By December 1982, the TV series 'Dynasty' began to attract a weekly audience share of over 40% in its time slot. "Nobody anticipated the show would become such a monster - one of the biggest in the history of television, and popular around the world," Pamela Sue Martin recalled. John Forsythe added, "(Aaron Spelling) has his finger on the pulse of America. During the Depression of the '30s, people flocked to the theaters to see the kind of glittery MGM pictures because they removed them from the problems of the day.
"The women on 'Dynasty' dress better than the women on 'Dallas' (until Lorimar hired Travilla in 1984). We're vastly different in every conceivable way from 'Dallas'. They have money but they don't show it; we show it." In July 1982, Nolan Miller spoke to Cheryl Blackerby, "A few years ago, the whole attitude toward clothes was that they didn't matter. The studios thought no one would pay attention. Most of the studios would want the stars to look very glamorous but they wouldn't pay for the clothes.
"That's not possible, as you well know. If you could look rich and glamorous without spending money, everyone would be doing it. The studios are learning that clothes are very important. Our mail, which is incredible, proves that. We've found that the glamorous things just are not available when we need them. This year (the 1982-83 season) we will be making even more.
"ABC is much less strict than CBS. We had no one standing over us saying, 'You can't do that.' There are no concrete rules about taste. We know where the line is. 'Charlie's Angels' came in during that period when the no-bra look was in vogue. We were the first. Up to that point the networks were very careful. Even a jersey dress could be considered suggestive.
"(On 'Charlie's Angels') we cleaned out the shops on Rodeo Drive for those girls. They all had their favorite shops. Farrah (Fawcett) liked a certain shoe shop. Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson loved Alan Austin's beautifully tailored pants, jackets and silk shirts. I've always believed an actress needs to be comfortable in her clothes to feel more comfortable in the part.
"In the beginning of the show we made Jackie very classic. Farrah was going to be avant-garde and Kate was going to be very tailored. But the stars had definite ideas about what they should wear on the show. And they all liked the same kind of clothes. After a couple of seasons I gave up trying. But we won't get into 'Charlie's Angels' stories. It's all passé. I'll just say it was a hectic show.
"(On 'Dynasty') Linda (Evans) is a casual, classic kind of person like the character she plays, so we let her wear a lot of silk shirts and pants, the kind of clothes she likes off the set. Joan Collins is not like that. She loves very glamorous things, clothes that border on the theatrical. She plays a very showy person who's very impressed with all that's artificial in life. She is more flamboyant, an international jet-setter.
"The show ('The Love Boat') has a large guest cast and many times the show is cast at the last minute. I'll call the guest stars and tell them they have 9 changes and what those changes are. If they don't have anything right we will shop for them, but many, many times they wear their own clothes. Polly Bergen was a recent star in the show and she brought in beautiful clothes for us to select from. She probably has the best wardrobe I've ever seen. It's incredible. There's no studio that would spend the kind of money on clothes she does.
"The producers feel we will be going a bit beyond what the public wears. It's what the public expects. The characters should be larger than life. This year (the 1982-83 season) we will concentrate more on clothes. Joan will be coming into a lot of money and will be even richer and even more glamorous." At Lorimar Productions, Richard Egan disclosed, "We try to be as diplomatic as we can but the script and the director dictate the clothes (not the stars)."
"I can say we have a very healthy allowance," Richard hinted. However not many stars could keep the clothes because "if everybody got them, they would be taking clothes home in carloads. Some clothes we have to buy in triples and quadruples, one for the stunt man and several changes for the actor if he's going to fall in the water or be in an accident or something."
In separate interviews with 'Gannett News Service' and 'Tribune TV Log' in 1986, Pamela Sue expressed, "After the first year or two, it ('Dynasty') became a cliché of itself. Playing Fallon was like a trout going upstream. The show began to have no rhyme or reason. It was better the first year when we had set writers. But it became like a subway, with people getting on and off. It didn't make any sense. I realized this animal was getting bigger and bigger and swallowing me up.
