kalbir

William Devane had a commanding presence from his first episode, but I don't think he took over the show. Of Greg's main pairings (Abby, Laura, Paige), the only one I thought was genuine love was Laura.

Sharon's lowest point as a character was the three-way who's the daddy.

Another Dynasty/90210 parallel a decade apart, replacement characters Amanda/Valerie. The biggest Dynasty/90210 parallel were the departures of Pamela Sue Martin and Shannen Doherty. I felt the cast dynamics were off on both shows after their respective departures and both shows weren't really the same after, despite Dynasty lasting 5 more seasons and reaching #1 in 1984/85, and 90210 lasting 6 more seasons. The two big Dynasty/Melrose parallels were Joan Collins arrival/Heather Locklear arrival which was when both shows became the shows as we know them, and Royal Wedding Shootout/Melrose Place bombing, where both shows tanked in the aftermath but still lasted 4 more seasons.

@Soapsuds Knots Landing being more community-based, its not the the type of soap you'd expect to see a messy wealthy matriarch.

@Soapsuds What did you think of Ava Gardner's arc?

Spring 1985 was the zenith of primetime soaps as a genre.

Val/Gary/Ben was a well-crafted triangle with conflict between two very different types of love. Val's love for Gary was that of a young girl's first love that was supposed to last forever but it didn't. Val's love for Ben was that of a grown woman moving on with her life.

His exit storyline sucked but I liked Ben and Val together. He loved her enough to raise another man's children as his own.

Maybe. I guess we could include Cally in that category. Did JR even have a genuine love? He started with long-suffering younger wife Sue Ellen, next there were numerous side pieces, then a considerably younger wife Cally, women from the past re-enter his life, and at the end of the original series he's all alone.

$$$$ JR was never a romantic leading man.

I agree. Sally made Chelsea redundant.

The charts have felt off for a long time. Sometimes I wonder if they are even still relevant in the streaming, Spotify, TikTok era.

Lets be real here, we don't watch an Aaron Spelling show for high quality writing and acting. When watching one of his shows you have to go in with the mindset that you are not going to get high emotional stakes character driven storytelling.

Dynasty was the epitome of Reagan-era excess and greed. It's quite telling that its run pretty much overlapped with the Reagan presidency. First episode January 12, 1981 was 8 days before Reagan took office and last episode May 11, 1989 was 111 days after Reagan left office.

25 years ago today (May 14) was a historical night for NBC. Seinfeld: The Clip Show, rating 33.6. Seinfeld: The Finale, rating 41.3. Highest-rated episode of the series. ER: A Hole in the Heart (season 4 finale), rating 28.8. Highest-rated episode of the series.

How does this board break down Dynasty's run? Mine is Season 1: Slow start but it does build the foundation as far as character relationships go. Season 2: Peak. Joan Collins arrives and Alexis is the breakout character that becomes a pop culture phenomenon. This season Dynasty becomes Dynasty as we know it and for me its the only season that works from a storytelling and acting standpoint. Seasons 3-5: Height of popularity but weaknesses are showing. To me it seemed Aaron Spelling's entire goal was to be bigger and better than Dallas and storytelling logic and acting ability went out the window. Season 6: Tanked in the aftermath of the Royal Wedding Shootout. Season 7-9: Off the rails. I'd rank the seasons as 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. I recognize Dynasty's place in television history as Aaron Spelling's biggest hit and as Joan Collins's career resurgence that became her career-defining role, plus the influence Dynasty had on the rest of the primetime soaps and on the daytime soaps. The funny thing is, I loved the peak years of Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place as a teen so I thought I would like Dynasty as an adult but on the whole I didn't like it very much. It must be an Aaron Spelling thing, that his shows are products of their time and haven't held up well (that's probably why I don't feel nostalgic for 90210/Melrose and long to rewatch them).

The Colbys came along Fall 1985 when Dynasty was the reigning #1 show so I guess the thought process was two Dynasties were better than one. Little did we know at the time that primetime soaps were about to enter the tanking era so the timing ended up being off. Perhaps if a spinoff was done a season or two earlier it might have worked.

Y&R Victor had five "deaths": 1983, 1993, 1999, 2012, 2020.

Deborah Adair left Y&R in 1983 and was cast on Dynasty that year in a one season and done role. Finder of Lost Loves began Fall 1984 and it was one season and done. Aaron Spelling clearly liked her as she also appeared on The Love Boat, Hotel, Melrose Place before returning to daytime w/ Days.

@soapfan770 @Khan Season 6 and 7 were a high-octane action-packed thrill ride. Season 6 was an improvement over Season 5 Dallas with grapes/Miami Vice hybrid, but Season 7 it started going off the rails. I can't pinpoint the exact moment but Season 7 the core families shrunk and I found the supporting characters and guest stars in short arcs didn't really work.

@Khan Dallas was always the more male-focused show, that's why it drew a larger male audience compared to the other primetime soaps. As I've pointed out before, Knots Landing was a spinoff done right because it carved its own identity apart from its parent show Dallas. When watching Knots Landing, you don't feel like you're watching a second hour of Dallas in a different setting.

When the Dallas writers came up with it was all a dream, it didn't occur to them that it would also be the end of any future crossovers with Knots Landing.

That's a testament to Bill Bell's skills as a writer. We hold Bill Bell to a higher standard, but even he wasn't immune to following 1980s trends and having missteps.

ABC was known for a long time as Aaron's Broadcasting Corporation. 1985 Brandon Stoddard became became president of ABC and that same year ABC was sold to Capital Cities. Fall 1985 was when Aaron Spelling started losing his clout with ABC as he was down to only four shows on the network (The Love Boat, Dynasty, Hotel, The Colbys). I have a feeling Brandon Stoddard was not a fan of Aaron Spelling and wanted the Spelling shows gone from ABC. 1989 Robert Iger became president of ABC and he got the Spelling shows off ABC with the Spring 1989 cancellations of Dynasty and HeartBeat.

Today (May 13) is the 30th anniversary of the final episode of Knots Landing.