John Forsythe opines about the acting ability of his Dynasty costars.

"She may not be the greatest actress...."

HOW VERY DARE HE.

He seems early stage out of it.

John Forsythe was a raging asshole.

JOHN FORSYTHE NOT DEAD???!!!

What the devil is going here?

I meant, ‘What the devil is going ON here?’

It must be something to be handsome well into one’s dotage.

Joan's having a field day trashing him now that he's dead...

Well he certainly wasn’t the greatest actor.

R9 Exactly. He was like a copy of a copy of 1940s Ronald Reagan.

R4 He’s 103 years, 11 of them dead.

What, people didn't watch "Dynasty" for the acting? Here's some fun dish on "Dynasty";

That’s MISTER John Forsythe to you, trash.

He didn't think this would get back to his good friend Linda?

He praised the acting of Catherine Oxenberg. He liked the Barbie doll pouting I guess. 😡 .

Unfair IMO. Linda was great when she had material to work with. It’s not her fault she had dreadful material from season 3 on.

"I had many daughters in the show!"

Err.....John, you had 2.

Was he referring to John James when he talked about some handsome talented guy etc....?

He seemed a bit confused about Al Corely and jack Coleman being the same character and not another son. Both with a 'homosexual bent' according to John.

"... a homosexual bent ..."

Linda was the perfect Krystle. They ruined this iconic couple on the reboot.

You could always tell when something big was happening in Blake Carrington’s storyline. His hair would turn an even wilder shade of blue.

I wonder if he ever gave Linda acting notes like Missy did.

John Forsythe was born Jewish on both sides and raised Jewish. Shocker. I saw him once in NYC in a camel's hair polo coat and he was stunning.

My aunt bumped into him back in the 1980s on an elevator in NYC. She near peed herself.

He described Michael Nader as being frantic.

But he was very talented, R25. In fact, the entire cast of Dynasty was very talented he'll have you know. Now what that talent was might be another story...

John James was a hunk but you knew the pounds would creep on as the years progressed.

Yes, he was pretty boy handsome. But he always looked dumb as a box of hair.

John james.

Gordon Thompson in his little shorts

He seemed indifferent about Emma Samms.

Jack Coleman was....meh.

Paul Keenan played Tony the stablehand on the Carrington estate.

Sadly died of aids aged 31.

John, Gordon & Al Corley today.

Not so hunky anymore.

It’s not really fair for him to knock Evans’ acting. She didn’t have a juicy role like Collins. Krystle was the good girl. I thought she was great as her character and when she needed to she could play angry well.

I admire her for doing some of her stunt work in her fight scenes as well. Paul Keenan, mentioned by R33, is also in this clip.

Gordon was the hugest slut in Weho during the early to mid 90s, to my understanding.

[quote] He didn't think this would get back to his good friend Linda?

Blake Carrington was the pond scum.

He tried to smooth things over by saying "she was not without talent". Faint praise indeed.

[quote] Err.....John, you had 2.

He's looking at it from the perspective of how many actresses played his daughters, so he had four.

Pamela Sue Martin and Emma Samms both played Fallon; Catherine Oxenberg and Karen Cellini both played Amanda.

This seems like a very cruel thing to do: take an actor in his dotage as his memory and his mental agility are failing and ask him to comment on the performances of the people who played his family in a night-time soap opera, even though almost all of them were cast for their beauty rather than their acting talent.

The Southern queen interviewing him sounds like a real piece of work.

Linda fights with...Linda!

George Peppard was originally set to play Blake Carrington but dropped out last minute and Forsythe replaced him...

Peppard was fired. I would love to see some of his take on the character.

Linda was absolutely fine on Dynasty. She carried Season One and was terrific. But the writing was better in the first two seasons.

She was just as good as Forsythe, who could ham it up like Collins when the moment presented itself. At least Evans was consistent.

He shouldn't have been so uppity when it came to acting skills.

Bachelor Father was more his speed.

I'll never forget his performance as Hamlet at the Jupiter Dinner Thee-a-ter!

That Homelette, Blanche.

The best actors on the show were Pamela Bellwood and Pamela Sue Martin.

I wish he was asked about Blake raping Krystle, Alexis killing their baby and why his brother was way younger with an Australian accent.

John James is playing Joe Biden in some right-wing cheapo production called MY SON HUNTER. They were filming in eastern Europe as all patriots do.

[quote] I wish he was asked about Blake raping Krystle, Alexis killing their baby and why his brother was way younger with an Australian accent.

You think he would have given informed answers about all that minutiae at that age? He could BARELY remember that Jack Coleman played his son.

I think the marital rape thing might have sparked a memory or two.

r31, I don't think he was indifferent. I think he dished on her but they edited it out. There's a really bad cut after he starts talking about her.

R53 He was close to Pamela, and has said the show wasn’t the same without her after she left (true). Samms was bad enough, but the badly recast revolving door of Blake’s kids was ridiculous. Amanda wasn’t needed in the 1986-1987 season anyway (when Cellini played her), and Adam wasn’t necessary in the reunion movie. I liked Coleman though. I think John just grew weary over the years with all the hoopla surrounding Joan and the more ridiculous the show became. He just went along and cashed his paychecks.

Agreed that Pamela Bellwood was the best actress on the show. She was quite good the first season with Bo Hopkins and Al Corley before the writing became cartoonish.

R54 The Pamela is Pamela Sue Martin, right?

Very lucid here.

John Forsythe was so wooden, he attracted woodpeckers and termites.

Let's face it...Dynasty wasn't packed with great actors. Those people were hired for their looks not for any kind of deep dramatic talent.

Evans was pretty awful.

Joan Collins isn't a good actress but she is good at what she does best...playing slight variations of Joan Collins.

Which is true of most actors, actually.

Ray Abruzzo wasn't wooden.

