The Colbys - The Empire

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Television series
German title The Colbys - The Empire
Original title Dynasty II - The Colbys, The Colbys
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1985-1987
Production
company		 Aaron Spelling Productions
length 45 minutes
Episodes 49 in 2 seasons
genre Soap opera , drama
Theme music Bill Conti / Angela Morley
idea Esther Shapiro ,
Richard Shapiro
production William Bast, Paul Huson
First broadcast November 20, 1985 (USA) on ABC
German-language
first broadcast		 August 26, 1987 on Sat.1
occupation

The Colbys - The Empire is an American television series that was broadcast on the US broadcaster ABC from 1985 to 1987 . The series comprises a total of 49 episodes of around 45 minutes each in 2 seasons and belongs to the genre of the soap operas of the 1980s , such as The Denver Clan , Dallas , Under the California Sun , Falcon Crest , Flamingo Road or Sweet Poison . The theme song was composed by Bill Conti .

backgrounds

The series The Denver Clan (in the original: "Dynasty" ) achieved the highest ratings in the USA, so ABC decided to develop an offshoot in 1985 . The offshoot series should revolve around the family of Jeffrey (Jeff) Colby, who lives in Los Angeles / California. Similarly, it was before, a few years of CBS with Dallas and its spin-off Knots Landing made.

Many of the storylines of the two series overlapped, and some actors ( John Forsythe , Gordon Thomson , Jack Coleman and, in several episodes, Diahann Carroll ) from the main series took on guest appearances initially. The title melody starts like Dynasty , but then becomes a bit more pompous. The intro is also the same as in the main series: stripes that run from the bottom to the outside of the picture and the title logo: "The Colbys", which is drawn into the picture with stripes when the camera moves over the house. In the German version, the camera stops directly above the house and the words Das Imperium - Die Colbys are faded in.

Introduction / crossover

In the Dynasty episode "The Californians" (in Germany: "The Festival of the Titans") the actors of The Colbys are introduced to the audience: Blake Carrington invites the Colbys to Denver to show the press at a big ball about the cooperation between Denver Carrington and Colby Enterprises on a gigantic pipeline project. His aunt Constance gives Jeff her 50% stake in the family business Colby Enterprises and asks him to come to California. Jeff, who had been desperately looking for his ex-wife Fallon Carrington for more than a year, who disappeared without a trace and allegedly died in a plane crash, decides to accept the gift. On the night of the party, all of the Colbys are at the Carrington house except for son Miles. He is still on the way to Denver and has a young woman in his car whom he had met shortly before and who is suffering from amnesia. Arriving at the Carrington estate, the young woman refuses to go in for fear. Jeff looks out the window and recognizes Fallon, who was believed to be dead. Before it reaches the forecourt, the Ferrari races away ...

The next day the Colbys fly back home, and then in Los Angeles events rush ...

Episode list

No.

(total)

No.

(St.)

