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Dynasty in the Media

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in Dynasty (2017) [V]

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BBHN

BBHN

(edited)
Quote

“It’s not just that he’s African-American, but he’s new money,” explained Schwartz. “In the old version, the Carringtons were nouveau riche compared to the Colbys. We are flipping that dynamic.

Hmmm. Stuff like this makes me wonder whether Schwartz has actually ever watched the old series, or is just cribbing what he can from others who have watched the show. The Carringtons were not "nouveau riche" compared to the Colbys, since we had a whole storyline during season 6 of Blake and Dominique versus Alexis and Ben over Ben Carrington's estate, which was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Plus during season 6 we found out Blake had in inherited a whole lot of land from his mother. Did we ever get much info of how wealthy the Colbys were preceding Cecil, Jason, and Connie?

The dynamic between the Carringtons and Colbys wasn't nouveau riche versus old money, it was that both families were extremely wealthy...just that the Colbys happened to be a much wealthier family than the Carringtons. If they really wanted to flip the dynamic, then that would mean the Blake 2.0 in the new show would be much wealthier than Jeff 2.0.

But hey, whatever Schwartz needs to do to sell the show and show how progressive the new version is or whatever.

Edited by BBHN
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methodwriter85

methodwriter85

I just wish Steven were actually hot. Sorry to be shallow, but this is a soap and we finally get a Steven who can do more than hug another man, and he's meh-looking. Both of the previous iterations of Steven were total eye-candy, but they couldn't actually do anything beyond hugging another man. Oh, well.

Dynasty doesn't sound like something Josh Schwartz actually watched. He was a little on the young side for him to have been into it- I've always assumed his soap of choice had to be Beverly Hills 90210, going on age. And the fact that the OC had very similar elements.

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methodwriter85

methodwriter85

(edited)
1 hour ago, txhorns79 said:

The show got a full season pick up.  

I guess what some people have mentioned about the ratings not mattering must be true. 

I'm honestly shocked. That Netflix deal must pretty much offset the money spent airing a show that hasn't cracked a million viewers since the pilot. And again, they probably get really, really good tax incentives for filming in Atlanta.

They need to get Alexis, though. My thoughts? Melinda Clarke, Liz Hurley (the Royals only does 8 episodes and it's probably close to the end of their run), or Lucy Lawless. I think they would all respectively rock the part.

Edited by methodwriter85
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Atlanta

Atlanta

13 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I'm honestly shocked. That Netflix deal must pretty much offset the money spent airing a show that hasn't cracked a million viewers since the pilot. And again, they probably get really, really good tax incentives for filming in Atlanta.

They need to get Alexis, though. My thoughts? Melinda Clarke, Liz Hurley (the Royals only does 8 episodes and it's probably close to the end of their run), or Lucy Lawless. I think they would all respectively rock the part.

Please bring in Melinda Clarke!!! I miss her Julie Cooper-Nichol.

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methodwriter85

methodwriter85

(edited)
On 11/15/2017 at 11:17 AM, TobinAlbers said:

Kelly Rutherford cast on Dynasty in short term role.

The Gossip Girl infiltration begins!

I wonder if Josh Schwartz asked Conor Paolo to play Steven. Willa Holland would've made a great Fallon, but she was otherwise engaged. He did seem determined to keep Fallon's Pamela Sue Martin look, with someone having pale skin and big blue eyes.

Speaking of, I love how Joan Collins said outright that she thought Pamela Sue Martin was an idiot for leaving the show- like the exact opposite of a rat leaving a sinking ship.

Edited by methodwriter85
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SanDiegoInExile

SanDiegoInExile

<bleh>

http://deadline.com/2018/01/the-cw-supernatural-future-spinoff-dynasty-changes-valor-fate-sabrina-move-netflix-1202237432/

Dynasty was the highest-profile new CW series this season, rebooting an iconic title with top auspices, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and Sallie Patrick.

Its ratings have been less than stellar, and the soap is being moved from Wednesday to the less-trafficked Friday in March. But Dynasty, which has a rich distribution deal with Netflix, received a full-season pickup and recently cast Desperate Housewives alumna Nicollette Sheridan as Alexis Carrington, the role played by Joan Collins in the original series.

