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The Colbys
'The Colbys' Development History
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<blockquote data-quote="Gabriel Maxwell" data-source="post: 4697" data-attributes="member: 121"><p><strong><em><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2UUIQKOFdH4/TKOP4kHG-JI/AAAAAAAAAGE/Hf0wNbI8J1s/s1600/colbys-season2-001.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </em></strong></p><p><strong><em></em></strong></p><p><strong><em>THE COLBYS</em> <em>[Season 2]</em></strong></p><p></p><p>An article published in early June 1986 discussed CBS' decision to move KNOTS LANDING from 10pm to 9pm in the 1986-87 season, believing the spin-off of DALLAS was popular enough to put the spin-off of DYNASTY out of business. It was also stated that ABC was hoping THE COLBYS would slowly build their audience, but CBS was tossing a roadblock in their path. KNOTS LANDING was successfully beating HILL STREET BLUES in the ratings for 2 straight seasons, and CBS execs were confident it would do even better against THE COLBYS.</p><p></p><p>The same day the tabloids reported Emma Samms was engaged to David Corwin, 31, who catered the Maria Shriver-Arnold Schwarzengger wedding.</p><p></p><p>On June 24, the press reported that Barbara Stanwyck demanded her exit from THE COLBYS despite originally agreeing to do at least 7 episodes in the show's 2nd season. According to the report, Stanwyck was sulking over the way her character had been developed and wanted Constance Colby killed off to eliminate pressure to return. It was also said that Stanwyck had been complaining about the development of her character for some time, but finally was at the end of her tether.</p><p></p><p>As ABC's prime-time schedule trailed behind NBC and CBS in the ratings the previous season, Brandon Stoddard, ABC's president of entertainment didn't seem optimistic that the situation would improve dramatically next fall. When someone asked him if ABC's new fall lineup could pull the network out of the ratings basement, Stoddard didn't even try to put on a brave face at the annual television press tour in Los Angeles in late June 1986.</p><p></p><p>Stephanie Beacham however said at the event that she "believes her show will increase in popularity because it veers a little more to the truth than its competitors."</p><p></p><p>On July 2, it was reported that unlike its high-profile competitors, THE COLBYS had no problem signing its stars for a 2nd season (expect for Stanwyck, of course) because it was a new show, and the show's main concern at the time was improving the ratings.</p><p></p><p>On July 8, the creators of DYNASTY, Richard and Esther Shapiro filed a $40 million suit against Aaron Spelling seeking to block sale of the Spelling stock, under which company owner Spelling would retain 68.7% of the voting shares. The same day TV Guide named KNOTS LANDING the best prime-time soap opera, and THE COLBYS the worst.</p><p></p><p>On July 21, 1986 it was reported that Kim Morgan Green joined THE COLBYS as magazine reporter Channing Carter, beginning with the season premiere.</p><p></p><p>According to Philadelphia Inquirer, Charlton Heston was paid $85000 per episode of THE COLBYS (as were DYNASTY's John Forsythe and THE COLBYS departing cast member Barbara Stanwyck).</p><p></p><p>On August 6, Tracy Scoggins said in an interview her character would continue to choose the wrong kind of man.</p><p></p><p>On August 14 it was announced Ken Howard was leaving THE COLBYS after he signed on as host for a new weekly syndicated beauty pageant <em>"Dream Girls".</em> Instead of perishing in a cliffhanger, his character Garret Boydston would simply move to a New York office. The actor would appear in the first 2 episodes of the 2nd season. Howard was also going to teach at Yale Drama School and work at Harvard's Loeb Theater with his mentor, Robert Brustein.</p><p></p><p>On August 17, Los Angeles published an article on the returning series, including a segment about THE COLBYS reporting from the set:</p><p></p><p>"Jeff and Miles Colby were fighting over Fallon-again-on THE COLBYS (returning this fall to ABC). In all, eight hours were spent Monday staging and shooting a complicated fight sequence, in which furniture, vases and bottles (all of the breakaway variety) were smashed and strewn."</p><p></p><p>Also in August it was reported that Karen Cellini, who originally auditioned for the role on THE COLBYS was going to replace Catherine Oxenberg on DYNASTY after the latter failed to reach a contractual agreement with the producers. Cellini who was selling Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts on commission said her character was warm and nice and people would like watching someone who made them feel good. Little did she know.