German title Original title Director script First broadcast in the USA
1 1.01 The big surprise The Celebration Jerome Courtland William Bast & Paul Huson November 20, 1985
2 1.02 The necklace Conspiracy Of Silence Curtis Harrington Dennis Turner 11/27/1985
3 1.03 Moment of truth Moment of truth Nancy Malone William Bast & Paul Huson 11/28/1985
4th 1.04 The album Family album Don Medford Rick Edelstein 05.12.1985
5 1.05 Shadow of the past Shadow of the Past Harry Falk Dennis Turner 12/12/1985
6th 1.06 With hatred and malice A House Divided Don Medford Frank V. Furino December 19, 1985
7th 1.07 memories The Reunion Jerome Courtland Frank V. Furino December 26, 1985
8th 1.08 Disappointment Falling idol Harry Falk Oliver Clark 01/02/1986
9 1.09 The letter The Letter Don Medford E. Doris Silverton 01/09/1986
10 1.10 The proof The turning point Gwen Arner Charles Pratt Jr 01/16/1986
11 1.11 Big confusion Thursday's Child Kim Friedman Rick Edelstein 01/30/1986
12 1.12 The pact The Pact Harry Falk Dennis Turner 02/06/1986
13 1.13 The decision Fallon's Choice Curtis Harrington E. Doris Silverton 02/13/1986
14th 1.14 The process The Trial Robert Scheerer Donald Paul Roos 02/20/1986
15th 1.15 In contrast, being a father Burden of proof Gabrielle Beaumont Dennis Turner 02/27/1986
16 1.16 My fathers house My Father's House Curtis Harrington Frank V. Furino 03/06/1986
17th 1.17 The engagement The Outcast Robert Scheerer Donald Paul Roos 03/13/1986
18th 1.18 The wedding The Wedding Harry Falk Frank V. Furino 03/20/1986
19th 1.19 blackout The honeymoon Gwen Arner Michael Scheff & Maryanne Kasica 03/27/1986
20th 1.20 The paintings Double jeopardy Harry Falk E. Doris Silverton 04/10/1986
21st 1.21 Two suspected murderers A family affair Jerome Courtland Donald Paul Roos 04/17/1986
22nd 1.22 The tape The Reckoning Harry Falk Dennis Turner 05/01/1986
23 1.23 Brother's help Anniversary Waltz Kim Friedman Donald Paul Roos 05/15/1986
24 1.24 And now revenge Checkmate Harry Falk William Bast & Paul Huson 05/22/1986
25th 2.01 The arrest The Gathering Storm Harry Falk William Bast & Paul Huson 09/24/1986
26th 2.02 The uncertainty No exit Gabrielle Beaumont Donald Paul Roos 09/25/1986
27 2.03 The decision Jason's Choice Robert Scheerer Frank V. Furino 10/02/1986
28 2.04 the marriage proposal The matchmaker Harry Falk Dennis Turner 10/16/1986
29 2.05 It does not check what binds itself forever Something Old, Something New Don Medford Donald Paul Roos 10/23/1986
30th 2.06 The gala The gala Gwen Arner Dennis Turner 10/30/1986
31 2.07 The project Bloodlines Harry Falk Dennis Turner 11/06/1986
32 2.08 confrontation Deceptions Curtis Harrington Carol Saraceno 11/13/1986
33 2.09 Two fathers And Baby Makes Four Gwen Arner Mart Crowley 11/27/1986
34 2.10 Everything for freedom Bid for Freedom Harry Falk Dennis Turner December 04, 1986
35 2.11 The realization Sanctuary Don Medford Carol Saraceno 12/11/1986
36 2.12 The grandson Reaching out Linda Day Donald Paul Roos 12/18/1986
37 2.13 Power games Power Plays Harry Falk E. Jeffrey Smith 01/01/1987
38 2.14 The attack The Legacy Richard Kinon Dennis Turner 01/08/1987
39 2.15 Hatred and despair The Home Wrecker Curtis Harrington Carol Saraceno 01/15/1987
40 2.16 Imminent danger The Manhunt Bruce Bilson E. Doris Silverton 01/22/1987
41 2.17 The accident All fall down Kim Friedman Dennis Turner 01/29/1987
42 2.18 The big question Guilty party Roy Campanella II Dennis Turner 02/05/1987
43 2.19 Who is the lucky one? Fallon's baby Harry Falk Frank V. Furino 02/12/1987
44 2.20 Answered prayers Answered Prayers Robert Scheerer Donald Paul Roos 02/26/1987
45 2.21 The black sheep Return commitment Harry Falk Elliott Lewis 05.03.1987
46 2.22 Two faces of one man Devil's Advocate Robert Scheerer Mart Crowley 03/12/1987
47 2.23 The break Betrayals Harry Falk Carol Saraceno 03/19/1987
48 2.24 With no way out The dead end Richard Kinon Donald Paul Roos 03/25/1987
49 2.25 An unbelievable ending Crossroads Don Medford William Bast & Paul Huson 03/26/1987

action

The Colbys live in the upscale neighborhood of Los Angeles, Bel Air, and live in a huge estate with a large house. Jason runs Colby Enterprises with offices around the world. His wife Sable owns the Colby Collection gallery , she is cultured, vicious, scheming and hungry for power. In addition to their son Miles, a playboy, they also have 2 adult daughters together. Bliss is the typical rebellious teen with constantly changing friends. Monica feels underutilized in her job at Colby Enterprises , not fully accepted by her father and takes over the management of Dominique Devereaux's record company Titania Records . The good soul of the house is Connie, Jason's older sister. It is also she who asks Jeff's mother, Francesca, to come back to Los Angeles to finally be able to help her son after many years of abstinence. Francesca was married to Connie's and Jason's brother Philipp before he died in the war, and had a secret affair with Jason years ago. She lives in London and initially refuses to return. Jason's great adversary and competitor is Zachery "Zach" Powers, who blames the Colbys for his father's death. He tries to force his way into every Colby Enterprises deal and discredit the Colby's.