“I’m disappointed in the ratings, I wanted it to do more, but I’m happy with with the production values that Josh, Steph and Sallie are doing,” Pedowitz said. “There are changes coming, I’m thrilled to have Nicollette, she will appear beginning with the 16th episode. I’m looking forward to Nicollette and Liz (Elizabeth Gillies who plays Fallon Carrington) really going at it as a mother-daughter situation, and I think that will add some juice to the show.”

Introducing Alexis, whose arrival at the beginning of Season 2 of the original series reinvigorated its ratings, and the casting of Sheridan was a key tweak that played a role in the decision to give Dynasty a Back 9 order.

Pedowitz, who worked with Sheridan on Desperate Housewives while he ran ABC Studios — he even was called to testify in Sheridan’s lawsuit against the series’ creator Marc Cherry — said he phoned her for the gig. “I was big fan of Nicollette from way back when,” he said. “She wanted it, and she will be great in it.”

Tonally, Dynasty going forward “could shift a little bit to a mother-daughter play — a lot of it depends on the chemistry — but at the moment things are still in flux with what we will and won’t do. But I think there is a show there for the country to watch.”

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methodwriter85

methodwriter85

(edited)

The one thing I will give the CW is that they tend to give shows a chance unless they're super-expensive and land with a thud, ala Valour.

Dynasty's ratings have been pretty shit, but they've stayed consistently at a 720k mark-ish, which means there does seem to be a fanbase here you can work with. I also figure that Josh Schwartz is just going to get more of a chance than if it were a producer that had no history with the network.

I do think there's something there, if they can work it out and people start watching the show.

Edited by methodwriter85
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Lady Calypso

Lady Calypso

41 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

The one thing I will give the CW is that they tend to give shows a chance unless they're super-expensive and land with a thud, ala Valour.

Dynasty's ratings have been pretty shit, but they've stayed consistently at a 720k mark-ish, which means there does seem to be a fanbase here you can work with. I also figure that Josh Schwartz is just going to get more of a chance than if it were a producer that had no history with the network.

I do think there's something there, if they can work it out and people start watching the show.

They are also starting to run into this issue of wanting new series but also not cancelling their longer running ones. Scheduling seems to be more difficult now, especially since they have less timeslots than other networks. So I'm not positive about Dynasty surviving on The CW, where the genre seems to be leaning toward superheroes and quirky dramedies. I think the days of Gossip Girl are over (for now) on this network. It simply came at a bad time, with over half of the shows fitting in the superheroes/supernatural/sci fi genre, and the rest of the shows pretty much dramedies. 

Maybe if Dynasty was airing on The CW two or three years ago, it could have gotten more people watching. 

Also, The CW is tending to cut the freshman shows loose a lot quicker. Last year, only one of three freshman shows managed to squeak into a second season, and that was Riverdale, which only got more popular from streaming sites, like Netflix. I'd love to know how Dynasty does with viewers on Netflix, because that's the only true way of knowing if it has a chance to squeak by into a second season or not. 

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JAYJAY1979

JAYJAY1979

The reason for the struggle for Dynasty isn't because of the whole Sci fi/Superhero fad (which I'm sick of).. but that the main characters are super wealthy.. and lets face it.. the majority of the country isn't all that into the wealthy.  I think the show has realized this, but if CW was smart.. they would pink slip the Gossip Girl crew asap and work to get a working class/middle class family to play off the Carringtons.

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SmithW6079

SmithW6079

On 1/13/2018 at 7:09 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

The reason for the struggle for Dynasty isn't because of the whole Sci fi/Superhero fad (which I'm sick of).. but that the main characters are super wealthy.. and lets face it.. the majority of the country isn't all that into the wealthy.  I think the show has realized this, but if CW was smart.. they would pink slip the Gossip Girl crew asap and work to get a working class/middle class family to play off the Carringtons.

That was, I believe, the initial premise of "Dallas," with the rich Ewings and the poorer Barneses.

You also had "Knots Landing," which, in the beginning, was about middle-class (albeit white mid-upper class) people.

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BBHN

BBHN

Well, it was kind of the premise of season 1 of the original Dynasty too, sort of, with the Blaisdels. That changed, too, when season 2 started, with only Claudia surviving.

