This was published 8 years ago
Dynasty: peak reboot achieved with plans for a revival of the 1980s supersoap
By Michael Idato
Hollywood has officially reached peak reboot.
The US network The CW has commissioned a remake of Dynasty, the 1980s prime time soap opera which defined the excesses of that decade.
Original Dynasty cast members (from left) Joan Collins, John Forsythe and Linda Evans.
At its giddy heights, Dynasty was television's scripted superlative: it had the biggest budget, the most lavish sets and wardrobe and its actors were the highest paid on television.
The legendary soap, which aired between 1981 and 1989, was a drama about two dueling families, the wealthy Carringtons and their rivals, the Colbys.
It starred John Forsythe as oil billionaire Blake Carrington, Linda Evans as his new wife Krystle, and Pamela Sue Martin as his daughter Fallon.
After an inauspicious first season, the series became the world's most watched show after the addition of Joan Collins, playing Blake's ex-wife Alexis, in the show's second season.
The reboot is to be produced by the creative team behind Gossip Girl, producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and Dynasty's original creators, Richard and Esther Shapiro.
According to US media reports, it will feature the rival Carrington and Colby families but will reboot the character of Krystle as Cristal, a Latina who marries Blake Carrington and must adjust to "his world".
As with the original series, the reboot's Cristal will clash with Blake's daughter, Fallon, who resents the arrival of her father's new wife.
CBS Studios, which is producing the new show, has confirmed it is in development, but offered nothing more than cursory detail.
Which of the original series other characters might feature in the reboot is not yet clear, and CBS has made no specific mention of Alexis, the original series' arch-villainess on whom much of its drama pivoted.
Nor have they confirmed whether the new series will use the original's iconic location, the 54,000 square foot Georgian-style Filoli Mansion in San Francisco, which doubled as the Carrington's home.
The original series was produced by the Shapiros with legendary producer Aaron Spelling.
The series became known for its cliffhangers, hifalutin dialogue and the catfights between its two rivals, Krystle (Linda Evans) and Alexis (Joan Collins).
During its original run, the series was notable also for its sometimes absurd storylines.
In one, Blake and Alexis's daughter Amanda (Catherine Oxenberg) marries a European prince but the wedding - infamously known as the "Moldavian wedding massacre" - is shot up by rebel gunmen plotting to topple the monarchy.
The series also spawned a spin-off, The Colbys, which focused on the California branch of the Colby family, and starred Charlton Heston, Barbra Stanwyck and Stephanie Beacham.
The Colbys ended after two years, with another absurd storyline, in which Blake Carrington's daughter Fallon (by then played by Emma Samms) was abducted by a UFO.
Of the four 1980s-era television "supersoaps" - Dynasty, Dallas, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest - Dynasty is the second to get a reboot for a modern audience.
The cable channel TNT rebooted Dallas, though it was a sequel not a remake, and featured many of the original cast; it was cancelled after three seasons.