Designer Double-Dip: To "Dynasty" with "Love!"

Many of my readers love posts of this sort, wherein costume re-usage is highlighted, and I like to think I have an eye for such a thing. But in this case I can't claim credit for the discovery... A faithful reader went and dug up the bones, bringing them to me with an ear-to-ear grin so that I can share them with you! This one is a bit of a giggle and I hope you enjoy it as I did.  

For those who may not be fully up on it, Dynasty premiered in January of 1981 with an abbreviated first season. While its ratings were middle of the road (though the type that would make any network exec salivate now!), it really didn't take off until the fall when the highly manipulative character of Alexis arrived (in the form of Dame Joan Collins.) Another key cast addition that year was Heather Locklear.

Locklear was brought on as leading lady Linda ("Krystle") Evans' niece from the wrong side of the tracks, Sammy Jo. Her short-shorts-wearing, banister-sliding, junk-food-eating tart was a thorn in the side to many of the wealthy inhabitants at the Carrington mansion. This became even more of an issue when she up and married Steven Carrington (played by Al Corley) who had heretofore been gay except for a brief foray with a married lady (Pamela Bellwood's "Claudia.")

For Lockear's first big party at the mansion, she was given a fluffy, demure confection, appropriate for a young newlywed making her social debut.

Trouble was, this look was more of what her Auntie Krystle wanted for her than what she'd have preferred. And a glass or two (or three!) of bubbly wasn't likely to soothe the pain.

So instead, when it's time for her to emerge and join the fun, she's had a full-on makeover!

She's sporting sultrier hair, a far more revealing gown and her sister-in-law Fallon's (played by Pamela Sue Martin) necklace, borrowed without permission! Aunt Krystle looks on in stunned shock.

Then she sidles up to the orchestra leader and makes a special request, which he soon begins. It's a hooty, disco riff on the theme from Peter Gunn!

This hilarious moment has become the stuff of legend. There's a clip on YT of the sequence, there's a music video for "Get The Party Started" (!) using footage of it and at least one .gif of Locklear's gyrating.

Work it, girl!

This whole scene does NOT sit well with Locklear's new mother-in-law La Collins.

So the impromptu performance is brought to an immediate close. (For those who may be interested, Joan's stand-in and good friend, Judy Bryer, can be spotted over Locklear's shoulder on the right. She often appeared in group scenes after her duties for lighting purposes were taken care of.)

Locklear is left humiliated in front of the guests. Note the hilarious braids that she'd somehow managed to work into her "Farrah" 'do in the short amount of time between switching looks! But I know... You're wondering. When in the hell is he going to get to the point of the post??!

Well, here is part of it, finally. Locklear's sexy dress is a reworking of one that The Love Boat's cruise director Julie McCoy (played by Lauren Tewes) wore over three years earlier in a 1978 episode.

I say reworking because while it may not the very same dress, it's the same pattern. On Tewes, the decolletage is more understated, the slit is far lower and the material looks a shinier, truer white. Locklear's has low cleavage, a thigh-high slit and seems made from a clingy, off-white jersey knit. But the overall design is the same. (I say this with the caveat that it may very well be the same dress because, as you'll see, the fabric in question changes hue somewhat based on the lighting. Someone may have just snipped some of the stitching and altered it to make it more revealing.)

And it stands to reason, since Dynasty and The Love Boat, like many Aaron Spelling productions, shared the same head costume designer, Nolan Miller. But this isn't the end.

A year and a half after Locklear did her little number on the dance floor, this dress appeared back on The Love Boat! And it was worn by a different "Krystle," Crystal Bernard!

This time, Bernard is the one with the big slit and expanded neckline as her man Dean Butler salivates.

Bernard also seems to have borrowed Locklear's hairstyle and perhaps a pose or two of hers. But, wait, there's more!

If the sisterhood of the traveling gown wasn't doing it for you as a Designer Double-Dip, consider this. Even Locklear's first dress, the one gifted to her by Auntie Krystle, was :::gasp::: second hand!

