Michael Torrance
Telly Talk Mega Star
LV
0
- Messages
- 3,011
- Reaction score
- 2,254
- Awards
- 1
- Location
- Roaming
- Member Since
- 2017 I think (unless it is 2016)
Amanda was a character who completely vanished from the Dynasty universe after Karen Cellini destroyed the role (of course she was the producers’ choice—I am not blaming the actress alone). Even Dominique was mentioned again at the end of season 9, and Steven at least left a letter when he left, but Amanda was never heard of again.
The reality is, Amanda was a replacement for Pamela Sue Martin’s Fallon. She appeared in season 5 after Fallon left, and occupied a similar place in the Carrington universe as Fallon: she was daddy’s girl and antagonistic towards Mummy. Camille Marchetta, who created her, did give Amanda her own arc (which took over the Dynasty universe and had it first explode in the ratings and then implode) which included Moldavia, prince Michael, and the near-incestuous affair with Mummy’s new husband and thus step-daddy. Amanda was also closer to Adam, unlike Fallon who was closer to Steven. The fact that the two were deprived of the privileged upbringing the Carringbrats had brought them closer, but while the writers saw that, they only minimally sprinkled that in scenes that were few and far between. Amanda's huge lie of a past and the deception should have been explored more to give the character depth (same as Adam's incidentally). When Alexis divorced Dex and Moldavia was jettisoned, Amanda was starting to get irrelevant. She was thrown in a triangle with Sammy Jo and Clay, and perhaps if the Fallmonts had lived to their potential something could have been there, but Cellini’s casting was not the only misstep in season 7. But while season 6 ended with a fun pool fight over Clay, the show was already plotting against its own developments.
The writers/producers actually decided to play on its head the “Amanda is just a substitute for Fallon” obvious point with bringing back Michael, the chauffer PSM’s Fallon had a steamy affair with. But Wayne Northrop was nowhere near as steamy as 6 years ago, and, it bears repeating, just as Catherine Oxenberg was no Pamela Sue Martin, so was Karen Cellini no Catherine Oxenberg. So the story fizzled, and while I am glad they decided not to have Cellini’s Amanda be murdered, the end result for the character was the same. I am curious as to whether the show would have shipped off Oxenberg’s Amanda as they did Cellini’s. Yes, Steven left, but that was at the actor’s insistence. But what would have happened in season 8 when Emma Samms’ Fallon came back? Amanda would not fit the “next generation taking over Denver Carrington” plotline since she was incapable of even balancing her checkbook, and having sex with new step-dad would have been too dejavu even for storyline-recycle loving Dynasty.
Frankly, while I really liked Oxenberg and the Dex-Alexis storyline, I hated the backstory that gave birth to Amanda: the never-before-heard trial reconciliation of Blake and Alexis after he crippled Roger Grimes and wanted her cast out that very night, and then Alexis who always was portrayed as wanting to be a mother to her children parking Amanda at her sister’s for 18 years. While before Blake and Alexis’ accounts of the past seemed to include parts of truth and myth on both sides, these developments had Alexis portrayed as the socialite who did only care for the trust fund and that her children would have been an unwanted burden. The schizoid reboot botched up Alexis’ character so badly, an Amanda wrinkle would not have been nothing much, but for the canon of Dynasty, her creation was problematic. Maybe her silent disappearance was the show tacitly acknowledging its mistake.
The reality is, Amanda was a replacement for Pamela Sue Martin’s Fallon. She appeared in season 5 after Fallon left, and occupied a similar place in the Carrington universe as Fallon: she was daddy’s girl and antagonistic towards Mummy. Camille Marchetta, who created her, did give Amanda her own arc (which took over the Dynasty universe and had it first explode in the ratings and then implode) which included Moldavia, prince Michael, and the near-incestuous affair with Mummy’s new husband and thus step-daddy. Amanda was also closer to Adam, unlike Fallon who was closer to Steven. The fact that the two were deprived of the privileged upbringing the Carringbrats had brought them closer, but while the writers saw that, they only minimally sprinkled that in scenes that were few and far between. Amanda's huge lie of a past and the deception should have been explored more to give the character depth (same as Adam's incidentally). When Alexis divorced Dex and Moldavia was jettisoned, Amanda was starting to get irrelevant. She was thrown in a triangle with Sammy Jo and Clay, and perhaps if the Fallmonts had lived to their potential something could have been there, but Cellini’s casting was not the only misstep in season 7. But while season 6 ended with a fun pool fight over Clay, the show was already plotting against its own developments.
The writers/producers actually decided to play on its head the “Amanda is just a substitute for Fallon” obvious point with bringing back Michael, the chauffer PSM’s Fallon had a steamy affair with. But Wayne Northrop was nowhere near as steamy as 6 years ago, and, it bears repeating, just as Catherine Oxenberg was no Pamela Sue Martin, so was Karen Cellini no Catherine Oxenberg. So the story fizzled, and while I am glad they decided not to have Cellini’s Amanda be murdered, the end result for the character was the same. I am curious as to whether the show would have shipped off Oxenberg’s Amanda as they did Cellini’s. Yes, Steven left, but that was at the actor’s insistence. But what would have happened in season 8 when Emma Samms’ Fallon came back? Amanda would not fit the “next generation taking over Denver Carrington” plotline since she was incapable of even balancing her checkbook, and having sex with new step-dad would have been too dejavu even for storyline-recycle loving Dynasty.
Frankly, while I really liked Oxenberg and the Dex-Alexis storyline, I hated the backstory that gave birth to Amanda: the never-before-heard trial reconciliation of Blake and Alexis after he crippled Roger Grimes and wanted her cast out that very night, and then Alexis who always was portrayed as wanting to be a mother to her children parking Amanda at her sister’s for 18 years. While before Blake and Alexis’ accounts of the past seemed to include parts of truth and myth on both sides, these developments had Alexis portrayed as the socialite who did only care for the trust fund and that her children would have been an unwanted burden. The schizoid reboot botched up Alexis’ character so badly, an Amanda wrinkle would not have been nothing much, but for the canon of Dynasty, her creation was problematic. Maybe her silent disappearance was the show tacitly acknowledging its mistake.