</p><p></p><p>On August 9, it was announced that the newest addition to ABC's THE COLBYS was Kevin McCarthy, who would play smarmy magazine publisher Lucas Channing.</p><p></p><p>Ratings reports indicated THE COLBYS was not doing well in reruns. The show generated 5% of the available audience, while lead-out 20/20 was building on that to 13%.</p><p></p><p>A late August report suggested the 2nd season of THE COLBYS would probably be the show's last. According to the article, the show started off relatively well, especially having to air against NBC's blockbuster line-up, but it was too costly and CBS was moving KNOTS LANDING to gang up on the show.</p><p></p><p>In September 1986, Emma Samms was promoting Diet Coke in a commercial with a baby elephant.</p><p></p><p>In a September 14 interview, Stephanie Beacham said she believed the producers of THE COLBYS wanted to make Sable more sympathetic.</p><p></p><p>More forecasts of THE COLBYS upcoming season 2 failure were published prior to the Wednesday, September 24 season opener (which aired immediately after the season 7 premiere of DYNASTY). The reports emphasized the show's troublesome timeslot and the fact that it was sandwiched between two ABC News shows, "Our World" and "20/20."</p><p></p><p>A September 25 article about state trying to lure more movie and TV productions profiled filming of THE COLBYS stunt scene atop a Century City high-rise (most probably the Miles and Jeff roof fight).</p><p></p><p>On October 1, a ratings report stated the 2nd season premiere of THE COLBYS which aired after DYNASTY finished 28th, but the timeslot premiere the following night finished 56th. The show was the last in the timeslot and competing CHEERS rose to its best ratings ever. ABC was however going to keep the show in the timeslot for the remainder of the season.</p><p></p><p>The following day, <em>Daily News</em> reported that: "The newest handsome hunk on THE COLBYS, a model-turned-London-actor Adrian Paul started working on the series as a Soviet ballet dancer with a thick Russian accent. But the producers now have decided he should become Americanized rather fast."</p><p></p><p>The following week ratings analysts reported CBS' bold move of KNOTS LANDING may not have been so wise, as the network was damaging the show's ratings by having it compete against CHEERS. In fact, an article stated that "Thursday night soaps are killing each other off". THE COLBYS plunged to 65th place, while KNOTS LANDING was out of the top-20 and down to 43rd place. The author was asking if CBS was damaging KNOTS LANDING beyond repair.</p><p></p><p>On October 13, John Forsythe said in an interview he believed DYNASTY brought itself to the verge of self- destruction the previous season -- and would be surprised if it ever regains the popularity it once enjoyed. "It was a very painful year, totally beyond anyone's belief," said the debonair, down-to-earth, nice-guy actor about that recent period in DYNASTY history when "we went astray, had kings and queens, etc." Adding to the difficulty, he notes, "was the fact that we literally gave birth to THE COLBYS. It's hard enough to keep a 6-year-old show alive and fresh without shuffling actors back and forth between two series."</p><p></p><p>On October 21 1986, it was reported that both THE COLBYS and Lucille Ball's new comedy LIFE WITH LUCY both Aaron Spelling productions were finishing in the bottom 10 in the ratings.</p><p></p><p>Since ABC was airing THE COLBYS with as few pre-emptions as possible (and the first 2 and the last 2 episodes of the season aired back-to-back in the same week) a November 11 report revealed the cast had just begun filming <em>"double-load"</em> -- two episodes at once. "The pressure is on," Claire Yarlett who played Bliss said. "It takes 10 days to shoot an episode, but one airs every seven days."</p><p></p><p>The following day, <em>Los Angeles Times</em> reported that "Magnum PI" (14.8 million homes) passed DYNASTY (14.6 million) in the ratings. CBS was initially criticized for renewing the show which dropped the previous year, but once they moved it out of the way of THE COSBY SHOW and into DYNASTY's timeslot on Wednesdays, its ratings went up again. Meanwhile, the article suggested "Once you lose the loyalty in a soap opera, it can drop pretty quickly, as ABC has seen with THE COLBYS. If people stop watching for a couple of weeks and lose track of the story, they can become disinterested." Spelling's HOTEL also dropped from 20th to 35th place.</p><p></p><p>On November 13, 1986, CBS decided to move KNOTS LANDING back into the 10pm timeslot and out of the way of CHEERS. Meanwhile, Spelling's THE COLBYS was in critical condition, ranking 62nd among 69 prime-time series through seven weeks of the regular season. DYNASTY, previous season's 7th most-popular series with a 21.8 rating, 33 share, was 18th season thus far, with an 18.1 rating, 28 share.