What were the weak points in the DYNASTY stars' acting?

[Willie Oleson]

^
You posted that literally 1 second before I wanted to post this:

It was a weird alchemy where the two blended into one. That just didn't happen with John and Linda.

Alexis managed to be entertaining most of the times even when the others weren't so great, but at the same time I think they couldn't go terribly wrong with that character.
Joan/Alexis could take care of herself, while someone like Linda/Krystle needed more care and attention to make it work (or continue to work from season 1 onwards).

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

^
You posted that literally 1 second before I wanted to post this:

It was a weird alchemy where the two blended into one. That just didn't happen with John and Linda.

Alexis managed to be entertaining most of the times even when the others weren't so great, but at the same time I think they couldn't go terribly wrong with that character.
Joan/Alexis could take care of herself, while someone like Linda/Krystle needed more care and attention to make it work (or continue to work from season 1 onwards).

Great minds.

Yes, Joan could go it alone if need be. While Linda and Krystle needed grooming, protection. And even at the time, it was obvious as hell that that wasn't happening.

Such a damned shame.

 

[Michael Torrance]

I think Joan knew Alexis inside out. I think she knew her better than the writers did. It was a weird alchemy where the two blended into one. That just didn't happen with John and Linda. Alexis was just an exaggerated Joan Collins putting the world to right and seeking revenge on all who wronged her. Alexis was Joan Collins with an unlimited budget and no one to tell her no. It just worked in a magical way.
And I don't think Joan became complacent in the role. In fact she often improved very dull scripts with her delivery or by rewriting lines as she felt Alexis would say them. I cant fault her with that. Some of the stuff in the scripts just wouldn't have been what an English woman would have said.

I am not going to deny how much Joan Collins brought to the role and how she brought Alexis to life in a way I know no other actress would have. Granted, she was not the only one--I don't think anyone but Linda Evans could have embodied early Krystle or anyone but Al Corley Steven. Yet clearly DYNASTY became the cultural phenomenon that it did pretty much thanks to her--and she was certainly the reason I watched the first time around.
But upon a second viewing, later Alexis/Joan Collins, in the weaker seasons (6-8) became dangerously one-dimensional. Save the Singapore episodes, her vulnerability was all but erased (of course there was bad writing, but bad writing was around since season 4), her confident voice often degenerated into a shrill shriek and she was overacting so much it became pantomime. I know I am expressing heresy here, but you can't convince me that her performance in season 2 (which was stellar) was the same as season 8. For me the painful contrast happened in season 9, when Stephanie Beacham played Sable pitch perfect and it was obvious that Collins refused to be directed by anyone, so that her performance was sometimes great, sometimes flat depending on how she viewed the scene. Beacham brought her A game to every episode whereas Collins was a hit or miss depending on the day.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I know I am expressing heresy here, but you can't convince me that her performance in season 2 (which was stellar) was the same as season 8.

I'm not sure why you'd think your observation would be seen as "heresy here" -- do you actually read our posts?

 

[Michael Torrance]

I know I am expressing heresy here, but you can't convince me that her performance in season 2 (which was stellar) was the same as season 8.

I'm not sure why you'd think your observation would be seen as "heresy here" -- do you actually read our posts?

Just go over this thread

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Just go over this thread

My point exactly. Here, and in other threads, we're fairly clear about Joan's weaknesses.

 

[Victoriafan3]

As far as acting goes I thought Dominique’s daughter had the equivalent talent of Dallas Charlie Wade ;-)
Also didn’t think much of Lady Ashley or Terri garber’s character
I preferred Steven number one. Al was very watchable
Linda is lovely and perhaps had more appeal in real life and in the Australian mini series. Apart from her fights with Alexis though, I didn’t think much of krystles portrayal but that probably was more the writing and the way they numbed her down?

 

[Alexis]

It's interesting about Terri Garber... I mean she was a good actress and she was great in North and South. However she was pretty bad on Dynasty. I guess mostly that's just the writing though. She was written awfully, it wasn't a great part.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Yes it's obvious why the chose Terri Garber so why didn't they give us a modern "Ashton Main"? Especially when Dynasty was so ready for a new vixen.
Where's the logic, people?

 

[Alexis]

Yes it's obvious why the chose Terri Garber so why didn't they give us a modern "Ashton Main"? Especially when Dynasty was so ready for a new vixen.
Where's the logic, people?

It likely had to do with Joan's top dog status. Or actually top bitch. Nobody was allowed to out-bitch Alexis. They should have made Leslie be something interesting. Have a career as something. She could have been a con-woman that would have been better. Like a grifter trying to swindle money. They also should never have cut her hair. It was just horrendous. Like really awful hair. And on Dynasty that is a crime punishable by death as she found out.

 

[Michael Torrance]

Yes it's obvious why the chose Terri Garber so why didn't they give us a modern "Ashton Main"? Especially when Dynasty was so ready for a new vixen.
Where's the logic, people?

DYNASTY doesn't do logic. That is simply passé.

It likely had to do with Joan's top dog status. Or actually top bitch. Nobody was allowed to out-bitch Alexis. They should have made Leslie be something interesting.

Season 9 proved not only that you could have two vixens, but that it was indeed double the fun.
And Terri Garber should have been in some "All about Eve" plot with Alexis, and also in the middle of a Ben/Alexis feud. But Ben was quickly neutered and Leslie became a washed-out copy of Tracy (who wasn't very good to begin with) just as Season 7 was a washed-out copy of previous seasons, down to the washed-out film prints.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Alexis was the Main Bitch but I think of Fallon and Sammy Jo as vixens. And Sammy Jo had become a softie so there was definitely room for a nasty girl.
They hinted at the All About Eve plot but God forbid they would see it through.
And then they tried the crazy psycho bitch-type who was after Jeff, it wasn't convincing and just as rubbish as Tracy trying to seduce Blake (who said "no", like Fallon said "no" to the drugs).

Dy"NO"sty!

 

[Alexis]

Dy"NO"sty!

Dy"NO"story.

 

[Alexis]

DYNASTY doesn't do logic. That is simply passé.

Exactly.

"Let's give them Ashton Main but make her a weedy dry bore with awful hair! They'll never see it coming and by the time it hits them they will have endured half a season of shit!
Now, that's enough of our great writing and surprise plotting for one day. Let's go sacrifice an innocent to the horned father of all evil"

That's how it all went down. I just know it.



Uncanny.

 

[Willie Oleson]

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

"I'm sorry they're forcing you to stand next to me, Miss Ellie....."
"Then don't!"