Should I Watch More

[Rove]

Thank you.

I guess I didn’t think terrible but it felt tacky. I didn’t watch the original much when it was on. Bits and pieces. But since have watch seasons 1-3. There was sort of an old money feel that seemed lacking here. Too much like it was trying to prive itself which for crystal sure. But Blake and Alexis and their children never needed to prove anything. I don’t know if I’m making sense but it felt off-road me.

I can see where you are coming from. I was rather annoyed we had the catfight between Fallon and Cristal so soon. A story needs to build, tension needs to arise before we get to the slaps, pulling hair and tearing each others clothes off. The pay off is much more satisfying. I've always appreciated the less is more approach when it comes to a new series of any kind. Concentrate only on the important characters and keep the secondary characters to a minimum. Give the characters time to0 breathe so we can understand their reasoning behind their behaviour.

Unfortunately in today's viewing climate the producers/writers believe they need to throw everything at us in 10 second scenes and squeeze in as many plots between commercial breaks. Original Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing understood how to create a great story arc. We all understood (after the classic Who Shot JR?) cliffhanger episode that writers would gives us a great yarn ride towards that end.

I also see your point regarding old versus new money. If this Carrington family has been wealthy for some time, why is it they look like they just moved into their new home? It might have been better if Tom was living just down the road in the original Carrington mansion and Blake had just finished construction of the new place.

 

[stevew]

Blake was a pompous ass hole who spoiled not used his children so there must have been something good about him.

Fallon was a using brat who ran the dynasty regardless of a title, you wouldn’t fear her but you’d regret not doing so.

Steven was the kid you wanted to protect,

I can see where you are coming from. I was rather annoyed we had the catfight between Fallon and Cristal so soon. A story needs to build, tension needs to arise before we get to the slaps, pulling hair and tearing each others clothes off. The pay off is much more satisfying. I've always appreciated the less is more approach when it comes to a new series of any kind. Concentrate only on the important characters and keep the secondary characters to a minimum. Give the characters time to0 breathe so we can understand their reasoning behind their behaviour.

Unfortunately in today's viewing climate the producers/writers believe they need to throw everything at us in 10 second scenes and squeeze in as many plots between commercial breaks. Original Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing understood how to create a great story arc. We all understood (after the classic Who Shot JR?) cliffhanger episode that writers would gives us a great yarn ride towards that end.

I also see your point regarding old versus new money. If this Carrington family has been wealthy for some time, why is it they look like they just moved into their new home? It might have been better if Tom was living just down the road in the original Carrington mansion and Blake had just finished construction of the new place.

I keep saying there’s a difference between fast paced and rushed. Not even sure that comes across clear but it felt rushed.

Not sure I’m a fan of the music video approach either but it is what it is I guess.

Yes and even with a new house, a grand mansion there’s a way to make it feel less show off more established. Calling it the “manor” didn’t help.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Couldn’t they have at least found an old southern mansion as opposed to the new one with no age, no soul?

There is nothing "Southern'' about NuDynasty, and to be honest I don't know how they could have worked that theme into the Dynasty story apart from the Afro-American characters (but really nothing about that history, at least not yet).
So, they moved the Carringtons from Colorado to Georgia and then the viewers are supposed to pretend that that didn't happen.
Tom Carrington's place looks like that typical Southern mansion but it's not massive enough.
The one they're using now (including the set for the pilot episode) looks fine for a modern Dynasty show but it just happens to be located in Atlanta (I hope, otherwise it would make even less sense).
Dynasty's Filoli is a Californian mansion, but I could imagine it being located in Colorado, in fact I would never have guessed that it was located in California - but then I'm not an America-expert.

And then we have all the different accents, anything but Southern or so it seems - "Greenleaf" does it, and it's definitely part of its charm - so it's safe to assume that Atlanta was chosen for production-technical reasons only.

Other Dynasty fans can give you more detailed and accurate information, if you like.

 

[Michael Torrance]

There is nothing "Southern'' about NuDynasty, and to be honest I don't know how they could have worked that theme into the Dynasty story apart from the Afro-American characters (but really nothing about that history, at least not yet).
So, they moved the Carringtons from Colorado to Georgia and then the viewers are supposed to pretend that that didn't happen.

But, and I say that as someone who has lived in Georgia for seven years, Atlantans love the illusion that they are not South, and not even like the rest of the state. (Of course all that pretense goes out the door when there are twenty-car pile-ups on the interstate at the mere hint of a snow flurry). So maybe the show accidentally got that right.

I keep saying there’s a difference between fast paced and rushed.

Rushed is what peach DYNASTY hopes to be. For the moment it is impetuous. But the show did improve a lot in the last few episodes. Having said that, I would not have given it another chance (or a first one after the pilot) were I not such a fan of the original.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Atlantans love the illusion that they are not South

So...no-one talks like Blanche Deveraux? Then what's the point of living there?

 

[Daniel Avery]

I've mentioned before just how much it bugs me that no one on the show has a Southern accent (at least those who should). One does not lose their accent simply because they come into money. The whole "Atlanta isn't like the rest of the south" argument is valid to some degree, but most of the residents who moved there from elsewhere in the south retain their speech patterns. Even if a select few people make a conscious decision to lose the accent (like Alexis may have done as she traveled the world), they would be surrounded by people who would still have it (like the servants, employees at C-A, most locals). I'm guessing that someone in production decided that if the leads were not going to depict their Southern roots, then no one in the scenes (even the under-fives and "locals") would, just to keep things uniform. I think it leads to a very unrealistic depiction, but I know I'm over-sensitive since I grew up watching and critiquing such unrealistic depictions of my home state/culture in other programs.

It especially bugs me that Tom C didn't have that "good-old-boy" Southern twang, since he would have needed to blend in/get along with all the power brokers of Atlanta during his rise to wealth (most of whom would have been old-fashioned Southern men). If he had not adopted the same sort of mannerisms, and in fact outdid them in such behavior, he would have been 'frozen out' as an outsider (what we called a 'carpetbagger' in the post Civil War era). The good old boy network was very much alive and well and would have made it nearly impossible for him to succeed otherwise.

I think a lot of the 'rush' of season one had to be that feeling that they had to get as much done as possible because the show might not last long enough otherwise, a sort of "we need to party now because the cops are going to show up to shut us down any minute." Once they got the back-order for the remainder of the season, the writing style changed for the better, and I'm sure the renewal for season two gave the writers even more security to pace themselves and get to the major plot points at the right time rather than doing it ASAP.

 

[Michael Torrance]

So...no-one talks like Blanche Deveraux? Then what's the point of living there?

The real tragedy was no Stanley Kowalski.

 

[Willie Oleson]

no Stanley Kowalski

Who?

 

[Daniel Avery]

It's a Streetcar Named Desire reference. Though both Blanches certainly did rely on the kindness of strangers.

 

[Zable]

Doing something like the Colby’s richer than the Carringtons still, … would have been more fun

I got the impression from the first episode that Jeff had way more than 1 billion in his bank account though probably not as rich as Jason Colby in The Colbys, who owned half of California. Certainly nuJeff seems richer than some of the Carringtons. But all the wealth in the world wouldn't make nuJeff fun and interesting, the way he's been written. Watching Fallon being less rich was tedious.

Update: edited to correct "some of the Colbys" to "some of the Carringons". And to correct "Jason Colby ...who owned half of California" to "...who had half the money in California". My bad.