More than any other seasons of "Dynasty", season 8 is all about potential : the vendetta over Blake AND Alexis, a dark Steven, Krystle finally going after Alexis, Fallon trying to find herself (or her old self)... Unfortunately, it never goes beyond that potential.I am done with S8 and there are a few overall impressions: Despite the ridiculous story with Matthew Blaisdel at the beginning, S8 is a fine season according to my judgement. Feels a bit like S6 little sibling
I mean when did two women fight on Dynasty and wasn't really two stunt women, or more likely two stunt men? That seems... Iffy.Also in a recent video with Pamela Bellwood which was shared on this forum, Pamela says she was supposed to have lots of bitchy - and physical fights - with Heather Locklear in Season 6. But because of her pregnancy, the physical scenes were scrapped. So the producers probably weren't pleased with the rewrites. It would have been fun too to see Claudia and Sammy Jo bitch slapping each other again. Though I'd prefer if they kept Luke and it was he who fought with Sammy Jo, at least verbally.
I think she was in a way. There are actors in shows that aren't brilliant or even great but yet somehow they just embody that character they are playing so perfectly. They may never go on to become the greatest star but they were just perfectly cast and were good enough for what was required of them. I think Oxenberg fits with that. She was perfectly cast as a sulky little brat who becomes a fairy tale princess, however briefly.Was Catherine Oxenberg really a fan favorite or is this just wishful thinking by some of her few loyal fans? Amanda was part of the unpopular Moldavia storyline and even in pre-internet days everybody knew about and witnessed her bad acting. After Dynasty Oxenberg did some tv movies like any other soap actor would, but it's not like Hollywood was waiting for this so-called fan favorite. I think replacing Krystle, Dominique or Sammy Jo with another actress in season 7 would have been a much bigger shock for fans than this Amanda recast.
Does anyone know when ABC decided to cancel Dynasty? I think it is very likely that Paulsen wouldn’t have included a cliffhanger If he had know that Dynasty is going to be cancelled after S9 when he took over. The cliffhanger seems to me as if they had S10 in mind.
Absolutely. Especially knowing that it's going to end.The tone kinda feels different compared to the previous seasons. It’s darker and more melancholic
Which is why it did fit Dex very well. I love Dirty Dex.The prostitution storyline was a bit off for my taste. . I think it didn’t fit Dex very well
There's the whore...and there's the slut.and the fact that it was Virginia (Krystal’s cousin!) who was the prostitute seems a bit far fetched
I liked it better than the one in Falcon Crest, and at least it justified the retcon of Tom Carrington, something I didn't feel in season 6.The nazi treasure idea might be structurally well written but I don’t like the entire idea at all.
He and Blake had some of the best scenes.Adam was but very one-dimensional this season.
How many years should it take for them to realize that she was a completely useless character?Just as in S8: no Dominique!
Thank you for clarifying it and thank you for all the information after S9 ended. I really appreciate it!Yes, ABC didn't cancel the show until after the cliffhanger had been filmed. There was apparently some talk at the network about renewing DYNASTY for a tenth season and moving the series back to its usual timeslot (probably given the upturn in the writing despite still low ratings) but Joan did a TVGUIDE cover article where she announced she was leaving DYNASTY (although the fine print said she'd do some episodes for them in S10) and so ABC, figuring they couldn't do the program without Alexis, pulled the plug.
The producers went to ABC to ask for another hour with which to more appropriately wrap up the show, but the executives gave them the good-money-after-bad excuse and said "no". Blame Robert Iger.
It's a shame, as a second year with Paulsen is so promising. But I prefer Alexis in mid-air and Blake bleeding on the mansion staircase to the mess of The Reunion 2 1/2 years later, run by the usual knuckleheads.
So was useless due to the writing. But she definitely had a lot of potential and was well-liked by the fans.How many years should it take for them to realize that she was a completely useless character?
Since 1984.But she definitely had a lot of potential
Well, Fallon was mostly useless between S4 to S8. And all of a sudden she’s useful again in S9. It‘s all up to the writingSince 1984
However I still didn’t get that they brought in Paulsen for S9 and cancelling it right after. The old guard did it a good job of butchering the plot so why don’t stay with them if ABC wanted to get rid of the show?
As soon as I heard they were bringing in "a DALLAS head honcho" to take over DYNASTY in Spring of1988, I too wondered "why bother now?" and assumed it was to dump blame onto the new guy for the series' imminent demise, its spiral had been so spectacular. (Paulsen didn't think he'd been used in that fashion, but the he wouldn't have been privy to those conversations if they even happened out loud, so finger-pointing TPTB were around DYNASTY... And in fact they did try to blame him as anticipated). Esther, infamously disingenuous, claimed that ABC wanted to get the original team back to re-take the show, despite the fact that the network despised DYNASTY for the last half of its run (and for the reasons we bitch about here, mostly myself).
If I remember correctly, Esther wanted Paulson for S6 but when Paulson finally came over to save Dynasty she said “the show was taken away from them“? But didn’t the Shapiros stopped to care about Dynasty some time before Paulson came in?
The sad truth about Dynasty is that it absolute killer potential with the cast and the characters. But it was mostly run by idiots that didn’t know what to do with show most of the time. It could easily have stayed on air as long as Dallas into the early 90s if the show didn’t burned so many bridges with huge parts of the audience.
I wish someone would write a Behind-the-scenes book about Dynasty. The stories between the producers, writers, Shapiros, Pollocks and the network are even more interesting than some of plots of Dynasty.
I assume that ABC wanted to get rid of Dynasty because it turned into a Rating-Titanic, dropping form 1st (84-85) to the low 40ties (87-88)?