Developed by Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, and Sallie Patrick, the first season stars Elizabeth Gillies as glamorous businesswoman Fallon Carrington, Grant Show as her billionaire father Blake, James Mackay as her brother Steven, and Nathalie Kelley as Blake's new wife Cristal, with Robert Christopher Riley as chauffeur Michael Culhane, Sam Adegoke as tech billionaire Jeff Colby, Rafael de la Fuente as Cristal's nephew Sam "Sammy Jo" Jones, and Alan Dale as Joseph Anders, the cunning majordomo.
The series later featured Nicollette Sheridan (later Elaine Hendrix) as Blake's first wife Alexis; Maddison Brown as Joseph's daughter, Kirby Anders; Ana Brenda Contreras (later Daniella Alonso) as Blake's third wife, Cristal; Sam Underwood as eldest Carrington son Adam; Michael Michele as Blake's half-sister Dominique Deveraux; Adam Huber as writer Liam Ridley; and Eliza Bennett as the youngest Carrington sibling, Amanda.
When Fallon's machinations to separate the couple backfire and cost her a promotion, she allies with Blake's nemesis and former employee, Jeff Colby, and strikes out on her own.
Cristal's opportunistic nephew, Sam, threatens to expose her shady past as the fractured dynasty forms a united front in the wake of engineer Matthew Blaisdel's suspicious death.
The reboot updates several elements from the 1980s original, including moving the setting from Denver, Colorado to Atlanta, Georgia; shifting the lead to young businesswoman Fallon; making Steven's homosexuality a nonissue to Blake; and changing gold digger Sammy Jo to a gay man.
[1][2][3] Additionally, Blake's new wife and her nephew are Latin American, and chauffeur Michael Culhane and the Colby family are African-American.
[1][3] In September 2016, it was announced that a reboot of the 1980s prime time soap opera Dynasty was in development at The CW, co-written by Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, and Sallie Patrick.
"[21] Patrick noted that the 1980s series was progressive for its time, dealing with issues like race, women in the workplace, and gay acceptance.
But we have to pay homage to the original and the classic stuff that people remember from Dynasty, like the fashion, the catfights and the opulence of it all, is of course in our show.
"[23] Patrick said, "We really enjoy looking back through the old series and finding dramatic character-driven moments that they featured, but then making them our own and modernizing them.
"[24] The new series finds heiress Fallon Carrington facing off against her soon-to-be stepmother Cristal, a Hispanic woman.
[21] She noted, "We knew Alexis was coming before we even started shooting the pilot, which allowed us to pave the way for her ... throughout the season, we hear Blake, Steven, and Fallon's memories about the woman who abandoned their family.
[2] Schwartz called the city "a realistic location of this family to be based out of", noting that the Shapiros had arbitrarily picked Denver for the original series and were not creatively attached to it.
[31][32] In addition to reworked characters and plotlines, the reboot contains multiple visual homages to the 1980s series, including props and wardrobe.
[31][33] Nathalie Kelley was cast as Cristal in January 2017,[34][35] followed by Elizabeth Gillies as Fallon,[36] Sam Adegoke as playboy Jeff Colby,[37] and Robert Christopher Riley as Blake's chauffeur Michael Culhane in February.
[40][41] The remaining main cast members are James Mackay as Fallon's gay brother Steven,[29][42] and Alan Dale as Carrington majordomo Anders.
[17] In November 2017, Nicollette Sheridan was cast in the role of Blake's ex-wife Alexis Carrington,[26][27] and was later promoted to series regular status for season two.
[16] A May 2018 press release teased that the show would introduce Blake's half-sister Dominique Deveraux, Jeff and Monica's mother, in season two.
[9] Her three-episode portrayal was a temporary recast to give producers time to find a suitable replacement for Sheridan.
[15] On October 11, 2019, it was announced that recurring performers Adam Huber and Michael Michele had been promoted to series regulars.
[79] Sheridan's casting was a key factor in the decision to give Dynasty a back nine order of episodes after the initial 13.
[97] The pilot includes a flashback of a young Steven playing the original Dynasty theme by Bill Conti on piano.
[99] In the season three episode "Something Desperate", Fallon hallucinates four musical numbers, sung by Gillies, Underwood, Show, Alonso, and De la Fuente.
[100] In the season four episode "Vows Are Still Sacred", Gillies sings "More Than Me", a song she wrote in collaboration with her husband, Michael Corcoran.
"[108] Pedowitz said in January 2018, "I'm disappointed in the ratings, I wanted it to do more, but I'm happy with the production values that Josh, Steph and Sallie are doing.
"[28] In 2022, executive producer Josh Reims admitted that, due to the international success of Dynasty on Netflix, "there was literally no discussion about the ratings ever, which is great."
"[109] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes's consensus reads, "Dynasty's revival retains enough of its predecessor's over-the-top allure to offer a glamorous guilty pleasure in its first season, even if it never quite recaptures the magic of the original.
Online called the pilot "soapy and fun", adding that the series is "a worthy heir to the original show and Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage's previous offering Gossip Girl and The O.C.".
[130] Adweek called the pilot inferior to Gossip Girl and the original Dynasty, but suggested that its pairing with Riverdale "could provide audiences a guilty-pleasure double-feature".