Originally titled Oil.

In the final production drafts the names Parkhurst and Corby were changed to Carrington and Colby.

The house that appeared in the opening credits is not actually in Colorado, where Dynasty  was set, but rather it is the Filoli estate in Woodside, California.

According to Esther Shapiro, co-creator of the 1980s supersoap, Dynasty, her family drama was inspired by the machinations of I, Claudius and its notorious villainess, Alexis Carrington, was based on the scheming Livia.

The first season, which was taped in 1980, was delayed by animosity between the networks and the partnership of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which caused a strike. Many new shows were delayed for months, and Dynasty did not see the light of day on ABC until the first weeks of 1981.

The first 13 weeks were very tough as ratings weren't impressive. Aaron Spelling is quoted as saying "What really turned the show around was the introduction of our J.R Ewing - Alexis Carrington Colby.

Dynasty is the only prime-time soap opera in history to feature a former U.S. president and first lady and U.S. secretary of state playing themselves. During the peak of it's popularity, Gerald and Betty Ford and Henry Kissinger all appeared in a December 1983 episode set at the real-life Denver Carousel Ball.

At its height, the show had a budget of $1.2 million an episode with a guaranteed minimum of at least ten Nolan Miller original gowns.

Dynasty also gave rise to short-lived fragrances inspired by the characters called Forever Krystle and Alexis' Scoundrel and Carrington for men, all three selling for $9.75 a bottle. Yves St. Laurent, which bottled the scents, sold more than $6.5 million of the stuff in 1985.

Nielsen Ratings:

	#19 in the 1981-1982 Season
	#5 in the 1982-1983 Season
	#3 in the 1983-1984 Season
	#1 in the 1984-1985 Season
	#7 in the 1985-1986 Season
	#24 in the 1986-1987 Season

ABC Broadcast History:

	January 1981 - April 1981 -- Mondays 10:00 PM
	November 1981 - April 1983 -- Wednesdays 10:00 PM
	September 1983 - May 1987 -- Wednesdays 9:00 PM
	September 1987 - March 1988 -- Wednesdays 10:00 PM
	November 1988 - May 1989 -- Thursdays 9:00 PM

Filming locations:

	Denver, Colorado, USA (opening credits)
	Arden Villa, 1145 Arden Road, Pasadena, California, USA (This mansion was used for the garden and pool shots)
	Filoli Ranch, Redwood City, California, USA (Opening and credits and interior used for design of house, some episodes were filmed on location)
	Mountain Gate Country Club, 12445 Mountain Gate Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049 (Fallon's hotel La Mirage)
	Ventura Farms, 555 W. Potrero Rd. Thousand Oaks, California 91361 (Delta Rho Stables)
	Biltmore Hotel - 506 S. Grand Ave., Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA (The Reunion)
	Graystone Mansion, 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA (Consortium Castle, The Reunion)
	The exteriors for "Colby Enterprises" were shot at the First Interstate Tower in Los Angeles.
	Bel Air, 1060 Brooklawn Drive (The exterior of this house was used in the TV series "The Colbys")

Dynasty spin-offs and television events:

	The Colbys, an unsuccessful spin-off debuted in 1985 and aired for two seasons, ending in 1987.
	A miniseries, Dynasty: The Reunion, aired in 1991.
	On January 2, 2005, ABC aired a TV-movie, Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, purporting to tell of the creation and backstage details of Dynasty. The movie received mixed reviews both for content and for historical accuracy, and was criticised by all three of Dynasty's leads, John Forsythe, Linda Evans, and Joan Collins, in different press releases. The movie was filmed in Australia (rather than Los Angeles) and a good majority of the cast members were non-Americans. Forsythe was played by Bartholomew John, Evans by Melora Hardin and Collins by Alice Krige.
	On May 2, 2006, Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar aired on CBS. It reunited for the first time all the original actors who played the Carrington children (the first Fallon, Steven, Adam and Amanda) who with former cast members, including John Forsythe, Joan Collins, Linda Evans, went down memory lane. Pamela Sue Martin, Al Corley, Gordon Thomson, and Catherine Oxenberg, who reflected on the show's making as well as on their favorite scenes. The special was filmed at the Filoli mansion.

DVD Release

	The first season of Dynasty was released on Region 1 DVD on April 19, 2005 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
	The second season of Dynasty was released on Region 1 DVD on August 14, 2007 by Paramount Home Entertainment.

George Peppard originally was offered the role of Blake Carrington but Peppard's refusal to play Blake with the shades of moral ambiguity that the writers wrote for Blake caused them to go with their second choice, John Forsythe.