With a few notable exceptions, for the most part, good actors don't make for good camp. We watched this bitch fest for the camp, not for some fucking award.

I did find Linda Evans to be rather dreary. Couldn't act. Didn't have the talent or humor for camp, and her complexion was dreadful.

Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep can do camp.

Aaron Spelling said something similar IIRC in his autobiography, something like she may not be the greatest actress but she has great eyes which is important for an actor- you can see into their soul.

I think Linda herself is rather self-depreciating and knows how much luck was involved in her career. She was always ready to give it up for whichever man asked her to. I’m just surprised anybody got an Emmy nomination on “dynasty” and if Linda did, then surely Pamela sue Martin should have gotten one in the first season- she was very good.

[quote]self-depreciating

Oh, dear!

I thought Linda was great in Dynasty. Granted, I was about 10 when I started watching it & rooted for only the good characters (basically Krystle & Jeff). The only thing that irked me about her was her nystagmus, her eyes zigzag all over the place. And John James had nystagmus too—of the eyebrows!

I always hated Linda Evans. Terrible actress and with her gross skin tone, she could never pull off being blonde.

R23 Jacob Freund

John & Julie Forsyth were wonderful people. I knew them for years. Julie & I met when she came into my gallery with a number of unframed artworks she & John collected from around the world. I helped her catalog and appraise the works (in total 461 pieces). For four years we built the collection that was to be featured in their new Bel Air home. We worked with architectural plans to meticulously locate each work with special lighting. A labor of love for Julie and I must say she & I became “girlfriends”. We did this for several years.

Most of the artworks were at the framers (important fact) as Julie planned for moving in by Christmas. Contractors - big surprise - were not finished. Instead of Christmas they promised by New Years.

On Christmas Eve, a painter left a light next to rags that caught fire and the house burned to the ground. Of course, they were devastated but as I hugged Julie I said “ Julie, I have all of your memories in the wonderful collection we were waiting to install.” Not much consolation.

We spent the next few years planning for the next house in Pacific Palisades. My crew was putting the finishing touches on the art as Julie frantically prepared for a opening dinner party.

- [ ] I walked out the door as dinner guests arrived (I could name drop but I shan’t). As guests began their appetizers the gorgeous hand blown chandelier began weeping. Within minutes the weeps became drips and then a cascade. The pipes connected to towel warmer in the bathroom above had burst. It rather ruined the christening of Julie’s lovely new home. Julie was devastated of course. John told her “hon, the people will be dining on that story for years”.

I had lost my father recently when, one day I was at their house planning for installation on the stairway. John came home from filming Dynasty as I was working. John & I chatted as he started up the stairs. As we did , my eyes were filling with tears. Even as a kid my dad was always being told he looked like John Forsyth (based on the 50’s sitcom he did). He really did. And I adored my dad.

John put his arm around my shoulders, much like my dad once had done. He said “Julie told me of how much I remind you of your dad. Anytime I can stand in for him I am here for you.” I’m sobbing recalling this.

The designer of Dynasty asked if they could film in my gallery. It was an all-day shoot that drove me nuts but it was great exposure for my artists. There is a ton of down time in filming as they planned the scene Joan & Linda were in the gallery. Linda was interested in a great Juan Moscardo painting of Malibu. As we closed the sale , suddenly the quiet Joan pipes up “I love art too. Put that painting on hold for me.”

A few weeks later, John asked me if Joan ever took the painting. She had not contacted me. He said “she pulls this shit all the time. I will make sure she puts her money where her big mouth is”. He did. She did.

One more John story. I often employed UCLA art students as paid interns. A wonderful glass artist was helping with the Forsythe house. I was telling John about this talented boy who was being somewhat terrorized by his father (FBI San Diego director) who thought being an artist was akin to being a communist. John later handed me a check for $2500 saying “this is my contribution to this boy’s college fund”.

One more quickly: my mom was visiting when I asked her to answer the phone. It was John. He started chatting with her and I heard her familiar laugh as I am sure he was telling her some silly story at my expense - probably about how he wiped my butt inaugurating his new tennis court. He hosts Sunday tennis events. Then I heard her say “that is really kind of you as she talked about my dad for really the first time I had heard since his sudden death. It was awesome. John had called was to enlist my help to find the perfect 30th anniversary present. We decided on a wonderful Chagall painting that we hung in Julie’s dressing room.

I adored them both.

R67 nice memories.

R63. Self-depreciating is the traditionally correct term even though almost no one uses it now. To depreciate means to undervalue, which is what is intended. To deprecate means to express disapproval

And she doubles down.

Oh, dear!

Do you still own the gallery, r67?

Isn't Linda Evans following some controversial cult leader and even moved from California to where he lives.

She was following ramtha and more recently she seems to have been linked with the sex cult that sucked in her co-star Oxenberg’s daughter. She baffles me. Seems like a lost soul. Losing both parents so young seems to have led to her always seeking guidance from others. She seems genuinely nice and always comes across well in interviews, I wonder about her intelligence though.

R70. I’m a different poster. If you doubt the correctness of the statement, do an internet search.

He means self deprecating. He's just spelling it wrong, but that's no crime except for old Queens with nothing else to contribute.

Jeff & Adam have a homoerotic fight!

I hated that Carlyle hotel set

R9- The acting and the show itself- DALLAS was far better than Dynasty.

Yikes, another “HOW DARE YOU”!

I love John Forsythe. He was always the quintessential "gentleman." He spoke so nicely of his costars. You could tell he wanted to say Joan Collins was a bitch! LOL

R67 great story! I never met Forsyth but he sounds like a decent guy. I worked on a talk show back in the 90s and got to meet Collins and Evans. I found Linda Evans to be gracious and charming. To say Collins was difficult and bitchy would be an understatement.

R81- That's because sometimes the only power a woman has is being a BITCH.