</p><p></p><p>Sam Elliott, Katherine Ross' husband said to <em>Dallas Morning News</em> he thought "the show was pretty light-headed", and he objected to the way Ross was lit. "It's that flat Spelling lighting,' he said. "She's much prettier in person.'</p><p></p><p>On November 22, the tabloids reported that Emma Samms' planned Christmas-time marriage was off.</p><p></p><p>On December 9 it was announced Michael Parks had been added to the cast of ABC's THE COLBYS as Hoyt Parker, a mysterious man who becomes suspect in the disappearance of Barbara Stanwyck's Constance Colby character.</p><p></p><p>On December 23 the Shapiros ended their dispute with Aaron Spelling and dropped their lawsuit.</p><p></p><p>On December 29, <em>Daily News</em> reported that Charlton Heston had sent co-star Maxwell Caulfield a letter blasting his behavior on the set of THE COLBYS. Heston said to the paper his feud was only with Caulfield, he thought the rest of the cast was one of the most professional he had worked with in the past 30 years.</p><p></p><p>The same paper reported the same day in a separate article Emma Samms was earning over $30,000 per episode of THE COLBYS.</p><p></p><p>On December 31, 1986 <em>Dallas Morning News</em> predicted THE COLBYS would not survive in the New Year.</p><p></p><p>The producers began touting the February wedding of Jason and Francesca Colby in the first week of 1987, while <em>Playboy</em> announced it would publish Stephanie Beacham's 1972 nude photos in its February issue.</p><p></p><p>On January 12, 1987, John Fosythe said: "I think clearly the scenes taking place off stage were better than the ones being shot," referring to the feud of DYNASTY creators and Aaron Spelling. "We were sort of a ship without a captain for a while," said Linda Evans. Meanwhile, the Shapiros acknowledged their responsibility, and said they were back and better storylines were just around the corner.</p><p></p><p>On January 19, 1987, <em>Daily News</em> reported that Bianca Jagger started work on the ailing THE COLBYS the previous Friday. She was making a special appearance in two March episodes as the mysterious and exotic Maya Kumarara, who magically appeared to clear up some shady elements in Hoyt Parker's past.</p><p></p><p>In a February 21, 1987 interview in <em>TV Guide</em>, Ken Howard said that unless you're Bill Cosby you have no creative control in television acting and then compared his work on THE COLBYS to a factory job.</p><p></p><p>A February report suggested some local ABC affiliates were preempting the network Thursday night line-up of OUR WORLD and THE COLBYS with movies and local programming, thus further exacerbating the shows' ratings decline.</p><p></p><p>On February 25, 1987, Emma Samms, filed a suit yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court to get back semi-nude pictures of herself.</p><p></p><p>On March 4, 1987, ABC scheduled the season finale of THE COLBYS for April 2nd and said a new show called JACK & MIKE would move into the show's spot the following week. The network said THE COLBYS would, for the being, remain in the limbo between hiatus and cancellation until the final decision was made.</p><p></p><p>Just a couple of days later, ABC rescheduled the season finale to March 26, adding the penultimate episode which was originally supposed to air that night to the post-Dynasty timeslot on March 25.</p><p></p><p>Just days after the UFO cliffhanger aired, <em>Dallas Morning News</em> said in the article titled "THE COLBYS a Dirtier Show Thanks to Heston's Efforts":</p><p></p><p>"Charlton Heston, who has gravitated from the glory of BEN HUR to the hokum of THE COLBYS, made a surprise phone call the other day. He phoned, unannounced, to ask for some interest in ABC's THE COLBYS, which ended its second season Thursday with a cliffhanger that saw Fallon Carrington Colby (Emma Samms) carried off in a flying saucer. "I think they handled it rather well. Of course, I lose my daughter-in-law Heston said without laughing."</p><p></p><p>In an April 5 <em>LA Times</em> article, it was stated that: "Though she adored the four seasons as the matriarch Barkley in "THE BIG VALLEY," Barbara Stanwyck had no fun at all with THE COLBYS last season as the sister of Colby patriarch. The actress said: "Aaron (Spelling, producer of THE COLBYS) is a kind man, but the telling of it was better than it was on paper."</p><p></p><p>In an interview the following day, Heston said he "largely invented Jason Colby". In the article titled "Heston uses influence to mold THE COLBYS he said: "The difference between THE COLBYS and DYNASTY's Carrington family is that "the Carringtons don't sweat. The Colbys do."