SFK

Oh definitely. Of course Stephanie Beacham could read an Applebee's menu and have us all riveted. Dynasty didn't seem to be too good at creating new characters as much as riffing on their core characters. A Sable, a Dominique, they work because of Alexis, not in spite of her. And I think the least successful Dynasty characters were those who were in any way "normal", generic, boring, which sounds like an obvious comment, but what might be forgiven as subtle or contained on another series was just bland on Dynasty. The two riffs on Krystle, Ashley and Frankie on The Colbys were two snoozes. Jeff's mom and woman were a lot alike, just like the ladies who played them, very similar careers as stunning brunettes in iconic films who never were the best actresses.

Lol, totally, I always say to myself, "Meanwhile, at Alexis's penthouse..."

ETA: And at La Mirage, there's always that same Jaguar and red Cadillac Eldorado pulling up out front.

Did they ever say who raped Sable and was Monica and Miles' father? It wasn't Philip was it? No, I don't think so. But at any rate, that little factoid resolved the twins being involved with their cousins which everyone seemed to get all indignant about (Jeff and Monica being first cousins), yet no one said anything earlier about Jeff/Miles and Fallon. Their mothers were first cousins.

In Nolan Miller's TV Archive interview, he makes it plain that he and others were not fans of Miss Bellwood. Which is probably why she ate fire.

That's probably the most detailed recast announcement I've ever heard.

Cat Hickland was also a temp Brooke, she said it was a bit of a conflict of interest as Capitol had been given the boot for B&B.

Sandra looks great in those pictures above.

I wish I could see Iris and teenaged Dennis in the seventies, AWHP used to have some great audio clips.

I don't think she was so popular with the cast and crew either.

Christine (Stanley's little sister) was in the role when I first started catching the show and I was really surprised the first time I saw blonde Sandra who'd played the part before her. Though blonde, Sandra had those big eyes, cheekbones, and nose like Vicky.

I'm not saying this just because it started off as a miniseries, but those clips from the opening really do look more like one of the countless minis of the era rather than a weekly show. It's got that look. Wonder how expensive the show was to produce.

Brandon Tartikoff was not a fan of primetime soaps, and he begrudgingly gave Flamingo Road and Bare Essence the pass, he figured NBC needed them given the era. The BA mini was a huge ratings success over on CBS which is why he brought it to his network and turned it into a series.

So I watched the last episode of Emerald Point N.A.S. and I'm mad that this for the most part snooze of a show ended with a cliffhanger

re: Harlan and Jenny

that totally piqued my curiosity! Not an awful show, just a little sleepy, like the lazy Sunday afternoon of '80s primetime soaps. IMO, Sela Ward as Hilaray aka Bitchy Brows is the show's saving grace. She is hot and I wish she'd been given even more to do. This show could have been so good if they'd kicked it up some more notches, they had a good cast and an interesting dynamic with the two families. They made a point of mentioning that Harlan's (Robert Vaughn) children Hilary and Simon (MacGyver) were half-siblings and I wonder what other Bond girls would have been brought in to play their mothers had the show seen another season. There was also weird sexual energy between those two, but then again, there was sexual energy when Hilary was alone staring off into space. And Robert Loggia as evil Rrrrussian, so '80s.

I know! I saw some of the mini on cable a few years back, and of course it's on YouTube. I wonder if the series is on Ioffer or something.

Not to judge a book by its cover, but it already looks more interesting than Emerald Point N.A.S. turned out to be, I still have one episode left of that.

I love how overtly sexual and violent those clips are. Genie Francis and Jennifer O'Neill keep taking off their tops, and doesn't it look like Jessica Walter is getting h___ at :41? Plus all those slaps, I'm sorry, but I can't stop laughing and replaying Jennifer O'Neill getting slapped at :46.

So glad that Jessica Walter got to play an '80s soap bitch. She laid the groundwork with Play Misty for Me. Esther Shapiro wanted her for Alexis, and of course I would NEVER trade Joan, but I'm very curious to see what she did with Ava.

Someone uploaded the German opening credits for Bare Essence the series. As with most U.S. soaps shown in foreign markets, sounds like BA got a new theme in Germany (in the preview, you can hear the instrumental for "In Finding You I Found Love" so I'm assuming it was carried over from the miniseries in America, not sure if the Sarah Vaughan vocal was as well).

Jennifer O'Neill replaced Linda Evans, Jessica Walter replaced Lee Grant, and Jaime Lyn Bauer replaced Donna Mills.

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Tyger with a "y". Love that.

