Goran Markovic, Serbia
I hope you learned a lot about me, my thoughts and feelings about Dynasty through Ultimate Dynasty site. But memories are something personal, hidden deep within us, and I wanna share a part of it with Dynasty fans worldwide.
In 1984, when the news of broadcasting Dynasty in ex-Yugoslavia was announced, there was a lot of commotion because the communist government thought the show will have a negative influence on the nation by spreading capitalistic ideas with the story about wealth and luxury and this way destabilize the communist regime. It only made the nation more intrigues and with a lot of dust, Dynasty began airing.
I remember sitting with my parents and my sister at our home when the first episode was on. No one said a word until its end. It was a beginning of a ferry tale in living of my family but also, the beginning of incredible euphoria in all country. It was the most popular show for years, and I couldn't face missing an episode.
Years went by and my country and the surrounding area was struck by war, bombarding and terror, communists fell, now my country, Serbia, lives in freedom with hope of a better life ahead, and all this time Dynasty was a refuge from problems, difficulties of every day's life.
The show especially marks the period when I went to school to another city. Season 4 was on, I was in the dorm. We stayed awake even after our bad time because the show aired in late hours and my roomies and I watched it in secrecy sop that our teachers wouldn't catch us. We stayed awake 'till morning, talking about events and characters.
My imagination went wild, I pretended to be one of the characters, and I imagined I was in the Filoli mansion, checking every corner of it. The world of Carrington's was my world. It is still my great wish to visit America, meet some of the actors, visit the Filoli mansion. I spend years collecting pictures and episodes of the show. I almost have all Dynasty and the Colbys episodes taped, and it was time to create and present this site to you which is my all time wish coming through.
The memories today are still very much vivid and alive, I share them with my family, friends, fans. Dynasty is my dream and my reality.
Robin Wildschut, The Netherlands
I am 28 years old, so when Dynasty was on the air, I was still a kid. I can't remember when I started watching the show, but my memory goes back to the day Amanda and Prince Michael got married in 1985. It was written in every Dutch magazine that was available and I think my passion for Dynasty began at that time. It was a 4-episode 'movie' and I watched it with my mother. And I was shocked. All those people who got killed! I wanted to see what had happened the next year and since then I was crazy about Dynasty.
I wanted to see what happened in the beginning and I started to collect pictures and stuff from the magazines. I started to collect (I don't know how that is called, but I will explain in some words) the phrases in the TV guide, the little story you read in the TV guide what will happen in this episode. You know what I mean? Anyway, at the time I started to watch I met the 'new' Fallon (Emma Samms), although I never saw the old Fallon, so I was very curious. Why wasn't I born a few years earlier, so I could have seen all the episodes! A few years after Dynasty was off the air, THANK GOD, they had reruns of the show. But they stopped in the year that Adam was blackmailed by Neal McVane about his identity and little Krystina got her heart-transplant. But hey, I did see that episodes anyway. Still, I am still not over the Carrington-saga, which I will love till the day I die. I just got to know about Ebay and I already bought a Krystle doll and the Alexis doll. They are gorgeous!
What I liked the most? I really don't know. It is just a feeling you get, which noone can understand, unless you are a fan yourself. I think it is the glamour, the beauty, the excitement altogether. It is a mix of everything, I guess. As I said, it is a feeling and I feel it right now while I am writing to you. Strange, don't you think? Blake, Krystle, Alexis... I will never forget them. They are part of my youth, my life AND my future. And thanks to you and all our DYNASTY-fans in the world, I don't have to worry about that future.
Judith A. Moose, Las Vegas, NV USA
I became a fan of Dynasty when I was a child. I used to write scripts for a hobby when I was nine years old. The first 12 episodes of Dynasty bored me to death as it seemed very dull.
Then she came... Alexis Morrell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan in all her imperious glory. Alexis was the embodiment of everything I had wanted to be. She's strong, intelligent, has a wonderful sense of herself and those around her, and will fight to the death to achieve her goals. I always dreamed of meeting "Alexis" and her alter-ego Joan Collins one day. Now 20 years later I can say that not only have I met her several times, I've done assorted projects for her for over six years! Let this serve as the lesson that childhood dreams really can come true...
My favorite Dynasty episodes were, without a doubt, the two titled "A Love Remembered Parts 1 and 2". They were the shows where Blake and Alexis are alone together for five days when Blake has amnesia and thinks he's still married to Alexis. Those two episodes brought out the very best in Alexis and despite everything that had taken place between them, showed that there was still feeling left in a relationship that everyone said had died years before.
