Dynasty ll: The Colbys premiered 40 years ago today

[TMC]

Yes, Dynasty II: The Colbys premiered exactly 40 years ago today, on November 20, 1985, on ABC. The spin-off followed the wealthy Colby family and their connection to the Carringtons, the family from the original series Dynasty. It starred a cast of well-known actors like Charlton Heston and Barbara Stanwyck and aired until March 26, 1987.

• Premiere: November 20, 1985
• Network: ABC
• Premise: A spin-off of Dynasty that focused on the immensely wealthy Colby family and their multinational conglomerate in California.
• Connection to Dynasty: The series linked the two families by following the characters Jeff and Fallon Colby as they moved to California.
• Key Cast: Charlton Heston as Jason Colby, Barbara Stanwyck as Constance Colby, and Emma Samms as Fallon Carrington Colby.
• Duration: The series ran for two seasons, ending on March 26, 1987.

Embedded Tweet

Embedded Tweet

A post shared by on Jan 01, 2022 at 12:00pm PDT

This is the opening sequence to "The Colbys" a short-lived 1985-87 Aaron Spelling-produced ABC soap that was a spin-off of the network's biggest hit series of the '80s, the 1981-89 sudser "Dynasty".

In 1985, "Dynasty" became the most watched show on American prime-time television, knocking its' predecessor, the 1978-91 CBS saga "Dallas", out of the Number One spot. Just like CBS did in 1979 with the "Dallas" spinoff, the long-running "Knots Landing" (1979-93), ABC wanted to capitalize on "Dynasty"'s success and ordered this spinoff. To help bring viewers over to "The Colbys", "Dynasty" characters Jeff Colby (John James) and his on-again/off-again wife Fallon Carrington Colby (Emma Samms) were brought on.

The Colby family is to Los Angeles what the Carrington family is to Denver: the most powerful oil-rich family in the state. The family is headed by Jason Colby (Hollywood legend Charlton Heston) and his sister Constance (Barbara Stanwyck). Jason is married to his spoiled, vengeful wife Sabella, "Sable" for short (Stephanie Beacham). They have three children: twins Monica (Tracy Scoggins) and Miles (Maxwell Caulfield), and youngest daughter Bliss (Claire Yarlett).

Miles has recently married a beautiful young woman named Randall Adams (Emma Samms). Nobody knows that Randall is really an amnesiac, presumed-dead Fallon Carrington Colby, the wife of Miles' cousin Jeff. Upon seeing her and realizing what has happened, Jeff makes the decision to leave Denver and the Carringtons behind and move to California to try to get Fallon back.