Dynasty Discussion Thread

[SoapDope]

I found this on youtube. It's the 1983 made for TV movie Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide. It screams classic 80's primetime soap. Pamela Bellwood from Dynasty co-stars.

 

I read that Deborah Raffin who plays Iris passed away a few years ago.

 

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[amybrickwallace]

Speaking of Pamela Bellwood, what did you all think of the Claudia character? She was kept while her husband and daughter were dropped (though Bo Hopkins did return briefly, years later), and stayed for a good chunk of the show's run. Was she generally liked by the fans, or did she just take up space?

[John]

Claudia had stories but rumors she was a pain in the ass to work with

[SoapDope]

Nolan Miller who did the clothes for Dynasty and all the Spelling shows did a long interview with the Archive Of American Television that was a hoot. He didn't hold back his opinions. He talked about Dynasty and said that no one was sorry when Pamela Bellwood left. He also said that by season 5 the show began to fall apart. He loved Linda and Joan. He and Linda go back to her Big Valley days in the 60's.

He also bashed several actresses from the other Spelling shows including Kate Jackson and Shelley Hack (he called her a

[amybrickwallace]

Yeah, Nolan Miller was interviewed in the David Hofstede/Jack Condon book The Charlie's Angels Casebook and had nothing but kind things to say about Jaclyn Smith ("such a wonderful girl...so warm"), Farrah Fawcett ("she had a lot of style", and she and Jaclyn would always report to him about the fashions they had seen on Rodeo Drive on weekends, giving him an idea of what they would like to wear in upcoming episodes), Cheryl Ladd ("she was so easy to work with...always ready to approve anything I had sketched up for her") and Tanya Roberts ("Tanya was very sweet").

He wasn't as diplomatic about Kate Jackson, who wasn't nearly as interested in fashion as the other girls - "the one time I did design a beautiful gown for her, she came onto the set wearing it with Adidas sneakers". But he is also quoted as saying that he begged Aaron Spelling to hire Shelley Hack because he liked her sense of style. Maybe they fell out after she started on the show.

Getting back to Pamela Bellwood, her opening title sequence on Dynasty was just hilarious to me and many others, from comments I've read on various sites. She flips on a light switch. WOW!!!! At least Emma Samms got to ride a horse in hers.

[SoapDope]

In the archive interview he says when he saw Shelly Hack, he was really hoping she was going to be hired so he could dress her. Then after a few months, he said he and everyone wanted to get rid of that B****.

LOL at Pamela Bellwoods title sequence. I laughed at the scene in the pilot when she is in the kitchen cooking and she has these huge platform boots on that she can barely walk in to make her taller. Lindsey was just weird and annoying.

[Soapsuds]

All 9 seasons are now on dvd btw...as for Pamela ...I guess she was a lot like Claudia....lol.....Shelly Hack was a complete miscast on CA

[slick jones]

Hack was not a good fit on CA.

[amybrickwallace]

According to Casebook, after Kate Jackson left and they were looking to cast another Angel, the auditionees included Michelle Pfeiffer, Kelly Collins (Bo Derek's younger sister), Connie Sellecca and Shari Belafonte (who would later be cast in another Spelling show, Hotel), Deborah Shelton (later of Dallas), Dian Parkinson of The Price is Right, model/talk show host Cristina Ferrare (who would later marry the future big cheese of ABC after Fred Silverman began his disasterous reign at NBC - Tony Thomopoulos), B-movie actress Claudia Jennings, and two actresses with ties to daytime, Cher's sister Georganne LaPiere (who preceded Robin Mattson as Heather on GH) and Judith Chapman (ATWT, GH, RH, DAYS, Y&R). Finally, it came down to two - Bond Girl Barbara Bach (also the future Mrs. Ringo Starr) and Shelley Hack. Barbara Bach was originally announced as the new Angel but ultimately never made it to the air for two reasons - many higher-ups thought she looked too much like Jaclyn, and her screen test did not impress ABC execs.

Guess who else auditioned and didn't make the cut? Kathie Lee Gifford. I kid you not.

[Soapsuds]

Deborah Shelton would have been perfect for the part.

[amybrickwallace]

I think she would have made a good fit, too. I can't even picture Judith Chapman as a Charlie's Angel!!

[Khan]

I wish TPTB had taken the risk and hired an AA actress to portray the third "angel" after Jackson's departure.

[slick jones]

Crazy Claudia was one of my least favorite DY characters. She should have "Died" w/Matthew the first time!

[DaytimeFan]

Nolan Miller was a hidden gem of Hollywood gossip, he knew where all the bodies were buried and he didn't give a flying f*ck about whether people cared for his opinion because he was saying it anyway...and he was kind.

He and Joan Collins were very, very close friends. In her 2013 memoir, Passion for Life, she has a section on her close friends and Nolan has several pages dedicated to him. Although he and Linda went way back it was Joan who he stuck with. Joan hosted his memorial, inviting several Dynasty cast members, all dressed super glamorously.

Nolan, like Joan, thought Pamela Sue Martin was so stupid to quit the show when she did, especially since Emma Samms, while generally panned as Fallon, was extremely well liked behind the scenes and secured herself the job for life.

[SoapDope]

I wish Pamela hadn't quit, but she did the same thing when she played Nancy Drew when that show got popular. Nolan seemed to give his opinions in a kind way, even if they seemed harsh.

He talked about doing the Love Boat and having to help put Lauren Tewes together and teach her to walk in high heels. They never asked him about the Spelling show Matt Houston and working with Lee Horsley & Pamela Hensley.