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00:00The Golden Age of Television.
00:09I Love Lucy didn't just change American television, it invented American television.
00:13Back when one screen brought everyone together.
00:16Watching television was a family event.
00:19The shows that shaped us.
00:21The Brady Bunch was part of the American soul.
00:25It's timeless.
00:26The familiar faces.
00:27Ralph Cramden was loved by the Honeymooners.
00:31He was a presence.
00:33The unforgettable moments.
00:35Dynasty captured the essence of what the 1980s were about in America.
00:39These are their stories.
00:40Cheers is the pinnacle of how great the sitcom can be.
00:43This is TV We Love.
00:53It's 1981.
00:54Reagan is sworn into office and ushers in a whole new era for America.
01:00This decade, it's called an eruption, was probably epitomized by Dynasty.
01:06Dynasty could not have been more perfectly timed.
01:08Bigger, bolder, brasher, and unapologetically 80s.
01:13I require one bedroom for my wardrobe and one for myself.
01:17Dynasty also starred powerful women.
01:19They looked great and they dressed great.
01:22The country becomes Dynasty obsessed.
01:25Joan Collins is one of the most photographed and written about people in the world.
01:29As it morphs into a cultural phenomenon.
01:32100 million people a week globally watch the show.
01:36The world was Dynasty mad.
01:38The early 80s were an interesting time.
01:45Primetime soaps were a relatively new phenomenon.
01:48Dallas is an enormous breakthrough in that it brings the idea of the continuing storyline
01:53to primetime television in a hit show.
01:57All the other networks, the two other networks, I should say, NBC and ABC, wanted their own version of Dallas.
02:02Where do we get one of those?
02:04ABC went to Aaron Spelling and said, give me a Dallas.
02:10Aaron Spelling was a mega hit producer who worked on shows like Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island.
02:15He really figured out the formula for nighttime soap operas.
02:24ABC knew how important Aaron Spelling was and certainly he was one of the most important producers of that era.
02:32Esther Shapiro and her husband brought a script to Aaron and he said, I think we can really work with this.
02:40Dallas was already on the air.
02:41They were on a ranch, they wore ranch clothes, but Aaron wanted this totally elegant.
02:47We began thinking of a series that had everything that you're not supposed to put on television.
02:52Rich people, the Midwest, older women particularly, strong, powerful, lots of business, entrepreneur, greed, opulence.
03:02At one time the title of the show was Oil.
03:05We talked about that a lot.
03:07Lo and behold, the Shapiros came up with a title called Dynasty that I just loved.
03:11I think that said everything.
03:13They did a tremendous job.
03:15We worked together, but I give full credit for Dynasty to them.
03:20When Dynasty premiered, I really remarked on quite how different it was from Dallas.
03:25It really was this upstairs-downstairs drama focusing on the ultra-wealthy Carringtons who were led by Blake Carrington, an oil tycoon.
03:37The storytelling, which I found was so ratcheted up on Dynasty.
03:41It's more verbal.
03:42It's more visual.
03:43It just was more catchy.
03:44My agent sent me the script for the pilot.
03:51I said, well, I don't really want to do television.
03:53I envision myself as having a film career at that time.
03:58And he said, no, it's just a pilot.
03:59Just do it.
04:00It won't be any big deal.
04:02And sell me into the harem of a sheik for three barrels of crude and a box of cigars.
04:07The audition was like a film audition.
04:10They had it at a soundstage.
04:11They had a real film camera.
04:12They had a director.
04:14It was a big deal.
04:15Got a call late that day and said, you got the part.
04:18Playing Steven Carrington.
04:19I also said, you know, I'm rich, you know, because I was making like, I don't know, 300 bucks a week doing theater.
04:24It's like, wow, okay.
04:26I can eat better.
04:30They said, we're picking it up for 13 shows.
04:32And we're shooting a three-hour pilot.
04:35It's like a three-hour pilot?
04:37We barely shot one-hour pilots.
04:39I show up.
04:40We shoot the whole thing with George Pappard as my father.
04:44George Pappard played my father initially.
04:46He wasn't getting along with the producers or maybe perhaps seemed sort of demanding.
04:50It was nuts.
04:52It was difficult.
04:53It was a very odd situation.
04:55George Pappard was a pain in the ass.
04:58George was not the team player.
05:00I introduced myself.
05:02He looked at me and went.
05:03That's what he said.
05:12And the next thing I know, he was being replaced with John Forsythe.
05:16You got to come back and shoot all those scenes again.
