Flashback: Dynasty
This month our Flashback strand takes a look at the 1980s super-soap Dynasty which charted the lives of the wealthy Carringtons and the Colby’s – two families with endless stream of long-lost siblings, off-spring and spouses that could crop up as the storyline dictated.
When you ask people to remember the 1980s undoubtedly memories of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Falklands War and the Miners Strike will immediately spring too mind but so too will shoulder-pads, big hair and Dallas and its glitzy rival Dynasty.
The 1980s drama scene was dominated by two American soaps that told the very different stories of two powerful families who owned Oil Companies. Dallas presented us with the Ewing clang who despite their ups and downs, and countless plots by JR, always came together in the end.
Dynasty though presented us with the Carrington family – a household deeply divided. It was as though scheming to the Carrington’s came as naturally as breathing; whether it was Alexis plots to destroy Blake or deranged Adam plotting to poison Jeff Colby with the use of paint (!) there was always some plot being conceived by a Carrington. Dallas and Dynasty were undoubtedly rivals as they battled it out for top place on the ratings chart but not just in America but around the world – such was the popularity of the two dramas that they reached right across the globe.
It seemed for a while as Dynasty would win the battle in the mid 1980s but then a series of poorly received storylines, and the cancellation of spin-off The Colby’s, badly dented Dynasty and it didn’t really recover; after nine seasons in 1989 the plug was pulled on the drama.
Dynasty, originally rather blandly titled as Oil, was created by husband and wife team Richard and Esther Shapiro for ABC – as a rival to Dallas on CBS which had launched in 1978 and was enjoying strong ratings. In fact the strength of Dallas was such that it quickly produced a spin-off for CBS in the form of Knots Landing while in 1981 it was joined by similar series Falcon Crest.
Essentially Falcon Crest was a slightly tamer version than Dallas, and indeed Dynasty, and revolved around a vineyard rather than oil. However, it was clear to ABC by 1981 that the Dallas style of drama – big business and warring families – was what audiences craved and so they decided to cash-in and produce their own take. Aaron Spelling had already made a name for himself thanks to his previous hits such as Charlie’s Angels and The Love Boat and he was hired as producer on Dynasty.
Dynasty was set in Denver, Colorado, and revolved around Carrington Oil run by the wealthy and ruthless Blake Carrington. As the series opens the powerful Oil Baron is preparing to marry again; to his secretary Krystal Jennings. His first wife having left Blake and his two children; Fallon and Steven, some years before. Fallon, a spoilt rich brat, thoroughly disapproves of her father marrying Krystal while Steven has been living in New York but returns to Denver for the wedding.
However, it is clear that Steven and Blake do not get along – mostly because of Steven’s homosexuality. Also returning to Denver, but not for the wedding, is Matthew Bleasdale who has been working abroad for Blake – Matthew and Krystal previously had an affair. To complicate matters Matthew’s wife Claudia is in a specialist hospital following a breakdown. Such is the situation as the three-hour premier of Dynasty, titled Oil, establishes.
The role of Blake Carrington was originally offered to George Peppard but eventually John Forsythe who Spelling had worked with on Charlie’s Angels. Forsythe had been the voice of Charlie’s Townsend, the often heard but never seen millionaire recluse who the ‘Angels’ worked for. Starring alongside Forsythe as the leading lady of Dynasty was Linda Evans as Krystal Jennings who had previously worked with John Forsythe on an episode of Bachelor Father. Pamela Sue Martin was cast as Fallon Carrington while John James played Jeff Colby with Al Corley as Steven Carrington. Pamela Bellwood played Claudia Blasedale with Bo Hopkins as Matthew.
The first season of Dynasty primarily revolved around the rivalry between Blake Carrington and Matthew who left Carrington Oil to start his own business with Walter (Dale Robertson) and Steven ends up working for them – further angering Blake. Matthew’s previous history with Blake is also another point of distrust for him while Claudia, Matthew’s wife, also has trouble accepting there is nothing between her husband and Krystal.
