THE COLBYS

[Sapounopera]

The network wanted two hours of Dynasty every week. It was not a spin-off, it was a clone. They were crazy to think that it could work with a Fallon recast.

They had a great cast and their two seasons were much better than Dynasty during that time, but the show had no identity of its own.

The same opening, same business, a different Blake, Alexis, Krystle and the list goes on. If the spin-off was more like Knots Landing or Melrose Place, it might have worked. 

There was no reason for Monica and Bliss to be related to the Colbys. Jason was not needed at all and neither was Frankie. 

[Chris 2]

God it sucked. It sucked hard. The characters were so unlikeable and the cast had zero chemistry. Even Dynasty at its worst had interesting performers and relationships between characters. 

[kalbir]

Head-to-head w/ Cheers and Night Court. The Colbys had no chance of succeeding.

Aaron Spelling must have been losing his clout w/ ABC by 1985/86, as he was down to only four shows on the network: The Love Boat (which would end in spring 1986), Dynasty, Hotel, The Colbys. You'd think the ABC primetime schedulers would've placed Dynasty and The Colbys back-to-back on Wednesdays, as the audiences for both shows were the same. For whatever reason Aaron Spelling didn't insist on that.

[Paul Raven]

When the Colbys played after Dynasty on a few occasions, the ratings were much better . 

The Colbys Wed at 10 and Hotel moved to Thursday at 9.

  I feel like Hotel would have been sturdy counter programming to NBC' s comedies.

As for Aaron Spelling,I know at one point he had an exclusive contract with ABC with the guarantee of at least one pilot per season and there were years where he got a show picked up every year. Most of them were hits.

I think that deal expired and there were management changes at ABC. The thinking was he was too expensive and the type of shows he was doing were now looking outdated compared to LA Law, Miami Vice etc

Edited February 26, 2022 by Paul Raven

[Soapsuds]

Unhappy with her character development and the show itself (which she infamously called "a turkey" and "The biggest pile of garbage I ever did"), Barbara Stanwyck demanded and obtained her exit from The Colbys after one season despite originally agreeing to do 6 or 7 episodes in the show's second season.

[allmc2008]

How did people like Katherine Ross on the show? I liked her in Stepford and Graduate.

[soapfan770]

Completely unbelievable as Sable’s sister tbh. 

[SFK]

Stephanie and Kate O’Mara were supposed to be the Scott sisters but Kate chose to do a play instead and ended up on Dynasty anyway. The Scott sisters were not conceived as English, all of the big name actresses first considered for Sable were American (I read that in the bible the sisters are San Franciscans). Maybe Katharine would have been more believable playing sister to Angie Dickinson, Faye Dunaway, or Elizabeth Ashley. (Sable is given some expository dialogue some episodes in explaining that she was raised in England with their mother; Frankie, in California with their dad, accounting for their different accents.) I guess when the producers had no luck nabbing a Hollywood star, they hoped lightning would strike twice by casting the Joan route. I have the ‘85 TV Guide with The Colbys on the cover, and it’s reported that over forty actresses from the U.S., England, Australia, and South Africa were seen for Sable.

To me, Frankie and Lady Ashley are two peas in a drippy yawn-inducing pod.

Edited February 26, 2022 by SFK

[Paul Raven]

Some more info on spelling and ABC. Thought I'd  post it here, although not really Colby's related.

Aaron Spelling Productions agreed last week to extend its contract with ABC -TV for three more years, but for first time since 1969, pact will be on nonexclusive basis.

Under new agreement, which took effect immediately, parties were apparently able to resolve conflict over programing commitments that surfaced about time CapCities took over ABC. Former contract called for ABC to pay penalty unless it ordered total of 10 pilots, seven new series and 16 made - for- television movies by March 1988 (except for two pilots and two series which could be ordered by March 1989).

Spelling last year contended ABC had ordered two pilots and two series toward commitment, while ABC claimed number amounted to four pilots and two series. Since then, however, network cancelled The Colbys, Life With Lucy, Finder of Lost Loves and Glitter, and failed to pick up two of Spelling's pilots, Divided We Stand and Free Spirit. Two remaining ASP series on network are Dynasty and Hotel.

Commenting on end of exclusivity, Spelling said he is "pleased that for the first time in our history, the company will be able to sell its product to all three networks." Spelling's program: were credited with pushing ABC into first place in mid- 1970s. Hit successful affiliation with network began with The Mod Squad in 1968 and continued following his 1972 pairing with partner Leonard Goldberg with such series as The Rookies, Starsky and Hutch, Charlie's Angels and Fantasy Island. Spelling also produced 11 TV movies for ABC for total of 1,935 hours of programming.

[j swift]

Finder of Lost Loves should have been cancelled just for its banal theme song.  It's like those Bond themes when the songwriter has to finagle the title into the song lyric, but it doesn't really fit.

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Good idea for an anthology show, but terrible casting and theme.

Is this Deborah Adair before or after her time on Dynasty?

Edited February 26, 2022 by j swift

[Soaplovers]

I think they could have made Sable and Frankie former step sisters, and it would have been more believable.  

From watching season 2, it seemed like the show was finding its way.  Sable was being written as more sympathic, while I liked that the show kind of found its Claudia in Adrienne. 

I do wonder how Fallon's experience with the UFO would have been resolved in season 3.  My guess would have been more conflict between Jeff/Fallon with him assuming it was due to her past issues with the tumor... with Miles stepping in to comfort Fallon.

[te.]

Directly after.

 

And Finder of Lost Loves is a Dionne Warwick classic (said no one).

Edited February 26, 2022 by te.

[j swift]

They're the same crowd that was desperate for a Tony Franciosa comeback vehicle.  It's just so confusing that she's singing "finders of love loves", but the show had the clunky title "finder of love loves"

[Chris 2]

I think ABC was afraid to move Hotel, knowing it was a timeslot hit and would collapse without the Dynasty lead-in. They were hoping that the buzz of having a spinoff of the top rated show on TV, with a considerable number of name actors, would help them establish a beachhead on Thursdays.

Even as a kid, I knew that Sable and Frankie as sisters was just ridiculous given the actors they cast. One thing about Spelling: he didn’t let any accent issues get in the way if he decided he liked a performer for a particular role.

Edited February 26, 2022 by Chris 2

[soapfan770]

LMAO at someone digging up Finder of Lost Loves. I clearly remember seeing the show and thinking “I definitely would never let that creep find me!” What a terrible show. 

That’s a pretty good assessment. Overall I thought Frankie was pretty bland and uninteresting, and it didn’t help that Ross felt so weak In the role.