05:18John Forsythe was certainly well known to the spelling company and was well known to viewers as the voice of Charlie on Charlie's Angels.
05:26Good morning, Angels.
05:27Good morning, Charlie.
05:28And so they had a relationship with John Forsythe, who is the perfect choice.
05:34John Forsythe as Blake Carrington brought sort of an icy steel to his character and was very much in command.
05:40You do something about it.
05:42And don't bother me again with this business until it's finished.
05:44Whereas Linda Evans as Crystal, a little more warm, a little more embracing.
05:50I marry Blake because I love him.
05:53And because I want to make him happy.
05:55And together they just were this glamorous, iconic couple that you really enjoyed watching and seeing the yin and yang between the two.
06:03I love you even more tomorrow than I did yesterday.
06:06I love you too, darling.
06:08Linda Evans is just such a lovely person.
06:10She had her own personality.
06:12She had the angelic white blonde hair.
06:15She practically glowed with goodness.
06:18We are introduced to this world really through Crystal's eyes.
06:22She was like a young employee who fell in love with Blake.
06:28The show begins with the marriage of Blake and Crystal.
06:33And their romance really is the ultimate through line of the whole show.
06:39I will.
06:40It came on in mid-season, as they called it then, in January of 1981.
06:46It was the week of the presidential inauguration with Reagan.
06:49I, Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.
07:00And here comes this show that is big and bold and over the top.
07:05And it's going to end up embodying what we associate with Reaganism and with the 80s.
07:13Dynasty is very much a reflection of the Reagan era and conspicuous consumption and, you know, Wall Street and Gordon Gekko.
07:21Greed is right.
07:21This decade, this decade, its golden eruption was probably epitomized by Dynasty.
07:29I love Dynasty, and I'm not afraid to admit that.
07:32I think it captured the essence of what the 1980s were about in America.
07:37Dynasty could not have been more perfectly timed.
07:40It was a way to just escape into this insane world of conspicuous consumption and money.
07:49Dynasty was not a white-hot hit when it premiered.
07:51It did okay, and ABC obviously was being patient with it.
07:56Number 20 sits in the ratings is not the worst place to be.
07:59It's just not the top 20 where you're really guaranteed safe.
08:03I actually was on set a lot in the beginning.
08:06The sets on Dynasty were incredible.
08:10Everything had to be beautiful, opulent, what old Hollywood was.
08:15The caviar on set was generally real.
08:18Mmm.
08:19It's excellent caviar.
08:20The flowers were all real.
08:22They'd throw a spread on camera, which was cracked crab and stuff, and it would all be real, and you could eat it.
08:27And tiny new potatoes with sour cream and caviar.
08:30I was a very new director.
08:32I had barely directed anything.
08:33I don't think I'd ever had caviar before I did the show.
08:36It was the first time I'd ever tasted caviar.
08:38Real crystal.
08:40Real chandeliers.
08:41I have one of them in my house, by the way.
08:44Real everything.
08:45We had, you know, Brinks people on set with some of the diamonds and the jewels and the furs, and you know, that was back when furs were real furs.
08:56The first episode they gave me was insane because the episode was surrounded a huge birthday party for one of the kids.
09:05And it was at a Pasadena State, and there were literally maybe 200 people there, extras, jugglers, clown people.
09:15And I freaked out when I read the script.
09:17I thought, oh, my God, how am I going to get this?
09:18But John Forsythe came up to me, and he just said, this is amazing.
09:23We love you.
09:23This is great.
09:24And I thought, okay, I got through day one.
09:27Well, if it gets any bigger, you're going to have to rent the convention center downtown.
09:30Well, I've thought of that.
09:31Or my football field.
09:33It was campy.
09:34It was fun.
09:35It was costumes.
09:37Can I drop you off somewhere?
09:39No.
09:40I have a date.
09:41I think if you look at daytime soaps or nighttime soaps, they all have a little camp in them.
09:47I married you because I made a deal with the devil.
09:49I asked you to wear the emerald necklace tonight.
09:52It was a big gay thing.
09:53The gay community loved it.
09:55I'm trying to find myself to sort out my life.
09:58The phrase used to be, I love you.
10:01I love Dynasty because of the dichotomy.
10:04Obviously, it's campy, it's flashy, it's fabulous.
10:08But it also is a very serious drama.
10:11Don't try to deny it, Blake Harrington.
10:13You had him beat up, and I know it.
10:14If I did or I didn't, that's no concern of yours.
10:17Some of the issues that the show tackled were reproductive rights.
10:22Your abortion is set for Tuesday.