How nice for you, R67.

Those of us who were mere colleagues did not enjoy the pleasantness with which John Forsythe treated his hirelings.

My parents saw him in Mr. Roberts (he played the lead in the road company) and thought he was great, they also saw (and loved) him in the lead in Teahouse Of The August Moon, on Broadway. Some people here write as if he had no acting ability or credentials..

[quote]He seemed indifferent about Emma Samms.

Didn't we all?

He could act beyond memorizing lines. As someone said about Evans, in that first season when it was closer to a drama than a campfest, Carrington was a hard nut and Forsythe played him that way without flinching. Krystle was conflicted and resolute in her disregard for the wealth around her. I read somewhere though that part of the softening of Blake was down to Forsythe's insistence. (Maybe he figured if Blake didn't lighten up he'd kill again and then Forsythe would be out of a job!)

R67, thanks for taking the time to share your memories! Forsythe seemed genuine and concerned about his wife, you, and what was going on in his orbit. I doubt he let Joan Collins even get in the orbit!

The people who run the Archive or the Interviews or whatever they call it now are awful. Jenni Matz and Adrienne Faillace aren't nice people. Miserable.

The original people were great.

R85 Right?

Emma Samms had big tits and a British accent and America lost their shit fawning over the vapid, talentless bitch.

Evans appearance on Forsythe’s earlier series Bachelor Father. The episode is from season 4 in 1960.

PSM played Fallon as a complex character trying to maneuver as a woman in a male dominated (oil) business while knowing she was just as (if not more) intelligent and ruthless than her male counterparts.

Samms played Fallon as a goody two shoes victim.

Evans’ appearance…

R90 It looks like Linda Evans was kinda cute before she became a GOT White Walker.

She gives me a Heather Tom vibe.

John Forsythe looks really good here. His toupee is so much better than that ridiculous bouffant he wore on Dynasty!

John's third and final wife. Nicole died shortly after him without explanation.

Correction. John and Nicole battled cancer together. Presumably hers was colon cancer.

R90- I LIKE the appearance of that BEAUTIFUL Chrysler convertible.

Tony the stablehand was the best young actor on Dynasty.

To be fair R91, the Samms version of Fallon was written as a victim. Though in the final season of Dynasty the writers made her more like the earlier Fallon and Samms was fine. Though as a replacement Carrington child, Emma Samms never reached the heights of the amazing Karen Cellini.

....

Joan does like to talk...

R97, Paul Keenan was nice to look at. But, alas, gone too soon.

R97 Evans' wig was always horrible. Looks like it was made of cheap straw.

This is the awards clip that Collins references in R99’s post.

So dumb. He should have just took two steps forward and said a few words of thanks and then invited Evans over to say something.

Ego bruised bullshit

He made it more awkward and kinda fucked it up for Linda to say thanks.

I think the best actress on the show was Stephanie Beacham. She was campy when needed and nuanced when the writing required it. David Paulsen who produced Dynasty's last season complimented her acting and stated that her acting helped Joan Collins to elevate her acting in that season as well. I think he was right.

[quote] He seemed indifferent about Emma Samms.

Oh honey, we all were. Even the space aliens got bored and sent her back.

R30 - That's a shot of Gordon Thomson furious that Heather wore his pink leotard, and better than he did.

[quote] I walked out the door as dinner guests arrived (I could name drop but I shan’t).

You DASSN'T, Mary!

R34 - We all age. I still think Corley was then and remains now the hottest of the guys on Dynasty. I'd do him if he were gay and interested. Thomson looks fine too but sadly bland pretty boys like James don't age too well.

[quote] It’s not really fair for him to knock Evans’ acting. She didn’t have a juicy role like Collins. Krystle was the good girl. I thought she was great as her character and when she needed to she could play angry well.

Bullshit! That mealy-mouthed halfwit wasn't fit to even finger me between scenes. She was a second-rate Donna Douglas!

Linda Evans just can't act to save her life. But she was (and remains) a deeply beautiful woman, and she was quite likeable, and that's enough.

[quote] Peppard was fired. I would love to see some of his take on the character.

He was a raging alcoholic, and I imagine not a nice drunk either. Now what would have been really interesting was if Forsythe had been cast as the lead in The A-Team. I'd love to see him shares scenes with Mr. T who, I hear, he says is very talented.

[quote] The best actors on the show were Pamela Bellwood and Pamela Sue Martin.

Kind of a low bar. Pamela "Eeyore" Bellwood was like dry paint and Martin (whom I love nevertheless) was at best a daytime player with her demonstrative line reads and was the whiniest "soap bitch" ever. There really wasn't a lot of great acting on any of the 80s primetime soaps. Probably Knots had the best with Harris, Murray, Devane, and (sometimes) Van Ark.

Wow, he won the hair lottery.

R112 thinks her inhuman color pallor and cheap straw-looking wig is beautiful. You a sick fuck, lady.

Here's Joan and Linda's first big scene together.

Great contracts between the two.

I thought both actresses and the writing were quite good.

The first season of Dynasty was clearly the best and all the changes that came along -- Samms, Celini -- were not for the better. It's too bad Samms wasn't cast as Amanda.

eesh; great "contrast."

I do remember watching in college (!) the first fight after Krystle learned from gorgeous, sweet Tony that Alexis was out shooting the day 'the car backfired' and Krystle lost the baby.

A whole bunch of us watched and we were laughing and cheering as Krystle get her revenge on Alexis. You could tell Linda did many of her own stunts but Joan, of course (don't blame her), did not.

[quote] Though in the final season of Dynasty the writers made her more like the earlier Fallon and Samms was fine.

I quit watching around the time Martin quit (the main reason I watched in the first place), but did they ever explain why Fallon suddenly was British? I can deal with reasonable physical changes when a recast happens, but a whole accent?!

