The Colbys (originally titled
Dynasty II: The Colbys) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
prime timePrime time or primetime is the block of programming on television during the middle of the evening.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period, for example, from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm...
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
which aired on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
from November 20, 1985 to March 26, 1987. The
Aaron SpellingAaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's company holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits.-Early life:...
-produced series was a
spin-offA spin-off is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one, such as television series based on a pre-existing one, or a new company formed from a university research group or business incubator...
from the more successful
DynastyDynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
, which had been ranked #1 for the 1984-1985 U.S. television season. Intended to surpass its predecessor in opulence, the series' producers were handed an immensely high budget, and cast a handful of well-known stars among its leads, including
Charlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television.Heston is known for having played heroic roles, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in El Cid, and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur, for which he won the Academy...
,
Katharine RossKatharine Juliet Ross is an American film and stage actress. Trained at the San Francisco Workshop, she is perhaps best known for her role as Elaine Robinson in the 1967 film The Graduate, opposite Dustin Hoffman, and her role as Etta Place in 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, opposite...
,
Barbara StanwyckBarbara Stanwyck was an American actress, a star of film and television, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
and
Ricardo MontalbanRicardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG , was a Mexican-born American radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning seven decades and multiple notable roles...
.
Premise
On
Dynasty, presumed-dead heiress
Fallon Carrington ColbyFallon Colby is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty, and its spin-off The Colbys.The role was originated by Pamela Sue Martin in the show's first episode in 1981; Martin left in 1984. The role was recast with Emma Samms in 1985, and the character was spun off onto a separate...
reappears alive, suffering from
amnesiaAmnesia is a memory condition in which memory is disturbed. In simple terms it is the loss of memory. The causes of amnesia are organic or functional. Organic causes include damage to the brain, through trauma or disease, or use of certain drugs. Functional causes are psychological factors, such...
and using the name Randall Adams. Drawn to
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
after recognizing the name "Colby," she meets playboy Miles Colby, not realizing that he is the cousin of her ex-husband,
JeffJeff Colby is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty, and its spin-off The Colbys....
. A mutual business venture brings the Colbys of California to the
DenverThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
mansion of Fallon's father
Blake CarringtonBlake Carrington is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was portrayed by John Forsythe from the first episode of the series in 1981 until the finale in 1989. Forsythe returned for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion...
.
Set in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
,
The Colbys focuses on the extended Colby family as Jeff relocates to California to start his life anew — and comes face to face with Fallon, now married to his cousin Miles. A fierce rivalry is sparked between Jeff and Miles, and the love triangle spans the series. Miles' father, billionaire Jason Colby, has a rocky marriage to the icy Sable, in part due to his longtime attraction to Sable's sister Francesca — Jeff's estranged mother, and the former wife of Jason's brother Philip, who is presumed deceased. Other characters include Jason's powerful sister Constance, Miles' twin sister Monica, and their third sibling Bliss.
Major characters
Jason Colby (
Charlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television.Heston is known for having played heroic roles, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in El Cid, and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur, for which he won the Academy...
(original cast), 1985-1987)
- CEO of Colby Enterprises and brother of Constance, Philip and Cecil. As the series opens, Philip and Cecil are both deceased — the former in Vietnam
Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
, the latter in Denver during the third season of Dynasty. Jason is married to Sable, and their children are twins Miles and Monica and youngest daughter Bliss. Jason's affair with Francesca Langdon, his wife's sister and his brother Philip's former wife, ends his marriage; he later discovers that he is the father of Francesca's son Jeff.
Constance "Connie" Colby Patterson (
Barbara StanwyckBarbara Stanwyck was an American actress, a star of film and television, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
(original cast), 1985-1986)
- Jason Colby's strong-willed sister, who sets the stage for the series by inviting Jeff Colby to California, hoping to mend the rift between him and the rest of the family. Believing her brother Jason is dying, and in need of an heir who can run the Colby empire, Constance gifts to Jeff her 50 percent of the company's voting stock. Stanwyck left the series after the first season, with the character presumed dead in a plane crash while traveling in Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
.