</p><p></p><p>At this time DYNASTY was slightly improving in the ratings as it was approaching the end of season 7, beating its competition and the show's creator said in an interview the show's problems could be traced back to the launch of THE COLBYS.</p><p></p><p>On April 11, AFI saluted Barbara Stanwyck for her work.</p><p></p><p>On April 14 it was reported Emma Samms would play Stacy Keach's daughter on MIKE HAMMER as his punk daughter with pink hair. The producers said the door would be open for her to return to the show in the fall if THE COLBYS gets cancelled.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, ABC was said to be considering moving the show to a new timeslot, possibly following DYNASTY on Wednesday nights.</p><p></p><p>On May 1 Charlton Heston was asked in an interview if he thought there would be another season of THE COLBYS and he said "I think so." The network honchos had remained undecided, more than a month after the season ender aired.</p><p></p><p>In a May 13 interview, Emma Samms said: "I found the story very offensive. It was teaching the public a message that they should not be taught, because, you know, women don't forgive a man for raping them," referring to an early THE COLBYS plot about Miles raping Fallon.</p><p></p><p>ABC officially cancelled THE COLBYS on May 16, 1987 when it announced its fall 1987 schedule at the Upfronts. The same day ABC said it was moving its declining 7-year old soap DYNASTY to a later timeslot at 10pm and cutting the season order to the standard 22. JACK & MIKE which briefly replaced THE COLBYS on Thursday nights was also discarded. THURSDAY NIGHT MOVIE was going to replace THE COLBYS and "20/20" in the fall of 1987.</p><p></p><p>On May 21, 1987 Charlton Heston said to <em>Daily News</em> he wasn't depressed about the cancellation of THE COLBYS as it was a part of actor's life to constantly change jobs and "this was his longest running job since Air Force in World War II."</p><p></p><p>On May 24, 1987 Emma Samms said she and John James had been offered a chance to return to the parent series DYNASTY Meanwhile, Joan Collins who was again renegotiating her salary said she would leave DYNASTY the following year.</p><p></p><p>ABC president confirmed the return of Samms and James to DYNASTY on June 1, 1987. The network did not pick up any new shows from Spelling, and the fading DYNASTY and HOTEL were his only shows on schedule. Just 2 years earlier DYNASTY was #1 in the ratings and Spelling had 7 shows on ABC.</p><p></p><p>On September 4, John James said he was happy to go back to DYNASTY. Since his original contract expired after 7 years, it was his own decision to return to the series.</p><p></p><p>On November 7, 1987 <em>Los Angeles Times</em> wrote: "It is difficult to understand how a network that should be interested in its ratings could discontinue a good show like THE COLBYS and stay with DYNASTY. Even though the plot of DYNASTY was deteriorating, at least the wardrobe was something to look at, until now."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gabriel Maxwell, post: 4697, member: 121"] [B][I][IMG]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2UUIQKOFdH4/TKOP4kHG-JI/AAAAAAAAAGE/Hf0wNbI8J1s/s1600/colbys-season2-001.jpg[/IMG] THE COLBYS[/I] [I][Season 2][/I][/B] An article published in early June 1986 discussed CBS' decision to move KNOTS LANDING from 10pm to 9pm in the 1986-87 season, believing the spin-off of DALLAS was popular enough to put the spin-off of DYNASTY out of business. It was also stated that ABC was hoping THE COLBYS would slowly build their audience, but CBS was tossing a roadblock in their path. KNOTS LANDING was successfully beating HILL STREET BLUES in the ratings for 2 straight seasons, and CBS execs were confident it would do even better against THE COLBYS. The same day the tabloids reported Emma Samms was engaged to David Corwin, 31, who catered the Maria Shriver-Arnold Schwarzengger wedding. On June 24, the press reported that Barbara Stanwyck demanded her exit from THE COLBYS despite originally agreeing to do at least 7 episodes in the show's 2nd season. According to the report, Stanwyck was sulking over the way her character had been developed and wanted Constance Colby killed off to eliminate pressure to return. It was also said that Stanwyck had been complaining about the development of her character for some time, but finally was at the end of her tether. As ABC's prime-time schedule trailed behind NBC and CBS in the ratings the previous season, Brandon Stoddard, ABC's president of entertainment didn't seem optimistic that the situation would improve dramatically next fall. When someone asked him if ABC's new fall lineup could pull the network out of the ratings basement, Stoddard didn't even try to put on a brave face at the annual television press tour in Los Angeles in late June 1986. Stephanie Beacham however said at the event that she "believes her show will increase