The television series "Dynasty" originally premiered as a mid-season replacement for ABC's Monday Night Football as the "three hour special event" that aired on prime-time on January 12,1981. "Dynasty" was the brainchild of creators Richard Alan Shapiro and Esther Shapiro and was under the production of Douglas S. Cramer and powerhouse television producer Aaron Spelling(who also served as executive producer)became one of the biggest prime time hits of the 1980's that ran for nine impressive seasons producing 220 episodes in color running from January 12, 1981 until the final episode on May 11,1989. The series actually premiered on the Monday night prime time slot as the seasonal replacement for ABC's Monday Night Football for all of Season 1 producing 15 episodes airing between January 12,1981 until April 20,1981. In the series' second season the show moved from Monday nights to Wednesday nights in prime time for Seasons 2 thru 8 running from November 4,1981 until March 30,1988. Then for it's ninth and final season, "Dynasty" moved from Wednesday nights to Thursday nights in prime-time from November 3,1988 until the final episode of May 11,1989."Dynasty" was a colossal prime time hit that was nominated for an impressive 24 Prime-Time Emmys winning the Prime-Time Emmy in 1984. It was nominated for 5 Golden Globes every year from 1981 to 1986 winning three Golden Globes respectfully in 1982,1983 and 1984. By the show's second season saw the ratings enter the top 20 of the Nielsens which by the fall of 1982 was one of the top-ten highest rated shows on television,and by the Spring of 1985,"Dynasty" was the Number One Show on television with it's competition "Dallas" becoming Number Two. Interesting to note that actor John Forsythe(of "Bachelor Father", "From Rome With Love",and "The World of Survival")was the only cast member to appear in all 220 episodes throughout it's entire nine season run. Actress Linda Evans(of "The Big Valley" fame)appeared in 206 out of the 220 episodes leaving the series after appearing in only six episodes of the ninth and final season. Actress Joan Collins appeared in 197 episodes of the series in Seasons 2 thru 9. Joan Collins made her debut as Alexis Carrington in the Season 2 opener "Enter Alexis" airing on November 4,1981. The phenomenal success of "Dynasty" spun the spin-off series "The Colbys" that ran for two seasons and 49 color episodes airing from November 11,1985 until March 26,1987. Actors Charlton Heston,Barbara Stanwyck,Katherine Ross,Stephanie Beacham,and Ricardo Montalban were regular cast members of "The Colbys" but also made guest star appearances in various episodes of "Dynasty".The notable cast members and special guest stars that made "Dynasty" the top-rated series(prime-time soap opera for ABC)were some of Hollywood legends like Rock Hudson, Lloyd Bochner, and others like Pamela Sue Martin, Heather Locklear, Ted McGinley, Michael Nader, Paul Burke, Emma Samms, Billy Dee Williams, Diahann Carroll, Al Corley, John James, Gordon Thompson, Dale Robertson, Bo Hopkins, James Farentino, Kathleen Beller, Pamela Bellwood, Ali MacGraw, George Hamilton, John Saxon, Richard Anderson, Ken Howard, Brian Dennehy, David Hedison, Bradford Dillman, Troy Beyer, Richard Lawson, Anthony Zerbe, Hari Rhodes,and many more. Even former President of the United States Gerald Ford,and the former first lady Betty Ford appeared in one episode,as well as the former National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger portraying themselves in a special episode titled "Carousel"(Season 4,Episode 11)that aired in prime time on December 21,1983. When the show moved from Wednesday nights to Thursday nights in the fall of 1988 the ratings for the show were dropping. In the last ditch effect to save the show the final episode of the series which aired on May 11,1989 ended with the credits reading as "To Be Continued...." left audiences in a cliffhanger that was never solved. The series that eventually replaced "Dynasty" after nine seasons and 220 episodes was the ABC News magazine series "Prime Time Live!" that premiered a summer replacement on August 3,1989 with Diane Sawyer and Ted Koppel(of "Nightline"). ABC aired a four hour miniseries titled "Dynasty:The Reunion" that aired in two hour slots in prime time with Part One airing October 20,1991,and Part Two airing October 22,1991 that picks up where the series ending cliffhanger left off featuring the original cast. "Dynasty" as a series during the 1980's spawned a fashion trend of luxury products not to mention a look at the "gay" lifestyle that was not even mentioned and was daring for 1980's Prime Time TV with it's groundbreaking story lines and memorable catfight scenes that will go down in television history. "Dynasty" actually paved the way for future prime time soap operas to follow. Happy 35th Anniversary!!!

Dynasty began as a serious drama that morphed into camp in order to survive. However, despite some early mistakes, the show was never better than season 1. The story opens with a middle aged oil tycoon, Blake Carrington, about to marry his secretary who is about 2 dozen years younger. Blake is giving love another chance after, as we later learn, having been habitually betrayed by his 1st wife years earlier. Blake has had things his way for the past 15 years since he got rid of his 1st wife, but from this point on, he will lose that control. He will have to deal with problems with a spoiled and promiscuous daughter, sort of an 80s version of Lindsey Lohan or Paris Hilton. He also struggles with learning of his son's homosexuality (we soon learn it's actually his son's bi-sexuality). He will also have to deal with a constantly brooding and unhappy new wife who just can't understand why her husband does not have empathy for her continuing love for her married ex. The writers seem to expect the viewers to empathize with Matthew with and Krystle and their "special love" even though both are married, but this falls flat with viewers. So, Matthew Blaisdel is gone after season 1. Over the years, the show becomes more like a 3 ring circus with Blake seemingly always battling back from bankruptcy and trying to get his wife to reconcile with him and come back to his bedroom after their latest "problems". The payoff from such a reconciliation could only work once, but the writers seemed to think of it as their can't miss "go to". All the while, Blake's habitually unfaithful ex wife and mother of 4 of his 5 kids seems to think of having Blake back as her right, and when she can't have him, becomes Angelique to Blake's Barnibus with a she loves him so much that she hates him vendetta. It's fun, but it's to be taken less seriously with each passing season.