Fallon didn't have a British accent... Samms just sounded like she was struggling not to sound British.

Amanda went from a British accent to an American one, with no one remarking on it.

We have Genie Francis to thank for Samms as Fallon. Had Genie never left GH, Samms would never have been hired as her replacement (Holly Sutton), caused a media stir that caught ABC's attention, and got herself hired on its then-hottest property Dynasty. It's all Genie's fault!

....

Alexis viciously killed a baby just for kicks but what the devil was Krystle doing riding a horse whilst pregnant in the first place? Why didn't Alexis have a moment of actual remorse like the servant in Downtown Abbey? Her heart was made of stone.

It was Tori Spelling who put Emma Samms on Aaron's radar.

Also Krystle could have died too or been paralyzed but Alexis just keeps on chugging. Even Abby Cunningham had a conscience about Val's twins being kidnapped. Alexis was a savage beast .

R126 TV shows are not real life, you fucking turd. None of that shit'd have happened.

No need for foul language, R127!

When dealing with horribly stupid assholes, I only speak assholese. Motherfucker.

I'm pretty sure the plan wasn't to keep Alexis - and then the character caught fire.

Recall it was to be a stunt cast... Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, somebody... for four to six episodes. At some point after causing maximum chaos, Alexis hightails it to Mexico to escape her misdeeds and I am pretty sure the character was absent for an episode or two (could be wrong) in Season two... but I always thought Alexis was so awful in Season 2 because they never intended to keep her and then when they changed course I'm guessing they kept the original arc anyway, which is why she did cause the miscarriage.

That theory makes sense. R130

According to this Alexis was only slated for sis episodes.

^that makes sense. Dr. Toscanni was likely supposed to be the main antagonist to the Carrringtons for season 2, filling the role Matthew played in the first season, but Alexis stole his thunder.

Did Gordon hook-up with any guys behind-the-scenes?

In season 9, the last season, Collins wasn’t in all the episodes, which I think was a wise decision on the producers part. It allowed the show to breathe a bit, not be swallowed whole by the Alexis character, which became too much of a good thing, especially when the writing faltered, probably PSM last season she was on. Evans had left the show on season 9, but Beacham was a great comic foil for Collins to fill the Linda void. Samms even improved, but never equaled the PSM charisma. Ironically the show ended on a creative high, but many of the viewers had already jumped ship.

I loved Emma as Holly but she was miscast as Fallon. Deadpan Pamela Sue Martin owned the part.

The Fallon of today , Elizabeth Gillies is unquestionably the star of the reboot. The show seems to revolve around her and her antics. That show is as silly as can be, no genuine attempt at actual drama.

And yet that reboot goes on and on and on. And I don't know anyone watching it.

Gilles as nuFalllon is a dud. She SNORTS every line; everything is stupid to her Fallon. She's smarter than everyone God, is she boring. She's doing bits -- not breathing life into a character. IMHO

Here's another Krystle/Alexis scene -- this one reads far more soapy than the one above, their first meeting.

I don't know how Ramtha inspired Linda that day but she was good in that scene and really came to life.

Samms and Ray Abruzzo (who played her love interest, the cop John Zorelli) still are very close. He has a very slight social media presence but he's a raging liberal who loathes Trump.

Why did Evans always have the reputation that she was butch. I never got that vibe from her.

That was a perfect parody.

Wow, look at Linda Evans in R90’s post when her tits were still high and before they began to sag.

I remember being 13 watching the penultimate episode of Season 7, and Krystle walks in with her nightgown open and her tits sagging low. My 10 year-old sister was in the room and she remarked, “Krystle’s tits are sagging!” And Krystle sees that mysterious construction worker and she looks shocked and says, “What are you doing here?” I think even more shocking than the man being there was the fact that Krystle was walking around not covering up how her tots were sagging.

E98, Samms’ Fallon never stopped being written like a victim, even in Season 9. I admit she became a little bit more playful and manipulative in Season 9 the way she was clashing with Sammy Jo over Jeff and trying to get Jeff back, but that didn’t last long. Season 9 was all about her ghost haunting and repressed memory problem.

The fact that Alexis and Fallon both blocked out the memory of Fallon killing Roger Grimes is perhaps the most ridiculous storyline ever, even more ridiculous than the Rita storyline.

[quote] Why did Evans always have the reputation that she was butch.

R141 I've never heard that, but perhaps it came from her role on The Big Valley where "Audra" would often be dressed as a cowgirl who could fire a shotgun and crack a whip.

R127, R129 = Wearing an Alexis Wig and smoking stinky Tiparillos.

Are Tiparillos what Alexis always smoked?

As a small child I was obsessed with them because they looked like ciggies but were the color of cigars.

My mom smoked cheap shit like Kool Menthols but I told her when I got older I'd be having what Mrs. Colby preferred.

Alexis smoked More 120s.

Do they still make More 120s?

Yes. It's a big year for More 120s as it's what Udo Kier smokes in "Swan Song."

R67 WINS THIS THREAD !

I thought Collins and Forsythe got along on Catfights and Caviar. He and Linda even said there that Joan improved their show when she started in season 2.

....

R141 and r145 I think it possibly was more to do with her famously having broad shoulders. It was the same with Joan Crawford. Personally I find her very beautiful during dynasty but I wouldn’t be surprised if sometimes her stuntmen were male with a wig on.

R152 John wasn’t in the best of health and was very frail during the reunion. I think he was brought in to do just a few minutes of it at the end. Joan has said even during the reunion she felt kinda like an outsider and not liked the way she used to feel on the show. She had a few people in her camp like John James, Michael Nader, and Gordon Thomson though. But there’s no doubt the show would’ve been cancelled without her. Where the show went wrong (one of many) was having TOO much of Alexis for the next seven years.

Michael Nader was definitely not in Joan Collins' camp. They despised each other.

