The Colby on Youtube

[Gabriele]

You can find The Colby episodes on Emma Samms superfan page on Youtube

 

[GillesDenver]

There is also an episode of "Mike Hammer" where Emma is blond and wearing the worst make up ever. In one scene, she asked Mike Hammer if he likes "cinnamon" ! :bump:
It was shot between the second season of "The Colbys" and the 8th season of "Dynasty" but Emma's acting is more like in season 9.

 

[Richard Channing]

I've just finished The Colbys after only having scene bits here and there back in the 80's and I must say I loved it! Season 1 especially was pure soapy gloriousness. Season 2 was good also but when they need to amp things up and make it even better than season 1 they fell short. But still very enjoyable. Season 1 in particular was such a feast for the eyes. Such beautiful clothes! Sable's wardrobe especially had some of the most beautiful outfits ever seen in the Dynasty universe, or anywhere. I feel like maybe the budget was not quite as big for season 2 because the clothes didn't seem quite as fabulous and there seemed to be more dodgy sweaters going around. And the sets were so lavish and beautifully lit with lots of lovely shadows, Light streaming in through trees outside and even shimmering light from the 'pool' reflected onto the windows of the pool house. Nice little touches like that. And some nice art, more modern that the Carrington mansion. They seemed to be partial to Rothko's, there was at least one at the mansion, one in Jason's office and one in Sable's. Not as taken with the portraits, they could have been better.

There's not much to fault with season 1. Obviously if Pamela Sue Martin had of been in it as Fallon it would have been incredible. But now Fallon is a whiny, needy, selfish nincompoop and that's fine as a character, if she wasn't meant to be Fallon. Speaking of whiny, needy, selfish nincompoop's, Frankie is really some piece of work isn't she? Once you get past the whole 'butter wouldn't melt' thing and judge her on her actions rather than her words she's really not very likeable at all. And by the end of season 2 she was really getting on my nerves. Say what you want about Sable and her scheming but when it came to men and love she had a lot more integrity. Frankie only married Roger to keep Jason at a distance, totally used him. Then when Philip comes back from the dead, in her first scene with him she gets off with him! No build up, nothing, and it's the day after her wedding to Jason! Then later on when Jason actually find them in bed together, he locks himself in his room and doesn't want to talk to her, understandably. The next morning she's all poor me, 'you put me through hell last night!!!", just could he didn't wanted to talk to the cheating shrew. And throwing herself into the sea just cause she's all confused. What an asshole!

Technically Miles is gorgeous but he just didn't really do it for me. Maxwell Caulfeild's acting did improve as it went on but in the beginning it was really bad. Even the way he moved when he walked into the room, it was kind of ape like. Like when you know there's a camera on you and you forget how to just walk naturally. Interestingly, there was a lot of overacting going on with both Miles and Sable, mother and son, with one of them doing it well, and the other not so much. Speaking of which, Stephanie Beacham really put Katherine Ross to shame in their scenes together. Stephanie doing everything with such gusto whereas Katherine Ross for the most part seemed to be phoning in it. Not just in her scenes with Stephanie but in general.

I didn't mind Bliss as a character actually. She had potential. Considering she was kind of The Colby's version of Amanda she actually had more charisma and was a better actress. Plus I could identify with her as I also had only just gotten over Sean when I fell madly in love with Kolya, so we kinda had that in common.

It's a shame Charlton Heston and Ricardo Monalban were such dinosaurs by the time they were on The Colbys. I understand the draw of their star power, well Charlton anyway, but really both roles should have been played by slightly younger more attractive men. Some of the scenes with Ricardo's wrinkly old hands all over Stephanie Beacham were kinda cringey and creepy, and the way they were trying to pitch him as some kind of sexy, Latin shipping millionaire who could have any woman he wants.....I wasn't buying it. That ship had already sailed,

I must say I missed Barbara Stanwyck in season 2. She definitely added something, especially her feud with Sable. And that was part of the problem with Season 2, Sable actually got tamer when the opposite needed to happen. She didn't have Connie to spar with and didn't do half as much scheming. The best thing about season 1 was Sable and Jason't marriage falling apart, but by season 2 Sable had, for the most part, given up on trying to manipulate things to keep him.

Anyway, it was a most enjoyable ride, shame it didn't go on longer.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Season 1 especially was pure soapy gloriousness. Season 2 was good also but when they need to amp things up and make it even better than season 1 they fell short.

I also think season 1 was better.

But now Fallon is a whiny, needy, selfish nincompoop and that's fine as a character, if she wasn't meant to be Fallon

I thought Jeff was Fallon's husband in Dynasty, and Fallon was Jeff's wife in The Colbys. Somehow I can't picture PSM in the role of Jeff's wife, or being in a spin-off without "daddy". Kinda like Lucy Ewing couldn't be in Knots Landing.