In the last episode of the series, "A Very Unbelievable End" (in the original: "Crossroads"), many events remain unexplained: Sable kidnaps the adopted son of her daughter Monica. Miles' pregnant wife Channing leaves the Colby estate to have her baby aborted. Frankie is kidnapped by Philipp and the car has a serious accident. Both are thrown out, Philipp has disappeared and Frankie is bleeding profusely in Jason's arms. Fallon, who is driving her car in the Nevada desert, is looking for her mother-in-law Frankie when her car suddenly stops. The headlights go out and the car phone stops working when she tries to call for help. Suddenly everything around her is brightly lit. She gets out of the car, looks at the sky and a few seconds later a spaceship lands in front of her eyes. As if hypnotized, she is pulled into the UFO, it takes off and she is kidnapped inside ...

useful information

  • After the series ended, the characters of Fallon and Jeff returned to the main series. The events of the last episode of the "Colbys" were only partially addressed, but not clarified.
  • Half of Hollywood wanted to get a leading role in the new glamor series: Burt Lancaster , Katharine Hepburn , Angie Dickinson , Gregory Peck , Faye Dunaway . Susannah York and Diana Rigg (known as "Emma Peel" ) were cast for the role of Sable Colby , but ultimately not hired. Charlton Heston eventually signed on for $ 90,000 a week as head of the family Jason Colby . The English actress Stephanie Beacham got the role of Sabella "Sable" Scott-Colby . Barbara Stanwyck could be won as Jason's sister Constance "Connie" Colby-Patterson and Katharine Ross as Jeff's mother Lady Francesca "Frankie" Scott-Colby-Hamilton-Langdon .
  • After only two seasons with 49 episodes, the series was discontinued due to too much competition in the television program ( Cheers , Knots Landing ) and too low ratings.
  • Because of Jason Colby's negative comments about the former Soviet Union, episode 29 ( “Something old, something new” ) was omitted from broadcasts on German television. As part of another repetition of the series, the pay-TV channel Passion showed this episode for the first time on February 14, 2011.
  • For season 9 of The Denver Clan , the actresses Stephanie Beacham ( Sable ) and Tracy Scoggins ( Monica ) were hired for the main series and Sable , as the scheming cousin of Alexis , once again achieved high ratings. Here the viewer also learns that Sable was raped before their wedding and Miles and Monica are not Jason Colby's children.
  • The 49th episode was originally supposed to be the "greatest series cliffhanger " of all time, because at that point it was not yet clear that the series would be discontinued. For the landing of the spaceship in the last episode, someone from the Star Wars trilogy team was hired to do the trick technology .
  • For the television film Dynasty-The Reunion (in Germany: Denver-The Decision ) Maxwell Caulfield was engaged again as Miles Colby .
  • Barbara Stanwyck played her last role here. However, after the first season, after long negotiations about her role, she terminated her contract and later said that this series was the worst thing she had ever done. In the series, she died a serial death in a plane crash in India. A few years later, she succumbed to cancer in real life.
  • Stephanie Beacham received the People's Choice Award in 1986 for her role as Sable and has been nominated for the Golden Globe several times . The English actress has been deaf in one ear and severely hearing impaired in the other since birth.
  • The Denver Clan's two female leads , Joan Collins ( Alexis Morrell-Carrington-Colby-Dexter-Rowan ) and Linda Evans ( Krystle Grant-Jennings-Carrington ) refused to guest roles on the spin-off because they believed were that this offshoot would damage the ratings of its own series. The male lead actor John Forsythe ( Blake Carrington ), however, guested in four episodes of the first season.
  • The working title was The Colbys of California . The series went on air as Dynasty II - The Colbys ; the title was changed to The Colbys after the first four episodes
  • In Germany, the series ran under the title Das Imperium - Die Colbys and was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:10 p.m. on Sat.1. The main series Der Denver-Clan ran Wednesday evening at 9 p.m. on ZDF.
  • Actress Katharine Ross ( Francesca Scott-Colby-Hamilton-Langdon ) is 7 years older than Stephanie Beacham ( Sable Scott-Colby ), but played her younger sister on the series.
  • The actor Adrian Paul played a supporting role in the series as Nikolai "Kolya" Rostov and later became very successful in the lead role in the series The Highlander .
  • Maxwell Caulfield ( Miles Colby ) had his breakthrough with the film Grease 2 alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and is equipped with 17-year-old actress Juliet Mills , which in the main series Dynasty played a supporting role married.
  • The property in Los Angeles / Bel Air in which the Colbys reside is called "Paley Residence". It has been used as a location for an episode of "Charlie's Angels" ( Charlie's Angels ) and Hart to Hart and the feature film Blind Date with Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger . The house at 1060 Brooklawn Drive in Bel Air was designed by the well-known architect Paul Williams and belongs to the Hilton family .

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