in popularity because it veers a little more to the truth than its competitors." On July 2, it was reported that unlike its high-profile competitors, THE COLBYS had no problem signing its stars for a 2nd season (expect for Stanwyck, of course) because it was a new show, and the show's main concern at the time was improving the ratings. On July 8, the creators of DYNASTY, Richard and Esther Shapiro filed a $40 million suit against Aaron Spelling seeking to block sale of the Spelling stock, under which company owner Spelling would retain 68.7% of the voting shares. The same day TV Guide named KNOTS LANDING the best prime-time soap opera, and THE COLBYS the worst. On July 21, 1986 it was reported that Kim Morgan Green joined THE COLBYS as magazine reporter Channing Carter, beginning with the season premiere. According to Philadelphia Inquirer, Charlton Heston was paid $85000 per episode of THE COLBYS (as were DYNASTY's John Forsythe and THE COLBYS departing cast member Barbara Stanwyck). On August 6, Tracy Scoggins said in an interview her character would continue to choose the wrong kind of man. On August 14 it was announced Ken Howard was leaving THE COLBYS after he signed on as host for a new weekly syndicated beauty pageant [I]"Dream Girls".[/I] Instead of perishing in a cliffhanger, his character Garret Boydston would simply move to a New York office. The actor would appear in the first 2 episodes of the 2nd season. Howard was also going to teach at Yale Drama School and work at Harvard's Loeb Theater with his mentor, Robert Brustein. On August 17, Los Angeles published an article on the returning series, including a segment about THE COLBYS reporting from the set: "Jeff and Miles Colby were fighting over Fallon-again-on THE COLBYS (returning this fall to ABC). In all, eight hours were spent Monday staging and shooting a complicated fight sequence, in which furniture, vases and bottles (all of the breakaway variety) were smashed and strewn." Also in August it was reported that Karen Cellini, who originally auditioned for the role on THE COLBYS was going to replace Catherine Oxenberg on DYNASTY after the latter failed to reach a contractual agreement with the producers. Cellini who was selling Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts on commission said her character was warm and nice and people would like watching someone who made them feel good. Little did she know. On August 9, it was announced that the newest addition to ABC's THE COLBYS was Kevin McCarthy, who would play smarmy magazine publisher Lucas Channing. Ratings reports indicated THE COLBYS was not doing well in reruns. The show generated 5% of the available audience, while lead-out 20/20 was building on that to 13%. A late August report suggested the 2nd season of THE COLBYS would probably be the show's last. According to the article, the show started off relatively well, especially having to air against NBC's blockbuster line-up, but it was too costly and CBS was moving KNOTS LANDING to gang up on the show. In September 1986, Emma Samms was promoting Diet Coke in a commercial with a baby elephant. In a September 14 interview, Stephanie Beacham said she believed the producers of THE COLBYS wanted to make Sable more sympathetic. More forecasts of THE COLBYS upcoming season 2 failure were published prior to the Wednesday, September 24 season opener (which aired immediately after the season 7 premiere of DYNASTY). The reports emphasized the show's troublesome timeslot and the fact that it was sandwiched between two ABC News shows, "Our World" and "20/20." A September 25 article about state trying to lure more movie and TV productions profiled filming of THE COLBYS stunt scene atop a Century City high-rise (most probably the Miles and Jeff roof fight). On October 1, a ratings report stated the 2nd season premiere of THE COLBYS which aired after DYNASTY finished 28th, but the timeslot premiere the following night finished 56th. The show was the last in the timeslot and competing CHEERS rose to its best ratings ever. ABC was however going to keep the show in the timeslot for the remainder of the season. The following day, [I]Daily News[/I] reported that: "The newest handsome hunk on THE COLBYS, a model-turned-London-actor Adrian Paul started working on the series as a Soviet ballet dancer with a thick Russian accent. But the producers now have decided he should become Americanized rather fast." The following week ratings analysts reported CBS' bold move of KNOTS LANDING may not have been so wise, as the network was damaging the show's ratings by having it compete against CHEERS. In fact, an article stated that "Thursday night soaps are killing each other off". THE COLBYS plunged to 65th place, while KNOTS LANDING was out of the top-20 and down to 43rd place. The author was asking if CBS was