Happy 40th to THE COLBYS!

[Willie Oleson]

"The Colbys" needed Jeff but not Fallon.

Of course she had to be there. Jeff couldn't simply steal Miles' wife, he had to steal her back.
And that's the essence of Jeff Colby II, he had to fight for what already legally belonged to him in the first place.
He ended up with more (a father) exactly because he was sabotaged by a villainous relative who refused to share.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I'm thinking about posting a THE COLBYS EXPLAINED video on youtube.

 

[GillesDenver]

Of course she had to be there. Jeff couldn't simply steal Miles' wife, he had to steal her back.

He could have stolen Kirby. Especially since Fallon acted like she was Kirby in "the Colbys" (even her pregnancy was copied on Kirby).

 

[Willie Oleson]

But would it really be more interesting to see Kirby reeanct her own love triangle/pregancy?
Not to mention the fact that she was no longer relevant in Dynasty's fifth season.
Not to mention the bigger fact that she wasn't LB's mother.

 

[GillesDenver]

But would it really be more interesting to see Kirby reeanct her own love triangle/pregancy?
Not to mention the fact that she was no longer relevant in Dynasty's fifth season.
Not to mention the bigger fact that she wasn't LB's mother.

No it would not have been interesting to have Kirby back but it was not interesting to have a fake Fallon either.

 

[Willie Oleson]

but it was not interesting to have a fake Fallon either.

I liked her better than fake Randall Adams.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I repeat: Emma should have been a Fallmont --- Emerald Fallmont.

 

[GillesDenver]

Emma should have been a Colby. Thus she could have stayed in "the Colbys" -- but not as Fallon.

Karen Cellini is the one I can see as a Fallmont's daughter. She could have been Leslie's lesbian lover. Every children of Buck would have been involved at one point with a Carrington, enraging Buck futhermore.

 

[Willie Oleson]

THE COLBYS is a DYNASTY clone based on FALCON CREST but kinda upside down like FLAMINGO ROAD, and with a vague but strong emotional connection to DALLAS.
And the intro theme was a remake of EMERALD POINT N.A.S.

 

[bmasters9]

Oh, gosh. The bombastic theme was probably my favorite part of THE COLBYS. Although I'd use a different font. And instead of the oil well graphics cribbed from the parent series, I'd use an ocean wave.

Would that ocean wave have come on screen similar to the oil well graphics?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Would that ocean wave have come on screen similar to the oil well graphics?

Inside my head, where most things live, yes.

 

[Matthew Blaisdel]

I want the two seasons of THE COLBYS in HD so badly! But i guess it will never happen.

 

[Willie Oleson]

People buy colossal TV sets and then blame everything on the DVD quality. Sorry but it was never meant to be watched that way.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

People buy colossal TV sets and then blame everything on the DVD quality. Sorry but it was never meant to be watched that way.

Speaking of colossal TV sets, word is that the huge wood console sets from the late-'50s and '60s are coming back.

 

[Ked]

Speaking of colossal TV sets, word is that the huge wood console sets from the late-'50s and '60s are coming back.

I mean, they *are* very pretty, not to mention more decorative. My sister bought this MEGA-sized flatscreen that I think is obscene; I mean, it's nice to watch shows like DOWNTON ABBEY on it, but even then, I would have been satisfied to see it on a smaller screen.

 

[Willie Oleson]

word is that the huge wood console sets from the late-'50s and '60s are coming back.

It's the only way to watch your Twilight Zone episodes properly.

I mean, it's nice to watch shows like DOWNTON ABBEY on it, but even then, I would have been satisfied to see it on a smaller screen.

Big screen is great for the (occasional) cinematic experience but I think it would be exhausting to have it as the standard format (and way too scary to watch The Exorcist when I'm being alone and vulnerable).
Then you also have to consider eye comfort viewing distance. What's the point of going bigger and bigger if you need to move your seat further away to make the screen look less huge (assuming that you've got enough space to move your furniture about).