10:24A message I took for you.
10:26Pick up the phone and cancel it.
10:28Gay rights.
10:29I'm gay, and I want you to face it.
10:32We pitched some very touching subject matter.
10:37I didn't ever see a gay character on television until that.
10:40The character of Steven was a seminal moment in television for gay men.
10:46What I am is somebody who's in love with a person.
10:49My interest was, that's something that I haven't seen.
10:52How am I going to do that?
10:54I thought it was special.
10:55And if you ever really loved me the way I loved you, you'll understand.
11:00I think that without Steven, without Dynasty, their gay representation on television would
11:05have definitely been slower.
11:08Steven is gay.
11:09I got a lot of fan mail from gay men who said, you know, when I saw your show, finally, there
11:18was a voice.
11:18Finally, there was someone that I could relate to.
11:20Take care, buddy.
11:21You too, buddy.
11:22At the end of the first season, Blake Carrington attacks Steven Carrington's male lover, Ted
11:30Denard.
11:31Get your hands off my son.
11:33Dad, we were...
11:34I said get your hands off.
11:35No, no.
11:39And kills him.
11:46You've killed him.
11:48The storyline of my father killing my lover, which was accidental, or was it?
11:57And that's sort of the play on it.
11:59I think it was a way to get into a court scene.
12:02People of the state of Colorado versus Blake Carrington.
12:05Steven Carrington, my character had to make a choice to defend his father or defend myself
12:11and my right to be gay.
12:14Blake's kind of the villain in that story.
12:15It made me confused as a viewer.
12:17Wait, am I supposed to like this guy?
12:18Because he's saying bad things to Steven, and yet he's so innately likable even when he's
12:23doing it.
12:23They wanted me to be a J.R. in Dallas figure, and I was opposed to that.
12:30The show needed a villain.
12:32Uh-oh.
12:33Blake's not bad enough.
12:34Who do we get?
12:35Your Honor, our witness has arrived.
12:36This was going to be the villain for the 80s.
12:38Let's find somebody really big, really good.
12:40The hat arrived first.
13:02What's she doing here?
13:03What's going on?
13:04In the courtroom scene, when Alexis walks in for the very first time, it's actually an
13:08extra.
13:10My God, that's my mother.
13:11There was going to be either Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, that Aaron had wanted to play
13:16Alexis.
13:17Sophia Loren's husband came to meet with me in the office, and then he heard that we shot
13:22like eight pages a day.
13:25Is that true?
13:26We don't do that in a week.
13:28They turned it down, and it became Joan Collins.
13:34I'll tell you about Joan Collins.
13:36The network did not want her.
13:38He had to fight really hard for her.
13:40She had done some, a few B movies.
13:43Aaron really fought for Joan.
13:45You know, and Joan comes in and is this just absolute boss, and I don't know that we'd ever
13:50seen the boss bitch done quite like that on network television.
13:54Would you state your full name, please?
13:57Alexis Morel Carrington.
13:59You were the first wife of the defendant, Blake Carrington.
14:02You're the mother of his children.
14:03Is that correct?
14:04Yes, it is.
14:05When I saw her do the first scene, it was just perfect.
14:09There were threats made.
14:13Something about how my children might not recognize me if I tried to see them.
14:19Joan just took that character and just ran with it.
14:22When I need a trump card, I'm going to play it.
14:25Joan just liked hurling barbs at people.
14:28Still the impotent boyer.
14:32Verbal assaults.
14:34You double-crossing scum.
14:36Which she was absolutely brilliant at.
14:38You bitch.
14:40Shh.
14:41You're beginning to sound more and more like a fishwife.
14:43The whole idea of bringing Joan Collins in with that accent.
14:50There are two Mrs. Colbys now, you know.
14:53The way she wore clothes and that feeling she had.
14:56It was just perfect casting.
14:57You're even more beautiful and more ugly than that grand English lady I vaguely remember.
15:03Joan Collins obviously added a huge element to Dynasty once she arrived and became one of the best villains in television history.
15:10I'm glad to see that your father had your teeth fixed.
15:14If not your tongue.
15:16And she played my real mother.
15:18Hello, Stephen.
15:21Hello.
15:22Who is that person?
15:23Who is that character?
15:24Who is that actress?
15:25People always want, what's Joan Collins?
15:27Is that really a bitch?
15:28No, she's not.
15:30She can be, but she's offensive fundamentally not.
15:33Soap operas have to cheat their storytelling so often.
15:36Because you want to cast an actor, a hot young actor.
