What went wrong with DYNASTY?

[Matthew Blaisdel]

And, of course, there's make-up.

But now there's HD. So which episode is that, where he is swimming? Then i could take a "sharper" look.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

In 1985, DALLAS' creator David Jacobs and DYNASTY's co-creator Esther Shapiro joked in TV GUIDE that they would like to take over each others' series (although Jacobs hadn't really worked on DALLAS in seven years), with Esther saying she'd give the Ewing women, especially Miss Ellie, "real frontier strength" while Jacobs simply said he'd give DYNASTY more of an actual story line.

Heh.

One wonders, as brilliant as Jacobs' KNOTS LANDING was (and turns out he produced the LACE miniseries of "Which one of you bitches is my mother??" fame), how much better DYNASTY would have been if he had run it. (They tried to get David Paulsen, by the way, as a mere writer-producer for Season 6, in the middle of the Moldavian massacre brouhaha, but he refused to do it without the creative carte blanche they eventually did give him for Season 9).

 

[Michael Torrance]

In 1985, DALLAS' creator David Jacobs and DYNASTY's co-creator Esther Shapiro joked in TV GUIDE that they would like to take over each others' series (although Jacobs hadn't really worked on DALLAS in seven years), with Esther saying she'd give the Ewing women, especially Miss Ellie, "real frontier strength" while Jacobs simply said he'd give DYNASTY more of an actual story line.

Heh.

One wonders, as brilliant as Jacobs' KNOTS LANDING was (and turns out he produced the LACE miniseries of "Which one of you bitches is my mother??" fame), how much better DYNASTY would have been if he had run it.

Dynasty would also have stayed top notch if Esther Shapiro had actually run it and not simply seen it as a cash cow.

 

[tommie]

But... but... Esther made sure they arranged the bodies in the massacre so that it would have an impact in the season premiere!

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

But... but... Esther made sure they arranged the bodies in the massacre so that it would have an impact in the season premiere!

Then they all got up, without a scratch, except Claudia whose arm apparently was struck by a bullet en route to Lady Ashley.

Their hair was perfect, those first 20 seconds of establishing who survived were the most tense 20 seconds ever......-_-

 

[Ked]

Then they all got up, without a scratch, except Claudia whose arm apparently was struck by a bullet en route to Lady Ashley.

Their hair was perfect, those first 20 seconds of establishing who survived were the most tense 20 seconds ever......-_-

Don't forget, Alexis was "beyond talking."

 

[Zara]

A few fast ones in the Swedish night, watching Dynasty:

*It was a huge mistake to kill of Cecil. Perfect antagonist to Blake. And with Alexis by his side, there would be no stopping him. Plus, I wanted to see his mansion! The writers had him living in his office.

*Though I love B&K, they sure had their own interpretation of "fidelity". Krystle meeting Nick in secret and kissing and holding him on several occasions, Blake kissing Alexis in Italy and is one step away from the sex. Blake allowing Ashley to kiss him without putting his foot down. Krystle and Daniel kissing.
Both Blake and Krystle are big on the phrase: Noting happened.
I thing most of the western world would disagree.
And why didn't they confess to the other about all the kissing going on?

Were in fact B&K huge inner sluts? But too proud to cross that intercourse line?

*The first season is truly unique, and totally different from the others. It's hard to describe just what it is, but the minute you enter season 2, you just feel something has changed.

*Did John Forsythe had a face lift between season 1 and 2? I have studied his face and there are significant changes in his face, the lines and the way the camera falls on him. He's the same in season 2 but at the same time he's not. He appears to be "more mature" in his face.

*John James does some horrible acting in season 1, haha - "You want me to whisper about the things inside me, the things I'm feeling!". It's actually a great soap opera line, but JJ:s delivery sucks.

*Alexis is I-really-want-to-kill-her material when she enters. Which means Joan is great.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Were in fact B&K huge inner sluts?

Really, the duo were constantly sniffing up the new characters. But that's all the writers could think of for stories: rape, incest and affairs; affairs, incest and rape.

Or, in Blake and Krystle's case, resisting incest and affairs -- but rape's okay.

 

[ClassyCo]

In 1985, DALLAS' creator David Jacobs and DYNASTY's co-creator Esther Shapiro joked in TV GUIDE that they would like to take over each others' series (although Jacobs hadn't really worked on DALLAS in seven years), with Esther saying she'd give the Ewing women, especially Miss Ellie, "real frontier strength" while Jacobs simply said he'd give DYNASTY more of an actual story line.

Heh.

One wonders, as brilliant as Jacobs' KNOTS LANDING was (and turns out he produced the LACE miniseries of "Which one of you bitches is my mother??" fame), how much better DYNASTY would have been if he had run it. (They tried to get David Paulsen, by the way, as a mere writer-producer for Season 6, in the middle of the Moldavian massacre brouhaha, but he refused to do it without the creative carte blanche they eventually did give him for Season 9).

