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60 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dynasty The Complete First Season is Satisfying, April 19, 2005
This review is from: Dynasty - The Complete First Season (DVD)
Dynasty-The Complete First Season is now available on DVD for the very first time. The DVD set includes all thirteen episodes from the first season of the nightime drama which changed television forever.
Although the show is probably best known for it's vixen Alexis Carrington Colby, the show was not built around Alexis in the beginning although many of the storylines later tied into the character. The show was built around multi-millionaire business tycoon Blake Carrington, his children Fallon and Steven and his new wife, the former Krystal Jennings.
Krystal formerly worked as Blake's secretary. During season one Krystal has to make the transition from former working girl to the wife of a very rich man. She promises her friends that she will never change, but how can she remain the same with Blake and all of his money? After she weds Blake, Krystal instantly becomes the step-mother to two very complex adult children. Krystal also is dealing with a former lover who has recently returned from the Middle East.
Fallon is a wild child who is having an affair with Blakes limo driver. The first Fallon was played by Pamela Sue Martin. She molded that character and really brought the character to life. The character was later played by Emma Samms but many Dynasty fans still consider Pamela Sue Martin the real Fallon. Al Corley played Steven during the first season. Steven had a very interesting storyline. He was one of the first characters openly gay on a night time drama. Even though the character of Steven was gay, he still had a lot of interaction with women in his storyline, sex and the whole nine.
Missing from season one are popular characters Sammy Joe, Adam, and the aforementioned Alexis. The show is still chock full of drama and characters like Fallon and Claudia keep the storyline interesting. It's a really great show and the writing during the first season was great.
Dynasty, Dallas, Falcon Crest and Knots Landing were the really big nightime soap opera like one hour series of the 80's. The first two seasons of Dallas are now available on DVD, and this is the first season of Dynasty released on DVD. Hopefully, future seasons will follow soon.
Extras included on the set include commentary from the shows co-creator on several episodes, character profiles for the characters of Steven and Fallon and a featured titled, "Family, Furs and Fun: Creating Dynasty." The thirteen episodes are included on four dual sided discs. The packaging is really amazing with bright color photos on the cases that jump out at you. Another nice feature is the original air dates are included with the episode title on the jackets.
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48 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
What, no Joan Collins?!? Bring on Season 2!, July 30, 2005
This review is from: Dynasty - The Complete First Season (DVD)
Dynasty is kind of a guilty pleasure for me. I got hooked on it when the show was in late-night syndication here in Canada in the late 80s/early 90s.
Since I never watched it during its original run I guess I never saw the first season episodes included in this set before, and so I was quite shocked and disappointed to find that my favourite element of the show and my whole reason for buying this set -- the delectable Joan Collins chewing up the scenery as deliciously nasty Alexis -- is completely absent from the first season episodes!
Yes the episodes in this set do give me a lot more background on various characters and storylines, but without Alexis the show really lacks that extra "something", and never really seems to rise above the level of your typical soap. So all in all, this set felt more like a prequel to the "real" Dynasty, which it looks like only actually got rolling in Season 2.
So hurry up and bring us Season 2, because that's the Dynasty that I really want to see!
As for the DVDs, since Dynasty started its first season as a mid-season replacement series, there are only 13 episodes here. In such a case I think it would have been smarter to include the full Seasons 1 & 2 in one set the way some other shows like "Moonlighting" and "Sliders" have, but oh well...
The set also includes a nice documentary on the making of the show plus commentaries on certain episodes from series creator Esther Shapiro and actor Al Corley (Steven Carrington).
The 4 discs are packed in a handy space-saving 2 slipcase format. And I loved the package and menu design which features beautifully glittering diamonds, capturing perfectly the spirit of decadent opulence which permeates the show.
All in all a nice little package, but I still need my Season 2 with Joan Collins. Come on Fox, get moving!
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43 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good start, even without Joan Collins!, February 11, 2005
This review is from: Dynasty - The Complete First Season (DVD)
Dynasty was a show that truly epitomized the 80's.
The first season of Dynasty follows the story of Krystle Jennings (Linda Evans), a whimpy woman who marries wealthy oil tycoon Blake Carrington (John Forsythe). As she struggles adjusting to her new life of wealth dealing with insubordinate servants as well as her new jealous stepdaughter Fallon (Pamela Sue Martin), Krystle is torn between loyalty to Blake and a lingering love for her ex-lover Matthew Blaisdel (Bo Hopkins), former employee and now business rival to Blake.
Dynasty was also one of the first television shows in history to feature a gay character as a series regular. Blake's son Steven (Al Corley) gets caught up in his own struggles as he gets a job working for his father's business competitor Matthew, as well as secretly getting romantically involved with Matthew's wife Claudia (Pamela Bellwood) while trying to forget his lover from college.
But the real highlight of the first season is Pamela Sue Martin, who plays Blake's spoiled daughter Fallon. Krystle is such a whimpy character, and it is always entertaining to see Fallon being mean to her. Fallon sleeps with her father's chauffer Michael (Wayne Northrop) and makes a deal with wealthy oil tycoon Cecil Colby (Lloyd Bochner) to marry his nephew Jeff (John James) in exchange that Cecil bail Blake's company out from having to file bankruptcy.
Without Joan Collins and Heather Locklear, who didn't show up until the second season, the first season of Dynasty was hardly the show everybody remembers and loves. It was more of a Dallas imitation. Blake was like J.R. Ewing, the antagonist of the show, Krystle was a boring, whimpy version of Pamela Barnes, marrying into a wealthy family while having torn loyalties, and Fallon was a more conniving Lucy Ewing, sleeping with the chauffer/ranch hand and not getting along with the new lady in the house. But once Joan Collins showed up to play Blake's scheming ex-wife Alexis, the show really started to come into its own and became one of the signature shows of the 80's.
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