"They (the cast) created these monsters for themselves. People were losing their individuality and becoming images. I felt that I had a fairly open door to go back for a while. They originally wanted me back before they went and got somebody else, but I told them I really wasn't up to it ... Once I move on from something, as the old saying goes, 'You can't go home again.'"
In 1981, "What comes out in 'Dynasty' is the ever-present subconscious attraction between daughter and father but in this case, we're talking about an individual, a girl who's grown up without a mother, been surrounded by millions of dollars and tons of servants, and with her father as the only authoritative figure in her life. But he's gone from home on business a lot of the time and she finds she has a great need for intimacy with him since he's the only person she's been able to be close to while growing up.
"She's still young and is going through an identity crisis of asserting herself. Although she is somewhat promiscuous, she's not completely drawn to any other man, with the exception of Cecil Colby, who is powerful and handsome like her father. She's also rich, and that in itself is an isolating factor in establishing intimate human relationships.
"I believe that people repeat situations continually choosing 'pieces' of personalities and responses in an unconscious desire to recreate certain emotional situations to remind them of what they once knew. But again, I think it's important to stress the fact that we're all different and unique. One can't generalize. Some people are more sensitive and impaired by events that happen along the way than others.
"That's why I wouldn't say that most daughters unconsciously seek out men that remind them of their fathers. I don’t think I do. Fallon has always fancied herself the mistress of the house, its leading female character and the only other person with any authority in it. Then her father marries his secretary, someone she feels is beneath her and everybody else in her world, and she becomes terribly resentful because both her place in the house and her place in her father's affection have been usurped by this socially inferior woman."
In 1985, Emma Samms as the new Fallon joined John James in the spin-off series, 'The Colbys'. "When you suddenly get $500 million, as my character did, you change," John James pointed out. "He's now a leader of the pack. Before, he was kind of a 'yes man' to Blake Carrington. Now he stands on his own two feet. It's a stretch for me and the character. Jeff was a little naïve before and manipulated by people. He doesn't allow that now."
At the time Pamela Sue Martin, the old Fallon was filming the TV mini-series, 'Strong Medicine' based on Arthur Hailey's bestseller. First shown in April 1986, 'Strong Medicine' explored the pharmaceutical industry. "I have been made more aware recently of problems in the industry. I have friends struggling with incurable diseases, but they can't get some drugs.
"That has to do with legalizing experimental drugs. Difficult choices have to be made. You don't want to give out Thalidomide; we know what happened then. That subject matter is touched on briefly in the film. Basically, though, this film is a personal story and about life within this structure. Celia Grey, my character, is an ambitious careerwoman but not a stereotype.
"She rises to power without being a bitch or a vamp. This character is strong and interesting and moves forward in a positive way. It was a positive role for a woman and it's not a matter of my making it so. It was easy to play because I agree with all the things about her. When I lived in one room in Chelsea, England, making 'Strong Medicine', I realized how simply I could live."
On 'Strong Medicine', Dick Van Dyke voiced, "I'm Pamela Sue's mentor. I start as the head of sales, but when Douglas Fairbank's character dies I become the company president. We have what we consider a real breakthrough drug which Sam Neill pushes through without regard to the safety factors when he becomes fed up with the foot-dragging. His drug has disastrous side effects … He's our villain in the story. I think being able to play a good villain is a remarkable talent."
In October 1987, Pamela Sue co-starred with Tim Matheson in 'Bay Coven', about a young couple from Boston who bought their dream home in New England and discovered in the village they were surrounded by a 300-year-old witches' coven. "This is a mood piece, something that really has to be experienced. It's very lovingly made, and made with a cinematic sensibility, and that's not something you get very often from television.
"Anyone who's into movies is going to get really involved in the visual style of it, and the fact that it creates a mood with subtlety, rather than by pouring out gore. It's a reactionary piece, because the audience will go through the picture and experience everything as my character does … her paranoia, her intuition and her reasoning. It's a very reactionary piece."
