SFK

I thought Jaleesa was annoying on gp, I guess what I'm really saying is that I find DWTN (Dawnn with two n's) Lewis annoying. I never really cared for her and two annoying points for me in particular are her awful stuffed up nose voice when Jaleesa has the flu in one ep, and her rendition of The National Anthem in the racial Roshomon ep.

The moment she read that part in her obituary made my stomach sink to the floor, there were so many dramatic AIDS-related moments like that on TV when I was growing up. It's weird because at that point I think I only knew Tisha from Little Shop, not sure if she'd done School Daze yet.

That was a hilarious episode. I think that's the same one where they're trying to figure out if their new co-worker is gay and Corky says they can find out by telling him that there's something on his shoe. If he lifts his foot in front of him, he's straight, if he goes like *this* (raises hands and kicks pointed toe behind him looking over shoulder), he's gay.

One thing that I loved in particular about ADW and TCS was their use of New York theatre actors. For TCS, that was the audition pool as it taped in New York, but Debbie Allen had had a Broadway career of her own and she continued the TCS tradition by often recruiting talented NY theatre personalities like Anita Morris, Alisa Gyse, Jenifer Lewis, Roscoe Lee Brown, and the mother of ADW's executibe producer Susan Fales-Hill, the late great Josephine Premice. I caught an ep the other week where they did a talent show and Whitley performed a Josephine Baker number "J'ai Deux Amours" that Debbie is credited as choreographing in the credits. I couldn't help but see the additional connection as her sister Phylicia Rashad released a Joephine Baker disco album back in the '70s where she covered that song. Whitley around the 6:00 mark (embedding disabled by request): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orTj3s-9tNk Phyl: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9EjW93ttrg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9EjW93ttrg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9EjW93ttrg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Oh my God, my avatar is so next level with that blaring!

And people may kind of when Debbie Allen says it, but I think she's right that ADW made going to college "in" for a lot of young black people who hadn't seen it in their future. She has data that kind of supports this. The show made the culture of predominantly black schools known on a national level and a lot of people were drawn to that, as well as the promise of becoming educated professionals with a step ahead.

I don't know what exactly accounted for it, schedule change/I got into another show, but I know that Murphy went from weekly must-see TV to me barely seeing a full ep during the final season. I remember the ep where cancer-stricken Murphy had insomnia or something and was up all night with Lily Tomlin's character on the phone as Murphy frantically baked in the kitchen (???), but I did not care for Tomlin's character, I really enjoyed Miles Silverberg. I didn't really mind it actually, but I know that a LOT of people took issue with the final fantasy season of Roseanne. Yes, it got REALLY silly sometimes, but wow, what a downer of an ending. Geesh. Never watched MAY.

I hate it when I get in on a thread like this late. SO much to comment on, don't know where to start.

DOH, my bad, "The Vintage Years", confusing it with Y&R. Yeah, I watched about half of it, and LOL @Dorcas, yup, just how it looks, as in Malorcas. I don't know why they decided to put La Wyman in a wig, and I'm surprised she even went along with it. Rarely do you see PTB trying to age women on TV, especially ones who are already beyond "a certain age". My how times have changed. Kinda like the grey streaks they put in Stephanie Beacham's hair on "The Colbys".

Wow, I can't believe I've totally forgotten about it, that's what happens when you're spoiled out of the blue with just loads of classic TV, but does AOL still have its video channel? They were airing Falcon Crest, complete with the The Innocent Years pilot with Angela in the white wig, Richard as her son played by Duncan from ATWT, Clu Gulagher as Chase, Samantha Eggar as Maggie, Julia here called Dorcas (LOVE that).

I swear I remember a scene on AMC where Edmund and Maria were about to bone and the camera went out wide and out of focus and Eva La Rue was nude.

OMG, LOL with shame. But wow, that is really something, for them both to go within such a short span of time. He also appeared on B&B with Stephanie Beacham a few years ago, they played themselves visiting Jackie's boutique.

Yeah, I saw it on cable a few years back, I'd like to see the heavily recast series.

I thought that was Shayne, Marty West.

I just noticed a familiar name in the credits, Susan Howard (Donna, DALLAS) was on the writing team as well ("story by").