Steven, despite supposedly being gay, ends up in a relationship with Claudia. It was originally planned that Steven would be confused about his sexuality before coming out during the course of the programme – but this idea was scrapped and despite the character stating his homosexuality on several occasions he married twice. This inconsistency in the character eventually led to the departure of actor Al Corley. The inclusion of a gay character as part of the central cast on a prime-time series was a bold one – 1980s America was still quite homophobic and the Aids epidemic in the middle part of the decade furthered this.
However, the fact that Steven did have relationships with women can be put down in part to producers not wishing to alienate their audiences outright and portray Steven as a conflicted character. While Steven was having an affair with Claudia his sister Fallon was busy flirting with Blake’s business assiocate Cecil Colby (Lloyd Bochner), the uncle of Jeff – who she married as part of a secret business deal with Cecil. Fallon was also busy having an affair with chauffer Michael (Wayne Northrop).
At the series conclusion Blake is on trial for the murder of Steven’s gay lover, Ted (Mark Withers) who was killed in a struggle with the Carrington patriarch. Steven’s affair with Claudia is revealed leading to Claudia to attempt flee Denver with their daughter, Lindsay. However, their car crashes and Claudia is rushed to hospital while Matthew takes Lindsay himself and leaves.
The season ends with a mysterious woman, veiled, arriving to give testimony against Blake – his ex-wife Alexis; mother of Fallon and Steven. The arrival of Joan Collins at the start of the second season of Dynasty is widely credited as turning around the fortunes of the drama. The first season hadn’t rated very well but the second season saw ratings rise as the antics of Alexis – her various schemes – seemed to appeal to audiences. The business angle of Dynasty was downplayed somewhat in favour of melodramatic storylines in which a new threat seemed to emerge to bring down the Carrington family in every other scene.
This can be put down in part to the arrival of Eileen and Robert Pollock as new writers on the show who introduced the more soapy and somewhat OTT storylines – such as Alexis causing Krystal to deliberately have a miscarriage. The rivalry between Krystal and Alexis was quickly established with the two often sparring and sometimes even fighting – the cat-fights on Dynasty became as much part of its legacy, and an annual tradition, as its costumes and shoulder-pads.
Alexis was determined to destroy Blake and bring down his business and enlisted the help of Cecil to achieve this – and also of dodgy Arabian businessman Rashid Ahmed (John Saxon). Krystal’s niece Sammy-Jo (Heather Locklear) also joined the cast and quickly proved what a scheming cow she was by marrying Steven – much to Alexis’ anger who saw she was clearly a gold-digger.
The third season of Dynasty saw the arrival of long-lost son Adam Carrington (Gordon Thomson) who was supposedly kidnapped from Alexis and Blake when he was a little boy. The arrival of Adam was the first of several long-lost relatives who would magically appear in Denver, though never previously mentioned, to claim their Carrington rights. The season also saw the re-introduction of fellow Carrington son Steven who had been written out at the end of the second season.
The character was recast following the exit of Al Corley who was unhappy with the character and so Jack Coleman took over the part. The change of appearance was at least explained in the storyline as a result of plastic surgery following an explosion on an oil rigg. The third season saw the character of Cecil killed off shortly after marrying Alexis – leaving his oil company Colbyco to her and his nephew Jeff. This would spark a battle between Carrington Oil and Colbyco which would last through to the end of the show. The arrival of Kirby Anders (Kathleen Beller), the daughter of butler Joseph (Lee Bergere) saw Jeff and Adam compete for her attention – Jeff later married her but an unhappy Kirby left Denver following the death of her father.
The conclusion of the fourth series saw Alexis arrested for the murder of Krystal’s husband-wife, Mark (Geoffrey Scott) while Fallon was seemingly killed off after actress Pamela Sue Martin decided to quit the series. The long lost relatives kept streaming to Denver as Alexis and Blake were revealed to have had another daughter in the form of Amanda (Katherine Oxenberg) while Dominique Deveraux (Diahann Carroll) arrived in Denver – the half sister of Blake.
Fallon was re-introduced during towards the end of the fifth season when it was revealed she hadn’t died in a plane crash but had lost her memory – the role was recast though with General Hospital actress Emma Samms taking over. The complete change of appearance, and personality, was not explained at all within the series. The fifth season marked Dynasty’s rise to the top of the ratings charts thanks in part to the arrival of new head writer and producer Camilla Marchetta who had created the Who Shot JR? story in Dallas.
