MovieChat Forums > Dynasty (1981) Discussion > watching from scratch again

watching from scratch again

posted 8 years ago by burgershmurger
7 replies | jump to latest

First time I saw the show was in the 80s. Then, four years ago, I started watching it again. I watched just one episode a week, which is the same rhythm as in the 80s. Now, after four years, I finished watching Dynasty and today I'm starting all over again, even though I was a bit hesitant because it means forgetting all the things that happened in season 9 and readjusting to the old characters from season one. I hope I'm not gonna lose interest in the show this time. So how many times have you re-watched Dynasty? How did it feel?

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 8 years ago

Interesting approach. I don't think I'd have the patience to only watch one episode per week. I'd probably watch one per day and burn through all the seasons in less than a year.

I don't think I've seen every episode. In the 80s, I didn't start watching until midway through season 2. Also during the later years, primetime soaps were not rerun in the summer. So if I missed an episode because I wasn't home, or the VCR wasn't working, then it was one I missed and never saw. Now that they are all available on DVD and on Amazon Prime it's easier to pick and choose, and re-examine certain episodes or stories I care most about. And usually if I have extra time on my hands, I re-watch season 9. In a way, if you just focus on season 9, it's like one big, really good miniseries.

[–] radrobd 8 years ago

I've seen every episode. Originally, as a kid (I was in grade school), I watched the season 1 finale (and maybe an episode or two prior) and from season 2 onward. As for reruns in the summer, the problem with that is they didn't rerun every episode in the summer. The summer was only 13 weeks long, so they'd only show about 13 episode reruns (not the entire season, which could be 22-30 episodes). In the mid-1980s, Dynasty was syndicated for reruns so I was able to see the early episodes I didn't see before. In the early 2000s (before DVDs), Dynasty was rerun again on SOAPnet, so I was able to see it again. Most recently, it was rerun again on POP TV. I currently have most seasons on DVD/iTunes.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 8 years ago

I suppose someone could go back and look at old TV guides and newspaper listings to verify this, but I think after season 6, they stopped rerunning it in the summer. Most of the primetime soaps went on a long hiatus in the late 80s after the season finale. Probably for the reason you mentioned, that if they couldn't show every episode in the summer, it was hard for people to follow. Instead they could get better ratings in those months by showing specials or rerunning TV movies.

I do remember spending a summer at my grandparents' place between season 3 and season 4 and watching reruns with them-- the stuff when Adam was poisoning Jeff was rerun during those months. But in the later years, after the season finale it went off the air from mid-May until late September. And the network would rerun the finale right before they started with the new episodes of the next season.

When it went into syndication, I don't think it aired on a channel in the area where I was living. So I didn't catch any reruns until SoapNet showed them in the early 2000s. But I caught maybe half of them. When the DVDs were released, in the U.S., they were split into two volumes for most of the seasons which made buying them rather pricey. It wasn't until they showed up on Pop again and then on Amazon Prime when I could see them all if I wanted to. Currently, seasons 1-8 are "free" if you subscribe to Amazon Prime, but all the season 9 episodes, which is the best stuff IMO, is not free. That's why I decided to buy season 9 on DVD and it's the only season I have on disc.

[–] radrobd 8 years ago

I suppose someone could go back and look at old TV guides and newspaper listings to verify this, but I think after season 6, they stopped rerunning it in the summer.

Yes, in the summer of 1986 after Dynasty's 6th season, ABC did not air reruns of Dynasty during the summer (because of low ratings). Ditto for CBS and Dallas, Falcon Crest, and Knots. The only primetime soap to rerun during the summer of 1986 was the Dynasty spin-off The Colbys.

[–] theworldastage 8 years ago

I have seen the entire series at least 4 times over the last 7 years (kind of extreme, I know).

Compared to my first watch, I only slightly changed my opinion on the following upon rewatch:

- Season 1 is much more appreciated on second rewatch (to be fair, I basically only saw "comedy" from the 80s before, so I was not familiar with "dramas"/"soaps" of that time)
- The Toscanni plot in Season 2 becomes even more annoying each time
- I like Adam more over rewatches - or at least acknowledge his talent

There might be a few more small things, but those are the major ones.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 8 years ago

The Toscanni plot in Season 2 becomes even more annoying each time

The problem I have with it is that he goes from a psychiatrist helping Claudia to being another kind of doctor later in the season. I guess there could be people who specialize in two different areas of healing, but it seemed a little far-fetched to me and a convenient way for the writers to keep him involved in the main Carrington storylines.

[–] bens33 8 years ago

He was sooo overbearing and self-righteous. He really almost ruins Season 2 for me.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.