DP

He did say that, and maybe he even went as far to say that Blake, Krystle, and Alexis were a spin on Mac, Rachel, and Iris or that was just inferred from what he said, I don't quite remember. But he definitely said that primetime nabbed two of his names, Carrington and Ewing.

And as I said earlier in the thread, if you're doing I, Claudius, you don't wait until the end of the season cliffhanger to introduce your Livia. Well, at least not these days. I guess Fallon gave us a taste of that, but had they not been picked up for whatever reason, we'd have never had Alexis and the '80s would have been a much different place.

Ugh, I REALLY don't get that. Same deal with Linda Dano and Michele Lee. The heavy on a soap is always so much more fun to watch (and presumably play). What is with actors who are so pressed to be liked?? It's TV.

I could be very wrong, but why do I feel like that's mostly Esther's doing?

Not to speak ill of the dead, but I've read/heard/SEEN more than one account of him being an !@#$%^&*]. He wanted Blake to be less of a one dimensional villain (John Forsyth's Blake had some nasty lines, but the guy always seemed like such a teddy bear to me). Also, Peppard was driving everyone on set up the wall. Forsyth had less of an "artistic issue" playing Blake's villainy, and the whole situation was not unlike the deal with Larry Hagman and the original choice for J.R., Robert Foxworth.

Right, and daytime (shoot, even primetime) had done glitz before. Look at fortysomething rich neurotic bitch Iris Carrington. She was Lemay's creation but McKinsey said in interviews that TPTB championed the character because the women at home wanted to see the clothes and whatnot. It's also interesting how Esther (notice she does most of the talking ) talks about the fantasy element when in the beginning she seemed to be going for a more serious show. She often references I, Claudius, she wanted a modern American version of that.

For years I guess I kind of assumed that Dynasty was their one hit wonder, but yeah, I've seen a couple of their other projects. Richard is the real writer, he did that East of Eden mini with Jane Seymour that my mom loved, and I was surprised to see their names pop up as producers when we rented this quirky little indie flick The Motel. I watched the pilot movie for The Colony back in the day but then I remember it going on a loooooong hiatus and I'm not sure if it ever even came back for more episodes to tell you the truth. If so, I didn't catch them. I guess that's what Esther's referring to when she says they did The O.C. first (and besides it being Malibu and not Orange County, I really don't recall the similarities).

Yeah, I've read that as a matter of fact, "From the creators of Dynasty (*jet blasts off*)..." I dig the concept of the show, but it needs a B12 shot or something. Was watching more today and just when I think it's getting cooking (like Robert Loggia slapping the [!@#$%^&*] out of Jill St. John), it simmers down and has to build back up again. Richard and Esther talk a little about the show here: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xzwzxdt0Ug&hl=en_US&fs=1&start=1223"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xzwzxdt0Ug&hl=en_US&fs=1&start=1223"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xzwzxdt0Ug&hl=en_US&fs=1&start=1223" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Earlier in the interview, they talk about how they were going to do Hotel before Hotel. There was a dispute because Aaron was doing the Arthur Hailey TV movie and their show idea was seen as a conflict. The Shapiros' Hotel was going to be a "young, hot" Dynasty spinoff set in Miami starring Fallon and Jeff. The Colbys came about two years later as sort of a settlemant of that earlier dispute. When Esther talks about The Colbys, she keeps calling Stephanie Beacham Stephanie Dunnam who of course is in Emerald Point N.A.S.

Well they were the executive producers so they continued to be involved, but I don't believe they got a writing credit beyond the pilot movie. The Dobsons among others handled story for the twenty subsequent episodes.

I'm still not done, but I enjoy Deanna so far, Jill's turning in a subtle, measured performance. However, she is at times handicapped by flat writing that makes it look like flat, not-so-great acting if you don't give her the benefit of the doubt. I'm trying not to unfairly judge her just because Deanna isn't exactly what I'd expected from a Bond girl playing a vixen on an '80s Shapiro primetime soap (i.e., Alexis clone more akin to Raquel Welch on CPW). Of course the Shapiros had high-tailed it after the pilot, and the show is more Knots in tone (tone I'm saying, not quality ) than Dynasty anyway, not a splashy OTT sudser at all. I think it isn't until episode 12 when things heat up (I know right, 12!? ) with the stuff. What did you think of Vaughn vs. O'Neal?