The series, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, revolves around the Carringtons, a wealthy family residing in Denver, Colorado.
Season one stars John Forsythe as millionaire oil magnate Blake Carrington; Linda Evans as his new wife Krystle; Pamela Sue Martin as Blake's headstrong daughter Fallon; Al Corley as Blake's earnest son Steven; John James as playboy Jeff Colby; Wayne Northrop as Carrington chauffeur Michael Culhane; Bo Hopkins as Denver–Carrington geologist Matthew Blaisdel; Pamela Bellwood as Matthew's troubled wife Claudia; Katy Kurtzman as Matthew and Claudia's teenage daughter Lindsay Blaisdel; and Dale Robertson as wildcatter Walter Lankershim.
Notable recurring performers include Lee Bergere as Carrington majordomo Joseph Anders, and Lloyd Bochner as Jeff's uncle, Cecil Colby.
Aaron Spelling, already well known for his successful ABC series, including Starsky and Hutch, Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Vega$ and Hart to Hart,[1] took on Richard and Esther Shapiro's vision of a rich and powerful family who "lived and sinned" in a 48-room Denver mansion.
[2] Esther Shapiro said that an inspiration for the show was I, Claudius, a fictionalized depiction of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of Roman emperors.
[6] In early drafts of the pilot script, the two main families featured in the series were known as the Parkhursts and Corbys; by the time production began, they had been renamed the Carringtons and Colbys.
George Peppard was cast as series patriarch Blake Carrington, but ultimately had difficulties dealing with the somewhat unsympathetic role,[7] and was quickly replaced with John Forsythe.
"[9] As Dynasty begins, powerful oil tycoon Blake Carrington is about to marry the younger Krystle Jennings, his former secretary.
At the end of the three-hour premiere episode "Oil", Steven finally confronts his father, criticizing Blake's capitalistic values and seemingly amoral business practices.
Returning from an extended assignment in the Middle East, Matthew quits and goes into business with wildcatter Walter Lankershim.
Though previously in a relationship with another man, Steven finds himself drawn to Claudia, who is putting her life back together after spending time in a psychiatric hospital.
[2][10] Blake is arrested and charged with murder,[2] and an angry Steven testifies that Ted's death had been the result of malicious intent.
A veiled surprise witness for the prosecution appears in the season finale "The Testimony", and Fallon gasps in recognition: "Oh my God, that's my mother!