R156, Not true. Joan has said in interviews that she begged the writers to bring back Dex/Nader as her love interest.

Plus, she issued a heartfelt statement when Nader died.

"The "Dynasty" star said she was "very sad to hear" of Nader's death, adding: "I loved working with him and his character was a wonderful mixture of tough and tender." Collins said her character was "crazy to keep on rejecting him." Aug 26, 2021"

I really wonder why people on here are so kind with Linda Evans when it was proved she was involved with the NXIVM the Allison Mack culte whose guru Keith Rainiere made the followers sex slaves with satanic rites.

^cult

I never got the impression they disliked each other either. They had great chemistry and they seemed very comfortable around each other. And I recall Joan's words when he died, too.

When asked by Andy Cohen on WWHL which actor she'd ever worked with had the worst breath, Joan replied "John Forsythe".

"Linda Evans

The actress was a student and young actresses Nicki Clyne, Allison Mack and Kristin Kreuk have been among NXIVM's students and recruiters."

Krystel Barbie doll

Alexis Barbie doll

Since when was Dynasty about acting skills?

Soap operas are just eye candy.

Krystel and Alexis Barbie Dolls reunited.

What is in it for wealthy people like Linda to join cults? Do they get paid to attract unsuspecting people? It’s just their name recognition attached to the cult? I just don’t understand the mindset of someone rich and successful joining these things.

Did Forsythe ever win an Emmy for his "acting skills" on Dynasty?

R167 I think that indeed, she was paid to attract the most naive young girls.

I always wondered if John derek used his beautiful clone wives more as a way to procure young men for himself a la “suddenly, last summer”. Something always seemed off about that man and the weird relationship between all of them.

R167 The real question is what was a billionaire like Richard Branson involved in this sex slave cult? Oh wait...

Also, the strangest thing is the Dalai Lama being a part of it

It's crazy. Linda Evans as a recruiter for the Satanic sex slave cult and another Dynasty actress, Catherine Oxenberg, whose daughter was sequestered in this cult. Isn't it thanks to Catherine Oxenberg's repeated efforts that the FBI opened an investigation on the NXIVM?

Do cults target Hollywood or are Hollywood stars so misguided that they seek out cults. I can’t work it out.

R173 You're right, that it's weird. Hollywood itself is a very weird world. It seems that NXIVM had the same function as Epstein's island. I don't know if there were underage girls like Epstein's, but it seems that Hollywood has an attraction to women/girls who are reduced to sex slaves.

Linda Evans was a huge proponent of JZ Knight and Ramtha. What a goddamned kook.

So Linda has a thing for cults... She's so strange!!!

Even more odd was that Linda and jz started to look alike. Linda was so beautiful during “dynasty” but it looks like she purposefully tried to look like Jz at some point after the series ended. Like they used the same surgeons. Very strange.

Geez, after 35,000 years why does ramtha still sound so limited. You’d think they would have lost their accent and weird speaking pattern by now and have mastered expertly every language in existence. Such buffoonery.

R168 No. He was up for it three times but lost them all. Linda and Joan were also nominated but struck out. The popularity of each huge prime time soap Dallas and Dynasty were recognized with nominations, but, with the exception of Barbara Bel Geddes of Dallas who won an Emmy with a breast cancer storyline, that’s all Dynasty and Dallas would get.

Linda Evans was just in the film Swan Song. I was shocked at how good her performance was. Just terrific. No vanity IMO. I’d also forgotten what a great voice she had. That she still wanted to act at all was quite surprising. Seemed to me she cared about it and that she was more than a Nolan Miller dress form.

One of my favorite quotes from Collins was when she was asked what she thought of Martin leaving Dynasty early. Without missing a beat:

"I thought she was stuuuupid. Who walks away from a hit TV show?" LOL

R181 Collins probably thinks that about everyone who doesn’t worship fame and success the way Joan did at the peak of Dynasty. Joan waited all her career for that level of stardom, whereas Martin hated being in the Hollywood fishbowl. I think Martin was smart to leave when she did. Even though the show went to number 1 the season after Pamela left, it wasn’t long before it became really bad. Victoria Principal was the same way with Dallas. Get the hell out when it’s still watchable.

Collins was on Graham Norton last night throwing shade on Forsythe (who conveniently was dead). He relished being the alpha on the show and apparently could be petty, but so could she. The show received a "People's Choice Award" and although the award was supposed to be handed to Forsythe, the presenter person (sounds like it was an extra not the "and the winner is" person) gave it to Joan who launched into an acceptance speech. She handed it to John who simply walked away.

She admits, they wanted someone else for the part---Sophia Loren (who would have brought a little subtlety) or Liz Taylor (who would have had more fun with the part), so "because I knew Aaron Spelling", it fell to her. She did the namedrop (I mean Spelling was always known as a schlockmeister, so "so what" that she knew such a hack) but also let slip that they wanted the bigger names. And none of them had appeared in a film that required acting with giant fiberglass ants.

Joan, btw, is covered with wrinkles that she tries to hide with troweled-on make-up. There was no filter on the lens, so either she doesn't care or she needs a better contract. She insists on showing her shoulders (but thankfully not her bosom) which makes this particularly obvious.

Pamela Sue Martin certainly seems to have a problem with Hollywood success and the entertainment industry. She similarly walked away from the Nancy Drew Mysteries, and repeated herself with Dynasty. She didn't even make much of splash (no pun intended) after being in the blockbuster hit Poseidon Adventure, parlaying that into only a handful of mediocre forgotten films in the 70s. Originally she was a print model in NYC and possibly, as a very young woman, got pushed into acting only to find extraordinary success 3x which she hated. Odd bird.

I believe Loren was onboard but the deal fell through because she wanted an astronomical fee for this limited acting gig. I can only guess Taylor turned down Dynasty because in 1981 she desperate to appear in a couple of episodes of General Hospital.