Sabella "Sable" Scott Colby (
Stephanie BeachamStephanie Michel Beacham is an English actress.-Early life:Beacham, one of four children, was born in Barnet, North London, England, the daughter of Joan, a housewife, and a father who was an insurance executive and the managing director of the Grosvenor estate.Shortly after birth, she was...
(original cast), 1985-1987)
- British
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
-born art gallery owner, wife of Jason, sister of Francesca and mother of Miles, Monica and Bliss. The first cousin of Dynastys Alexis Carrington Colby (Cecil's widow), Sable is protective of her family but vengeful when Jason casts her aside for Francesca. Sable and Alexis share a rivalry hinted at on The Colbys but further explored a number of years later in Dynasty.
Jeff ColbyJeff Colby is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty, and its spin-off The Colbys....
(
John JamesJohn James is an American actor, best known to television audiences for playing the character of Jeff Colby in both the prime-time soap opera Dynasty and its spin-off series The Colbys throughout the 1980s.A veteran of daytime soaps, having appeared in Search For Tomorrow in the late 1970s, James...
(original cast), 1985-1987)
- The son of Philip and Francesca Colby, raised in Denver by his uncle Cecil Colby on the Colby estate, Nine Oaks, which neighbored the Carrington
The Carringtons are the core family of the American prime time soap opera Dynasty, which aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989.-Meet the Carringtons:...
estate. He is invited to Los Angeles by Constance and soon becomes embroiled in the dynastic intrigue of the Colbys, reuniting with his presumed-dead wife Fallon and estranged mother, and eventually discovering that his uncle Jason Colby is in fact his biological father.
Fallon Carrington ColbyFallon Colby is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty, and its spin-off The Colbys.The role was originated by Pamela Sue Martin in the show's first episode in 1981; Martin left in 1984. The role was recast with Emma Samms in 1985, and the character was spun off onto a separate...
(
Emma SammsEmma Samms is a British television actress. Samuelson trained as a ballet dancer at the Royal Ballet School but stopped dancing at 15 after a hip injury...
(original cast), 1985-1987)
- Daughter of Dynasty 's Blake Carrington
Blake Carrington is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was portrayed by John Forsythe from the first episode of the series in 1981 until the finale in 1989. Forsythe returned for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion...
, and Jeff's on-again, off-again wife; she also marries his cousin Miles. The role had been originated on Dynasty by Pamela Sue MartinPamela Sue Martin , is an American actress best known for playing Nancy Drew on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries TV series and Fallon Carrington Colby on the ABC nighttime soap opera Dynasty.-Biography:...
, who had left in 1984 prior to the launch of The Colbys. To ease the transition, Samms re-filmed a number of Martin's early scenes for use in flashback, and a large portrait of her character, which hung in the sitting room in Dynastys Carrington mansion, was altered to reflect the re-casting.
Miles Andrew Colby (
Maxwell CaulfieldMaxwell Caulfield is a British-born but mostly United States-based film, stage and television actor.- Early life :...
(original cast), 1985-1987)
- Jason and Sable's playboy son, noted mainly for his bad attitude, his disastrous relationships (first, with the amnesiac Fallon, and second, with the emotionally unstable Channing Carter) and his rivalry with cousin Jeff, who is later revealed to be his half-brother.
Monica Scott Colby (
Tracy ScogginsTracy Scoggins is an American actress known for her roles as Cat Grant in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Monica Colby in the 1980s prime time soap opera Dynasty, and its spin-off series The Colbys...
(original cast), 1985-1987)
- Jason and Sable's daughter, and general counsel for Colby Enterprises until she quits to run Titania Records for Dominique Deveraux
Dominique Deveraux is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was originated by Diahann Carroll in the second to last episode of the fourth season in 1984, and the character was written off after the seventh season finale in 1987.-Season Four:Successful and wealthy...
. Monica is protective of her twin brother, Miles, but also hold a high regard for his rival, and their cousin, Jeff Colby.
Bliss Colby Rostov (
Claire YarlettClaire Yarlett is a British-born American actress, best known for her role as Bliss Colby in The Colbys, the spin-off series to the 1980s prime-time soap opera Dynasty....