Angie Dickinson was offered the role of Krystle Carrington.

John James originally auditioned for the role of Steven Carrington, but was given the role of Jeff Colby instead.

Al Corley, who took the controversial role of Steven Carrington in order to exploit the social impact of playing the first openly gay main character in a prime-time series, quit when the show's producers caved into network demands that Steven Carrington be cured of his homosexuality.

In the 29 May 1982 edition of Radio Times, Dynasty actor Dale Robertson (Walter Lankershim) commented of the programme "I think it is marvellously acted, splendidly directed, crisply characterised. But I do not approve of all those immoral goings on. There's everything from men eyeing men, to women groping after married men; even the horses are homosexual."

Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, and Raquel Welch were all considered for the role of Alexis.

Originally the name of Blake's ex-wife was Madeline (and not Alexis). In this episode, the character had not yet been cast so model Maggie Wickman stands in for the role (with a veil covering her face). Joan Collins was eventually cast during the break between the 1st and 2nd season.

Jack Coleman was hired to replace Al Corley and in order to explain away the change in actors, a storyline was written where Steven was in an oil rig explosion that required extensive plastic surgery to fix, resulting in Steven being given a brand new face as a result of numerous surgeries to rebuild his face.

Melissa Sue Anderson ("Little House on the Prairie") was rumored to be considered for the role of Kirby.

One of the actors considered for the role of Dex Dexter was the late actor Jon-Erik Hexum, who was the then real life love interest of Joan Collins. Fearing there'd be tension on the set if Collins and Hexum broke up, producers cast Michael Nader instead.

Michael Nader beat out 400 other actors for the role of Dex Dexter.

The casting of Diahann Carroll is historically significant as she became the first African-American character to be prominently featured in a prime-time soap.

Richard Chamberlain ("The Thorn Birds") was rumored to have been considered for the role of Daniel Reece.

Daniel Reece, who appeared from December 1984 to April 1985, was Rock Hudson's very last role.

Rock Hudson was originally scheduled to appear on the series until the season's final episode, at which time his character would have probably been killed in the Moldavian wedding massacre. However, according to Aaron Spelling, due to Hudson's progressing illness in real-life, he was abruptly written out of the series and his character died off-screen.

Aaron Spelling cast Emma Samms as Fallon after she guest starred on another Spelling show, "Hotel". With Emma Samms replacing Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon, producers replaced the portrait of Martin, introduced in Episode "That Holiday Spirit" with one of Samms.

The original plans for the series after the infamous Moldavian Massacre was for Alexis to end up being made Queen of the country after the rebel forces were defeated. This was aborted though when Joan Collins refused to show up for filming as part of a plan to try and renegotiate her contract with the network.

Producers tried to conceal Pamela Bellwood's real-life pregnancy in this episode as it was not written into the script, but is very apparent on-screen that she was pregnant at the time it was filmed.

John Forsythe routinely vetoed doing any storyline the involved Blake and Alexis getting together do to him not wanting to personally involve himself in a storyline that involves adultery. This included a planned storyline, designed during the show's dying days to try and revive interest in the series, to have Blake develop amnesia and fall in love with Alexis.

Karen Cellini replaces Catherine Oxenberg in the role of Amanda. Cellini originally auditioned for a role on the spin-off series, "The Colbys." But, after producers fired Catherine Oxenberg over salary demands, they noticed Cellini's resemblance to Oxenberg and hired her to replace Oxenberg.

On the E! True Hollywood Story, Joan Collins states that during the final season of the series, producers asked her to take a paycut to continue the run of the series by limiting her appearances during the season. This explains why Alexis was absent from many episodes during this season.

Gordon Thomson was originally to reprise his role as Adam in the mini-series, but due to scheduling conflicts with his role on the daytime soap opera, "Santa Barbara," he was replaced at the last minute by British actor Robin Sachs. Thomson later filed suit against the producers, but settled out of court.

Jack Coleman was filming a series and was unavailable for the mini-series so producers sought out his predecessor Al Corley.

In an interview in Soap Opera Digest, actor Michael Nader (Dex) was reportedly upset that he was not included in the mini-series. His character's fate was somewhat vague as someone mentioned in the reunion that after his and Alexis's tumble over the balcony in the final episode, she managed to land on top of him, but "he didn't fare all that well."

John Forsythe is the only person to appear in all 220 episodes of the series. Linda Evans appeared in 204 of the show's 220 episodes. Joan Collins appeared in 195 of the show's 220 episodes.