15:38Well, who's that actor going to play?
15:40A long lost child.
15:43You're my son.
15:44I remember doing my screen test.
15:47And she had just emerged from the stage door.
15:50Oh, Miss Collins, I'm Gordon Thompson.
15:52Thinking back on it, astonishing that one of the enormous stars of this now very successful series
16:01was going to do a screen test with a complete unknown.
16:06One of my lines was that my real name was Adam Alexander Carrington.
16:15It was an enormous treat.
16:17So you'd think I would know that you got the job.
16:20It went very well.
16:21It's a welcome home gift, darling.
16:24When I started, I was really a gopher.
16:28I was terrified of Joan.
16:29Before I had even met her, I was told to go in her dressing room with sketches, sitting in her dressing room.
16:35And she came off set, not in the best of moods, and I was there.
16:41And she turned around, and she started screaming.
16:43And I'm trying to tell her, I'm here to show you sketches.
16:46But she kept screaming and screaming.
16:48All of a sudden, the door flew open, and it was Heather Locklear.
16:50And I said, I'm trying to, I'm here to see Joan and show her sketches.
16:53And she said, honey, Joan's not here today.
16:55It's only Alexis.
16:57You don't love Joan.
16:58You're kind of a little afraid of Joan.
17:00But you're fascinated by Joan.
17:03Dynasty was not a huge hit until Alexis showed up.
17:06I do as I please.
17:08I always have and I always will.
17:09It was interesting to see it suddenly go, you know what?
17:12We've kind of found our lane here.
17:14And our lane is not kitchen sink drama.
17:16It's opera.
17:18If you want a rematch, just whistle.
17:26We have to talk about Alexis and Crystal's big cat fight that went right into the lily pond.
17:33You miserable bitch.
17:39Once Dynasty established that there would be physical cat fights between women,
17:43that was something audiences were tuning in for.
17:46Will this week be one of the weeks where they, you know, Alexis and Crystal dive into the lily pond?
17:49Oh, no, no, no.
17:53They were wet constantly, like, drenched.
17:55And I know it wasn't easy for them, but watching it was just so much fun.
18:00Linda was very physical and loved fighting.
18:03And Joan was not.
18:05With the cat fights, I think they were like a drug.
18:08And next week's cat fight has to be that much crazier.
18:11You have to up the dosage of that drug for the audience to make it stand out.
18:18There are many cat fights on Dynasty.
18:21I did one of them.
18:23They went down a muddy hill and then fought in mud.
18:27A lot of people that watched the show and knowing that there were Chanel suits,
18:36there was Nolan Miller suits, there were dresses.
18:39But we never, never, ever put a Nolan Miller suit in mud.
18:44So, rest assured, yes, the suits were safe.
18:47I'd rather concentrate on your outfit.
18:57It's rather becoming.
19:00Nolan Miller was one of, really, one of the superstars of Dynasty,
19:03whether people knew his name at the time or not.
19:06Nolan Miller had come to Hollywood in the 50s.
19:10The most auspicious thing that happened to him and happened to Aaron Spelling
19:14is that they met each other.
19:15And they formed this partnership.
19:16His dream was to be a couturier.
19:19So I said, well, if I ever get a show, we'll do some costumes together.
19:23Nolan and Aaron's first big successful collaboration was The Love Boat.
19:27It was an excuse for Nolan to really swing for the fences
19:31and really design his dream gowns.
19:35And so, by the time Dynasty came around in 1981,
19:37The Love Boat had been on for three seasons.
19:40They were revving at top gear right from the start of Dynasty.
19:43When I first started with Nolan, it was crazy because nobody ever gave a budget.
19:51When I went fabric shopping or sourcing things, you know, do I have a limit of how much I can spend?
19:57No.
19:58The budget started out, when I first was there, $15,000 a week.
20:02And then I was always over budget.
20:05It was a problem.
20:05And Aaron talked to me, so he raised it to $25,000 a week.
20:09You don't care what they spend.
20:11It's a dream come true.
20:12You come in and they've got the finest everything for you to choose what you want to wear.
20:16Aaron, he was a master at detail.
20:19If an extra walked by and had the same color on as one of the principals, he absolutely, we have to reshoot this.
20:26There's been no show that I did before, during, or after that has ever had a budget like that for wardrobe.
20:34The clothes literally became one of the stars of the show.
20:37The 80s happened to be an explosion of fashion.
20:43That dynasty helped happen with those Nolan Miller designs.
20:46The shoulder pads and the hair got bigger and bigger and bigger as they tried to outdo themselves and be more and more glam and more and more aspirational.
