.. and you have Dynasty! If you want to see a show that is very much about the excesses of the 80s, look no further. The show begins with wealthy but older Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) marrying his younger secretary Krystle (Linda Evans). The love in this marriage (initially) goes in one direction, but Krystle is not marrying for money. Instead she is trying to forget her married lover who is permanently tied to the mentally troubled Claudia.
Blake's grown daughter Fallon is a promiscuous schemer. Blake's grown son Steven is sincere and gay. Remember, this is 1981 when this all starts, and twelve years later "Don't ask don't tell" is still considered controversial. The first season is rather a blah Dallas clone. But then at the end of the first season Blake kills Steven's lover - accidentally - and goes on trial for murder. Krystle discovers she is pregnant. And most of all "mama" shows up - Blake's long lost first wife, Alexis,who he divorced years ago - as a witness for the prosecution. This is no other than Joan Collins, and 25 years after her films at Fox she still can't sing, can't act, and can't dance, but wow can she can do evil camp with the best of them. She spends the next eight years being a thorn in Blake and Krystle's side, and this is the main conflict that dominates the rest of the series. Unlike Dallas, siblings Fallon and Steven get along just great and are mutually supportive - no feuding there.
There are mysterious disappearances, mysterious reappearances, weird alliances and odd affairs, many of which are one way romances, and of course the occasional hair-pulling cat fight between Krystle and Alexis is always rewarding, but eventually Dynasty works its way into a corner with just too many characters. How do they get out of this and hold on a few more years? For Dallas it was to say that life was but a dream, but for Dynasty it took a massacre! I'll let you watch and see the rest. I have always wondered how formerly dignified actor John Forsythe could keep a straight face and utter some of those corny lines he was given such as "You killed my child!", but it's all part of the fun. And probably nobody would remember Joan Collins fondly today if not for this role that fit her like a glove. Instead she would be remembered as the actress whose box set of awful 20th Century Fox films from the 50s on DVD pretty much killed off classic film on DVD for all time.
Blake's grown daughter Fallon is a promiscuous schemer. Blake's grown son Steven is sincere and gay. Remember, this is 1981 when this all starts, and twelve years later "Don't ask don't tell" is still considered controversial. The first season is rather a blah Dallas clone. But then at the end of the first season Blake kills Steven's lover - accidentally - and goes on trial for murder. Krystle discovers she is pregnant. And most of all "mama" shows up - Blake's long lost first wife, Alexis,who he divorced years ago - as a witness for the prosecution. This is no other than Joan Collins, and 25 years after her films at Fox she still can't sing, can't act, and can't dance, but wow can she can do evil camp with the best of them. She spends the next eight years being a thorn in Blake and Krystle's side, and this is the main conflict that dominates the rest of the series. Unlike Dallas, siblings Fallon and Steven get along just great and are mutually supportive - no feuding there.
There are mysterious disappearances, mysterious reappearances, weird alliances and odd affairs, many of which are one way romances, and of course the occasional hair-pulling cat fight between Krystle and Alexis is always rewarding, but eventually Dynasty works its way into a corner with just too many characters. How do they get out of this and hold on a few more years? For Dallas it was to say that life was but a dream, but for Dynasty it took a massacre! I'll let you watch and see the rest. I have always wondered how formerly dignified actor John Forsythe could keep a straight face and utter some of those corny lines he was given such as "You killed my child!", but it's all part of the fun. And probably nobody would remember Joan Collins fondly today if not for this role that fit her like a glove. Instead she would be remembered as the actress whose box set of awful 20th Century Fox films from the 50s on DVD pretty much killed off classic film on DVD for all time.