(original cast), 1985-1987)
- Jason and Sable's youngest child, a young and idealistic woman who has strong political beliefs which often put her at odds with her father, an oil and industry tycoon. She does not want to lend her "name or presence" to the launch of the Carrington-Colby pipeline in the series' opening episodes.
Lady Francesca "Frankie" Scott Colby Hamilton Langdon (
Katharine RossKatharine Juliet Ross is an American film and stage actress. Trained at the San Francisco Workshop, she is perhaps best known for her role as Elaine Robinson in the 1967 film The Graduate, opposite Dustin Hoffman, and her role as Etta Place in 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, opposite...
(original cast), 1985-1987)
- Philip Colby's widow, who returns to Los Angeles after years in "exile" as the wife of diplomat Lord Roger Langdon (David Hedison
Albert David "Al" Hedison, Jr. is an American film, television and stage actor. In 1959, when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espionage television series Five Fingers, NBC insisted that he change his name...
). She is Jeff's mother (though she abandoned him as an infant, bending to pressure from the boy's uncle, Cecil), but reappears at the invitation of Constance, who is anxious to make amends. Frankie, as she is known, is also Sable's estranged sister, and Jason's lover.
Zachary "Zach" Powers (
Ricardo MontalbanRicardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG , was a Mexican-born American radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning seven decades and multiple notable roles...
("guest star", 1985-1987)
- European shipping tycoon, and would-be lothario, who falls in love with Sable. Born into poverty, Powers blames the Colbys for his father's suicide.
Philip Colby (
Michael ParksMichael Parks is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in almost 50 films and has made frequent TV appearances, but is probably best known for his work in recent years with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez as well as his 1969 television series Then Came Bronson.-Personal life:Parks...
, 1986-1987)
- Former husband of Francesca and the black sheep of the Colby family, presumed dead in Vietnam. Initially a mercenary using the name Hoyt Parker, Philip makes his presence known at Jason and Francesca's wedding and proceeds to disrupt the lives of the entire Colby family.
Other characters
Henry "Hutch" Corrigan (
Joseph CampanellaJoseph Campanella is an American character actor who has appeared in over 200 TV and film roles since 1955, including such shows as The Eleventh Hour, Mission: Impossible, Gunsmoke, The Road West, The Golden Girls and Mama's Family. He also had a role in 1967 as Lew Wickersham in the television...
(original cast), 1984-1985)
- A man of the West and love interest of Constance.
Garrett Boydston (
Ken HowardKenneth Joseph "Ken" Howard, Jr. is an American actor, best known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and the television show The White Shadow as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves. He was elected to be the president of the Screen Actor's Guild in September 2009...
(original cast), 1984-1986)
- Lawyer and friend of the Colby family, and also an old flame of Dominique Deveraux
Dominique Deveraux is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was originated by Diahann Carroll in the second to last episode of the fourth season in 1984, and the character was written off after the seventh season finale in 1987.-Season Four:Successful and wealthy...
. Enjoys smoking cigars. Father of Jackie who never intended to marry Dominique.
Dominique DeverauxDominique Deveraux is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was originated by Diahann Carroll in the second to last episode of the fourth season in 1984, and the character was written off after the seventh season finale in 1987.-Season Four:Successful and wealthy...
(
Diahann Carroll-Early years:Carroll was born Carol Diahann Johnson in The Bronx, New York, to John Johnson and Mabel Faulk. Her family moved to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City when she was an infant...
, 1985-1986)
- A wealthy chanteuse who traveled frequently to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
on business deals.
Channing Carter Colby (
Kim Morgan GreeneKim Morgan Greene is an American actress.She is perhaps best known for her performance as Channing Carter Colby in the Dynasty spin-off series The Colbys...
, 1986-1987)
- Young woman whom Miles Colby marries on the rebound after losing Fallon to Jeff.
Nikolai "Kolya" Rostov (
Adrian PaulAdrian Paul Hewett , better known as Adrian Paul, is an actor best known for his role on the television series Highlander: The Series as Duncan MacLeod. He was born in London, England in 1959, the first of three brothers to an Italian mother and a British father. Paul first became a model, then a...
