Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure (2005) (TV)

Director:

Matthew Miller

Writer (WGA):

Matthew Miller (written by)

Release Date:

2 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A rags to b*tches tale.

Plot Keywords:

Based On TV Show | Fight | Argument | Scandal | Diva

Cast

Pamela Reed	...	Esther Shapiro
John Terry	...	Vince Peterson
Melora Hardin	...	Linda Evans
Ritchie Singer	...	Richard Shapiro
Nicholas Hammond	...	Aaron Spelling
John Atkinson	...	Les Markowitz
Bartholomew John	...	John Forsythe
Alice Krige	...	Joan Collins
Rel Hunt	...	Al Corley
Tim Draxl	...	Joe
Julian Garner	...	Peter Holm
Holly Brisley	...	Heather Locklear
Rory Williamson	...	Michael Nader
Rachael Taylor	...	Catherine Oxenberg
Phillip Hinton	...	Leonard Goldenson

Runtime:

Brazil:90 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Nitelite Entertainment

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Just before the taping of the Moldavian massacre scene, the crew member with the sticks says "Moravian" massacre, not Moldavian.

Movie Connections:

References "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979)

There's good trash and there's bad trash. This is bad trash.

While I had enjoyed, in a campy, retro, self-referential way, the behind the scenes looks at Three's Company, Charlie's Angels and Betty Thomas' superior film of this mini-genre, The Late Shift, this ill-conceived piece of mirthless mayhem was just a waste of time. While in those other films the actors had a passing resemblance and sounded similar to those being portrayed, and incidentally seemed to be having a good time with their roles, here everyone just seems lost and miscast.

Alice Krige as Joan Collins comes close. Well, the occasional haircut and shoulder pad hit it on the head as well. Everything about this was wrong. The Rock Hudson AIDS revelation even elicits a viewer chuckle, as "Linda Evans" is told of his illness. "Oh that's silly," she laughs, "he looked fine when he was here. We even had a kissing scene-" Her mouth comically drops open with the realization of what that implies. Poor Linda...she quits the show because an article calls her The Loneliest Woman in Hollywood. soon thereafter there's a knock on her door by her neighbor who asks her to turn down the music. of course, it's musical cheese king Yanni. More chuckles.

Nothing was handled in depth, there were no juicy revelations, there were no moments of "oh, that's how that came to be", and worst of all, almost no mention of TV mainstay Heather Locklear. For a trashy nighttime soap to be presented as garbage is oddly appropriate but the show must have had at least some interesting backstage antics beyond "we need to beat Dallas in the ratings" and "we should sell Dynasty evening wear!"