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Lady Calypso

Lady Calypso

Dynasty (somehow) renewed for a season 2

Quote

The CW ostensibly has 83 percent of its new, Sunday-through-Friday slate accounted for, with Monday’s renewal of 10 shows — including the ratings-challenged Dynasty.

Midway through its freshman run, Dynasty recently slipped to an almost mythical 0.1 demo rating, though Nicollette Sheridan’s debut as Alexis seems to have resuscitated the numbers, some.

I guess it does allow for a break from all those superhero/supernatural shows, so good for Dynasty. Now I might go back to start watching again.

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methodwriter85

methodwriter85

(edited)
9 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Dynasty (somehow) renewed for a season 2

I guess it does allow for a break from all those superhero/supernatural shows, so good for Dynasty. Now I might go back to start watching again.

I started watching again for Nicolette Sheridan. I guess I really did like Edie from Desperate Housewives after all.

It's going to need to find an audience over the summer on Netflix. Hope it does.

I keep feeling like there's something there, but something missing. I think there needs to be better, more compelling young male leads. I'm not sure if that's Liam/Adam Huber, but he's at least decent eye candy, so that's a start. Stephen is blah and kind of meh-looking. Sammy Joe is fun but not compelling, either. That was the same problem I had with the Dynasty reboot.

I also think the Jeff casting/storyline was a mistake. I was watching John James' pool scene from OR Dynasty Season 1, and man, he was both captivating to look at and to watch act. He and Fallon had a whole "Taming of the Shrew" vibe that was awesome. Fallon needs someone she can spark with, and that hasn't been either this version of Jeff, or Mike. She basically needs her Chuck. (Yes, I realize that's a poor choice of words given what Ed Westwick has been accused of, but I can't think of a better analogy.)

Edited by methodwriter85
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Lady Calypso

Lady Calypso

Ok, well whatever is going on behind the scenes is NOT good. First, Nathalie Kelley left the show, but her response to her not returning seemed to be a sigh of relief. Now this:

James Mackay was fired and won't be returning to the show

Listen. I said I wanted Steven replaced with a better actor, but....I was finally growing to like Steven and he started to have a good story going. What, are they going to recast Steven or just have Steven decide to divorce Sam because of his time in Paraguay? They might have to kill Steven off because, unlike the original Cristal who could have chosen to leave since she was having issues with the Carringtons, it'll be tough to explain why Steven isn't coming around to holiday parties.

I can't blame James for sounding pretty pissed. I do appreciate his honesty that he was absolutely fired. 

ETA: More information has come out on Deadline and it sounds like they're going with option A: recast. That makes more sense than death or Steven disappearing for the rest of the series. They just started a storyline with him. I mean, it really does suck for James Mackay, but maybe they'll get a more charismatic actor for the role. 

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Wishing Well

Wishing Well

I actually liked him in the role - despite the fact that he was fairly bland and harmless.  It made for a nice contrast between the rest of the over the top drama queens that even Alan Dale’s character is now turning into.  The situation 100% sucks...they better cast someone good into this role.

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LakeGal

LakeGal

I am one of the people that was hoping Steven would be re-cast.  So I don't mind the actor leaving.  I do kind of miss original Crystal though.  This new one seems out of place.  I don't really understand why Blake has just moved her in and depends on her so much.  

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MostlyC

MostlyC

Readin this article, I be hiring Alexis full time must have cost a crapload of money.  They have a pretty large cast to begin with.  Rather than cut actors from the Lead Family, you think they would cut the crazy niece,  and a couple other love interests/guest stars.

He was a pretty lackluster character, but I liked the actor who played him.  I don’t blame him for being ticked off.

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Wishing Well

Wishing Well

Comments on his IG post are interesting.  He basically confirmed that he and Nathalie were both fired after she commented and then Liz said the show isn’t the same without Nathalie.  His post was liked/commented on by (I don’t know half the actors names sorry) the guy who plays Michael, Sammy Jo, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Kirby actress, New Cristal...seems like this wasn’t a popular decision by the creative team.  

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Lady Calypso

Lady Calypso

2 hours ago, Wishing Well said:

Comments on his IG post are interesting.  He basically confirmed that he and Nathalie were both fired after she commented and then Liz said the show isn’t the same without Nathalie.  His post was liked/commented on by (I don’t know half the actors names sorry) the guy who plays Michael, Sammy Jo, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Kirby actress, New Cristal...seems like this wasn’t a popular decision by the creative team.  

