TV… Dynasty (1981-89)

#1980s #AllPosts

 

A touch of froth…

 

The 1980s prime time TV soap that aimed to make Dallas look like Sesame Street and introduced us to those Carringtons of Denver.

 

The Cast

Linda Evans and Joan Collins

Dynasty – Season 5 – Episode 2 – Opening Titles, Dynasty Moments and Photos © CBS Television Distribution

 

Dynasty  (1981-89), was one of the two main primetime soaps of the 1980s. This was along with the other Big D, namely Dallas (1978-91). It starred John Forsythe as Blake Carrington, the patriarch of the Carrington clan (and recognisable as Charlie Townsend the voice on the speakerphone in Charlie’s Angels) married to the angelic (and annoying) Krystle, his second wife (Linda Evans).

At the start of the series, he had two kids Steven and Fallon. By the end of the series, he had five children. This includes the child he had with Krystle, Kristina with a K. New additions to the family included the child he didn’t know about until she turned up on his doorstep, Amanda (Catherine Oxenberg). The one who was kidnapped at birth, Adam (Gordon Thomson) also returned from Montana. However, all four of the actors and actresses playing the Carrington children had been replaced with other actors and actresses.

Poor Blake must have been superconfused as even their portraits changed. Fallon was the American Pamela Sue Martin then English Emma Samms. Their mummy was Blake’s first wife, Alexis. She was played wonderfully by the very British Joan Collins. She was described as a female J.R. Ewing. She also had a string of marriages mainly with toyboys. And seeing them, who can blame her.

Dynasty, like Dallas, was known for giving characters plastic surgery after grisly accidents, affairs, amnesia, dealings, poisonings, revenge, weddings, remarriages, long-lost relatives, balls, accidents, kidnappings, evil twins, fires and catfights. The catfights were usually held between Blake’s two wives and in the most notable one both women ended up in a lily pond.

It also had a spin-off, The Colbys (1985-87) which ended with an out of this world ending which is revealed in THIS post. Notable famous guest stars included Kate O’Mara (as Alexis’s sister of course), Christopher Cazenove (a long lost brother for Blake), Ali McGraw, Charlton Heston and George Hamilton.

The most ridiculous storyline involved the Royal Moldavian wedding “massacre” series where, the whole cast was gunned down Rambo style, only for nearly all of them to dust themselves off in the next series with merely a scratch with shockingly no plastic surgery needed for anyone. 

Also like Dallas, a reunion movie was made to tie up loose ends and provide the fans with the ending they wanted.  At the time of writing, there’s no remake in sight, so you can make your own endings up for the characters. Then they can be killed off or die nastily in your preferred manner – remember they are not only more invincible than your average superhero, but replaceable too… but that really would be the case of Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure (2005).

 

Weeper Rating:  😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦  /10

Handsqueeze Rating:          :-) /10

Hulk Rating: ‎  ‎  ‎  ‎  ‎  ‎  ‎  ‎   ‎/10

 

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