, 1986-1987)
- Russian ballet dancer who falls in love with Bliss Colby.
Senator Cash Cassidy (James Houghton, 1986-1987)
- Senator and former love of Monica Colby, with whom he had a son, Scott (Coleby Lombardo). Had to give up his relationship with Monica to further his own political career.
Adrienne Cassidy (
Shanna ReedShanna Reed is an American dancer and actress, best known for her roles on television and movies. Her most prominent role in 1983 was Lisa Norwood in the television movie Legs....
, 1986-1987)
- Unhappy wife of Cash Cassidy, resentful and suspicious of his relationship with Monica.
Storylines
- See also List of The Colbys episodes
The show's storylines included the construction of an oil pipeline, the return of Jeff's father Philip (like Fallon, believed to be dead), the romance between Jason and his sister-in-law Francesca, the subsequent collapse of Jason's marriage to Sable and eventually the revelation that Jason, not Philip, is in fact Jeff's father. There were initially a number of cross-overs featuring members of the Dynasty cast, most notably
Blake CarringtonBlake Carrington is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was portrayed by John Forsythe from the first episode of the series in 1981 until the finale in 1989. Forsythe returned for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion...
, his sons
AdamAdam Carrington is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was originated by Gordon Thomson in the first episode of the show's third season ; he played the character until the series finale in 1989...
and
StevenSteven Daniel Carrington is a fictional character on the American prime time soap opera Dynasty. Steven is noteworthy as "one of the earliest queer characters on American television." Despite identifying as homosexual, Steven has relationships with both women and men throughout the series.The role...
, and half-sister
Dominique DeverauxDominique Deveraux is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty.The role was originated by Diahann Carroll in the second to last episode of the fourth season in 1984, and the character was written off after the seventh season finale in 1987.-Season Four:Successful and wealthy...
.
At the end of the first season, Fallon learns that Miles could be the father of her unborn child, Monica is in a plane crash, and Sable has Jason arrested for assault and battery (she had fallen down a flight of stairs but then claims the injuries are caused by him). The show's most infamous
cliffhangerA cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation...
was its last; the series finale episode ends with Fallon's abduction by aliens.
Criticism
Although much hyped in 1985 and the winner of a 1986 People's Choice Award for New TV Dramatic Program, The Colbys
was ultimately a ratings failure, finishing in 43rd place for season 1 and 62nd place for season 2. According to television historians Tim BrooksTim Brooks is an American television and radio historian, author and retired television executive who is credited with having helped launch the Sci-Fi Channel in 1992 as well as other USA Network projects and channels...
and Earle Marsh in their Directory To Primetime TV Shows
, it was considered to be "too close a copy" of its parent series, Dynasty
, yet managed to be even more over the top. Expectations of it being a successful offshoot of Dynasty
with a life of its own, as Knots LandingKnots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that was screened from December 27 1979 to May 13 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
had been to DallasDallas is an American prime-time television soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991. It revolved around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries...
, were short-lived and The Colbys
was cancelled after only two seasons.
Aftermath
Following the cancellation of The Colbys
, the characters of Jeff and Fallon were immediately reintroduced into Dynasty
during that series' September 23, 1987 eighth season premiere, "The Siege - Part 1." Sable (now divorced from Jason) and Monica Colby( who was no longer had contact with her son Scott or his father Cash Cassidy) also later reappeared on Dynasty
for the series' 1988-1989 final season.
One of the final episodes of Dynasty
reveals that Monica and twin Miles(divorced from Channing Carter) might have been products of rape, and not actually Jason's children. Miles(who refers to Jeff as his half-brother) later appears in Dynasty: The ReunionDynasty: The Reunion is a 1991 miniseries reuniting the characters from the American prime time television soap opera Dynasty, which had aired on ABC from 1981 to 1989 and had been the highest-rated U.S. series in 1985. The miniseries, like the series, revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil...
, reunited with Fallon, and participates in Jeff's rescue from the Consortium. The Jeff-Fallon-Miles love triangle is finally resolved, as Fallon leaves Miles for Jeff.
External links
The Colbys
- UltimateDynasty.net
Die Colbys Der-Denver-Clan.de (German language)