Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure

Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure
European DVD cover
Genre	Docudrama
Written by	Matthew Miller
Directed by	Matthew Miller
Starring	Pamela Reed Melora Hardin Ritchie Singer Bartholomew John Alice Krige
Theme music composer	Bill Conti Richard Marvin
Country of origin	Australia United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Randy Sutter Eric Shepard Ted Babcock Peter Sadowski Robert M. Sertner Frank von Zerneck
Editor(s)	Sandra Montiel
Running time	90 minutes
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	2 January 2005 (2005-01-02)
Chronology
Preceded by	Dynasty Dynasty: The Reunion

Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure is a 2005 American television movie based on the creation and production of the 1980s prime time soap opera Dynasty. It was broadcast on ABC on 2 January 2005.

The film begins with the following disclaimer:

The following dramatization includes time compression and composite and fictionalized characters and incidents.

In 1980, ABC development executive Vince Peterson (John Terry) meets with producer Aaron Spelling (Nicholas Hammond), looking for a series featuring "greed and manipulation and sex and power and vanity" to battle against CBS' hit nighttime serial Dallas and make it "look like Sesame Street." Writers Richard and Esther Shapiro (Pamela Reed and Ritchie Singer) are already developing their own modern take on I, Claudius, and Dynasty is conceived. From the beginning, Esther's intent to explore "real social issues" and not have the show be an "inane soap with beautiful people and beautiful clothes" clashes with the network and advertisers' squeamishness with homosexual character Steven, "the first openly gay character on a prime time drama series." John Forsythe (Bartholomew John) — the voice of Charlie's Angels' Charlie — and Linda Evans (Melora Hardin) are cast as Blake and Krystle Carrington. With the new series at #40 in the ratings, ABC pushes for Steven to be "cured," and Richard conceives a female J. R. Ewing: Blake's bitter ex-wife Alexis. Soon Dynasty welcomes Heather Locklear (Holly Brisley) as sexpot Sammy Jo, and Joan Collins (Alice Krige) as villainess Alexis.