The Love Boat guest star Berlinda Tolbert (of The Jeffersons) had been seen wearing that one only six months prior! Tolbert was spotted in the confection walking with the ship's bartender Ted ("Isaac") Lange. Lockler didn't inherit the hair baubles to go with, however.

So there you have it, a trip through Nolan Miller's closet, though I'm sure that many other such examples exist. Special shout out to my pal Timothy for his expert detective work for this installment.

Reunited: An "Adventure" in "Love."

It wouldn't take anyone visiting here too long to grasp that, of all our favorite movies, one in particular stands out. The Poseidon Adventure (1972) rocked this 7 year-old's world upon first viewing it (sadly on TV and not in a theater.) I was hardly alone in watching, though. With a 62% share, it was the sixth most-watched movie ever broadcast on TV to that time. (The rating for it was 39. Today, a network special or even a hot series is lucky to hit a 5!) Most of the stars of the ensemble movie became legends to me, part of a special fraternity which earned lifetime devotion on my part. 

In a cast already brimming with Oscar-winners (Jack Albertson, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters and Ernest Borgnine), Gene Hackman joined the club as filming was underway. His was for The French Connection (1971.) (Interestingly, his BAFTA in 1973 was for both Connection and Adventure!)

As a kid, I was ALL IN when it came to following the survivors of the capsized S.S. Poseidon. They faced continuous peril as they climbed and sometimes swam to the hull of the ship in hopes of being rescued.

As much as the cast is cemented in my mind as a group, it's remarkable that Ernest Borgnine and Shelley Winters actually share very few moments together one-on-one. Here, she makes a futile attempt to keep Borgnine and Hackman from squabbling.

Their most considerable interaction occurs as he is assisting her out of a tunnel and onto a steep set of steps in an overturned smokestack. For me, these two will forever be associated with the fateful voyage of the S.S. Poseidon. But ten years later they were back on the water again (and not in the soggy Poseidon sequel!)

Yes, in 1982, Borgnine and Winters were reunited for a two-part installment of The Love Boat!

They played a long-married couple of Italian heritage who are aboard to celebrate their anniversary. Their accompanying family members could hardly be more staggeringly random and unlikely.

In red at the far right is Candice Azzara and she I can buy as Borgnine and Winters' daughter, though she doesn't bear any physical resemblance. She's believable as the child of Italians.

The interesting thing here is that Azzara had appeared in the second pilot for The Love Boat! In 1977's The Love Boat II, a 2-hour telefilm, she played Lounge Entertainer Amy Mitchell, intended to be a regular cast member. But in the end, there was no such ongoing role in the popular show. Her role is this voyage is rather thankless. She's only around as an observer of other people's stories.

And, no, you weren't seeing things if you thought you recognized a young Marie Osmond in the photos above...! She played the couple's granddaughter. Her daffodil-hued, ruffled monstrosity sort of put me in the mind of the frock handed to Angela Cartwright to wear in Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979.) Osmond winds up entangled with Dynasty's John James, who is not the man her parents intended her to wed.

Their other daughter is the least likely of all... Meredith Baxter Birney! She falls for a man who was set up as a blind date, but he turns out to be a gigolo! ("Three Coins in the Condom Machine?")

Baxter had met Birney when they were cast on Bridget Loves Bernie in 1972. Is that enough Bs for you yet? The highly-rated show was pulled after one season due to controversy (interfaith marriage.) They wed in 1974 and could be found costarring or otherwise appearing together quite a bit thereafter. They divorced in 1989. (After three husbands and five children, Baxter married a woman in 2013.)

But back to the topic at hand. Borgnine (complete with a heavy Italian accent) and Winters (devoid of any accent other than her usual one!) realize that as they are celebrating their long-time marital union, they actually aren't happy with one another.

Nestled in their cabin, they determine that it might be best to divorce!

Borgnine could sometimes use a little help reining in his big personality and Winters could turn, in the wrong hands, quite hammy and more than a little shrill. There two pull out a lot of stops in order to out-act one another at times.

