DYNASTY: The Close Encounter of Fallon Colby (1)

The infamous storyline begins on the Dynasty spin-off, "The Colbys."

NOTE: In his recent radio interview, actor Gordon Thomson (Adam Carrington) confirmed this storyline was the brainchild of "Dynasty" creator Richard Shapiro, who was not heavily involved in the writing of the show beyond season 1, but provided ideas, as did his wife Esther Shapiro and creative consultants Robert and Eileen Pollock.

According to Thomson, Shapiro called a producer at 1am one morning in early 1987 and said: "Robert had an idea. Take notes. Alien abduction." Then, the following day, at the production meeting, Esther Shapiro supposedly threatened to fire anyone who laughed about the storyline.

In her 2002 interview with ITV, actress Emma Samms who portrayed the abducted Fallon Colby, said she and the rest of the cast had heard rumors that the cliffhanger would include alien abduction, but initially dismissed them as a joke.

It is also believed, the producers inserted the UFO twist at the last moment in an effort to save their dying soap "The Colbys" by creating buzz about the show and forcing the network to bring it back in the fall.

Despite the fact "The Colbys" series finale did improve somewhat in the ratings (also because second to last episode aired after "Dynasty"), ABC cancelled the show several weeks later and decided the storyline would continue on the parent series "Dynasty."

These scenes are taken from March 1987 episodes of "The Colbys."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Dynasty
• Colbys
• UFO
• Alien
• Abduction
• Emma
• Samms
• John
• James
• Fallon
• Carrington
• Jeff
• Colby
• Drama
• 80s
• Soap
• TV
• Show

[mrmagassi]

The UFO should've brought back the real Fallon... PSM! ;)

[hfxmusicman]

I give them props for trying something different, but this was just ridiculous. I think they suceeded in killing The Colbys and Dynasty with one shot. Sad really. And I am sure this will be unpopular, but I don't like Emma as Fallon. Nothing against the actress, but PSM will always be Fallon to me.

[littleladydiane]

Maybe Henderson is one of the aliens!! Hehe:-) Great clips!!

[allanfisch]

@The1Returner you have to watch LB here has condensed the entire plot into a few youtube clips.If you're not familiar with the show it''s going to seem really strange..

[The1Returner]

@allanfisch What UFO is everyone talking about?

[allanfisch]

the UFO didn't kill this show, Cheers did... the ratings the second season were miserable. in hindsight, I think it's very cool, not sure where they would have taken it, other than the way they resolved it on Dynasty, which was a non-resolution...

[hkelly3000]

then what do you think they would do when she left Joan Collins and Aaron Spelling hand picked Emma Samms together

[mrmagassi]

@GETOSUPASTAR Yes... and they used it as a way to break Jeff and Fallon up on Dynasty yet again (Jeff didn't believe her UFO story and didn't trust the focus groups she had invited over to the mansion)... :)

[GETOSUPASTAR]

@mrmagassi they did? i dont remember that... ok! i'ma have to look that up... :)

[mrmagassi]

@GETOSUPASTAR But they continued this storyline on Dynasty for several episodes... she went to a shrink, joined a group of people who were also abductees... ; they should've just dropped it and brought back PSM :)

[Deenaly702]

fallon was the most non sensible character i had even seen, i remember and i was only 8 years old!!! she was spoiled, manipulative and so vain. always making excuses to stay in the big o mansion...

[GETOSUPASTAR]

i just read an old interview with Paul Huson who was one of the producers of the show, according to him the reason why they chose this to end the season was because the Shapiros figured with a cliffhanger like that ABC would have to bring it back to explain what happen but alas it didnt work. But the most interesting part was he said the premiere would have revealed that Fallon wasn't abducted by a UFO at all! the whole thing was in her head! the scene was supposed to have been a hallucination!