DYNASTY, folks, in retrospect, is really a comedy masquerading as a nighttime drama! NOTHING in this show was very realistic, but that's the fun of it. When I was a pre-teen/teenager, DYNASTY was required viewing every Wednesday night! A 100%, pure, unadulterated hour of campy fun! I recall classmates talking about it the next morning in school EVERY week! Now this is the highest praise you can give a show. Forget about TV critics (can we, please?!), DYNASTY was all about the ratings and this show was for at least a couple years the #1 show on TV, even surpassing DALLAS as the ratings king! Ironically, although about wealthy families, DYNASTY was really the polar opposite of DALLAS. While DALLAS stayed pretty much grounded in it's Texas setting, DYNASTY constantly went to a different international (and sometimes national) spot each week away from it's Denver base. You name it! Morocco, Tahiti, England, France, Hong Kong, etc. DYNASTY probably went there! Also, whereas DALLAS pretty much kept the same core Ewing family members, DYNASTY's Carrington clan increased at an exponential rate! But I loved every second of it.The nominal stars of DYNASTY was the dignified John Forsythe as Blake Carrington and the hot almost-middle aged Linda Evans as his long-suffering wife Krystle, but the real star of this legendary soap was the singular Joan Collins, who played one of the all-time great TV characters Alexis Morrell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan! Lot of names, but all belonging to one unique woman! In her first season, Collins' imbibed Alexis with a raw nature that I'd never seen in a woman over 40! Collins made me realize that women over 40 years of age had sex appeal! Then later, Alexis became a cutthroat businesswoman who threw men around like paper airplanes and it was pure fun to watch. She emasculated so many men that it would make Susan B. Anthony proud! The Blake/Alexis and Alexis/Krystle exchanges throughout the show's run were priceless, indeed.The Carrington clan also included Blake/Alexis children Adam, Fallon, Steven, and Amanda. Fallon and Steven (originally Pamela Sue Martin and Al Corley, then later Emma Samms and Jack Coleman) were the original children w/ Adam (the terrific Gordon Thomson) and Amanda (the royal Catherine Oxenberg) part of the increasing brood. Adam was kidnapped as a child and Alexis had Amanda AFTER Blake threw her out of the house!. Good job, Blake. You shot one off right before Alexis got away! I would have, too! It was all made up as the show went along but that was all part of the fun. Also, you can't forget Jeff Colby (solidly played by John James), the Carrington by marriage and Fallon's constant whipping boy! Then there were all these new characters/family members that magically popped up over the years and everybody seemed to know everybody! Ben (Blake's younger bro), Cassie (Alexis' younger sis), Dominique (Blake's half-sis played by the uber-classy Diahann Carroll), and on and on and on. This is the most wicked family tree ever assembled! Other classic characters included Dex Dexter (solidly played by Michael Nader), Claudia Blaisdel (wonderfully played by Pamela Bellwood), and of course Samantha 'Sammy Jo' Dean Carrington Reece (played by the 80s AND 90s icon Heather Locklear).DYNASTY was class of the highest nature: limos, caviar, champagne, fur coats, mansions, private jets, royalty, skyscrapers. Everything was big and over-the-top. And it was all done well. It is well-known that the outlandish Season 5 cliffhanger Moldavian massacre was a jump-the-shark moment of the show, but I still watched it after that. I think it got back to what made it great to begin with. But with the end of the 80s and entry into the more 'realistic' 90s, I guess the glamor and intrigue had to end! May have been unrealistic to the extreme, but based on it's dedication to glamor and influence of dozens of carbon copy shows that could never equal it's uniqueness, DYNASTY is an all-time classic!

Dynasty was a huge favorite of myself and my friends, and I have many memories of discussing the show with them either over the phone as it was happening or the next day. The Carringtons were created to compete with the highly successful Dallas and Ewings of South Fork, but Dynasty was never a copycat show. While Dallas certainly focused on the soap opera elements common to all these programs, J.R.'s sliminess in business was a focal point. Dynasty was about obvious, over the top luxury and family with some camp elements included that made it special. What I loved about Dynasty was that, at least in the beginning, it was never camp for camp's sake - the camp was part of the show. For instance, when the casting of Fallon changed, the portrait of the old Fallon that hung over the fireplace was quietly replaced with a painting of the new one, Emma Samms, that looked like a paint by the numbers from Woolworth's. And of course, Joan Collins' Alexis had camp built right into the character. And there was Steven's plastic surgery...so many happy moments.And no other show could boast the wardrobe of Dynasty, or the beauty of Linda Evans. I can still see her, bedecked in diamonds, walking toward Blake in a blue gown slit all the way up her thigh.For me, once they had Alexis disguised as a nun and the whole Moldavian thing started, the show became self-conscious camp, as these shows often do, and I lost interest. But certainly Dynasty was a bright spot in the '80s and for a time, you couldn't beat it.