Fans were kept gripped across the season as they waited to see whether Alexis really was guilty of murder, if Blake would cheat on Krystal with Lady Mitchell (Ali McGraw) and if Krystal would have an affair with Daniel (Rock Hudson). The two characters did share an on-screen kiss which later provoked outcry in America when it was revealed that Hudson was dying of AIDS – ignorant Americans believed the actor had put Evans at risk. The producers were forced to reassure fans the actress was fine and healthy. The marriage between Claudia and Steven broke down across the season as she had an affair with arts dealer (Richard Hatch) and later with Adam. Steven meanwhile started up a relationship with his work colleague Luke (Billy Campbell). Amanda also had a romance; a one-night stand with Alexis’ new husband Dex (Michael Nader) and later with Prince Michael of Moldavia (Michael Praed). The season ended with its most memorable cliff-hanger of all; the wedding of Amanda and Michael in Moldavia which ended in a revolution.
The wedding ceremony between the two was interrupted by armed terrorists who released a barrage of bullets at the wedding guests. The final shot was of the lifeless bodies of all the major characters seemingly gunned down. The cliff-hanger was devised to allow producers to kill off any character they wished too should they feel they’d run their course.
However, despite a pay dispute with Joan Collins – which meant she was absent from the opening episode of season six – the producers ultimately decided not to kill off any major characters. Instead the minor characters of Lady Mitchell and Luke, introduced in season five, were among the few casualties. The poor resolution of the cliff-hanger, with so many characters surviving under such impossible circumstances, is widely seen as the beginning of the end for Dynasty.
It heralded the start of several unpopular storylines which were not well received by fans and saw ratings dive. By this time though producers had decided to launch a spin-off series from Dynasty ala Knots Landing – which was spun off from Dallas. The producers decided to set in Los Angeles around the wealthy Colby family with Emma Samms as Fallon and John James as Jeff being moved over to the new series. To launch the new spin-off, The Colby’s, several of the main characters were first introduced in Dynasty – meaning storytime was taken up setting up the new spin-off.
Sable Colby (Stephanie Beacham) was revealed to be the cousin of Alexis and the two shared a very deep rivalry. Sable was married to the billionaire Jayson (Charlton Heston) who ran Colby Enterprises with his sister Connie (Barbara Stanwyck) while their son Miles (Maxwell Caulfield) married the amnesiac Fallon who was now calling herself Randal. Also introduced in Dynasty, for the launch of The Colby’s, was Monica (Tracey Scoggins) and Garrett Boydstone (Ken Howard) who would make frequent appearances in both shows as he was the love interest of Dominique.
Joan Collins refused to appear in the spin-off and lead a boycott of the series but several of her co-stars did crossover to The Colby’s for appearances. John Forsythe made four appearances in the series – as Randall was discovered to be Fallon and Blake arrived in Los Angeles hoping he would remember her. Diahann Carroll, Jack Coleman and Gordon Thomson would also crossover in the spin-off but other Dynasty cast members did not.
The sixth season of Dynasty saw Kate O’Mara join the cast as another long-lost relative, Caress the sister of Alexis – who just like Caress had a rivalry with Alexis. The season also saw the doppelganger storyline involving Krystal being switched with a lookalike in a plot by Sammy Jo to get revenge on the Carringtons – the story was not a fan favourite. The series then seemed to descend into madness with more over the top storylines such as Blake loosing his memory, Krystal being kidnapped, Matthew returning from the dead for revenge and Claudia dying in a fire at La Mirage Hotel. Dynasty continued to tumble down the ratings charts and the series was in trouble.
By this time The Colby’s had been axed after just two seasons because of low ratings. It ended with Fallon being kidnapped by a UFO – ironically its highest rated episode and one it would forever be remembered for. Fallon and Jeff were re-introduced into the main cast of Dynasty with little conclusion given to the other storylines from the spin-off.