20:55They were couture.
20:56Real haute couture.
20:58I salivated over those clothes.
21:00The clothes were sensational.
21:03Whitby just was so damn glamorous.
21:05One of the fascinations about dynasty that causes millions of people to watch every week is the fashion.
21:13In the whole running of the show, the clothing were the only thing that actually won an Emmy.
21:18No actor ever won an Emmy, but Nolan won an Emmy for wardrobe.
21:23If you think about it, the cast of dynasty were basically influencers.
21:28They'll be able to dress like the characters of dynasty, smell like the characters of dynasty, and make their homes look like it.
21:33Dynasty star Joan Collins has her own jewelry collection.
21:37Nolan was asked numerously to create retail fashion lines.
21:43After the show began, Miller started receiving thousands of letters asking where viewers could buy the same kind of clothes on the show.
21:50He finally recreated a line for Bloomingdale's, which was epic.
21:55He made 101 classic outfits from the hit series available to high-fashion fans everywhere.
22:03It was chaos at the store when they debuted the collection and the characters.
22:08They had all shown up, all the actors.
22:09It really was something.
22:10I really think that dynasty got it right in that it embraced the femaleness of it all.
22:16They wisely knew who their audience was and who was watching.
22:19The role of women on dynasty was an important issue.
22:22Almost from the beginning, they looked great and they dressed great.
22:26You know, they weren't, you know, in the kitchen or, you know, or taking the kids to school or taking them to soccer games.
22:32It wasn't really until dynasty that we had seen women in very powerful roles as CEOs of companies.
22:41If I do not get that approval, I shall fire you all on the spot.
22:45I don't think that just because Blake Carrington isn't here that I won't be keeping an eye on you.
22:50Every one of you.
22:51You are now working for me.
22:53I suppose they call it a bitch because it's a woman.
22:54If it was a man, they would call it a very dedicated career person who's strong and forceful.
22:59Um, but because it's a woman, they call her a bitch.
23:02What do you want, Miss Devereux?
23:04For now, not much really.
23:06When Diane Carroll joined dynasty as Dominique Devereux.
23:10From now on, every deal you make, every step you take, turn and look over your shoulder.
23:15Because sooner or later, I will be standing there.
23:19She broke the glass ceiling to some degree in representation, especially of black wealth and opulence.
23:25You're suing me.
23:27Exactly.
23:28And bring in a whole new level of storytelling to dynasty that we hadn't seen before on that show or really in television.
23:36Women are interested in seeing women look beautiful and be powerful and be smart.
23:39Joan was the first woman at age 50 that was put on the cover of Playboy magazine.
23:44Hugh Hefner approached her.
23:46She nervously said yes, did it.
23:50And so it really was a new chapter for women.
23:53And it was about a whole resurgence of beautiful women.
23:56Joan Collins is one of the most photographed and written about people in the world.
24:01It really morphed into a cultural phenomenon.
24:05We love the fact that we were all the magazine covers and everybody was talking about the show and that we felt we were invincible.
24:12A hundred million people a week globally watched the show.
24:15The visibility was huge.
24:16The world was dynasty mad.
24:19Dynasty and Dallas became era-defining hits and were alternating with, you know, who could be number one and who could be number two in the primetime lineup.
24:27ABC's soap opera Dynasty finished on top of the Nielsen ratings last week.
24:31Nobody ever dreamt, I think, in their wildest dreams it was going to be as successful.
24:35Dynasty!
24:36Dynasty!
24:37Thank you very much.
24:40I want to thank Sophia Loren for turning down the part.
24:46And thank you very much indeed.
24:48Very, very grateful.
24:49The parties they threw got fancier.
24:51The hair got bigger.
24:52The shoulder pads got bigger.
24:53The cars got fancier.
24:55Up over the mountain to Encino to the hot club where a big party is going on.
24:59They had dynasty parties on the night that Dynasty showed and they'd all watch it together and scream at the same scenes.
25:07What gave you the idea to throw the party?
25:08There was this whole kind of thing going on in America of everybody having dynasty parties on Wednesday night.
25:14You know, if so-and-so says a certain line, you know, you got to chug a beer.
25:17Everybody sort of got into this sort of dynasty fever.
25:21And we would all go to gay bars in West Hollywood the night of the show.
25:25And it was great because we sort of saw it with the fans.
25:31I think one of the downsides of Dynasty becoming a huge success is that there was a lot more pressure on the show to become more mainstream and shy away from some of the more controversial storylines.