It is moments like this and fans like all of you who have inspired me to write the book on Dynasty and if the messages that preceded me are any indication of the love for the series, this will be a monumental tribute to the cast and show we all loved so well.
Thank you for allowing me to part of your group.
Stian Presthus , Norway Being only one year old back in 1983, when NRK (the Norwegian broadcast) imported and aired "Dynasty", I really can't remember much of it. Of course I know about the huge popularity it had, as this was the first real soap opera that was introduced to the Norwegian people. Those with cable tv had been able to check out "Dynasty"s big sister, "Dallas", as it aired on the Swedish networks, but "Dynasty" was really the big hit in the eighties. NRK aired in all the first five or six seasons, as far as I know, and they took it off the air when the ratings went down.
After this, "Dynasty" was only a vague memory to me. It all took a different turn, as one of the newer networks here, TV2, bought the whole series of both " Dallas ", "Dynasty" and "The Colbys" and aired them all. I was in junior high at the time, and these series came on exactly when I got home from school every day. So I started watching them. Every day, until I finally discovered: Dude, I've seen every single episode of all these series. I was of course sure to get a hold of the reunion movies as well. While I was watching these reruns of "Dynasty", I noticed that there were absolutely no fan pages for the show. " Dallas " had many, so I thought "why don't I make one for Dynasty?" And so I did.
My page was the first (or at least one of the first) pages to find its way to the fans all over the world. Since I started working on it in 1998, I've got tons and tons of compliments and comments from eager fans, and loads of other web sites has turned up during the years. Even now, when I really don't work much on the site anymore, and I've forgotten a lot about "Dynasty", I think it's really great that this show is still so popular in people's hearts!
"Dynasty" for me was exiting in two ways. First of all, though it's old, I actually got a bit caught up in the storylines (not as much as I did with " Dallas ", but still). Second, as I'm now on my way into working with television productions myself (and this has been my plan since I was a kid), just studying how things in "Dynasty" were solved scriptwise, how characters were written out and into the series, how they managed to keep the excitement going all the time, was really interesting to me.
Who knows? Maybe I'll be a soap opera director some day!
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Denis Fancev, Croatia
Dynasty, such a magical word.
To me, boy of seven that I was, Dynasty opened many doors and learned me so much. With Dynasty my love of acting was shaped and I knew then what was my life's calling. I was a kid who was very ill and visiting hospitals, always being the look out, was so much easier with Dynasty there. Pretending to be a Carrington, building my dream world from which I never stepped out. And I'm grateful for that.
There are so many things I relate to Dynasty, periods of my life. Aaron Spelling became my role model and my teacher. To a scared little boy he showed it is all right to be gay. There is nothing wrong with that. And the little boy wasn't so lonely any more. Aaron Spelling, through out my life, has thought me so much.
I could talk about Dynasty memories for days I think. But the most important thing I learned watching this magnificent soap, is how to dream.
Yaniv Shlamberg, Israel
I have actually grown up with The Carringtons. I remember when Dynasty came to air in Israel I was only 8 years old and my parents didn't agree that I'll see the show, so when they were focused I used to go out from my room, going behind thecloset at the living room and watching the show...
My first fresh big memory is the last episode of the Season 3, when Krystle and Alexis got stuck in the burn cabin. Few moments before the episode was over - the power went down and I was so upset that I couldn't find out what exactly happened in the end of the episode, then I didn't knew yet "they" left us 'hanging in the air'. When I heard Dynasty going to be ended in the U.S. at 1989 I was so down, I couldn't believe it. The 219th episode was very popular here and I plan the VCR to tape it two days earlier.
Two years later when the Reunion was aired, I was mostly disappointed. Sable and Monica were gone and nobody talked about them, so many mistakes and stories were still hanging in the air and left us with so many ??? marks. At that day I thought and wrote not only a mini series to continue the saga, I also started to write an original super-soap of my own, about an Israeli family, in the holy land. My inspiration was, of course, the Dyansty, and the series I wrote is in negotiations today with an Israeli TV networks - and I owe this to my first love to the Carringtons, especially to Alexis, Blake and Krystle who were for me, the responsible for this success of the show.
Today, I have two dreams come true: I'm writing Dynasty myself, as a fan fiction though, but for me it's like the real thing. The other of course, it my show, that called by the way on the name of the greatest home I ever saw in my whole life: The Mansion. You know, of course, which home I'm talking about...
