Why Now Is Prime Time To Watch Original Recipe Dynasty

Yes, yes, yes, we know. Dynasty was rebooted in 2017 and ran for five seasons. That’s not the version we’re here to talk about. We’re here to sing the praises of the first incarnation, which aired on ABC from 1981 to 1989, i.e. Peak Eighties. Sure, it may have initially been nothing more than an attempt to copy ratings juggernaut Dallas, with the same family battles over oil, only this time in Colorado rather than Texas. But, boy, did it become its own unique, crazy, bejeweled, cat-fighting entity pretty quickly. Here’s why you should be streaming Dynasty now on Amazon Prime Video.

The Woman, the Legend

It’s hard to imagine now, but Dynasty played a whole (pretty boring) first season sans the one and only Alexis Carrington, as played by the one and only Joan Collins. When she took off her veil in the second season’s opening episode (the masked woman who entered the courtroom cliffhanger at the end of Season One was only a placeholder while The Powers That Be shopped around for the right actress), Dynasty really caught fire. And kept on burning.

Royal We

Dynasty had many water-cooler-worthy cliffhangers, but the one fans seem to reference the most took place on May 15, 1985, when the royal wedding of Alexis and Blake’s (John Forsythe) daughter, Amanda (Catherine Oxenberg) to the Crown Prince of Moldova (which, at the time, was a Soviet republic — and we all know what Communist do to royalty — but why let history get in the way of a royal wedding?), was broken up by terrorists swinging in on ropes and machine-gunning everybody in the church.

Who would live, who would die? Viewers had to wait until fall to find out. The ratings surged, allowing Dynasty to finally surpass Dallas. But you’re lucky: You can stream the entire season and then click the NEXT button to get your answer. No delayed gratification here!