As Krystle, Linda Evans described the first year of 'Dynasty', "In the series, my husband, Blake Carrington, is very much in love with me and puts me above the children. That makes for an added resentment on the part of his daughter Fallon. Krystle has never been taxed with such problems before. She's gone to work, made enough money to live on, come home and had fun with friends. Now, suddenly, she encounters not only an aggressive stepdaughter but enters a whole new way of life."
"The women on 'Dynasty' dress better than the women on 'Dallas' (until Lorimar hired Travilla in 1984). We're vastly different in every conceivable way from 'Dallas'. They have money but they don't show it; we show it." In July 1982, Nolan Miller spoke to Cheryl Blackerby, "A few years ago, the whole attitude toward clothes was that they didn't matter. The studios thought no one would pay attention. Most of the studios would want the stars to look very glamorous but they wouldn't pay for the clothes.
"That's not possible, as you well know. If you could look rich and glamorous without spending money, everyone would be doing it. The studios are learning that clothes are very important. Our mail, which is incredible, proves that. We've found that the glamorous things just are not available when we need them. This year (the 1982-83 season) we will be making even more.
"ABC is much less strict than CBS. We had no one standing over us saying, 'You can't do that.' There are no concrete rules about taste. We know where the line is. 'Charlie's Angels' came in during that period when the no-bra look was in vogue. We were the first. Up to that point the networks were very careful. Even a jersey dress could be considered suggestive.
"(On 'Charlie's Angels') we cleaned out the shops on Rodeo Drive for those girls. They all had their favorite shops. Farrah (Fawcett) liked a certain shoe shop. Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson loved Alan Austin's beautifully tailored pants, jackets and silk shirts. I've always believed an actress needs to be comfortable in her clothes to feel more comfortable in the part.
"In the beginning of the show we made Jackie very classic. Farrah was going to be avant-garde and Kate was going to be very tailored. But the stars had definite ideas about what they should wear on the show. And they all liked the same kind of clothes. After a couple of seasons I gave up trying. But we won't get into 'Charlie's Angels' stories. It's all passé. I'll just say it was a hectic show.
"(On 'Dynasty') Linda (Evans) is a casual, classic kind of person like the character she plays, so we let her wear a lot of silk shirts and pants, the kind of clothes she likes off the set. Joan Collins is not like that. She loves very glamorous things, clothes that border on the theatrical. She plays a very showy person who's very impressed with all that's artificial in life. She is more flamboyant, an international jet-setter.
"The show ('The Love Boat') has a large guest cast and many times the show is cast at the last minute. I'll call the guest stars and tell them they have 9 changes and what those changes are. If they don't have anything right we will shop for them, but many, many times they wear their own clothes. Polly Bergen was a recent star in the show and she brought in beautiful clothes for us to select from. She probably has the best wardrobe I've ever seen. It's incredible. There's no studio that would spend the kind of money on clothes she does.
"The producers feel we will be going a bit beyond what the public wears. It's what the public expects. The characters should be larger than life. This year (the 1982-83 season) we will concentrate more on clothes. Joan will be coming into a lot of money and will be even richer and even more glamorous." At Lorimar Productions, Richard Egan disclosed, "We try to be as diplomatic as we can but the script and the director dictate the clothes (not the stars)."
"I can say we have a very healthy allowance," Richard hinted. However not many stars could keep the clothes because "if everybody got them, they would be taking clothes home in carloads. Some clothes we have to buy in triples and quadruples, one for the stunt man and several changes for the actor if he's going to fall in the water or be in an accident or something."
In separate interviews with 'Gannett News Service' and 'Tribune TV Log' in 1986, Pamela Sue expressed, "After the first year or two, it ('Dynasty') became a cliché of itself. Playing Fallon was like a trout going upstream. The show began to have no rhyme or reason. It was better the first year when we had set writers. But it became like a subway, with people getting on and off. It didn't make any sense. I realized this animal was getting bigger and bigger and swallowing me up.
"They (the cast) created these monsters for themselves. People were losing their individuality and becoming images. I felt that I had a fairly open door to go back for a while. They originally wanted me back before they went and got somebody else, but I told them I really wasn't up to it ... Once I move on from something, as the old saying goes, 'You can't go home again.'"
