# Dynasty (1981)

> A wealthy Denver oil family is torn apart by a rivalry between ex-spouses, hidden children, and corporate warfare.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/3585

## Facts

- Seasons: 9
- Episodes: 220
- Episode runtime: 46 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Esther Shapiro, Richard Alan Shapiro
- Network: ABC
- Cast: John Forsythe, Linda Evans, Joan Collins, Bo Hopkins, Pamela Sue Martin, John James, Gordon Thomson, Pamela Bellwood
- TMDB rating: 6.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081856/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: campy, melodramatic, glossy, sensational, breezy

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series mixed, with its campy melodrama and glamorous excess praised by fans while uneven stretches and a dip in the middle seasons draw complaints.

## Synopsis

Dynasty (1981-1989) is a American prime time soap opera created by Esther Shapiro and Richard Alan Shapiro for ABC. Blake Carrington (John Forsythe), the patriarch of a wealthy Denver oil family, is pulled into a bitter rivalry with his ex-wife Alexis Carrington Colby (Joan Collins), who runs the rival corporation ColbyCo. Blake's new wife Krystle (Linda Evans), once his secretary, finds herself caught between the two houses while his children, including the pampered Fallon (Pamela Sue Martin) and the openly gay Steven (Al Corley), navigate their own romances and loyalties. The engine of the series is a constant churn of boardroom maneuvering, secret parentage, kidnapping history, and romantic betrayal, with each episode built around a new scheme, seduction, or scandal. Spanning nine seasons and 220 episodes, it is a serialized soap whose 46-minute episodes deliver cliffhangers that carry from one week to the next. The tone is campy, glossy, and melodramatic, with lavish sets and costumes, fans of Dallas, Falcon Crest and Succession will find resonance in its appetite for family warfare and power.

## Shows like Dynasty

- [Dallas (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/34717)
- [Charlie's Angels (1976)](https://ember.film/tv/3217)
- [Empire (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/57068)
- [Dallas (1978)](https://ember.film/tv/35)
- [Falcon Crest (1981)](https://ember.film/tv/81)
- [Empire (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/54993)
- [Dark Shadows (1966)](https://ember.film/tv/2741)
- [Dynasty (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/62813)
- [Matt Houston (1982)](https://ember.film/tv/9627)
- [Soap (1977)](https://ember.film/tv/3136)

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