This Love Boat voyage didn't take place on board the usual Pacific Princess line, but instead was an Italian ship. Ironically, it was the Stella Solaris - Stella Stevens having played Borgnine's memorably sarcastic wife in Poseidon!

A tense family dinner in the salon. Shelley's dusty rose dress is something of a souped-up version of her taupe chiffon from Poseidon.

Playing a Catholic rather than a Jew, she sports a cross necklace this time out instead of the Star of David. Over Borgnine's shoulder is a waiter (also seen in the prior pic) and his gold jacket recalls the ones seen in the 1972 movie.

See what I mean? (Some of you might recall the time I was doing a rundown on The Phynx (1970) and spotted Freida Renti in that wearing this very same getup!)

At any rate, as the voyage continues, the couple keeps discovering that despite their long marital union, they just aren't happy with one-another. 

"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" anymore... (Actually, he never did!)

At times, the ham level is dialed down a notch and Winters is able to put forth some nice emotional touches. (But I couldn't help dwelling on the fellow diner behind her!)

Things finally reach a turning point for the couple outside a Roman church.

I don't think I'm ruining anyone's life too much if I tell you that they ultimately wind up sticking together and drifting along in a gondola all their own. (One hopes that with their history of maritime disaster, the thing didn't soon capsize!)

No, this wasn't Long Days Journey into Night or Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but it was nonetheless neat and fun to see these two members of the Poseidon Adventure family acting together on a ship again.

Top Ten Anniversary: Favorite TV Series

Yes, you're probably beginning to tire of these Top Ten lists, but it must be done! Ha ha! The following programs are the ones that really stuck to me over the years and are my own personal favorites. I don't claim that they are the best, but they speak to me the most. Again, it was hard to whittle the list down, but this is how it panned out.

BARNABY JONES -- First of all, the opening theme song and the introduction of the stars and guest stars. Watching this on grandpa's knee (an appropriate place!) instilled in me a deep affection for most all "Quinn Martin productions," whose shows nearly always began that way (and were divided into "Acts" on screen.) The 1970s were a time for gimmicky detectives: the bald one, the fat one, the one with a cockatoo... This was the old one and even though Mr. Buddy Ebsen lived thirty more years after the show's premiere (!), he was a milk-drinking, supposedly non-threatening geezer. (He was sixty-five at the time of the show's debut!) But he was usually a dead shot with his pistol when the time came. The show, regardless of its real or imagined merits, is so soothing to me to watch. Familiar faces in compelling plot lines with inevitable lines like, "Call Lt. Biddle..." It's comfort food for the brain to me. I adored Lee Meriwether as Ebsen's daughter-in-law receptionist. Less so Mark Shera as a cousin who came on in the fourth season, but he's okay. The real pleasure is seeing people underestimate the old codger until they are tripped up by his forensics and keen intellect. It definitely jumped the shark, though, when Ebsen was shown disco dancing in a late episode!

CHARLIE'S ANGELS -- As a tyke, my bedtime was strictly 9:00pm. Knowing how obsessed I was with Charlie's Angels (the whole world was, it seemed, in 1976!), my mother relented and allowed me to watch it every other Wednesday. However, when previews showed that on my "off" week, the gals were going to be shackled together in a women's prison, my protestations to see the episode were so great that my mom relented and let me watch it (and thereafter I watched it every week... give 'em an inch and they take a mile! Ha ha!) I worshiped Farrah Fawcett, but liked all the Angels, including Shelley Hack, until the last season when the final cast change to Tanya Roberts (and a location shift to Hawaii) turned me off. Watching it now, as I still do on the treadmill, the gals aren't all that hold my attention. The clingy polyester slacks on the men in that era can be real eye-openers!