damaging KNOTS LANDING beyond repair. On October 13, John Forsythe said in an interview he believed DYNASTY brought itself to the verge of self- destruction the previous season -- and would be surprised if it ever regains the popularity it once enjoyed. "It was a very painful year, totally beyond anyone's belief," said the debonair, down-to-earth, nice-guy actor about that recent period in DYNASTY history when "we went astray, had kings and queens, etc." Adding to the difficulty, he notes, "was the fact that we literally gave birth to THE COLBYS. It's hard enough to keep a 6-year-old show alive and fresh without shuffling actors back and forth between two series." On October 21 1986, it was reported that both THE COLBYS and Lucille Ball's new comedy LIFE WITH LUCY both Aaron Spelling productions were finishing in the bottom 10 in the ratings. Since ABC was airing THE COLBYS with as few pre-emptions as possible (and the first 2 and the last 2 episodes of the season aired back-to-back in the same week) a November 11 report revealed the cast had just begun filming [I]"double-load"[/I] -- two episodes at once. "The pressure is on," Claire Yarlett who played Bliss said. "It takes 10 days to shoot an episode, but one airs every seven days." The following day, [I]Los Angeles Times[/I] reported that "Magnum PI" (14.8 million homes) passed DYNASTY (14.6 million) in the ratings. CBS was initially criticized for renewing the show which dropped the previous year, but once they moved it out of the way of THE COSBY SHOW and into DYNASTY's timeslot on Wednesdays, its ratings went up again. Meanwhile, the article suggested "Once you lose the loyalty in a soap opera, it can drop pretty quickly, as ABC has seen with THE COLBYS. If people stop watching for a couple of weeks and lose track of the story, they can become disinterested." Spelling's HOTEL also dropped from 20th to 35th place. On November 13, 1986, CBS decided to move KNOTS LANDING back into the 10pm timeslot and out of the way of CHEERS. Meanwhile, Spelling's THE COLBYS was in critical condition, ranking 62nd among 69 prime-time series through seven weeks of the regular season. DYNASTY, previous season's 7th most-popular series with a 21.8 rating, 33 share, was 18th season thus far, with an 18.1 rating, 28 share. Sam Elliott, Katherine Ross' husband said to [I]Dallas Morning News[/I] he thought "the show was pretty light-headed", and he objected to the way Ross was lit. "It's that flat Spelling lighting,' he said. "She's much prettier in person.' On November 22, the tabloids reported that Emma Samms' planned Christmas-time marriage was off. On December 9 it was announced Michael Parks had been added to the cast of ABC's THE COLBYS as Hoyt Parker, a mysterious man who becomes suspect in the disappearance of Barbara Stanwyck's Constance Colby character. On December 23 the Shapiros ended their dispute with Aaron Spelling and dropped their lawsuit. On December 29, [I]Daily News[/I] reported that Charlton Heston had sent co-star Maxwell Caulfield a letter blasting his behavior on the set of THE COLBYS. Heston said to the paper his feud was only with Caulfield, he thought the rest of the cast was one of the most professional he had worked with in the past 30 years. The same paper reported the same day in a separate article Emma Samms was earning over $30,000 per episode of THE COLBYS. On December 31, 1986 [I]Dallas Morning News[/I] predicted THE COLBYS would not survive in the New Year. The producers began touting the February wedding of Jason and Francesca Colby in the first week of 1987, while [I]Playboy[/I] announced it would publish Stephanie Beacham's 1972 nude photos in its February issue. On January 12, 1987, John Fosythe said: "I think clearly the scenes taking place off stage were better than the ones being shot," referring to the feud of DYNASTY creators and Aaron Spelling. "We were sort of a ship without a captain for a while," said Linda Evans. Meanwhile, the Shapiros acknowledged their responsibility, and said they were back and better storylines were just around the corner. On January 19, 1987, [I]Daily News[/I] reported that Bianca Jagger started work on the ailing THE COLBYS the previous Friday. She was making a special appearance in two March episodes as the mysterious and exotic Maya Kumarara, who magically appeared to clear up some shady elements in Hoyt Parker's past. In a February 21, 1987 interview in [I]TV Guide[/I], Ken Howard said that unless you're Bill Cosby you have no creative control in television acting and then compared his work on THE COLBYS to a factory job. A February report suggested some local ABC affiliates were preempting the network Thursday night line-up of OUR WORLD and THE COLBYS with movies and local programming, thus further exacerbating the shows' ratings decline. On February 25, 1987, Emma