PSM leaving Dynasty - real reason(s)?

[Willie Oleson]

PSM wanted to leave for good because she had that surreal fantasy of becoming the great movie star

Because it really worked for Al Corley?

Wanting to do something else doesn't always mean it has to be bigger or better. Well I'm sure she wanted her new projects to be successful, but it would have been very optimistic to think that an ex-soap actress would become Queen Of The Cinema overnight.
Somehow she doesn't strike me as delusional.

 

[Alexis]

I think she left more so because she was exhausted and thought the quality of the show was going down the crapper. I strongly doubt she had designs on being a mega movie star. I also don't think she ever regretted leaving Dynasty and was happy with the life she had after it. Isn't that all that matters?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

So...PSM would have returned if Paulsen had been green-lighted to fire ES?
And is this based on a credible source?

OK, but none of that has anything to do with what PSM wanted or would have done at that time. Or are we going to assume that she would have been interested and available?

Apparently, Martin was contracted thru 1985, left a year earlier pleading health issues and such, Spelling offered her a $1 million dollar bonus to stay (which he didn't have to do, since she had one year left on her contract) but she left anyway. I think Pamela Sue saw the literal writing on the wall just as Victoria did three years later, both crashing into trucks to get away.

Paulsen couldn't therefore demand she return as he did Stephanie Beacham (who was contracted thru 1990 to Spelling).

And rightfully so!
PSM wanted to leave for good because she had that surreal fantasy of becoming the great movie star. She turned her back on the one thing that made her a star (for a while) and it was a stupid decision, but she took it. Glad she never returned and i really grew to love ES as Fallon, wouldn't want it any other way! As of today, i won't even imagine PSM on "The Colbys" or Dynasty S8&9. No, no, no! She just doesn't belong there. Emma does.

I don't think that was Martin's reasoning. She had good reasons to leave, and they had good reasons to ask her back... I like Samms, but she was just never Fallon to me.

Because it really worked for Al Corley?

Wanting to do something else doesn't always mean it has to be bigger or better. Well I'm sure she wanted her new projects to be successful, but it would have been very optimistic to think that an ex-soap actress would become Queen Of The Cinema overnight.

Somehow she doesn't strike me as delusional.

I agree. I don't think Duffy, Corley or Martin had any such fantasies. They had their reasons for wanting out, and I somehow doubt working with Streep was their next career goal.

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

But Samms was the first (and only) Fallon i ever knew, for about a decade. Maybe that's just another reason why i feel different about that.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Paulsen couldn't therefore demand she return as he did Stephanie Beacham

And since they didn't approach her anyway because he changed his mind about Emma Samms, we'll never know if PSM would have wanted to return.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

I don't think PSM would return, she left the series when it was riding high in 1984, and if she turned them down in 1986 when the series was still relatively popular, then I could easily see her turning them down again in 1988 when the series and prime time soaps in general were literally on their last legs, Dynasty was on its way out by then anyway.

I could never accept Emma Samms as Fallon until season 9 and even then I still missed PSM, what would Paulsen have done had he axed Emma Samms and PSM refused to return, would he have brought Amanda back???

 

[Zable]

what would Paulsen have done had he axed Emma Samms and PSM refused to return, would he have brought Amanda back???

If David Paulsen wasn't prepared to accept ES, I doubt he'd have accepted Karen Cellini. If he'd wanted Amanda back, he'd likely have pumped for Catherine O; but I doubt he would have been able to convince the brass to give her a contract. Perhaps, he'd have rewritten Monica's role, beefed it up and brought the character in from the start.