Dynasty Discussion Thread

[SFK]

Bo Hopkins also got an "and starring", but notice Joan never did. I think John and Linda would have had a problem with that.

[DaytimeFan]

John and Linda would have FLIPPED THEIR SH*T if Joan had got an "And Starring" credit. Apparently things were tense enough with Joan getting the 'And' credit.

I really admire actors like Emma Samms, Pamela Bellwood, John James, Diahann Carroll, Jack Coleman, Stephanie Beacham, Kate O'Mara and Michael Nader who, though they'll never say Joan was a saint on the set or in real life because clearly she wasn't, defend her and freely admit that she 'made' the show. It shows the lack of ego they have. I have never, ever heard Linda Evans or John Forsythe admit that Joan 'made' the show what it was.

And what's more interesting, Joan's never said she 'made' the show either. She let her work speak for itself.

[DRW50]

I guess with John and Linda it might have been a bit of an ego thing because the show was supposed to be a hit with them. Not with Joan and all the changes involved.

The tricky thing about Dynasty is that while Krystle was approachable and everywoman, and Alexis was a bitch, I always got the feeling that not too far from the surface, Krystle was cold and Alexis was warm. The only time I didn't feel that was with Krystle and Steven #1. I think if they were going to make Steven sexually confused and so on it would have been better to go with Krystle/Steven (again with Al Corley there -- by the time they brought Jack Coleman in the character had changed).

[DaytimeFan]

You're right, that's likely what John and Linda thought. Except, boo hoo for them, it was in the ratings toilet when they had the reigns.

That is a brilliant analysis of Krystle and Alexis. I always felt that Krystle was simply out of her league, knew it and was deeply angry and frustrated and ultimately, resentful.

Alexis, on the other hand, was written as such a bitch on first glance, but with her children, grandchildren and lovers, she was so opposite: warm and caring and affectionate. I really recall Alexis' first or second episode where she and Steven talk about how she told him as a child that she had to leave him to find a rainbow to paint...Steven asked her if she ever found that rainbow and Alexis demurred. Joan's best work was Season 2-4. After that, the writing got too broad. But for those 2 years, I really think Joan deserved an Emmy because her work was that of a seriously good actress.

You see, Krystle fought with her fists because she couldn't express herself emotionally, she just erupted. Alexis, on the other hand, always fought with her tongue because she knew exactly how to get under Krystle's skin. Alexis understood and expressed her emotions, Krystle bottled them up.

[shadow]

Joan Collins didnt need the "and starring" she got the "and Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington" which pretty much means she was the star of the show imo. LOL!

And I too agree that Joan played Alexys multi faceted because she was a biotch but when it came to her off springs, she played Mama bear.

[DRW50]

That's so well said.

I always liked the episode where Blake had amnesia and Alexis was with him and they were back in their early married years, because I think that's what Alexis would have been if life had been easier for her. She was so content.

[Sylph]

Which is why she wasn't cold. She was annoying, whiny, obnoxious, but she wasn't cold.

[DaytimeFan]

I love that episode too! It showed so much about Alexis and really nothing new about Blake. He was who he was. Alexis was who she was because of what life did to her.

[quartermainefan]

I love the sequence when Blake got his memory back, it is a literal example of melodrama: drama set to music. Starting about 2:45 this clip just lets music do the narrating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_nCs_VAzhw&feature=related

[Sapounopera]

I LOVED Blake's amnesia storyline! I watched it as a kid the first time and my first reaction was OMG, she is in love with him! She never hated him, she has always been in love with him all along!!!

I adore Joan Collins and Alexis has been my "constant" through the years, but I really fell in love with her when she tore up the papers which would destroy Blake during the time they were living as a couple. Another scene I loved was shortly after Adam and Dana's wedding, when Dex told her that she was a lonely woman with nothing and nobody in her life and she told him that she didn't need him or anybody else. (Do you remember Gavin Maurier? Were there any plans to do more with the character and bring him back next season?)

Alexis's reunion with Steven and Fallon in court. The rainbow talk and her comment about Fallon's teeth and tongue Ordering pizza and watching Love Boat in bed with Cecil

Alexis screaming during the Moldavian massacre "Amanda, my baby!!" LOVE LOVE LOVE HER.And I keep hoping that I will run into her during one of her trips in the Greek islands and thank her for everything

[DRW50]

That's so sweet.

Something which people don't appreciate about the big OTT primetime soap characters of yesteryear was how complex they were under the clothes and bitchy dialogue. That's why the new shows so often fail. It's all just one note. Alexis seemed like a real person.

[Cheap21]

I HATED her hair that season

[Gray Bunny]

I've only watched Dynasty seasons 1 through 4, but one thing I really liked during the first season was that they often showed how Krystle was this middle-class outsider trying to fit in with the uber-rich. And from trying to take Blake's place in a boardroom to trying to gain respect from "the help," there was a complex struggle you could see in the role of Krystle. That was basically thrown out the window by season two when she was perfectly comfortable in her place. I didn't find that too realistic, and they could've continued with her inner feelings of not feeling adequate in a new world of luxury.

[Khan]

I still want to be Joan Collins when I grow up.

[Bright Eyes]

Yes.