Alexander Young, Canada
My name is Alex and I loved Dynasty! I watched right from the premiere of Episode one, right from the first season. I have to admit I was at first unsure whether Dynasty was going to be a success until the cliffhanger, and the alluring introduction of Alexis Carrington. Right from that moment I was hooked and anxiously awaited for season two.
The introduction and the arrival of Alexis to Denver was a high-ratings success!!! This bold move by Richard and Esther Shapiro, and Aaron Spelling to introduce a conniving and evil villainess to Primetime was a success. It helped to draw millions of viewers to sit on the edge of their seats also awaiting the return of superbitch, Alexis. The introduction of a powerful and ruthless woman in an oftentimes dominated male industry in the oil business was enticing and intriguing! On Dallas, men were the main focal point in the arena of power and money but on Dynasty it was the woman who shared this highlight.
Powerful woman like Alexis, Dominique Deveruex, and Sabella Scott Colby proved that women would not take a backseat to men. Another particular interest in the creation of Dynasty was the catfights between the women which in the end also lured millions to Primetime to witness the scraps between archenemies and foes alike. Alexis and Krystle duked it out in lillyponds, cabins, and yet again in Dynasty: The Reunion. Sammy-Jo and Fallon also duked it out in a mudfight on the Carrington Estate within the proximity of the Horse stables. Dominique also retaliated with a slap to Alexis that was heard round the World. Archenemy and cousin, Sable Colby also scrapped with Alexis within the lobby of the Carlton Hotel. On Dallas the men fought but on Dynasty the women duked it out!
Dynasty was a success airing for nine seasons. The cliffhanger during season nine left the fate of such characters as Alexis, Blake, Fallon and other such interests up in the air with the cancellation of Dynasty. This was to be resolved in the two part special, Dynasty: The Reunion!!!
As I continue to muse and remain fascinated with Dynasty I am amazed that despite the passing of a decade, Dynasty continues to live on!!! The many articles, pictures, websites, and vhs tapes that exist to this day tell the fact that Dynasty was a powerful tool that gripped the World. Almost everyone I know is aware I am a Dynasty fan. So much so that they refer to me as Alexis, even though I later switched my favorite character from Alexis to Sable.
With the birth and spin off of the Dynasty II: The Colbys, I became fascinated with Sable, who was married to Jason Colby (Charlton Heston). Sable was much more powerful in that Jason was an L. A. based billionaire.
Sable was also ruthless and in my opinion gained the victory in her ongoing battle with Alexis. Remember it was Sable who confronted Alexis, by arriving in Denver to come to the aid of Blake Carrington. Sable was provoked and also scrapped it out with Alexis and was a crucial witness to Alexis' downfall. (Quite literally) On the second floor of the Carlton, Adam hurled Dex towards the balcony where he crashed into Alexis, with Sable and Monica being present to witness this downfall! The balcony railing gave way and Alexis and Dex plummeted to uncertain doom in what was the season cliffhanger and the imminent cancellation of what was one of the all time greatest primetime serials next to Dallas to air during the eighties.
Dynasty was very much a success and will continue to live on thanks primarily to such fans like you and the various websites like this one devoted to Dynasty. My synopsis and detailed explanation of this Primetime serial like the rest of these detailed explanations by other fans, are indeed proof that Dynasty was wonderful beyond what words can describe!!!!
Together we can take Dynasty into another decade and continue to remain united in our love of this wonderful primetime serial by Aaron Spelling, who continues to bless us with other successful shows. If you would like to e-mail me to discuss Dynasty I would be very much interested as this also will ensure Dynasty lives on.
Marc Smeyers, Belgium
I have always loved Dynasty and The Colbys, and even now, when both series are off the air in Belgium , I think back of them every day. I will not argue about who the strongest, most powerful or weakest characters were, nor shall I give my comments on the most romantic or most violent scenes. Yet, I have never forgotten the scene in which Alexis fires her shot gun into the air, causing Krystle to fall off her horse by which she has a miscarriage. To this very day, I've always felt, that the writers acted unworthily when they did this, especially, since I am convinced that Alexis was not an evil woman at all, but merely a victim of the harsh vicissitudes that had taken place in her life. In Past Imperfect, Joan Collins also says, that the people never forgave Alexis for hurting Krystle in that way. I don't think Alexis deserved that, besides, in the end, she at least always cared for her children. In season 7 she even offered her moral support to Krystle, at the same time consoling Blake, encouraging him not to give up hope, when Krystina was in hospital, desperately waiting for a heart transplant. I quote: "She is a Carrington, Blake!" What I actually mean is, that when Alexis has to take the blame for many nasty schemes, she also deserves to be given the credit for some noble actions, for example, accepting and adopting Adam, after he has been blackmailed by frustrated congress man Neal Mc. Vain.
