Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

RavenGlamDVDCollector I've been watching since last year on DVD and I was pleasantly surprised to find a show that aged so well. The character of Fallon Carrington in season 1 is perhaps the best ever written for an actress on TV, and Pamela Sue Martin did a great job. The spoiled rich girl with her horse, and the expensive vintage car she's messing up without caring, and her Dad's entire basketball team that she is taking to bed. All the while we could see she would make a fiery company president, and that Blake's heritage would be going to new heights with her at the helm, but because she did not get her Father's recognition, she took it out on those around her like a She-Wolf of the SS. All of the early episodes of Season 1 up to where Blake goes to trial had Fallon as the one to watch.But things went downhill from there. According to Esther Shapiro, they actually listened to what viewers wanted, and gave them the show they asked for. Apparently people said they loved the show but Fallon was nasty. Hell, they watched to see the nasty girl tear into the others. Imagine people saying, DALLAS is a great show, but J.R.Ewing is such a bad guy, change it! And, horrors! the entire Carrington saga was changed, shoddily so, with Season 2 unrecognizable almost. Fallon lost her claws, and by Season 3 she's dumped at La Mirage with that tennis instructor/Tom Selleck-wannabe courting her. Boring. What a waste. And Alexis. What did the people see in Alexis? That old witch? And she was a style icon of her time. While both she and Krystle are dressed up so extravagantly they look overblown and downright silly. The only good thing about Season 2 is, of course, Heather Locklear, who is a long way off from being Amanda Woodward in MELROSE PLACE, a show that at least understood the allure of the vixen, and didn't try to hide them to please viewers who were just ashamed to admit how they enjoyed that tigress. But after Fallon takes a nose-dive, there is Sammy Jo Carrington who brings life into what is otherwise quite dull. Okay, I'm currently watching Season 3 towards the last quarter, so there could still be surprises, but those first episodes were the best.

Jim Longo Dynasty was in its heyday when I was in high school, so it was inevitable that we'd grow up together. Originally conceived to take on the CBS juggernaut Dallas, the show originally focused on the ultra-rich Carringtons, the middle-class Blaisdels, and the link between them, secretary-turned-socialite Krystle. After half a season, however (it was a mid-season replacement), the creative team decided to take the show in a different direction. They also brought in Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington. Originally intended only to appear in a few episodes, Alexis became such a hit with the viewers that the character quickly became central to the action.The show, early in its run, was at its best when it nodded to classic Hollywood. The Steven-Claudia storyline, for example, was Dynasty's riff on the film Tea and Sympathy, and the sheer opulence of the show (and some of Claudia's crazier moments) were straight out of Sunset Boulevard. The writing was sharp, incisive, and not afraid to be funny. A brief implosion late in the second season got rid of half the cast, but one role (Steven) was recast, and another (Sammy Jo) would return sporadically for a couple of seasons before finally returning full-time. By the time the show had four seasons under its belt, it was a solid top ten hit that actually showed a lot of quality as the writers tackled then-borderline taboo topics such as abortion and homosexuality.Then it started to go wrong.The first blow was the departure of Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon, and the subsequent miscasting of Emma Samms in the role. Worse, the writing took a significant turn for the worse, and Samms had the double handicap of trying to compete against the memory of Martin and having distinctly inferior scripts to work with. Next, whereas previous cliffhangers had involved danger to one or two characters apiece, starting with the infamous fifth season cliffhanger, the producers decided that the majority of the cast had to be endangered in every cliffhanger - the Moldavian massacre, the fire at La Mirage, the siege of the Carrington mansion - which strained credulity to the breaking point. Once-promising characters, like Dominique and Leslie, were marginalized to the point of invisibility and eventually jettisoned with little fanfare.Worst of all, the writers began to ape ratings bonanzas from previous seasons without seeming to understand why they worked in the first place. Krystle and Alexis' first catfight, for example, came at the end of slowly-increasing tension between the two over the course of the second season. Towards the end of Dynasty's run, the catfights had become almost ubiquitous, as if the writers felt that they weren't doing their job if they didn't include one every season, regardless of whether the scenes made sense from a storytelling standpoint.The show enjoyed a brief renaissance in its final season, largely due to the addition of Stephanie Beacham to the cast, but with Linda Evans leaving the show in the middle of the season, it was more or less doomed at that point - the triumvirate of Blake-Krystle-Alexis, once broken, could not be repaired or replaced.All in all, though, Dynasty was a pleasant way to spend an hour every Wednesday (later Thursday), and I'm glad I got to know the Carringtons.

gregoryshnly "Dynasty" started off as a drama series about the rich Carringtons,headed by Blake,(John Forsythe)gay son Steven(Al Corley),wayward daughter Fallon(Pamela Sue Martin)and new wife innocent Krystle(Linda Evans) The poor family were Matthew Blazidel(Bo Hoskins)Claudia(one of my favourite characters played by Pamela Bellwood)just out of a mental ward and daughter Lynsey(Katy Kurtzman) After thirteen episodes,the ratings were poor,the arrival of Joan Collins as super-bitch Alexis,bitter ex wife of Blake sent the ratings through the roof as did the cat fight between Alexis and Krystle. Claudia was the only Blazidel to return in the 2nd season but several seasons later,Matthew made a dramatic return when he tries to kidnap Krystle,Steven(Jack Coleman by this time)saves them all by stabbing Matthew. The show continued to get glossier and glossier,Pamela Sue Martin was a big loss to the series,when she left after season 4 as was Al Corley,who left after season 2,unhappy at gay Steven suddenly and unconvincingly getting a glamorous young wife.,Sammy -Jo(Heather Locklear) The storyline that haunted Dynasty was the Moldivan Massacre when the entire cast were shot at Amanda's(Catherine Oxenberg)wedding to Prince Michael (Michael Praed)with only Steven's lover Luke(Bill Campbell)and Lady Ashley Mitchell(Ali McGraw)perishing. Although this cliffhanger caused the show to get to no1,the follow up episodes were disappointing and it was the start of the end of Dynasty,the double of Krystle storyline was just plain mad really! I did like the show though with special credit to Joan Collins for turning it around,Dianne Carroll as Dominique was also a great character,Stephanie Beacham adding a new nemesis for Alexis as Sable when Linda Evans left in the last season. I look forward to seeing the rest of this great show on DVD soon.

Syl Dynasty was the show of the decade. What a cast that included the wonderful John Forsythe playing the attractive, mature, wealthy and lovable billionaire Blake Carrington. His first wife was played deliciously by Joan Collins (Make her Dame please). His second wife was played by Linda Evans who played Krystle. Who could forget those cat fights between Krystle and Alexis? or the other cast members like Emma Samms replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington. The show explored serious topics like homosexuality and included Steven Carrington as the homosexual in the show. I thought they really did a very good job in explaining homosexuality without overdoing it and insulting the audience. The season finales were always worth mentioning like the shooting at a wedding in Moldova (fictional country).