Dynastie II: Les Colby

I thoroughly enjoyed 'The Colbys' from start to finish. It's all glittery golden campy fun. Great actors like Charlton Heston really made it real for me.

This spinoff from Dynasty failed in so many ways and it's all the writers and products fault. The show was the exact same if Dynasty down to the opening theme which changed just a little. The storylines where slow and the same as dynasty but slower. Most if the characters where boring except the odd few. The character of Sable is really the only thing that saves the show shes amazing. The show could of worked if they did a spinoff that was different from dynasty like Dallas did with knots landing.

Great and fun. Lots of old school stars and drama. Tongue in cheek humor. Wish Stanwyck had held on, she improved everything she was in.

I liked the Colbys maybe because it had a stellar cast including Charlton Heston, Stephanie Beacham, Barbara Stanwyk, Maxwell Caulfield, Tracy Scoggins, Emma Samms in their cast. The writing if I remember was not as good as it's sister show, Dynasty, but it still had spunk. It was set in Los Angeles, California as opposed to Denver, Colorado. It had a similar theme like Dynasty and the Colbys were supposedly richer than the Carringtons. I can't forget Katharine Ross better known as the original Stepford Wife. This show introduced great actors and actresses like her to a new generation. It may not have been as good as Dynasty but it still had style, class, and cat fights if I remember maybe they were more subtle than Krystle and Alexis but they were worth watching on a weekly basis.

The year that Dynasty rose to be the number one rated show in the U.S., this spin-off was created. Original Dynasty character Jeff Colby was invited to Los Angeles and soon found he had a whole family he hadn't gotten to know previously. And what a family! The cast was made up of some very heavy hitters like Charlton Heston, Barbara Stanwyck and Ricardo Montalban. In a twist that can only happen in TV soap opera, Jeff also found that his presumed dead first wife was now an amnesiac, married to his cousin Miles! Small world! (And this was only the beginning......) The plots on this series were more than a little contrived and far-fetched and the producers/writers apparently wanted there to be some sort of violent scuffle between Miles and Jeff in almost every episode. The show is so fever-pitched at times that it's unintentionally funny. Still, the trappings (the clothes, the sets, the jewelry, the cars...) were so glamorous and there was enough drama mixed in with the hilarity that I became an instant fan. In fact, I grew to love The Colbys more than I did Dynasty which was seemingly impossible. The primary reason for this was the tour de force, monumental performance of Stephanie Beacham as Sable. Seemingly tossed in with all the "stars" as a sort of trophy wife character, she soon emerged as the only real reason to watch the show! Her character was so intriguing and her delivery of all those delicious lines was so captivating that she mopped the floor with almost everyone on the show! Every look she gave, every breath she took was calculated to knock viewers' socks off. Katharine Ross barely registered in her drab part, but when she and Beacham went at it, sparks flew. Stanwyck and Beacham created a fascinating enmity as well and when Stanwyck abruptly quit the series, things were never the same. I had recalled, from the original run, the scene in which Beacham begs Heston not to marry Ross. The first time I saw it it blew me away. Fifteen years later when the show re-emerged on SoapNet (something I will be forever grateful for as I thought I'd never see the thing again!), I waited for that scene and once again.....Beacham killed me. She is without question, the most underrated actress TV has ever seen. There were times (and yes, this is embarrassing to admit) when I actually cheered at the screen during her scenes the way most men would cheer a football game. She was that amazing to behold. Small wonder that when she turned up years later on Dynasty, I had to take her side against former favorite Alexis. Those fireworks are even greater! The Colbys is a mesmerizing time capsule of '80's excess. It is uneven and unbelievable at times, but, throughout, Stephanie Beacham held it all together. Another very fine performance came along later in Shanna Reed as an alcoholic senator's wife. Unfortunately, it all just got too out of hand and viewers were tiring of that type of show. Cheers began to beat it to death in the ratings. Thankfully, it has been rescued from the vaults so that new fans can discover it's hidden treasures. The opening credits and sweeping theme song only add to the fun.