Its ninth seasons saw the budget cut and a new producer installed; David Paulsen. Linda Evans appeared in a handful of episodes before being written out of the series while Joan Collins was also only contracted to a limited number of episodes in order to save the budget. Stephanie Beacham was brought over from The Colby’s to continue in her role of Sable in a season long ‘Battle of the Bitches’ between her and Alexis.
The rivalry between the two broke down into open warfare as Sable tried to snatch Alexis’ empire from her – although Alexis did, of course fight back. The storyline between the two resulted in a number of memorable bitchy exchanges between the two of them and even, yes a cat-fight. Tracey Scoggins was also brought over for the latter half of the season as her character of Monica, the loyal daughter of Sable. Blake meanwhile was facing jail for the murder of Roger Grimes; a former lover of Alexis. The series ended quite literally with a cliff-hanger; Alexis and Dex plunge over a balcony after fighting while Blake was shot.
The ratings for the final season sealed Dynasty’s fate – it was cancelled. However, in 1991 some of the reunited for a reunion movie to tie up the loose ends from the series. Linda Evans returned for the movie to reprise her role of Krystal as did Kathleen Beller to reprise her role of Kirby. Original Steven Carrington actor Al Corley reprised the role instead of Jack Coleman despite the fact it was clearly stated the character had plastic surgery – the return of Corley in the role contradicting established continuity.
The role of Adam Carrington was also recast with Robin Sachs taking over from Gordon Thomson who was busy with other roles. Maxwell Caulfield reprised his role of Miles Colby from the spin-off but there is no mention of Sable or Monica (his mother and sister) in the reunion even though they were a major part of the final season. The reunion movie also fails to reveal the fate of Dex while no mentioned is made of Dominique or Amanda – both key characters throughout Dynasty. The reunion was only a moderate ratings success and a critical failure.
Plans for Dynasty to continue as a series of television movies – three a year; during the holidays – were scrapped. In 2005 a highly criticised drama about the making of the drama aired on ABC. Dynasty: Making of a Guilty Pleasure told the behind-the-scenes story of the creation of Dynasty and its years on-air but all three lead stars of original series (John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins) criticised it in separate press releases. Dynasty: Making of a Guilty Pleasure starred Alice Krige as Joan Collins, Melora Hardin as Linda Evans and Bartholomew John as John Forsythe and was filmed in Australia.
A year later a reunion documentary aired on CBS; Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar which included John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins along with the four original actors to play the Carrington children; Pamela Sue Martin, Al Corley, Gordon Thomson and Catherine Oxenberg. The reunion documentary also featured interviews with Jack Coleman, Emma Samms, Pamela Bellwood and creators Esther & Richard Shapiro.
Dynasty has regularly been repeated on television and more recently the first five seasons have been released on DVD in America and Europe. Season six is expected to follow before the end of the year (2010) although its unclear whether The Colby’s – which was launched during season six and features crossover storylines and characters – will be released on DVD alongside Dynasty.
After Dynasty: John Forsythe effectively retired from acting with just a few roles during the 1990s such as in The Powers That Be. He did reprise his voice-role of Charlie Townend in the two movie versions of Charlie’s Angels which were released in 2000 and 2003. The actor sadly passed away earlier this year. Linda Evans has continued to act on stage and on British television appeared in the 2009 series of Hell’s Kitchen.
Joan Collins has appeared in a wide range of roles since the demise of Dynasty with guest appearances in Hotel Babylon, Footballers Wives, Will and Grace, Guiding Light and Marple. Heather Locklear was quickly hired by Aaron Spelling to play bitchy Amanda in his teen-drama series Melrose Place – the actress reprised the role for the recent CW revival of the drama. Emma Samms returned to General Hospital, despite her character being killed off, and has also made guest appearances in Doctors and Holby City.
Gordon Thomson joined the cast of daytime soap Santa Barbara between 1991 and 1993 and has since appeared in Sunset Beach, Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless. John James has also joined the ranks of daytime soaps with roles in All My Children and As The World Turns while Michael Nadar has also had roles in both soaps as well. Jack Coleman’s most recent role was in the NBC series Heroes in which he played Noah Bennett.