DYNASTY -- Somewhere out there is bound to be someone who claims to have been a bigger fan of this show than I was, though I can't imagine how. I was utterly, completely OBSESSED with it from almost the moment it started. The fact that it was going to star Linda Evans, who I hadn't seen at all in the interim since The Big Valley and Pamela Sue Martin, who'd figured heavily in The Poseidon Adventure (as well as The Nancy Drew Mysteries) guaranteed that I would be watching the three-hour premiere. The whole notion of a regular gay character was rather mind-blowing to me at age fourteen. Once Joan Collins showed up, it was must-see TV for me and most of the world. I bought every magazine that previewed or profiled the show, called Hollywood long distance to speak to Esther Shapiro directly (!) about a plot line (didn't get through to her... I wonder why not. Ha ha!) and even made certain that my senior prom tuxedo was as close a copy to the morning suits worn to Amanda Carrington's wedding that was possible on my family's budget! The show over the long haul was uneven to say the least and plagued by cast changes, but practically any episode remains fun if only for the clothes and the often chippy dialogue and campy situations.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE -- I never saw a single episode of this series in its initial airing or even in reruns (somehow it seemed to disappear in my area for a long while) until one time - late at night - a few episodes began appearing. Eventually, I got the whole series on DVD and became fascinated by the austere performances, the labyrinthine schemes of the missions and just the general team atmosphere, which had always appealed to me from my comic book days. The show was formulaic, but it was a formula that worked. And that theme song!  The show, like more than one Desilu production was racially progressive in that little or no mention was every made about Greg Morris' skin color in the story lines. Cast changes occurred with certain regularity, but generally the concept held up thanks to stalwarts Peter Graves (there after season one for original leader Steven Hill) and Morris hanging in for the long haul. The cool, sleek style of the show (including those wonderful "black & white" apartment sequences) appeals to me greatly.

STAR TREK -- It goes without saying that Gene Roddenberry's short-lived sci-fi series inspired legions of fans into forming a cult of Trekkies Trekkers who've gone on to support a long train of subsequent series and movies.  For me, it all starts and virtually ends with the first show and its vivid colors, passionate performances and glamorous guest stars, often with hair stacked to the stars and diaphanous costumes (by William Ware Theiss) with unusual pieces missing. William Shatner has his detractors, but I happen to love his enthusiastic and heroic line readings. DeForest Kelley's cantankerous doctor is my favorite (apart from the elegant Nichelle Nichols), but I also appreciate the iconic performance of Leonard Nimoy as the emotionless Mr. Spock. Grace Lee Whitney's towering basket-weave hairstyle as Yeoman Rand helped solidify my obsession with such things. I was so captivated by the uniforms of the Starship Enterprise that, as a bored teen working at Wendy's, I used to picture all the customers in the dining room wearing them, after deciding which of the three colors would look best on them, of course!

THE BIG VALLEY -- As a kid with abandonment issues, nothing hit home quite like the extremely strong familial bond of The Barkleys, especially the way they took in a bastard son of the deceased father and made him one of their own. (This development alone was a bit prickly for TV in 1965.) The show went off the air when I was two, so I never saw it until mid-day reruns years later when I became enthralled with the sweeping musical intro, the highly telegenic cast and its wealth of dramatic story material. I thought no one on earth was more beautiful than the Barbie-like Linda Evans or more handsome than blue-eyed Lee Majors. Iron-clad Barbara Stanwyck, fiery Peter Breck and even handed Richard Long completed the quintet (and complimented one another grandly.) Toss in extraordinarily good guest stars and some wondrous music within each episode and it was a total winner in my eyes. To this day, disliking my own last name incredibly, I give "Barkley" to hostesses in restaurants. And I'm still looking to kiss a Jarrod and a Nick, having already tackled the seemingly tougher ones: Victoria, Audra and Heath! LOL