25:42And as a result, they pulled back quite a bit from some of those storylines that were real landmarks of Dynasty early on.
25:50Where would you like for me to put the money?
25:59Come on, don't tell me this is your first time with a hooker.
26:01No, it wasn't.
26:02It's interesting, the early episodes of Dynasty, they were a lot grittier.
26:08I wanted you to be a man.
26:09I am a man, just not your kind.
26:13Dynasty became a bit of a different show.
26:15It was less about business.
26:17It was less about the gritty storylines.
26:19Behind the scenes, there was always a lot of discussion about how gay Steven could be.
26:26They had a hard time, for whatever reason, committing to Steven just being completely gay.
26:34You said to me that it made you sick, me putting my hands on another man.
26:37Okay, I'm putting them on women.
26:39I remember being on the set across the table in a scene with my gay lover.
26:45And I reached over and I was going to just put my hand on his hand in the scene.
26:51And someone from ABC came over and said, you can't do that.
26:54I said, what do you mean?
26:55And by the way, if you're going to hug him, you have to either be saying goodbye or hello.
27:03That was surprising to me.
27:04It caught me off guard as an actor.
27:06Hi.
27:07Hi.
27:09How do you have a out gay character who can only maybe like touch and hug his partners?
27:16So they started exploring his relationships with other characters, specifically female characters.
27:23I'm Sammy Jo Dean.
27:25Crystal Carrington's niece.
27:26They decided to make him bisexual and they made him, he got married to Sammy Jo, Heather Locklear.
27:33You missed a really big opportunity here.
27:35Now it's like he's gay, he's not gay, you know, and it's redundant as an actor.
27:41If you're not willing to go in and go a little bit below the surface, even in a soap opera, what's the point of the character?
27:47So I was really disappointed, to be quite honest.
27:50When I showed my unhappiness with where the character was going, and I think they just said, you know, okay, well, fine.
27:59And I said, okay, fine.
28:00That was it.
28:02He didn't appreciate that, didn't think it was right, and as a result, ultimately left the show.
28:08Steven was first played by Al Corley, but when the actor complained about the show, he was killed off, then brought back by Jack Coleman.
28:15Good evening, Ben.
28:16You are trying to visualize what you will look like?
28:18I was on the phone with my mother, and all of a sudden, the operator came in and said, we have an emergency phone call from Howard Goldberg, my agent, and he said, you got it.
28:38He was on that unfortunate rig in the China Sea where there's the explosion, and Steven went from Al to me.
28:46You ready for a look?
28:49Thank you, Dr. Chen, for giving me a face I'll be able to live with.
28:55As you do, you survive an oil rig fire, and you come back with a new face.
29:00The immaculate surgery, and facial reconstruction without a scar, and perfectly coiffed hair, I might add.
29:08Steven!
29:08That was maybe one of the most dynasty things of all dynasty things.
29:14You know, I thought it was pretty silly, but under the circumstances, the character was popular in certain areas, so they really couldn't kill him off.
29:23What did end up happening with Steven is he did end up getting watered down, and I can't imagine that it was not the case that the timing of the HIV-AIDS epidemic had a lot to do with it.
29:34A mystery disease known as the Gay Plague has become an epidemic unprecedented in the history of American medicine.
29:40The first reports I ever saw, and I think that ever aired, about something that was then called GRID, gay-related immunodeficiency, were in 1981.
29:48When AIDS was first discovered more than two years ago, it was sometimes called the Gay Plague.
29:53That's because virtually all of the victims were homosexual.
29:57GRID became named HIV-AIDS.
29:59It appeared a year ago in New York's gay community.
30:03Suddenly, gay sex was dangerous.
30:05Gay romance led to something dangerous, and we had to pull back.
30:09We were all afraid.
30:1070% of its victims are gay men.
30:13The deadly disease has been mostly striking homosexual men.
30:16Thousands of people in this country have AIDS.
30:18This is not a political issue.
30:20This is a health issue.
30:22This is not a gay issue.
30:23This is a human issue.
30:24The irony is that Dynasty would eventually be at the heart of that controversy of HIV-AIDS with its Rock Hudson storyline.
30:32Rock Hudson was cast on the show, and it was in the middle of AIDS.
30:37I have a rule.
30:38I never go after anything that can't be taken.
30:42Does that rule hold only for companies?
30:44Does it apply to wives as well?
30:48Rock came on the set, and first of all, I was thrilled to be working with him.
30:52He was sick at the time, and I felt very bad.
30:57He was very thin.