I was watching Carson Daly, something I never do, and they had Marina Orlova from Hot For Words on there. She said growing up in Moscow, she was obsessed with Santa Barbara and she'd look at the beautiful seaside mansions and cottages and the folks who wore jeans and tank tops and would say, "I want to live there!" Santa Barbara was her American dream.

ETA: Oh, okay, in this one whatshername is having one of her visions and young Brandon and Sharina are wearing what they had on in that pic I was talking about.

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So weird, as I was saying, I only knew about this story through synopses and a couple of pics and I was a little puzzled by that pic of Brandon and Sharina looking no older than Alan and Alex (just looked it up, and as a matter of fact, Janet League was five years younger than Beverlee, only six years older than Kim). But I was SUPER puzzled when I saw this black and white pic of Sharina and Brandon having tea in some of the most obvious old age makeup I have ever seen. So weird, there was no one older who could have played these parts??

Oh cool! Thanks! Now, this story must have been flashback heavy, right? I ask because they hired younger actors and put them in all that old age makeup. I didn't watch GL growing up and I first read about this story in a magazine in my teens and the pic of Brandon and Sharina was of the actors as their real age, I'm assuming for a flashback scene.

How does Alexis keep her dignity after a slap like that

When I was watching that earlier, I truly wondered how often slaps like that happen IRL. Like at big galas and such. I feel like if it happens today, it's a direct connect to the Dynasty influence. But it's true, people did used to hit people more often back in the day and get away with it before everyone got so sue happy.

So true, and I think I mentioned this a few months back, but Bogle talks about that in one of his books. How insulting it is for Dominique to say things like "finally feeling at home with her REAL family" and whatnot. I get the need for acceptance, but how can you just diss your mother's family who raised you like that?

GL, ugh, soooo disappointing. I'd like to see more of the original s/l though with Alex and Alan in Barbados with Brandon, Sharina, and Victoria. I've seen clips of Victoria on YouTube, she was played by Kim Hamilton.

Not enough can be said about how absolutely stunningly beautiful Diahann Carroll looked on this show.

Jackie was turrible. She actually sounded like a Jackson.

That is exactly why I think those people Y&RWT mentioned in his post consider ADW a black sitcom and not the TCS.

It had a certain flavor to it, whereas The Cosby Show was more of a universal sitcom that looked beyond race.

However I consider both black sitcoms either way.

See, this is a little complicated, because we're also dealing with a certain type of upper middle class black family that is just as black to me as the kids of A Different World, but when you add more kids, more slang, more hip-hop culture what have you, then non-black people suddenly see a "black show" when they were both just as black. It's like when people say that she show "got ghetto" with Pam and her friends. Offense taken. What I also find tough is the idea that upper middle class blacks were more "palatable" to certain white audience members, yet from the same group (and from blacks too to be fair) the show was criticized for being unrealistic by having a black doctor father and black lawyer mother. Like, how dare you say that's unrealistic?? White and no one would have batted a lash.

Is this similar to the problem The Wire had?

A black show that white people lurrrve.

But I've come across people who think of A Different World as a "black sitcom" and they don't think of The Cosby Show in that same vein.

That's interesting. I mean, TCS was a family sitcom and ADW was a college sitcom, of course it was a black family and a black college which by TV standards is certainly unique. But I hope "black sitcom" isn't some sort of pejorative. I think, I KNOW white viewers can relate and they were obviously watching, but of course the show (like Good Times) dealt with issues that were specific to the show's setting. Of course, a lot of those "Very Special Episodes" could have happened on Degrassi too. What made the show black was its flavor moreso than its content, just like Friends was a "white" show though no one would ever call it that.

I read in a forum years ago that Falcon Crest was rerun on what is now Lifetime years before I had cable. Maude has never done well in syndication and Bea Arthur attributed that to the dated topical nature of the show. This is why she resisted similar storylines and references on The Golden Girls. Frankly, I love all of those "dated" references, many of which went over my head as a kid, but to me that's only made the show more enjoyable as I've gotten older... a bunch of new laughs.

Chico and the Man was shown on the American Life Network a couple of years ago, and I think a little while on TVLand before that. But yeah, not a big syndication hit but I think that has a lot to do with the nature of Freddie Prinze's death.

Yeah, I think this, like DYNASTY, is a show that should have had its first two seasons released together on dvd.

I loved when Rudy crossed over and Denise got jealous bc she liked Whitley more. I liked that story she told her of some snow princess

Ah yes, Whitley called her "Lillian" (Rudy's midde name).

Leia, I loved that post, especially the first paragraph.