At the time Dynasty and The Colbys were on the air in Western Europe, I was reading a lot about Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist who lived from 1856 until 1939. I noticed, that some of his theories were implemented into the series, as it were. For example, the fact that a girl tends to love her father more than her mother, by which a sort of rivalry develops between mother and daughter (this is what Freud called the Electra-complex), and that a boy tends to love his mother more than his father, by which the same rivalry develops, but this time between father and son (this is what Freud called the Oedipus-complex). Although, Freud claimed, these particular stages in life occur in one's childhood, they were used by the writers in Fallon and Steven's lives, at least, in my opinion, when they were much older; when Alexis returns to Denver, Fallon rejects her mother, being daddy's little girl, but Steven welcomes her with open arms, still being very resentful and hostile against Blake, for accidentally having killed Ted Dinard. Yet, it should be noted, that Freud's theory concerning homosexuality states that a boy, for example, will most certainly turn out to be gay, when there is an absence of the Oedipus complex, whereas modern psychology claims the reverse of his theory causes homosexuality, thus when the Oedipus complex is present very intensely.
The other Freudian theory I detected was the one by which Freud tried to prove that all people are born bisexual and may develop a sexual preference later in life; Steven is gay, however, after his affair with Ted Dinard, he marries Sammy Jo and later on he takes Claudia Blaisdel as his second wife. Thereafter, he returns to his gayhood, having an affair with Luke Fuller, who gets killed during the Moldavia massacre, ending up with Bart Fallmont, with whom he leaves Denver to live in Washington DC . Admittedly, it is also undeniably true that some people have sexual experiences with both genders before their final sexual preference becomes clear, a fact, which Freud did not include in his theory, but which is illustrated to the fullest by Steven's life. Perhaps I go too far with this, but I think it is an interesting fact about the series, besides many Freudian similarities occur in The Colbys; Miles has the same mother-son relationship with Sable, however he is not gay, on the contrary, and Monica is Jason's little girl. Yet, you see, we mustn't take our Sigmund Freud too seriously either, for in my opinion, his theories are pleasant to read and talk about, however, I do believe that the good old doctor, may his soul rest in peace, wasn't so much of a doctor, but merely a very good judge of character.
Although Dynasty and The Colbys both had a strong influence on society, thus on people, I always considered them as just a form of entertainment. When they were on I sat back, tried to forget reality, and live in a fantasy world for three quarters of an hour. However, some people among my immediate entourage, who also watched the series, sometimes tried to impersonate some of the characters; during those moments they really represented everything I hated and made me want to commit arson of some sort, I mean, to have a real Alexis, or Blake, or Krystle, or whatever character in the series in your living room. Just imagine! I sometimes had to remind them of reality, after all, every Dynasty-Colbys character was a fictional one!
Both Dynasty and The Colbys also shared enormous similarities with some real American or European dynasties, royal or presidential, particularly, The Tudors and the Stuarts in 16th-century England. Alexis and Sable, their rivalry, their hatred for each other, could, in many ways, be compared with Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart and their relationship with each other. Claudia marrying Steven, and after that his brother, Adam, could easily be compared with Catherine of Aragon, who first married Arthur, first son of Henry VII, and then Henry VIII, second son of Henry VII.
Some of my closest friends also claim, that Dynasty had some Greek mythological tinges, in that sense, that minor incestuous relationships also occurred occasionally during the series' run; they then refer, for example, to the story line, in which Amanda and Dex fall in love; at that time Dex is actually Amada's stepfather, since he is married to Alexis, Amanda's mother. Let's take a good look at Lesley and Clay's love affair; how desperate and hopeless they become, when Clay turns out to be Ben Carrington's son, actually being Lesley's stepbrother and sharing the same bloodline unknowingly. Greek mythology is full of incestuous relationships, after all, Oedipus kills his own father, marries his own mother and has children with her, also unknowingly. Perhaps, it is a little exaggerated, but they do have a point there, I think. However, be all that as it may! Dynasty and The Colbys were my favourites during the eighties, no matter what! Compared with Dallas and Falcon Crest, they were the crème de la crème of television's greatest moments!
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