30:59We certainly knew early on in the show that something was not right with him, and he was very weak and very gaunt and pale.
31:07In Dynasty, there were scenes where Rock Hudson's character kisses Crystal, Linda Evans' character.
31:13I don't think Rock Hudson had come out as gay or that he had AIDS at the time.
31:19Mr. Rock Hudson has acquired immune detection syndrome, which was diagnosed over a year ago.
31:31We were told by a lot of medical people that AIDS can be transmitted that way by kissing, and I'm just so scared for Linda.
31:43When it came out that Rock Hudson had AIDS and that he had kissed Linda Evans on Dynasty, I think everybody wondered why he would do that.
31:54In those days, no one knew a damn thing about AIDS, and there was panic time.
32:07I don't sense a feeling of panic on the soundstage, but I think it's very frightening how people are taking this.
32:13The way she handled it in the press was the way she handled it in private, and she just said, I'm not worried about that.
32:20Linda Evans was an enormously good sport about it.
32:22She took his side.
32:23I think she was incredibly courageous in showing the world how to be, I'm tearing up, in how to be gracious about this disease and not be freaked out and not blame or stigmatize someone who had the disease.
32:36As for Rock, his role on Dynasty would prove to be his last.
32:39He returned home from Paris, and in a matter of weeks, the one-time robust and powerful screen legend was gone.
32:46I just recently realized that he died the same year that he was working on our show.
32:54I think it was really important.
32:56We were hobnobbing with high-ranking members of the Republican Party in a way that, you know, you couldn't be ignored.
33:05You know, Ronald Reagan didn't mention the word AIDS until, I think, year seven of his eight years in office.
33:12We will, I will, do all that God gives us the power to do to find a cure for AIDS.
33:18In a way, it actually educated the public a little bit more and brought this conversation to the forefront as people were just learning what it meant to both be HIV positive and also be contracted with AIDS.
33:31I'm very proud of the work that Dynasty accidentally did on the HIV-AIDS front.
33:37I'm worried about you being out in that kind of a world.
33:41You're talking about AIDS, right?
33:43I'm talking about a disease that kills.
33:46Dad, I'm as aware of the problem as you are.
33:49Dynasty stayed on top for as many years as it did by being bigger, bolder, brasher.
33:53It was strange. It was almost like as it started climbing into this great success, it became a campy version of itself.
34:07So a storyline that might have played out in season one is going to be amped up if you're doing anything like it in season six.
34:13I know her.
34:14It was totally over-the-top, and it knew it.
34:22Earnest in its over-the-top-ness.
34:24Bitch!
34:26My favorite example of this, I think it was called the Royal Wedding.
34:31Sun will shine on a happy bride after all.
34:35Amanda Carrington, brilliantly played by Catherine Oxenberg, she's getting married to the Prince of Moldavia.
34:41There is apparently unrest in the kingdom, and there are terrorists who want to take down the monarchy.
34:49And what better place to do that but at Amanda's wedding?
34:53I think we're...
34:54Let us pray in peace.
34:59What's your name?
35:00Amanda!
35:01Who shot J.R. had been done five years earlier
35:07and was celebrated as one of the great stunts of all time.
35:19So Who Shot J.R. had been a brilliant moment in American television.
35:25Dynasty.
35:26We'll top that.
35:27We're going to end the season with Who Shot the entire cast of Dynasty.
35:32Take that, Dallas.
35:33There's almost a pyramid-like pile of carnage.
35:38And of course, the next season, most of them get up and do one of these things.
35:42No, my wife and my family are in there. I've got to get in there.
35:46So, lazy, pulling fast one, cheating, all horrible things they do to the audience.
35:52But it was so much fun while it lasted.
35:55The scripts on Dynasty, generally speaking, left something to be desired.
36:01Like Moldavia? Where is Aaron Spelling?
36:04He says, but this wonderful producer, and he let all this crap happen?
36:09A friend of mine who was an associate producer wasn't allowed to say it, but she told me.
36:14At the writers' meeting, Esther and her husband, Richard Shapiro, who invented the show, writers' meeting, Esther shows up.
36:23First person who laughs is fired.
36:26Richard has had a vision.
36:29Aliens.
36:34Aliens!
36:34The idea was ludicrous and laughable.
36:42I was going crazy with some of those scripts and with some of those plot lines.
36:45I just thought they were awful.
36:47When we got into Aliens, that felt pretty sharky, jumpy.
36:51It destroyed the show.
36:52It had competition, too.
36:53Other shows, of course, newer, shinier shows came around.