But would Jacobs have wanted to do Dynasty because it's about "them"? Jacobs was always the one to address that Dallas was about "them" and that Knots Landing was about "us". In the assumption that the Carringtons were wealthier than the Ewings, could Jacobs have been willing to straddle over to ABC to give their hit a hand?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

But would Jacobs have wanted to do Dynasty because it's about "them"? Jacobs was always the one to address that Dallas was about "them" and that Knots Landing was about "us". In the assumption that the Carringtons were wealthier than the Ewings, could Jacobs have been willing to straddle over to ABC to give their hit a hand?

Well, it was all theory after all. Jacobs main complaint in that 1985 TV Guide piece was that DYNASTY needed to focus more on story than it was doing.

 

[Gatsbyesque]

A few fast ones in the Swedish night, watching Dynasty:

*Though I love B&K, they sure had their own interpretation of "fidelity". Krystle meeting Nick in secret and kissing and holding him on several occasions, Blake kissing Alexis in Italy and is one step away from the sex. Blake allowing Ashley to kiss him without putting his foot down. Krystle and Daniel kissing.
Both Blake and Krystle are big on the phrase: Noting happened.
I thing most of the western world would disagree.
And why didn't they confess to the other about all the kissing going on?

Were in fact B&K huge inner sluts? But too proud to cross that intercourse line?

Repression is admired here.

 

[Gatsbyesque]

Don't forget Krystle sucking face with Matthew Blaisdel after she pawned an expensive jewel belonging to Blake so she could give him the money


... in a low cut mohair sweater.

 

[Gatsbyesque]

As much as I love to rip the tyrannical Blake to shreds... he had a remarkable capacity for forgiveness regarding infidelity.

I guess the omn-i-mpotent Blake knows his women need to seek help elsewhere.

Krystle:


Alexis:
.... (to infinity)

 

[Rove]

with Esther saying she'd give the Ewing women, especially Miss Ellie, "real frontier strength"

What the hell does that even mean? Until Miss Ellie's first exit from Dallas I thought her character was one of strength especially after the passing of Jock. She was the foundation of Dallas. Only when they replaced the actress and switched back did the character of Miss Ellie become fuddled. And that wasn't the fault of Barbara Bel or Donna Reed. Blame the writers/producers in that regard.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

We missed Linda's 75th birthday!

What the hell does that even mean? Until Miss Ellie's first exit from Dallas I thought her character was one of strength especially after the passing of Jock. She was the foundation of Dallas. Only when they replaced the actress and switched back did the character of Miss Ellie become fuddled. And that wasn't the fault of Barbara Bel or Donna Reed. Blame the writers/producers in that regard.

One of Esther's little blurbs.

Jacobs made the prediction that DYNASTY's fatal flaw was flimsy plotting and that you might see the ratings start to fall soon because of it. That was early 1985. By the end of the calendar year, it had happened.

 

[Michael Torrance]

Jacobs made the prediction that DYNASTY's fatal flaw was flimsy plotting and that you might see the ratings start to fall soon because of it. That was early 1985. By the end of the calendar year, it had happened.

DYNASTY was Esther's baby, but she was from the Joan Crawford school of parenting.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

DYNASTY was Esther's baby, but she was from the Joan Crawford school of parenting.

Totally. And I know that Esther has to have a Scorpio Rising.

 

[Michael Torrance]

Totally. And I know that Esther has to have a Scorpio Rising.

How do we not have an Astrology sub-forum here? Though I'd hate to find out what you think of each one's chart.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

How do we not have an Astrology sub-forum here? Though I'd hate to find out what you think of each one's chart.

Well, we essentially had one in the old "Is Linda Evans a Lesbian?" thread that went down like Crawford on a job interview when the site crashed. It was very active and people asked lots of questions.

I tried to start it again with the "I don't think Linda Evans is a lesbian" thread recently, but nobody's biting now.

http://www.soapchat.net/threads/i-dont-think-linda-evans-is-a-lesbian.2854/

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I rarely quote my mama, but she did once say something rather astute about movies and TV:

"If they can't get the feel of the (geographic) location right, they usually can't get anything else right either..."

Obviously, DALLAS shot in Texas and FALCON CREST shot in Napa and KNOTS had the beaches of southern California right there. But while Aaron dictated no Colorado location expenses for DYNASTY, there are a lot of ways to fake it, yet the series seemed to make no effort after the first couple of seasons to conjure a Denver or Rocky Mountain vibe whatsoever. Even the use of stock footage was minimal at best.

Can a show or movie work when the stated setting isn't reflected at all? And doesn't this lacking just reveal a creative wrong-headedness overall on the part of the brass?

I mean, if the story occurs in Hawaii and all the viewer sees in a white wall, with an occasional window where it's snowing, can the story ultimately come off?

"...wait, this must be Season 2 -- it looks like it could be Colorado!"