Look what Dallas Started!
Superstar Special 1982

"'You know a show is going well when you hear a lot of laughter,' observes Dynasty patriarch John Forysthe. Well, there is a lot of laughter on the Dynasty set because everyone is having a good time! They are because the producers of the show were wise enough to cast the show with first-class professionals, and then listen to them when they made a comment or request.

Says Forsythe: 'I told them from the start that I didn't want Carrington to be a J.R. figure. There's enough in the series to be compared with Dallas without that... Dynasty's never going to be The Forsythe Saga or Upstairs, Downstairs- it was never intended to be- but it should have characters with various colors to them.'

Well, colorful characters do populate Dynasty, and this season saw a new group join the cast- and cause more trouble. Of course, that only made the Dynasty fans enjoy the saga even more.

The biggest trouble maker is, of course British actress Joan Collins. She's making life unbearable for Linda Evans, aka Krystal Carrington. Describing the character of the first Mrs. Carrington, Joan says: 'Alexis is an evil, conniving....! There are people she would kill for, however, and she cares very much about her children. Let's face it, she's a larger than life character, and that's what I like about her.'

In contrast, Linda Evans says her character is 'a lot like I used to be- especially her idealism. I still believe that anything is possibly when you love somebody. But, to me, a woman isn't complete when she just loves. She has to have wisdom. Through her love of life, Krystal finds that she is forced to grow.'

Another newcomer is Heather Locklear, who plays Sammy Jo, Krystal's neice. At first Sammy Jo was a delight in her naive approach to life. But her life with the Carringtons changed her and Heather admits: 'Anyone can be nice, but it's a lot more fun being bad.' To some, eloping with Steven Carrington (Al Corley) was just the first sign of a change for dear little Sammy Jo.

Of course, Fallon played by Pamela Sue Martin, is the epitome of evil in some people's eyes. But she claims: 'As I play Fallon, I can see she has a method to her madness. She's strong-willed and she has her own reasons for doing what she does.'

Al Corley, James Farentino, Pamela Bellwood, Lee Bergere and John James round out the Dynasty cast, and they are looking foward to conniving, lying, cheating, stealing and loving and forgiving their way into your hearts for a long time to come.

Well, Dallas may have started the trend of nighttime soap operas, but to many, Dynasty has taken it one step further.

Of course, there haven't been any cliff-hangers a la Dallas, but if you talk to Pamela Sue Martin, she's not above a certain amount of speculation. She's not talking about leaving the show as did Bo Hopkins and Dale Robertson did last season, but she is mulling over the inevitable. 'I would like to go out with a splash,' she says. 'Maybe not murder... perhaps a mysterious disappearance... I've got it! I'd like to run away with the chauffeur!'"

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