Those primetime soap operas were a heaven-sent boon to aging Hollywood grande (and not-so grande) dames. They were the Ryan Murphy of the 80s.

R184 I think the huge success of Dynasty only served to exacerbate her feelings about Hollywood and the entertainment industry. She married a guy with money before leaving the show, so she never had to worry about making a living, and probably got a nice chunk of change after they divorced. They tried to get her back on Dynasty and The Colbys multiple times because Emma Samms sucked so much in the role. Plus she lives in Montana and Mexico now which might as well be another planet compared to Hollywood. So I believe her when she says the reason she left was the fame aspect of it.

No, she married a leech while still on the show and then married someone else long afterward.

She married a guy named Manuel Rojas, a multi millionaire, in 1982 and divorced in 1987. Google is your friend.

Joan Collins let the producers of Dynasty: a Reunion know that if Michael Nader was invited to participate, she wouldn't. So they left him out.

Nader and Collins were not friendly at all, and the antipathy went all the way back to shooting their episodes. Of course she wrote nice things about him after he died; that's what one does.

Hmm I wonder what year he he allegedly made those comments about Joan? I guess it would’ve had to have been right before the show ended. Joan has said she was thrilled when he was cast, so I think they got along for a few years.

[quote] So I believe her when she says the reason she left was the fame aspect of it.

Oh I believe her too, but I still think she's an odd bird. You think of the thousands of actors (many more talented) who never get a break of any kind and her she is with three veritable hits within a 10 year span and keeps walking away. I've always had a fondness for Martin since her Susan Shelby days, but it's strange to me that someone keeps striking gold without seemingly even wanting too.

[quote] Nader and Collins were not friendly at all, and the antipathy went all the way back to shooting their episodes.

You'd have thought Collins would be thrilled to be romantically paired with a handsome actor young enough to play her son. Especially after making such a fuss about how much older Forsythe was than Evans.

R178 It was funny that Ramtha was very enlightened and wise when he first borrowed Knight's body in 1979. But some time circa 2005, JZ got a snootful, and when Ramtha took her over, he started complaining bitterly about... you guessed it- the Jews.

For the longest time, Ramtha was apolitical, at least as far as current American politics. But now Ramtha is a huge supporter of... you guessed it- Donald Trump. Knight gives TONS of cash to dark money Trump supporting type campaigns.

Somebody once posted some horrid story about PSM being pressured by the producers to get an abortion. If something like that or of that magnitude actually happened, I can see why leaving the show wasn't that difficult then. Didn't somebody also post that she lost lots of her hair for stress related reason? If stress manifests that physical and drugs (legal or not) or therapy don't help, then leaving might be the only road to happiness. Either way, I think except Collins everybody would respect someone for taking such drastic step away from stellar success. And it doesn't look like she had any remorse about her decision. I'm sure Hollywood would gladly take her back just for that name recognition.

R191 PA was huge but she was part of a big name cast, many of them Oscar winners, so compared to the others she was low girl on the totem pole so to speak. Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew weren’t as massive as PA and Dynasty. Series work can be exhausting. Not only are you filming, refilming, memorizing your lines, hair, makeup and costuming and promoting the show. The bigger hit, the more it takes to keep it running, especially from everyone involved with the show. It just wore her down after awhile. Plus Fallon became more watered down during Martins run, so I’m sure this added to her angst.

Joan struck gold when she got Dynasty. Only a couple of years earlier she’d been doing British trash like The Stud and The Bitch. I thought she was an old lady when she was on Dynasty, but I looked her up on IMDB and she was only 48 when it started (if her birth year there is to be believed).

Dynasty was so HUGE my aunt on a tiny island in Croatia would call out to us from her terrace to get out of the sea to come watch "Deen-az-teh"! The entire village watched it. And yes, everybody loved to hate Alexis so thank you, Joan

R194, Perhaps. Hunter Tylo sued Spelling Entertainment, alledging that she was hired from "Melrose Place" for falling pregnant, and claimed a producer advised her to get an abortion. She was awarded nearly $5 million for emotional distress and economic loss. Perhaps PSM faced the same pressure.

When I did a rewatch of Dynasty a few years ago I was shocked at how bad the writing was for PSM's Fallon in her final season. No wonder she wanted to leave. She was no longer the vivacious, fun and smart woman we met in season one.

Joan Collins's eyes are so far apart, she looks like a walleyed bass.

[quote] Only a couple of years earlier she’d been doing British trash like The Stud and The Bitch.

Still better than battling ginormous plastic ants in the Everglades.

Empire of the Ants is a classic!!!

I watched Dynasty in grade school and I remember Blake always giving off this vibe about Krystle. Yeah, the dialogue had him going on and on about loving her endlessly but it seemed he loved her like a possession and was very controlling and sort of dismissive. He seemed more into Alexis in a weird way that went against the premise.

I still have my Dynasty: The Authorized Biography of the Carringtons that I made my mom get me for my birthday.

On a similar note, I also watched Dallas and felt that not only had Lucy been orphaned by Knots Landing, but by the mid-80s, no one even seemed to know or care what Lucy was up to, even as she was still living at Southfork. They just seemed to not like her. Not that I blame them. She didn't make it easy to like her.

Blake Carrington/Bentley Gregg - they were both the same. I guess if that's what Forsythe calls acting, he was doing it.

I remember Evans on one of those early evening magazine shows once. The interviewer asked her if she was ever mistaken for Bo Derek when she was out. Evans said yes, usually when she was dressed the worst and didn't have any makeup on and her hair wasn't styled....and she signed Bo's name when asked for an autograph....

[quote]I still have my Dynasty: The Authorized Biography of the Carringtons that I made my mom get me for my birthday.

That belongs on a "Dialing the Phone With a Pencil" thread.

