No, I did not pull one of my disappearing acts - Blogger service was unavailable last night, so I'm a day late with "The Colbys" this week. Thankfully, it's back, so let's catch up with our favorite Bel Air clan.
Emotions are running high in this episode (what else is new?) as Fallon goes into labor following her cliched descent down the Colbys mansion staircase (we all knew where they were going with L.B. and his sudden passion for marbles, right)?
Jeff gets caught up in traffic not aware what's happened to his wife; Miles is faithfully by her side, though the only man she wants to see is Jeff; and then there's Channing who is of course blamed for Fallon's mishap.
ORIGINAL AIRDATE: Thursday, February 5, 1987 at 9:00-10:00pm on the ABC TV Network
TV GUIDE SYNOPSIS: Channing is blamed for Fallon's fall. While awaiting the birth of Fallon's baby, Jeff and Miles receive devastating news from the doctor.
EPISODE RANKINGS / RATINGS: 52nd / 13.42 household rating / 11.73 million households
Emma Sammas was such a wrong choice for Fallon. I cringe when i see her acting , I'm sure this contributed to the Colbys being axed.
ReplyDeleteNO!! I DO not agree! It's so unfair!! I happen to be an actor and I KNOW how far we are nothing confronted with a bad script (and a bad director) ! I did love Pamela Sue Martin, but Emma Samms proved in season 9 she could be a very convincing Fallon! Actors are just puppets in producers and writters hands!What really killed "the Colbys" was the storylines! From the beginning it was a clone of Dynasty: a powerful man, restless kids, a bitch, love triangles etc. Nothing new! "Knots Landing" was a real spin off to "Dallas", like "Melrose Place" was a spin off to "Beverly Hills 90210" Atmosphere and characters have to be somewhat different.
ReplyDelete"The Colbys" were no spin off, but another "Dynasty". Who in the audience could have given a damn about Sable when they could afford Alexis...? (even if I just adore Sable)
I like Samms, I really do, but I must say I never bought her as Fallon, even in season 9 (when she also adopted that fake American accent). Pamela Sue will always be my Fallon.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that - I agree the scripts and the fact that they made her a victim, a lady in distress who needed a man to protect her, ruined the character.
As for the show itself - yes, it was too close to "Dynasty," but it was also beginning to find a tone of its own - unfortunately it was cut too soon.
As for the reasons why it was cancelled - although I think pairing John James with Pamela Sue Martin would have pulled in a greater audience I also believe the show mainly failed because of its tough timeslot (Thursdays at 9:00pm - that's where "Dynasty" died a couple of years later).
"The Colbys" should have aired on Wednesdays at 10:00pm after "Dynasty," but ABC wasn't willing to do that. Not because they wouldn't move "Hotel," but because they wanted to take a foothold on Thursday nights. But they should have built its audience behind "Dynasty" first and then maybe try to move it to Thursdays later on.
Plus, the show began too late - when primetime soaps began to decline. It should have started at least a season (or two) earlier.
Well in Ireland Dynasty at the time was aired on Tuesday at 10pm and the Colbys on Wed at 10pm , some times they were aired on the one night following each other.
ReplyDeleteIt's true , they were a copy of each other in many ways. I often used to think it was like when Alexis was in the studio and Frankie was in the pool house , kinda of the same but opposite. They could have made more of the struggle with Sable/Frankie and the household staff I think. What if Sable married Zac Powers , it would have mirrored Ceicel and Alexis but if Zac had lived . Maybe it was the producers way of saying ''this is what would have happened if we ''.
I hope you get what i'm sayin hear :)
Once again, it's not the writers that shoud be blamed but the ABC's executives. They are those who wanted a second Dynasty whereas the Shapiros had different ideas.
ReplyDeleteAs for Emma Samms, she is an actress who became better each year I think. In 1986, she wouldn't have been able to act like she did in 1989. Look at her in the flashback with Michael Culhane (7th season's premiere), she had the possibility to be bitchy for the first time but she failed. But surely, she would have been helped if she had been given better lines from the beginning.
I HAVE TO SAY THAT DYNASTY DID SOME OF THE WORST RECASTING,FIRST KAREN CELINI TO REPLACE CATHERINE OXENBERG (WRONG),THEN EMMA AND PAMELA SUE AGAIN (WRONG).THE STEVEN CARRINGTON SWITCH WAS OK,THAT I COULD ADJUST TO..
ReplyDeleteI kind of started watching "Dynasty" with Emma Samms in the role so when I saw Pamela Sue Martin in syndication I thought *she* was miscast! :) That being said, I see merits in both of them (kind of like with the two Darrins on "Bewitched")...I think Fallon was always a bit of a victim but I agree she became more so when she was recast - but that was more the writing, as some have said. I also agree that Emma's Fallon was way better 9th season!
ReplyDeleteBut you know the biggest problem I have with Emma's Fallon on "The Colbys"? That damn poofy red hair. That is so not Fallon! Maybe if they had let Emma's hair stay darker she would have been easier to buy for Pamela Sue Martin fans.
As for Amanda - Catherine Oxenberg, no contest! :) [Sorry, Karen.]
Hey lB! I was wondering if after you are done posting this series if you could post if you have it Knots Landing.
ReplyDeleteWhere can i see the season1?
ReplyDelete