"The Village"

[tommie]

In the early seasons, we heard about this mythical village. Sammy Jo mentioned that she and Steven got pizza there, so I assume there's an "eatery" there. So what would you have wanted the "village" off the Carrington mansion to have looked like?

 

[Gabriel Maxwell]

What would a village in the US look like anyway? Doesn't America normally have just small towns? It would probably look like Peyton Place. Minus the coast.

Village to me sounds more European. Like the cute Swiss one in the photo above. But then, DYNASTY was right to use that cozy word, given its European vibe.

 

[Willie Oleson]

so I assume there's an "eatery" there

What a funny word. So a hotel could be a sleepery, and a brothel a sexery.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

In the early seasons, we heard about this mythical village. Sammy Jo mentioned that she and Steven got pizza there, so I assume there's an "eatery" there. So what would you have wanted the "village" off the Carrington mansion to have looked like?

What a nice picture. That's almost how I picture it. Both DYNASTY and FALCON CREST early on did a much better job of creating psychological atmosphere, a sense of place, and both shows established in the dialogue that a cozy little hamlet existed nearby.

By Season 7 (was it earlier?) DYNASTY had named their village "Harmon Springs" (although I like the sound of 'Cathedral Springs' better because it sounds more like Colorado). I think they named it after a writer-producer, but I could be wrong.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Actually, several smaller towns around here have embraced the term "village" instead of the typical incorporation (like City, Town, etc.) because it sounds more intimate. The Village of Wellington, for example is a magnet for the "horsey" set, like horse breeders and polo players. The village is mostly a collection of residential developments and some high-end retail, not a "complete city".

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

I think the use of the word "Village" appealed to the European feel the writers were trying to create, you tend to think of Europe having villages while the "New World" (The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) have small towns a village to me implies this:

Its the purpose built set for the Yorkshire set soap Emmerdale (the mist dangerous village on the planet, with two plane crashes in less than two decades apart from one another, a killer hurricane, a bus crash, a collapsing house, numerous fires, dozens of murders, a flood and a motorway pile up)

But you never think of the US as having villages, in the 1963 film THE BIRDS the Bodega Bay shown is mentioned on numerous occasions as being a Town, even though its about the size of a Hamlet.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Both DYNASTY and FALCON CREST early on did a much better job of creating psychological atmosphere

And FLAMINGO ROAD too, before they changed it into a Southern Beverly Hills, thus making it wealth-for-all-and-sundry.
Since DENVER was never going to be as charismatic as DALLAS (at least not by association, at least not outside the US), I think DYNASTY would have been better off if it was situated in a fictional town, they could have borrowed a little from CENTENNIAL.
Alternatively, they could have lived in ASPEN or a town similar to that.

Or maybe Lindsay should have played this record, to remind the audience how charismatic/enigmatic DENVER really was:

The Village of Wellington, for example is a magnet for the "horsey" set, like horse breeders and polo players.

That's all very stylish in a marketing sort of way, but to me that looks more like a community. Villages tend to have some history and many people live there because they have no choice.

But you never think of the US as having villages

Only city villages.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

But you never think of the US as having villages, in the 1963 film THE BIRDS the Bodega Bay shown is mentioned on numerous occasions as being a Town, even though its about the size of a Hamlet.

View attachment 9281

Even Suzanne Pleshette refers to it as a hamlet.

 

[tommie]

Actually, several smaller towns around here have embraced the term "village" instead of the typical incorporation (like City, Town, etc.) because it sounds more intimate. The Village of Wellington, for example is a magnet for the "horsey" set, like horse breeders and polo players. The village is mostly a collection of residential developments and some high-end retail, not a "complete city".

Haha, yes! In the soap world my city that I grew up in would probably be a "village".

 

[Willie Oleson]

Denver's sexery (Dominique would call it a sexerette)

Steven is surprised that Walter can play the piano.

He was such a terrific character.

Steven's "African Room" in the mansion.

They even got the colours right.

Somewhere in a park, somewhere in Denver..

(that dog is not on a leash, btw)

Indeed. It's so fascinating I almost ended up watching the entire episode.

Anyway, in the beginning the show was very American, which made the mansion even more sinister, immoral and sexy, and probably other things too.
Very much like the Peyton mansion, I think.

 

[Gabriel Maxwell]

A nearby village with mountains in the background could've also been used for some fine winter scenery that the show lacked so badly.

(Below is Berchtesgaden in Germany, which is below Hitler's Alpine retreat Eagle's Nest - a fun place to visit, especially during Krampus festival in early December when young men dressed in Christmas devil clothes descend upon the village to whip everyone in their path - and whip they hard - and the kids love it.)

 

[Gatsbyesque]

What a funny word. So a hotel could be a sleepery, and a brothel a sexery.

Listen, we *don't need no hateration, holleration, in this dancerie!*

 

[tommie]

The Church in my home town:

In his father and son's and the holy spirit...

 

[tommie]

Inside the church:

 

[tommie]

From the back!

 

[tommie]

Anyway shouldn't we talk more about churches? For me that's a hot spot of where we all meet.

 

[tommie]

Less flattering from this angle, but a church is a church:

I believe it was built in the 13th century.

 

[tommie]

Sorry that I'm posting pictures from my home town but here's a wintery one:

 

[tommie]

Center of the town:

 

[tommie]

Scenic shot: