Random thoughts about Dynasty II: The Colbys

I saw The Colbys in the mid-80s when I was about 12, so it’s been 30+ years since I last saw this show. It’s always THE soap I compare anything soapy/luxurious-rich-people-movies-tv-shows against.

– I didn’t like Jason when I was a teenager, thought he was booring and wishy-washy about Sable/Francesca! Now I like him a lot better – he’s still too wishy-washy and unclear with Sable, especially after he decided that wants to divorce but he’s not a rapist like Blake or Miles, and doesn’t seem as cutthroat as Blake as a businessman. Dare I say it he seems mostly a decent man?
– Frankie was too too wishy-washy then, and I still think so. And I’m not entirely clear why she abandoned Jeff – because Cecil Colby told her to? Why couldn’t she stay? Because she and Jason were in love? It’s rather selfish, abandoning her son because of that.
– LOVED Connie and Barbara Stanwyck first time around, and still do! She’s awesome!
– Miles really can’t see beyond his own nose, and he rapes Fallon :/ He’s really immature and violent. I don’t think Miles ever loved Channing, he was still hang up on Fallon.
– The whole Miles/Jeff/Fallon plot lines are ludicrous! Miles and Jeff fight over Fallon like two dogs over a juicy bone; the complete inability of either man to understand or to care about what Fallon is going through in the aftermath of the amnesia, or with the unknown paternity of the baby she’s expecting. It’s just totally incomprehensible to both that she’d like some time to sort things out, even when she tells them so. Not to mention Miles raping her and just generally treating her like a possession. Not that Jeff’s that much better, but at least he didn’t rape her.
– I remember Jeff just sort of being there, but now I like him – he’s what you see is what you get
– poor Fallon – the bone two dogs fight over. I don’t really get why she didn’t make it more clear to both of them that she’s her own person and they need to wait until she figures things out, leaving the Colby manor to do it if necessary. Fallon was written really poorly – there’s nothing of the Dynasty character in this Emma Samms/The Colbys version of her. Can’t wait to get far enough in my Dynasty rewatch to see how the Emma Samms version is written in the later Dynasty seasons.
– I liked Monica a lot back in the mid-80 on my first watch, and now I really appreciate her. She’s level-headed and kind and we’re also told intelligent and ambitious although we don’t really see that, and takes other people in consideration. Her only bad side is a questionable taste in men. I like Tracy Scoggins and I like Monica.
– Bliss is sort of an after thought IMO, I feel like TPTB didn’t really know what to do with her at any point. At least her story had Judson Scott as Sacha (whom I knew from Star Trek 2 The Wrath Of Khan and V the weekly series) on whom I had a teenage crush, and also Nana Visitor (who goes on to be one of the best characters in of Star Trek in DS9) and Adrian Paul (who goes on to be on War Of The Worlds and The Highlander, which I would both love later on).
– some of the main relationships happen very fast – Miles and Channing and Bliss and Kolya all knew each other for about 5 minutes before they declared they were in love and/or married
– I remembered Channing as a gold digger, but looking at it now I think it started that way but she really fell in love with Miles. I still think the actress just didn’t have the range to make that very believable – it always feels like Channing is plotting something, even when she apparently isn’t.
– I remember not being able to decide whether Zach Powers really loved Sable or how much of his seduction/pursuing of Sable was due to who she was married to. I still can’t say for sure! But Ricardo Montalban (Khan from Star Trek!!!!) is a treasure, and I’m having so much fun watching him.
– Sable/Stephanie Beacham was my favorite the first time around. I still love her, but now I think she over-acted but she’s still fun. As for Sable, I wonder that her pride doesn’t stop her from running after Jason time and again. She could do so much better than a wishy-washy man who doesn’t want her but can’t bring himself make a clear cut.
– So many fights! And nobody ever needs to get check by a hospital/a doctor no matter what happens.
– what’s this nonsense about newly formed couples living under the same roof with their ex-spouses?!?!?!?!? That’s just insane, awkward and painful for all. Honestly, if grown people and couples had lived in their own individual homes, like sensible people, about half the problems on the show would’ve never existed.
– speaking of the Colby Manor – it looks so small both in exterior shots, and indoors shots! Everyone seems to have just a small room, and even the office/library looks small. The Carrington house in Dynasty looks and feels a lot larger to me. Although I do covet the bathroom Jeff and Fallon have.
– I liked Philip Colby a lot better than Jason, and thought he had a better chemistry with Francesca. I had seen Michael Parks in something I can’t remember now and like him a lot so that might have and might still color my view of of Phil. And of course, Michael Parks then went on to Twin Peaks so I’m fond of him because of that too.
– so much bling! so many sweaters! such big hair!
– I remember also wanting the hair of all the main women on the show: Sable, Fallon, Frankie, Bliss. Starting with the mid-80s I always had a perm done for my hair and I remember one of the hair-dos I managed to do pretty well as Frankie’s casual one. Only I’m a blond and occasionally would dye it red, so I went around with Frankie’s hair but only either blond or dyed red for a good many years towards end of the 80s. I really wanted hair-do like Sable’s but didn’t know how to make it stay so big. I still really like Fallon’s the one where the sides are swept back but the rest of her hair is left free.
– Sable’s full first name is Sabella, or at least Zach always calls her that. In French class, we had to choose French names for ourselves – I chose Sabella because of Sable. So for two years I was Sabella for two hours a a week.
– the last scene of the series is as much wtf as it ever were!
– Over all I’m very happy I got to see this again 😀 and I dare say it’s still my favorite soap. Although all of it is totally ridiculous from an adult-me’s perpective now. I don’t watch modern soaps and haven’t for at least 15 years, so I’m not sure if the story lines are really so ridiculous as they seem to me.
– I’m probably old-fashioned and stuck in my ways but… no shaky-cam, lightning-fast cuts or lens flare in sight and I’m LOVING it!