Merry Christmas, Bitches! 🐜

Collins limited appearances in the last season was a budgetary thing. Less episodes meant they could pay her less.

The reboot plays to a twenty something audiences whereas the original did not.

They strangely have had trouble with their Krystal And Alexis casting, They seem to come and go like a daytime soap opera.

Krystal as a latino was just dumb pandering and they couldn't even keep their actresses in the part.

I bailed on the reboot show sometime in season one.

R207 they were saving money since Evans left the show a few episodes into this season on her salary alone. They did cut the budget, but I think it was a deliberate attempt to cut down the Alexis appearances also, not just money. It was a good decision, since the show revolved around Alexis to a large degree in the previous seasons. It gave other characters more screen time, plus they had Beacham and she was fun to watch.

Man oh man, ol Joanie girl must really had need of a paycheck to do that ant movie. And they say The Bitch and The Stud were her movie low points…..

Gordon “Adam” Thompson has some interesting insight in this relatively recent interview

[quote] “Joan didn’t like Linda because Linda was loved. She was a star effortlessly. Joan was at best a Grade B movie star, and she always wanted to be a huge star. She knew she was three or four on the totem pole of English brunettes, at the top of which was her friend Elizabeth Taylor. … Joan was jealous of Linda,” says Thomson. “Linda was not the actress Joan was and is, and was just effortlessly adored by everybody on set, off set, the public. I have never met a more sympathetic, empathic, generous, gorgeous-looking human in my life. She was miraculous, and the audience knew that.”

He even adds a little DL catnip, although in his case it may be true.

[quote] I’m not 40 looking 30 any more, I’m 72 looking 60.

Linda's acting was just as good as anybody's on that show. How could she have played that part any better than she did? She gave her all and infused an underwritten role with warmth and understanding. What I don't get is those writers and producers putting her in that untenable position with Rock Hudson at such a confusing time. If she refused to kiss him she would come off looking like a homophobe if she did kiss him a lot of people didn't want to be around her. She couldn't win either way. Not to mention how selfish Rock was. We know a lot more about AIDS transmission now. We didn't know much back then. She really took one for the team without complaining. Would Joan have done the same?

I don't really think that the show was about acting. What Arron Spelling did manage to do was to cast the right actor for the right part - most of the time. and that's not an easy thing to do.

[quote]What Arron Spelling did manage to do was to cast the right actor for the right part - most of the time. and that's not an easy thing to do.

I completely agree!

R208 you mean Cristal! (Jk) I’m hate watching the reboot, I seriously don’t get how it’s still on the air. It’s more of a musical-comedy than a soap; it does know it’s appeal is mostly camp. The most likable character is Sammy Jo.

So who went to Oscar's in Palm Springs earlier this month for the premiere of "Tales from the Set"?

Blake killed an innocent man and raped his wife and got off scott free. J.R. Ewing never even sunk that low. Not to mention separating a mother from her two children for over a decade. Blake was downright evil that first season. But he never paid for any of his crimes.

Later on Forsythe must have told the writers to stop writing him as a villain. Blake was a moral man after season 2.

R217, according to R86, yes.

Yeah, the first season was very different tonally from the rest of the series. The rape of Krystal was very dark and I thought Evans was very strong in that story as well as all of season one overall. She did a great job of playing a woman who is thrown into a completely new world.

I don't understand how cast members are singling out Linda Evans as being "not the best actress" on a show that included Catherine Oxenberg, Kathleen Beller, and Jack Coleman.

The decent actors on Dynasty were Foresyth, Joan Collins, Al Corley, Pamela Sue Martin, Pamela Bellwood, Gordon Thompson and Bo Hopkins.

In the fun but not great category were Heather Locklear and Diahann Carroll. But they really gave Carroll absolutely nothing to do, except her fun scenes with Alexis.

The show kept casting hot people with very little talent. Until finally they cast a person who was barely able to speak in front of the camera Karen Cellini. I recall and her being g in like 3 episodes and then she was gone.

Dynasty Divas Round Up! This was part 2 of a 3 part series I wrote on Dynasty that I binge-watched during Covid Winter 1. Tidbit one: Angie Dickinson was originally considerd for Krystle!

R221 she did more than 3, but she was gone by the half season mark. Samms, horrible as she was, at least had a daytime following with GH, and they probably paid her half of what Pamela Sue Martin was getting. Cellini is inexplicable, other than notorious tightwad Aaron Spelling could pay her peanuts. Oxenberg just wanted a modest raise, then they showed her the door. Oxenberg was no great thespian, but she was gorgeous and fit into the fabric of Dynasty. The odd recasts, including Samms, helped to take the show down.

Yeah, Oxenberg was almost as if Lady Di herself was on Dynasty. She certainly did fit in. I actually also enjoyed her on that HBO series about the cult she was trying to free her daughter from. I also envy her for getting deep dicked by Casper Van Diem in his prime. Dayum.

Emma Samms was fantastic on General Hospital. On Dynasty, she was always bland. Her persona is just so the opposite of Pamela Sue Martin- and she really never seemed sure how to play her.

[quote] Man oh man, ol Joanie girl must really had need of a paycheck to do that ant movie. And they say The Bitch and The Stud were her movie low points…..

R210: She did. Her career had been stalled for some time and her daughter Katy had been in a horrific car crash, near death, and medical bills went through the roof. She probably would have done porn if it meant getting her daughter proper medical care.

THE STUD’s trailer…

and the one for THE BITCH…

Was it Pamela or Emma who went into the UFO?

Emma

It’s always good to hear a master thespian weigh in on his craft.

So was the THE STUD partially or fully ripped off by AMERICAN GIGILO?

Too bad they didn't keep her.

The Stud and the Bitch were Jackie Collins novels so not sure anything was ripped off. Then again, while Jackie was prolific, I'm not sure a lot of thought went into her many enduring classics.