Say what you want about Sable and her scheming but when it came to men and love she had a lot more integrity

Krystle was the other woman in the Blaisdel marriage, and yet I thought she had more integrity than Sable. Therefore I wouldn't say that fidelity is the ultimate trump card, certainly not in soap operas.

Then when Philip comes back from the dead

I'm not the biggest fan of Philip or what he contributed to the story, and the actor didn't bring anything special to the table.
The biggest missed opportunity was to not make him Constance's son - that would have turned everything upside down (like the juicy scandal from season 1) and also would have provided a better off-screen storyline for Constance, rather than connecting her with the Cassidys.

Even the way he moved when he walked into the room, it was kind of ape like

He's cocky and show-y, but also a bit insecure. And he usually has a horse between his legs.

Speaking of which, Stephanie Beacham really put Katherine Ross to shame in their scenes together

It reminds me of the traditional comedy duo situation wherein one character creates the opportunity for the joke and then the other steals the show by doing the joke.
She was much more of a sidekick than a nemesis, but Frankie's half-hearted protests and the way she always got everything so effortlessly made Sable more believable than in Dynasty S9.
Even her sparrings with Constance were relatively mild (by Dynasty standards) but it always stayed on the good side of camp.
I found it very funny that Frankie could cause so much frustration by doing so little.

and the way they were trying to pitch him as some kind of sexy, Latin shipping millionaire who could have any woman he wants

Yeah, kinda like a cross between Liberace and Peter Stavros. However...

Some of the scenes with Ricardo's wrinkly old hands all over Stephanie Beacham were kinda cringey and creepy

...I think that creepiness worked for that situation, he was basically stalking her. Maybe it was the lack of sex-appeal that gave him a bit of an edge.
And I wouldn't want all the characters to be generic-pretty like they often do in daytime soaps.

 

[Jock's Ghost]

its a damn shame that the show was killed as it could have taken over for Dynasty that only lasted two more years. Imagine the Colbys running until 1993 or so!
I didn't care for the Colby kids, Bliss and Monica were dullsville.

 

[tommie]

I'm not sure I could imagine The Colby's running into the 90s as they'd probably have to de-glam it in order to fit into the hip 90s.

 

[Richard Channing]

I thought Jeff was Fallon's husband in Dynasty, and Fallon was Jeff's wife in The Colbys. Somehow I can't picture PSM in the role of Jeff's wife, or being in a spin-off without "daddy". Kinda like Lucy Ewing couldn't be in Knots Landing.

Sure, I know what you mean. But I can't help but imagine how much more fun PSM's Fallon's would have been. Fallon vs Sable and Fallon vs Channing could have been so much more dynamic. Actually I also couldn't imagine PSM as Miles wife either.

I'm not the biggest fan of Philip or what he contributed to the story, and the actor didn't bring anything special to the table.

I think his return should have been much more dramatic than it turned out to be and yes Michael Parks could have been more menacing. And although it certainly put the cat among the pigeons, it made what was already a ridiculously incestuous household into one that was so entangled your head could explode thinking about how all the various characters were related.

...I think that creepiness worked for that situation, he was basically stalking her. Maybe it was the lack of sex-appeal that gave him a bit of an edge.

Except that we we're supposed to believe that Sable found him irresistible rather than some old creep that was trying to get into her knickers.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I think the overall tone of The Colbys is very earnest, but that also makes it very funny.
Constance should have been Earnestine Colby.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Except that we we're supposed to believe that Sable found him irresistible rather than some old creep that was trying to get into her knickers.

This! Had they just gone the Onassis & Jackie route with them where he wanted Sable for her Colby name & she wanted Zack for convenience (the convenience of pissing off her husband rather than the convenience of security & wealth) then it would've worked better. While Montalban wasn't an unattractive man, throwing the romance aspect in between the two of them (like that "fire & fuel" speech) never quite sat right. If anything, they should've paired Zach with Connie to get the "business rival pissing Jason off" bit in and left Sable with more time to rain down vengeance upon her husband & her wayward sister.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Had they just gone the Onassis & Jackie route with them where he wanted Sable for her Colby name & she wanted Zack for convenience (the convenience of pissing off her husband rather than the convenience of security & wealth) then it would've worked better

I think I sensed a Maggie & Richard situation here.

Her precious marriage is falling apart (worst-case scenario) and there's the dark and dangerous man who practically worships her. The temptation is understandable but ultimately it only proved that she couldn't stop loving Jason.
It's almost as if she tries to trick herself into believing that she could love Zach as much as Jason, maybe because she needs to believe it. It has a desperate undertone, I think.
The writers understood their characters and the reactions were often based on emotions rather than plot devices. That doesn't always look pretty or logical, but it also gave the spin-off a certain je ne sais quoi.
Miles is also one of those characters who often surprised me, and to be honest I didn't get that from Dynasty.