|
Dynasty
Reunion: Catfights & Caviar reunited original series stars
Joan Collins, Linda Evans and John Forsythe celebrated anniversary
of "Dynasty," one of the most popular series in
television history.
Dynasty
aired on ABC while Dynasty
Reunion: Catfights & Caviar, produced by Michael Levitt and
Henry Winkler Productions, was shown on the CBS Television Network
May 2, 2006. The legendary cast gathered at the
Filoli
Mansion
in
Northern California
, which was the home of the show's billionaire hero, Blake
Carrington, and his infamous family. Carrington's children, Pamela
Sue Martin, Catherine Oxenberg, Al Corley and Gordon Thomson also
returned.
Premiering
25 years ago in 1981, Dynasty, which ran through 1989, exposed the
saga of a wealthy oil business family and the conflicts that
constantly arose between two huge corporations: Denver Carrington,
owned by patriarch Blake Carrington, and the Colby Company, owned
by his ex-wife, Alexis. John Forsythe played Blake Carrington and
Linda Evans played his former secretary and current wife, Krystle.
Joan Collins played Alexis Morrell Carrington Colby Dexter,
Blake's volatile ex-wife and business rival. Al Corley was seen as
Steven Carrington, Blake's openly gay son, while Gordon Thomson
played Adam Carrington, his son who was kidnapped in childhood.
Pamela Sue Martin played Fallon, Blake's pampered and spoiled
daughter, and his fourth child, Amanda, who was hidden from Blake
by Alexis, was played by Catherine Oxenberg.
Each
cast member reminisced about the time spent making the series and
the scenes that they most treasure and enjoyed as did
the show creators Esther & Richard Shapiro, as well as
famed fashion designer, Nolan Miller, with special guest stars
Pamela Bellwood, Emma Samms and Jack Coleman.
The
highlight of the special was John Forsythe's entrance. Emotional
Linda fought back tears as she revealed how her longtime Dynasty
co-star changed her life. "Well, he gave me my first speaking
part ever when I was 15," Linda explained. "'Bachelor
Father.' And I had a crush on him! I (played) his niece's friend,
and he wrote on the script, 'You are going to be somebody
someday.' And I brought that on the set of 'Dynasty,' about the
third year I found it, and I said, 'John, look what you
wrote.'" The cast spent time with the ultra-private
88-year-old actor behind closed doors -- no press allowed.
"It was great," Joan commented. "He was wonderful.
He looked terrific." "That was very moving for me,"
Pamela Sue Martin said. "It was emotional. It was unexpected.
John came and left very quickly and when he left, it brought me to
tears because I was very moved to see him and such a deep person,
such a wonderful man."
In
the Dynasty
Reunion: Catfights & Caviar, unfortunately, there did not
appear some significant actors, Heather Locklear, John James,
Diahann Carroll and Michael Nader. Still, the curiosity of this
special is, certainly, the complete gathering of the great
triangle of the main actors Forsythe, Evans and Collins, as well
as gathering of those original actors who played Blake's children,
some of whom never appeared together in the same frame. A
particular value to the special was added by the authentic
shooting at the Filoli estate and by getting back to memory the
most exciting scenes from the series and the bloopers during the
filming.
The
Dynasty Reunion was a particular nostalgic reminiscence of the
glamorous 80's when we all enjoyed staying in company with the
Carringtons and the Colbys. It was a new encounter of the viewers
with the favorite actors after 25 years from the Dynasty's
beginning that coaxed smiles and tears, simultaneously, out of
many people. The Dynasty
has not been fogotten!
|