Samms, filed a suit yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court to get back semi-nude pictures of herself. On March 4, 1987, ABC scheduled the season finale of THE COLBYS for April 2nd and said a new show called JACK & MIKE would move into the show's spot the following week. The network said THE COLBYS would, for the being, remain in the limbo between hiatus and cancellation until the final decision was made. Just a couple of days later, ABC rescheduled the season finale to March 26, adding the penultimate episode which was originally supposed to air that night to the post-Dynasty timeslot on March 25. Just days after the UFO cliffhanger aired, [I]Dallas Morning News[/I] said in the article titled "THE COLBYS a Dirtier Show Thanks to Heston's Efforts": "Charlton Heston, who has gravitated from the glory of BEN HUR to the hokum of THE COLBYS, made a surprise phone call the other day. He phoned, unannounced, to ask for some interest in ABC's THE COLBYS, which ended its second season Thursday with a cliffhanger that saw Fallon Carrington Colby (Emma Samms) carried off in a flying saucer. "I think they handled it rather well. Of course, I lose my daughter-in-law Heston said without laughing." In an April 5 [I]LA Times[/I] article, it was stated that: "Though she adored the four seasons as the matriarch Barkley in "THE BIG VALLEY," Barbara Stanwyck had no fun at all with THE COLBYS last season as the sister of Colby patriarch. The actress said: "Aaron (Spelling, producer of THE COLBYS) is a kind man, but the telling of it was better than it was on paper." In an interview the following day, Heston said he "largely invented Jason Colby". In the article titled "Heston uses influence to mold THE COLBYS he said: "The difference between THE COLBYS and DYNASTY's Carrington family is that "the Carringtons don't sweat. The Colbys do." At this time DYNASTY was slightly improving in the ratings as it was approaching the end of season 7, beating its competition and the show's creator said in an interview the show's problems could be traced back to the launch of THE COLBYS. On April 11, AFI saluted Barbara Stanwyck for her work. On April 14 it was reported Emma Samms would play Stacy Keach's daughter on MIKE HAMMER as his punk daughter with pink hair. The producers said the door would be open for her to return to the show in the fall if THE COLBYS gets cancelled. Meanwhile, ABC was said to be considering moving the show to a new timeslot, possibly following DYNASTY on Wednesday nights. On May 1 Charlton Heston was asked in an interview if he thought there would be another season of THE COLBYS and he said "I think so." The network honchos had remained undecided, more than a month after the season ender aired. In a May 13 interview, Emma Samms said: "I found the story very offensive. It was teaching the public a message that they should not be taught, because, you know, women don't forgive a man for raping them," referring to an early THE COLBYS plot about Miles raping Fallon. ABC officially cancelled THE COLBYS on May 16, 1987 when it announced its fall 1987 schedule at the Upfronts. The same day ABC said it was moving its declining 7-year old soap DYNASTY to a later timeslot at 10pm and cutting the season order to the standard 22. JACK & MIKE which briefly replaced THE COLBYS on Thursday nights was also discarded. THURSDAY NIGHT MOVIE was going to replace THE COLBYS and "20/20" in the fall of 1987. On May 21, 1987 Charlton Heston said to [I]Daily News[/I] he wasn't depressed about the cancellation of THE COLBYS as it was a part of actor's life to constantly change jobs and "this was his longest running job since Air Force in World War II." On May 24, 1987 Emma Samms said she and John James had been offered a chance to return to the parent series DYNASTY Meanwhile, Joan Collins who was again renegotiating her salary said she would leave DYNASTY the following year. ABC president confirmed the return of Samms and James to DYNASTY on June 1, 1987. The network did not pick up any new shows from Spelling, and the fading DYNASTY and HOTEL were his only shows on schedule. Just 2 years earlier DYNASTY was #1 in the ratings and Spelling had 7 shows on ABC. On September 4, John James said he was happy to go back to DYNASTY. Since his original contract expired after 7 years, it was his own decision to return to the series. On November 7, 1987 [I]Los Angeles Times[/I] wrote: "It is difficult to understand how a network that should be interested in its ratings could discontinue a good show like THE COLBYS and stay with DYNASTY. Even though the plot of DYNASTY was deteriorating, at least the wardrobe was something to look at, until now." [/QUOTE]
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'The Colbys' Development History
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