Dynasty Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

Magnum was #26 for the week.

Dynasty #29 for the week

GMAB #35 for the week

 

Just seven weeks in and Dynasty is almost out of the top 30 in the ratings.

[Paul Raven]

Week 10 86/87 season

Magnum PI 16.1/26

Dynasty 15.9/25

Gimme A Break 12.8/21/You Again? 12.0/19

Meanhile Fri @ 9

Dallas 21.1/35

Miami Vice (rpt) 15.7/26

Starman 8.5/14

[SFK]

Nell:

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Yeah yeah!

[chrisml]

Was there a storyline that started viewers to turn away from the show? I've always heard it was the Moldavian "Massacre" that started the downhill trend. Was Ali McGraw's character really that awful? Or was just a combination of things?

[Gray Bunny]

From what I understand, and someone who watched it firsthand as it originally aired could answer better, it was the aftermath of the Moldavian massacre in Season 6 that didn't make sense. For starters, there were contract negotiation issues with Joan Collins so she doesn't appear in the first episode of the season, and scenes were rewritten so that Krystle was in the place of Alexis and what they originally intended for Alexis to do. 

Also, there was the Krystle vs Rita doppelganger that apparently was a turnoff.  In all honesty, I watched the show up through the middle of season 7 some years back when SoapNet was still around, and I found Season 6 to be more entertaining than the 5th season, which was their highest rated and the #1 show on TV. I didn't find the campiness of two Krystles any worse than some doppelganger stories we've seen on daytime. 

[Paul Raven]

Week 11

Magnum 18.3/28

Dynasty 16.7/26

Gimme A Break 12.1/19 /You Again?11.0/17

Week 12

Dynasty 17.2/27

Magnum PI 16.9/26

Gimme A Break 13.6/21/ You Again? 13.0/20

Week 13

Magnum PI 19.7/29

A Year in the Life Pt3 17.1/27

Dynasty 16.7/25

*Dynasty 3rd in timeslot for the first time this season

[Khan]

I agree.  S1 isn't perfect.  Listening to the dialogue is like listening to the worst of late-'70's TV drama; and even though I think the "rich vs. poor" concept with the Carringtons and Blaisdels, with Krystle as the central character uniting them, had "legs," I also think the Shapiros unintentionally sabotaged their own vision for the show with the poor casting and writing for the latter family - and for Lindsay, in particular.

On the other hand, S1 offers characterizations and plotlines that are, IMO, more nuanced and real than everything that comes after (including Alexis).  If ABC had exercised more patience with the show as it was, or was meant to be, I think, with some fine-tuning, DYNASTY might have shaped up into the kind of show that wouldn't have needed a Joan Collins in order to save it or keep it going.  However, because DALLAS was such a massive hit, and because ABC (and Aaron Spelling) wanted very badly to copy that success, they chose to amp up the glamour and play down or do away with what actually worked - namely, the characters' moral complexities - never realizing that DALLAS was DALLAS because it offered both style AND substance.

[Khan]

Like @Gray Bunny said, it wasn't so much the massacre that caused the ratings to slide as it was its' aftermath, or lack thereof.  Yes, Ali MacGraw was pretty awful as Lady Ashley, but by that point in DYNASTY's run, you, as a viewer, just accepted wooden acting from the cast as being par for the course.  What WASN'T acceptable, however, was the producers' teasing the viewers at home with all that build-up over who might live and who might die, only to learn the next season that only two characters, both guest stars, didn't survive, even though the final shot (no pun intended) of the previous season was virtually the entire cast laying lifeless together in a heap at the front of the chapel.  If you're going to end your season with a bunch of terrorists storming a wedding and gunning down all your principal cast members, you really need to make it count, lol.

I think one online blogger said it best: the Krystle/Rita storyline might have worked if it hadn't run so long.  The longer it went on, the dumber the other characters looked for not catching on.  Believe it or not, though, the storyline was scheduled to run even longer, with Blake chasing Joel Abigore and Rita through the jungles of South America, or some such nonsense.  However, when the ratings fell, the producers decided to wrap it up quicker than they had planned.

[Franko]

I love the desperation in the tagline ABC used in early '86. "It's not just drama, it's Dynasty." CBS used something similar circa 1989: "When was the last time you visited Dallas?"

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Not to keep comparing Dynasty and Dallas, but it would be like if it turned out J.R. wasn't actually shot, he just had a perfectly-timed stomach cramp right as that gun went off. (See also, J.R. apparently shooting his mirror, not himself in 1991.)

[j swift]

Speaking of bad ads, I'll never forget the image of Krystal looking like a tied up ventriloquist dummy during the Rita plot

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For what it's worth, I don't think season 6 is especially bad, but the stink of the Colby's coupled with the wooden performance of Catherine Oxenberg (who could never replace Fallon) just made it loose its cache.  Perhaps six seasons is too long for most primetime soaps, because after a while it is tough to keep topping itself.

Edited November 8, 2023 by j swift

[Khan]

Actually, @Franko, I think DALLAS copped out a bit with the "Who Shot J.R.?" reveal, too.  Kristin was a poor choice of culprits, who never faced real consequences for shooting and almost killing her brother-in-law.

That ad makes it look as if Rita, as Krystle, was attempting to seduce Blake, which I don't recall happening.  (IIRC, Blake kept after "Krystle," but Rita, afraid of getting caught, kept putting him off through various means, including making him deathly ill, lol).  But it's too bad I didn't write it, because if I had, I would've had Blake and Rita hit the sheets, then had Blake admit to Krystle down the road that he actually enjoyed making love to the woman he thought was her, lol!

[Soapsuds]

@Khan

I think Franko meant that JR actually didn't get shot.

It's ridiculous that only one person died during the massacre and Steven's lover in episode 1. No Alexis in the episode was a terrible blunder by the producers. 

Dynasty plummeted in episode 2 in the ratings.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Soapsuds

[j swift]

Yes, that was one week earlier (when Rita grew enormous man-hands)

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It is especially odd that Krystal forgave Sammy-Jo, because she started the whole plot, Krystal was held at her ranch, but somehow S-J was able to achieve plausible deniability

Edited November 8, 2023 by j swift

[Khan]

I know, lol.

Actually, @Soapsuds, I think Joan Collins inadvertently handed the producers a gift when she refused to appear in the season premiere.  I know that contract issues were resolved by the second episode, but if the producers had been smart(er), they could've stretched Alexis' disappearance a bit longer, really get viewers excited about seeing her again as Dex, Adam and Steven search for her in Moldavia.  The producers could have capitalized on BTS events in a big way - but, of course, they didn't.

[j swift]

Dynasty was known for their extravagant costumes, but a red flag for season six was when they tried to pass off this Party City tiara as one of the crown jewels of Moldavia (I wonder if it was close to Mendorra?)

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