Yeah, it sounds like it was the network's decision. My best guess? They want to recast the character so that they can get a more attractive actor. I think the network thinks that James Mackay is too plain looking... actually, that's a positive in my book. He's not stereotypically appealing for TV, but especially CW, standards, but that really works in his favour for me. 

I am 100% positive hiring Nicolette Sheridan has taken at least half of their budget away. She seems like an expensive actress to grab and I don't think the show's budget is that extravagant to begin with. Which actually makes me more bitter about Sheridan's casting, if this is the case. Though it doesn't help that I'm probably one of the few who isn't a fan of Alexis in the first place. She ate up half the screentime last season and she was only in six episodes. This season has her balanced out a bit more, but still. 

Or, something really went down with Mackay and the network behind the scenes. It sounds like he only got the notice of his firing a week ago, unless he's been holding on to this news for a couple of months, so we may see Mackay make one final appearance in a future episode. I think they'd need to explain the recast, either way. And yeah, I'm operating on the assumption that Steven will be sticking around but not James Mackay, or else this was a weird way to get rid of Steven (give him a really solid and interesting plot and then getting rid of him). 

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MsTree

MsTree

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

I think they'd need to explain the recast,

The usual soap plot line to explain a recast: A fire breaks out in the building/hut/tent where they just happen to be. Burn victim goes to hospital, where extensive plastic surgery is necessary. He or she is wrapped in full face bandages until the plot line calls for their reveal.  Resume character....

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giovannif7

giovannif7

14 minutes ago, MsTree said:

The usual soap plot line to explain a recast: A fire breaks out in the building/hut/tent where they just happen to be. Burn victim goes to hospital, where extensive plastic surgery is necessary. He or she is wrapped in full face bandages until the plot line calls for their reveal.  Resume character....

This is why I'm convinced the decision to drop James Mackay is a recent one. They had the perfect opportunity to do this sort of soap recast with the Season 1 cliffhanger ending in which Steven was one of the characters trapped in the fire. If TPTB came up with the idea to get rid of him during the first season, I'd think they would have made the change then. Having Steven be fine after the fire, only to fire the actor less than half a dozen episodes into the new season reeks of behind-the-scenes chaos - at this point, it would just seem like poor planning to have another fire to cover the swap in actors playing Steven. They need to use one of the other soap tropes for a recast when they bring him back - either ignore that the new actor isn't the same Steven as before, or having Sam, Blake, Alexis and/or Fallon comment on how much Steven's time in Paraguay has changed him.

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MsTree

MsTree

9 minutes ago, giovannif7 said:

They need to use one of the other soap tropes for a recast when they bring him back - either ignore that the new actor isn't the same Steven as before, or having Sam, Blake, Alexis and/or Fallon comment on how much Steven's time in Paraguay has changed him.

Or maybe deliberate plastic surgery since he was feeling depressed and wanted to give himself a gift to cheer up. Either way, it will be interesting to see what the writers come up with.

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methodwriter85

methodwriter85

My guess is that he was told it was a possibility in late season 1, because I remember people noting that he really did seem to be kind of sleepwalking in those last couple of episodes. Then he got a reprieve when Nathalie exited, but the writing was on the wall by this episode.

Steven singing felt very much like an exit for James Mackay.

1 hour ago, MsTree said:

Or maybe deliberate plastic surgery since he was feeling depressed and wanted to give himself a gift to cheer up. Either way, it will be interesting to see what the writers come up with.

The Royals did this storyline. It was kind of funny but then they dropped the character for good after season 2.

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methodwriter85

methodwriter85

Very handsome guy, but not too into this and I generally love 80's cheesy pop. I saw Al Corley doing commentary on Studio 54 in the Behind the Music episode in 1998 and he still looked pretty damn good. The second Steven had much better luck with his career even though he wasn't as good-looking. He had a great bit as Angela's "on the down low" politician husband in the last seasons of The Office.

As for James Mackay, maybe he should try musical theater? Liz should have some pretty decent contacts for him to use. His singing voice is actually pretty perfect for musical theater. (I'm not just saying that. I'm big on musicals and I think he has a lovely voice.)

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