Dynasty Discussion Thread

[Chris 2]

Claudia really should have been nicer to poor Mother Blaisdel. The old dear did lose her son, after all.

[j swift]

In retrospect, why did Mother Blaisdel tape her son's phone conversations? Was she worried he would sell out her molasses cookie recipe?

[Chris 2]

Hahahahaha.

I didn’t realize that Mother Blaisdel was played by Diana Douglas, mother of Michael and ex-wife of Kirk. I wish we had seen her more during Claudia’s tenure - I never get tired of the “mother-in-law from hell” trope.

I saw a few episodes from early season 2 on Pluto last night. Some observations:

• They sure neutered Fallon once Alexis came on the scene.
• Krystle is a badass in her first head-to-head with Alexis (where she finds Alexis in the kitchen, giving orders to the staff). But she should have finished by personally escorting Alexis out of the house.
• I don’t understand the point of Nick Toscanni beyond, “Let’s add another middle aged guy for Krystle now that Matthew is gone.” Note that James Farentino had better billing than Joan Collins at that point.
• Claudia belongs in a proper care facility, not locked up in a room in the Carrington house. How bizarre.
• Blake is kind of a jerk. I don’t think John Forsythe has the right charm and charisma for the role. What does Krystle see in that crotchety old goat? Or Alexis? Or Fallon, for that matter? I would like to have seen what George Peppard - a more charming and sexually charistmatic actor - would have done with the role.

Edited October 22, 2023 by Chris 2

[Chris 2]

Continuing my rewatch on Pluto. I never realized before how unpleasant Jack Coleman is as Steven. He overdoes the anger angle. Makes me appreciate Al Corley all the more.

[SFK]

I'm halfway through a binge watch of season one. Most of these episodes I've never seen in their entirety from previous runs in syndication. I'd like to think that I'm not just feeling this way because I know what's coming, but season one doesn't deserve its widely accepted bad rap for being boring and skippable. There's no denying the particular brand of energy a character like Alexis injects into any show, but to say that Dynasty was bad before she showed up in the courtroom is revisionist history to me.

Dale Robertson as Walter Lankershim is a hoot and I'm already anticipating how he'll be missed. Coarse and wily without the polish of a Cecil Colby, I like the idea of Walter having been a lasting foil for Blake. I think Walter and Alexis tangling like GL's Hawk and Alexandra would have been fun.

[j swift]

Just goes to show you, we cannot assume consensus based on the loudest voices in the room.

Of course, there's a lot to like about the first season.  Including, but limited to, the fact that Steven's sexuality is dealt with more maturely than we'll see on TV for decades to come (I still think about Steven's takedown of the florist at Krystal's wedding).

Blake's a much more interesting character.  For example, we would've never gotten that iconic scene in the kitchen where he rips apart the household staff in defense of Krystal in later seasons when characters like Mrs. Gunderson just become NPC's.  

Fallon's dislike of Krystal is not just an Electra complex, there is some ambiguity about her motives in season one which would give an heir some pause.  

The tone completely changes with season three, and it is understandable why those fans would dismiss the pace of season one, but that doesn't make it any less worthy.

Finally, I thought you might like this blog, which is doing an excellent and amusing ranking of the Dynasty seasons.  Their valid distaste for Lindsay Blaisdel was enough to make me a regular reader.  https://youmiserablebitch.com/blog

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

The start of the 86 season was not good for Dynasty. Now up against Magnum PI and Gimme A Break , the first 2 eps of the season failed to make the Top 10.

Meanwhile Dallas, facing Miami Vice had a big boost from Bobby's return and ranked Top 5.

[All My Shadows]

Gimme a Break! was seen as worthy competition for Dynasty!?

[kalbir]

Fall 1988 ABC moved Dynasty to Thursday 9 pm head-to-head w/ Cheers where it was DOA. Brandon Stoddard knew exactly what he was doing when he moved Dynasty to a time slot that had been a dead zone for ABC since Fall 1982. Candy Spelling pretty much confirmed that Brandon Stoddard wanted Aaron Spelling shows gone from ABC. I'd say that final season move was sabotage moreso than tank job.

[Soapsuds]

First week of head to head...

Season Premiere of Dynasty........#15  20.1/31 

Gimme A Break.,...,............#21  17.5/27

 

So it was worthy competition more so than Magnum on CBS.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Soapsuds

[kalbir]

Not to derail the thread, but Magnum, P.I. was effectively over Spring 1986 when it was killed by The Cosby Show. Even though Dynasty was still a Top 10 show heading into Fall 1986, it was tanking like all the other primetime soaps were at that time. Maybe CBS thought Magnum, P.I. could maintain the audience it had left better at Wednesday 9 pm than at Thursday 8 pm.

[Gray Bunny]

I love season one, slow pace and all!  I love seeing Pamela Sue Martin as the villainess. We get a beautiful foundation as to what makes these characters tick, what their strengths and weaknesses are, etc. It's similar to Melrose Place's first season which lets us get to know the core characters in depth before all the crazy kicks in. 

Although admittedly there's 1 or 2 episodes in season one that are a little too Blaisdel family heavy. 

[Soapsuds]

The cliffhanger the season before wasn't very good and it was shown a week after Dallas massive cliffhanger. Dallas had all the buzz the following week as Dynasty finished it's season. So I see why Dynasty imploded early in 86 and it kept getting worse.  The 86 cliffhanger of Dynasty didn't even make the top 10.

[j swift]

That may be the issue, they started by contrasting the haves and the have-nots, but the audience just wanted stories about how the rich suffer while wearing matching hats and furs.

Also, there's not one member of the Blaisdel family that I would choose to watch an entire plotline about, including Claudia.

[Paul Raven]

Wk 7 of 86/87 season.

World Series was out of the way so regular programming in place.

Wed @9

Magnum 17.0/26

Dynasty 16.7/25

Gimme A Break 15.9/24/You Again 13.6/21

So CBS' decision to move Magnum away from Cosby was working.

ABC was on a huge cost cutting drive following Cap Cities takeover.

The Spelling exclusive contract was seen as wasteful and not producing the results it had throughout the 70's/early 80's.