In 1981, "What comes out in 'Dynasty' is the ever-present subconscious attraction between daughter and father but in this case, we're talking about an individual, a girl who's grown up without a mother, been surrounded by millions of dollars and tons of servants, and with her father as the only authoritative figure in her life. But he's gone from home on business a lot of the time and she finds she has a great need for intimacy with him since he's the only person she's been able to be close to while growing up.
"She's still young and is going through an identity crisis of asserting herself. Although she is somewhat promiscuous, she's not completely drawn to any other man, with the exception of Cecil Colby, who is powerful and handsome like her father. She's also rich, and that in itself is an isolating factor in establishing intimate human relationships.
"I believe that people repeat situations continually choosing 'pieces' of personalities and responses in an unconscious desire to recreate certain emotional situations to remind them of what they once knew. But again, I think it's important to stress the fact that we're all different and unique. One can't generalize. Some people are more sensitive and impaired by events that happen along the way than others.
"That's why I wouldn't say that most daughters unconsciously seek out men that remind them of their fathers. I don’t think I do. Fallon has always fancied herself the mistress of the house, its leading female character and the only other person with any authority in it. Then her father marries his secretary, someone she feels is beneath her and everybody else in her world, and she becomes terribly resentful because both her place in the house and her place in her father's affection have been usurped by this socially inferior woman."
In 1985, Emma Samms as the new Fallon joined John James in the spin-off series, 'The Colbys'. "When you suddenly get $500 million, as my character did, you change," John James pointed out. "He's now a leader of the pack. Before, he was kind of a 'yes man' to Blake Carrington. Now he stands on his own two feet. It's a stretch for me and the character. Jeff was a little naïve before and manipulated by people. He doesn't allow that now."
At the time Pamela Sue Martin, the old Fallon was filming the TV mini-series, 'Strong Medicine' based on Arthur Hailey's bestseller. First shown in April 1986, 'Strong Medicine' explored the pharmaceutical industry. "I have been made more aware recently of problems in the industry. I have friends struggling with incurable diseases, but they can't get some drugs.
"That has to do with legalizing experimental drugs. Difficult choices have to be made. You don't want to give out Thalidomide; we know what happened then. That subject matter is touched on briefly in the film. Basically, though, this film is a personal story and about life within this structure. Celia Grey, my character, is an ambitious careerwoman but not a stereotype.
"She rises to power without being a bitch or a vamp. This character is strong and interesting and moves forward in a positive way. It was a positive role for a woman and it's not a matter of my making it so. It was easy to play because I agree with all the things about her. When I lived in one room in Chelsea, England, making 'Strong Medicine', I realized how simply I could live."
On 'Strong Medicine', Dick Van Dyke voiced, "I'm Pamela Sue's mentor. I start as the head of sales, but when Douglas Fairbank's character dies I become the company president. We have what we consider a real breakthrough drug which Sam Neill pushes through without regard to the safety factors when he becomes fed up with the foot-dragging. His drug has disastrous side effects … He's our villain in the story. I think being able to play a good villain is a remarkable talent."
In October 1987, Pamela Sue co-starred with Tim Matheson in 'Bay Coven', about a young couple from Boston who bought their dream home in New England and discovered in the village they were surrounded by a 300-year-old witches' coven. "This is a mood piece, something that really has to be experienced. It's very lovingly made, and made with a cinematic sensibility, and that's not something you get very often from television.
"Anyone who's into movies is going to get really involved in the visual style of it, and the fact that it creates a mood with subtlety, rather than by pouring out gore. It's a reactionary piece, because the audience will go through the picture and experience everything as my character does … her paranoia, her intuition and her reasoning. It's a very reactionary piece."
As Krystle, Linda Evans described the first year of 'Dynasty', "In the series, my husband, Blake Carrington, is very much in love with me and puts me above the children. That makes for an added resentment on the part of his daughter Fallon. Krystle has never been taxed with such problems before. She's gone to work, made enough money to live on, come home and had fun with friends. Now, suddenly, she encounters not only an aggressive stepdaughter but enters a whole new way of life."