36:56I remember approaching the set, for some reason, with Aaron.
37:05And he said, well, we're still alive.
37:07He said, oh, okay, I didn't realize we're dying.
37:10I think two weeks later, we were canceled.
37:18Blake!
37:25Blake!
37:25Joan Collins was pushed off a balcony, Linda Evans was in a coma, and John Forsyth was shot.
37:31When the show was abruptly canceled, angry fans demanded to know what happened to their characters.
37:36I thought it was very unfair to end the series with fans, with everybody up in the air.
37:41It would be nice to end it with some definitive thing, to know what happened to the people, and to do it with some kind of dignity.
37:51The ninth season of Dynasty ended up being the last.
37:54They didn't know that.
37:55So there were still a lot of loose threads when the show ended that eventually would be resolved when they did a reunion miniseries later on.
38:03Yes, it's true.
38:04The family you love to watch stab each other in the back is back.
38:07They felt they owed it to the fans who had watched Dynasty throughout the years.
38:10It all eventually got resolved in that reunion special, which wrapped it up in a nice bow around a package.
38:17Hi, Dad.
38:21Hello, sir.
38:23Alexis?
38:24Oh, my God.
38:28Isn't it interesting that Dynasty stayed on top for almost exactly the length of the Reagan administration?
38:37It started in 1981 with the inauguration month, and it ended in 1989.
38:41The 90s were about to dawn.
38:44I, George Herbert Walker Bush, do solemnly swear.
38:49Maybe we shouldn't be about greed, and we shouldn't be about eating cake for dinner.
38:52I look back on it now, you know, it was a kind of a cultural thing.
38:57It was a kind of product of the time.
38:59It was a good show for what it was.
39:01Richard and Esther Shapiro made an attempt to break some ground, you know, and I think they did.
39:06So I'm really proud of that part of it.
39:10It was so intense.
39:12Those nine years were so amazing.
39:14I wouldn't have given them up for anything in the world.
39:16It was an extraordinary thing to experience.
39:19Dynasty has become somewhat iconic, and I think I'd quite like to be remembered for having given a lot of people a lot of pleasure and laughs.
39:33It did not take anything that seriously, and I think that's why people watch television then and now is to escape.
39:41Total escapism, and also the American dream.
39:47Come to America and you can be a billionaire.
39:49The legacy of Dynasty, for me, obviously, is the fashion.
39:54I wish Nolan could be here today because he would be so proud.
39:59Having dressed Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Joan Collins is why, over time, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce, everybody would come to me because I was there.
40:09And I owe that to Nolan, I owe that to Dynasty, I owe it to Aaron Spelling, Joan Collins.
40:14I owe it to everybody.
40:16When you think about history, there are lots of dynasties.
40:20That's where the name comes from.
40:22Like, look at the Kardashians.
40:24They basically are another version of the Keringtons.
40:28Super successful, super well-known, rich, and don't really care what anybody thinks about them.
40:33Being surrounded by, like, opulence and a dirty martini and a crystal glass and fabulous s*** everywhere.
40:41That is definitely leftover from Dynasty.
40:44Dynasty made it okay to flaunt your wealth.
40:47Made the people who weren't wealthy think that's what wealthy people do and should do.
40:50You literally, I will literally s*** you up.
40:53The idea of, you know, kind of the cat fight, you know, the claws out.
40:57I asked you something.
40:59Well, here's your answer.
41:01Ah!
41:02Tell me!
41:02I've worked with all the Kardashians.
41:04They love Dynasty.
41:06Kris Jenner lived for Dynasty.
41:08So, you can see that when you look at them dressing today to what was happening on Dynasty, it's pretty parallel.
41:17Succession probably owes a little tip of the hat to the rich, miserable people.
41:23Money wins.
41:25Every decade has had its TV shows about how messed up rich people are.
41:30And people love that.
41:31They love that.
41:32Because let's face it, there's only this many rich people and everybody else is in this group.
41:36I think Dynasty's greatest legacy is when you think the 80s, you think Dynasty.
41:42This was a show that was pure Reaganomics.
41:45It was pure greed.
41:47It was pure go-go, greed is good, early 80s nonsense that definitely doesn't hold up today.
41:54But it's a fun snapshot of an era that's now long past.
42:01This is a show that we are in the first episode.
42:02This is the end of the day.
42:03It's a show that we are in the first episode.
42:03This is a show that we are in the first episode.
42:05It was a show that we have to show that it's not a show that you think it's a show.
42:07We'll see you next time.
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