48:06

Disc three
9. The Psychiatrist 48:00
10. Sammy Jo and Steven Marry 47:54
11. The Car Explosion 48:13
12. Blake's Blindness 48:07

Disc four
13. The Hearing 47:56
14. The Iago Syndrome 48:11
15. The Party 48:21
16. The Baby 48:14

Disc five
17. Mother and Son 48:04
18. The Gun 48:06
19. The Fragment 47:57
20. The Shakedown 48:16

Disc six
21. The Two Princes 48:08
22. The Cliff 48:07

 

[Ethan Riley]

Matt--so far I haven't found anything missing. The only running time that seems too short to me is the premiere episode. However, that episode may have had longer recaps, because they were recapping the entire first season. Maybe they took an extra minute for that??

However--I have yet to find two very brief scenes that may have been cut for rights/royalties issues. In one, Fallon is watching "General Hospital" on tv. Does anyone know what episode she did that in? I'm sure it was early on. I'll have to wait until I sit thru the whole episodes to find it. Also, later in the season, Alexis was caught watching "The Love Boat." Again, I'm not sure what episode that was in. I'll really have to dig thru the episodes I have on vhs to figure it out--! Anyone else have better trivia for us?