I want to look at the characters but I don't want them to be giant and look back at me.
Wait! That's a great idea for one of my wannabe-Twilight Zone stories.
Picture it: a fictional character is watching a fictional soap. For the sake of narrative, let's say that person's name is "Ked".
Ked watches his favourite soap-character sitting in her bedroom watching TV - intensely, in a long close-up. Strangely enough there's no sound, but then the camera pans to the fictional TV screen showing....."Ked" on his couch in his living room. Okay, so that's kinda similar toThe Purple Rose Of Cairo but we could also turn it into an epic Russian doll nightmare.
The only way to end the nightmare is to blow up the TV station, Knots Landing style, but there must be enough plot twists to run a complete episode, maybe a movie!

 

[Rove]

The theme was not a favourite.

I agree. The theme didn't give off LA vibes as it should. Just 5 years later and this pops up...

When I look at The Colbys intro it all feels rather dated. To think this came from the house of Spelling. So I'm going to ask a question here. Was The Colbys a well thought out series or was it simply created to nab Charlton Heston, Barbara Stanwyck etc.

 

[Willie Oleson]

When I look at The Colbys intro it all feels rather dated

Was The Colbys a well thought out series

I get the impression that it was not a carefully developed concept - they made The Colbys because they could.
The whole thing was a recipe for instant cancellation but, lo and behold, the series came with an unexpected positive payoff. These things can happen when you leave good writers to their own devices. Perhaps there's some irony in the idea that The Colbys succeeded despite the nefariously "creative" intentions, which brings me to the marketing and that also includes the presentation and the series' intro theme.
It was loud and attention-grabbing and meant to bedazzle and bamboozle audiences who had no need for yet another glamorous prime time drama.
The intro is so pompous and bombastic (possibly Bill Conti's most extreme composition) that it borders on parody which may explain the "dated feel/look" of the intro theme and opening credits - and why it felt dated even back in the 1980s.

The Colbys found its groove - a slightly more old-fashioned melodramatic version of Dynasty that could use the Dynasty tropes without necessarily having to rely on it.
That's where the online confusion and disagreement begins.
"The Colbys sucks because it's a blatant Dynasty copy" AND "The Colbys sucks because the most important dynamics are too different from Dynasty".
I suspect those naysayers aren't even aware of their silly contradictions.

The Dynasty spin-off never reached the level of inventiveness of the Dallas spin-off but it had a solid two years run that gave us everything we needed to know about Jeff Colby's soapy origins. It also brought two popular breakout characters into the Dynastyverse (Sable and Miles) and therefore, all things considered, THE COLBYS is not to be sniffed at.

 

[Ked]

It's the only way to watch your Twilight Zone episodes properly.

Big screen is great for the (occasional) cinematic experience but I think it would be exhausting to have it as the standard format (and way too scary to watch The Exorcist when I'm being alone and vulnerable).
Then you also have to consider eye comfort viewing distance. What's the point of going bigger and bigger if you need to move your seat further away to make the screen look less huge (assuming that you've got enough space to move your furniture about).

Our living room is small and cramped, so there's no moving one's chair back. Either way, good points!

I want to look at the characters but I don't want them to be giant and look back at me.
Wait! That's a great idea for one of my wannabe-Twilight Zone stories.
Picture it: a fictional character is watching a fictional soap. For the sake of narrative, let's say that person's name is "Ked".
Ked watches his favourite soap-character sitting in her bedroom watching TV - intensely, in a long close-up. Strangely enough there's no sound, but then the camera pans to the fictional TV screen showing....."Ked" on his couch in his living room. Okay, so that's kinda similar toThe Purple Rose Of Cairo but we could also turn it into an epic Russian doll nightmare.
The only way to end the nightmare is to blow up the TV station, Knots Landing style, but there must be enough plot twists to run a complete episode, maybe a movie

Why yoooooooooooou-! *noogies*

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Huson & Bast were better than the Pollocks.

Years later, L'Esther said she didn't like THE COLBYS -- but then Huson & Bast weren't her camping buddies either.