By David Flynn
The Colbys boasted one of the best casts that a television series ever had the good fortune to have, and it had more advantages starting off than many other series, including that it was a spin-off of the successful Dynasty.
Dynasty, which starred Joan Collins, was a tv saga about two oil-rich Denver families, and it was popular all over the world. It was the number one series in America for the 1984/85 season, which was its fifth season on the air.
The two families in Dynasty were the Carringtons and the Colbys, and in 1985 the producers and writers discussed whether they would make two episodes per week of Dynasty, or go for a completely new spin-off series, with existing characters.
They prepared The Colbys, featuring Dynasty star John James, who played Jeff Colby. His wife, Fallon Carrington Colby (played by Emma Samms), had been presumed dead on the mother show, but she had turned up alive and well at the end of the 84/85 season suffering from amnesia.
As the new season of 85/86 began, Fallon met Jeff’s cousin, Miles Colby (Maxwell Caulfield), and ended up marrying him. The three characters continued their love triangle on The Colbys. The other Colby characters were introduced over a couple of Dynasty episodes in early Autumn 1985.