In the way that Laura Palmer's diary was published, and Roger Sterling's memoirs, I wish they had published "Sister Dearest: The True Story of Alexis Morrel Carrington Colby Dexter."

R233 - I've never seen THE STUD but it does look like the bastard love child of ALFIE and AMERICAN GIGILO, the latter of which came out three years later. I suspect AG was at the very least influenced...

If Alexis was found cheating with Roger Grimes when she was banished by Blake why wasn't he considered to be a potential father of Amanda? Even Fallon was presumed to be his spawn at one point!

R236 Cecil Colby was a potential father for Fallon early in the series, not Grimes. As far as Amanda, I guess Alexis had it timed out to when she had sex with Blake to determine Blake was Amanda’s father. Still they never brought it up that I recall when Amanda debuted, which would’ve been a valid question.

With Alexis as the mother of four of his children, I would think Blake had a paternity specialist on speed dial.

Thanks, R237.

R225, "Empire of the Ants" was filmed in 1977. Her daughter Katy's accident was in 1981.

Whoah.

R240 - You're right. Katy was born in 1972 and was nine years old at the time of the accident - hence 1981. Maybe that's why she took Dynasty? I do recall her talking about taking any job available to pay for the medical bills. I also (but am not sure) that hubby Kass had drained their finances. In any case, she likely took EOTA for the money.

This scene is hysterical and out of character at the same time.

Gosh Uncle Bentley

[quote If Alexis was found cheating with Roger Grimes when she was banished by Blake why wasn't he considered to be a potential father of Amanda?

That whole Amanda story is so symptomatic for the entire show. Nothing in her story made sense. Why hide her from Blake in the first place? She could have been an additional meal ticket. And to avoid Amanda being consumed by her father (Blake) and cut off from her like Steven and Fallon - she pawned her off to some relatives in England. It's not like she spent lots of quality time with the daughter she could keep.

And then at the end of the reunion, Blake toasted to his family and "all" his children. At that point Amanda wasn't even a memory anymore.

R60 (especially paragraph 2) = Joan Collins

Heather wasn't the greatest actress BUT she was the first one who could really get under Alexis' skin, which made her tons of fun. When she does her sexy dance at Alexis' party and Alexis grabs her off the dance floor -- what gay didn't howl with laughter?

Sammy Jo had a bad time at that party.

So she lashed out... See - like Steven told me.....

[quote] The fact that Alexis and Fallon both blocked out the memory of Fallon killing Roger Grimes is perhaps the most ridiculous storyline ever, even more ridiculous than the Rita storyline.

No. Fallon being kidnapped by a UFO and then resurfacing in Los Angeles (assuming the new first name "Randall"), and having none of it ever being explained, was the most ridiculous storyline ever.

Forget the stories. Sometimes you watch a show just for the acting and enchanting dialogs

You're merging the incredible. Fallon fled Denver, escaped a car crash and then wound up in LA as Randall. The ufo foolishness happened later during The Colbys.

Elaine Benes stole her moves from Scammy Ho.

i remember reading how joan was so broke she had to file for unemployment for a while.. imagine joan collins in a unemployment office and line!..of course, her definition of being broke and the rest of us, might be different...

....

That quote fits the ol right wing Piers loving broad to a tee. LOL!

I wonder what Dame Joan would get for her bowel movemeeent on eBay.

R248 WOW! For the syndicated version, they removed the Peter Gunn theme and replaced it with some generic awful sounding music. The scene sucked with that. I'm so glad someone finally posted the original scene. Love it. Heather's finest hour.

R249 See, I always say PSM left due to drugs. Look at her in that scene. Look at her eyes. She's completely coked up.

This is the greatest Dynasty scene, by far. The only scene in the entire series that makes me tear up. When Fallon says "Steven is gay" it is such a beautiful moment. Such a shame that Aaron Spelling and the Shapiros ruined this scene by retreating Steven's homosexuality. They could've been heroes. This could've been their legacy. But, they bowed to the Reagan era, and straightened Steven out.

Karen Cellini was so underated. You bitches don't know talent!

Blake felt such guilt over killing Ted Dinard. I think he never got over it.

Katharine Ross reminds me of Karen Cellini.

When Emma meets Karen. Only scene ever between Fallon and Amanda.

R260 If only Adam were there for the speech.

He'd say, Yeah, Steven is a FAGGOT!

Blake's precious vase would surely be broken after that.

Did Ted Dinard's parents attend the trial? Was Blake sued civilly? So much of that story was left unfinished.

I loved Teds's funeral... the moving words of the officiant, remembering him as a "son of these harsh yet beautiful Dakotas", with the palm trees in the shot around the :43 mark...

R179, Linda Gray was also nominated the year that Barbara BG won for the breast cancer storyline.

An Emmy expert told me once that TV academy voters LOVE when film stars come to TV; it legitimizes them.

Michele Lee and Julie Harris also got nods in Lead and Supporting dramas for KNOTS.

I think Jon-Erik Hexum was up for the role of Dex or was rumored to be coming onto Dynasty as Alexis' new lover. Not sure if that works out timing wise; what a loss, if he'd taken that part he might still be with us playing hot daddies on the CW or even being in films.

Or even WHET?

R268 Larry Hagman and Jim Davis were also nominated from Dallas. I meant of the two big soaps (KL wasn’t the huge hit these two were) which were Dallas and Dynasty, only BBG translated to a major win.

Mother Blaisdell should've gotten the spin-off.

Or Karen Cellini in Travesty

R203, is your book 'signed'?

I have that book and it's signed by "Blake Carringtoin' 'Alexis Carrington' and 'Krystle Carrington' - don't know if the actors signed the book or other people. It's so odd.

At least Alfred Hitchcock and Richard Brooks thought he was a good actor since they both cast him in two films.