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW -- Part of my childhood viewing that stayed in my head and heart, I don't think there was anyone as multi-talented as Carol Burnett. Not only that, she was careful to surround herself with stellar supporting cast members such as Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway, who all complimented her - and each other - terrifically. And early costar Lyle Waggoner was easy on the eyes to be sure. So many incredible characterizations were created on the show whether it be from the many spot-on movie parodies, Mr. Tudball & Mrs. Wiggins, the dotty Stella Toddler, Nora Desmond, the ham actors Funt and Mundane, Conway's old (old!) man and, of course, Eunice Higgins and her crazy family.  Naturally, over time, some of the topical and pop culture humor is diffused, but most of these sketches remain hilarious. Long missing from rerun broadcasts are the huge musical productions that usually closed the weekly show and those are often quite a spectacle to behold (in no small part thanks to the show's incredible costumer Bob Mackie.) Like most of the shows that comprise this list, it was the cast chemistry that truly put this in a class of its own.

THE COLBYS -- With people like Charlton Heston, Katharine Ross, Ricardo Montalban and Barbara Stanwyck among the cast as promised, there was no way I was going to miss the premiere of (what was then called) Dynasty II: The Colbys. (That theme song!!) Whatever glamour Dynasty had, and it had tons, this show outdid, especially at a time when the parent show had managed to saddle Joan Collins with a story line that had her dressed down to the point of being in a nun's habit! This was the year that Dynasty slipped from #1 and never fully recovered. The Colbys was a grand, old-fashioned, meaty family drama and power struggle with (sometimes lunatic) secrets and rivalries. Unfortunately, though I grew to appreciate her own charms, Emma Samms as the long-lost Fallon was positively 180 degrees different in nearly every conceivable area than her predecessor Pamela Sue Martin, which turned a lot of people off. A visibly frail Stanwyck's premature departure was another big hit to the show's life. But there will never be anyone like Stephanie Beacham's Sable Colby, a standout amid the gargantuan cast, as noted elsewhere. For that I will always be devoted to the show.

THE GOLDEN GIRLS -- When I speak of chemistry among a cast, this is the pinnacle of it. It makes no difference if Bea Arthur and Betty White bristled a bit behind the scenes. On screen they, along with Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, worked extraordinarily well together and generated a hit that, on paper, seemed impossible to the network chiefs: four older ladies living together in a house in Miami, Florida. An expert pilot paved the way for a terrific run in which each gal won an Emmy and created comic hijinks that one can safely say are broadcast almost every hour of every day, time and again, worldwide. Golden Girls fans know all the lines by heart and quote them all the time. We know each other. If we say the cue, another fan knows the punchline. Among my own favorite installments are the ones in which: Dorothy's friend is a lesbian, Dorothy's son is marrying an older black woman, Blanche's brother is gay, the ladies are posing for a sculptor, Blanche and Sophia are dating the same man, Rose dates a dwarf and the ladies are set to meet Burt Reynolds at a film premiere. But it's like choosing a favorite child. There's something great in practically all the episodes (though I am devoted to seasons 1 through 4, before expert director Terry Hughes left, versus the remaining ones.)

THE LOVE BOAT -- Again, the blend/chemistry of the cast made a huge impact on the success of a show, but as able as they are, the crew of the boat are not the reason why I love this show... it's the PARADE OF GUEST STARS! Several series did it, from the more dramatic Fantasy Island to the more elegant Hotel and even the delightful Murder, She Wrote, but The Love Boat was key in unearthing great stars that young Hollywood generally had no interest in, but which nostalgic TV viewers enjoyed giving the once-over to after their time in the sun had passed. While its true that a few old-timers held out and didn't take a cruise, more often than not, any old star who could still draw breath popped up on at least one episode of this show during the course of its long run. Sometimes, if the performer was musically inclined, he or she even got to perform (as in the case of Carol Channing, Ethel Merman and Ann Miller - all at once!) They even excavated long-absent, two-time Oscar-winning Best Actress Luise Rainer, fer cryin' out loud! Much of this was surely due to producer Aaron Spelling, who was a busy 1950s character actor and party host before he turned mega-producer, calling upon old friends to appear on his series.

BONUS PICS!

The initial threesome who made up Charlie's Angels were photographed endlessly as they promoted the TV-movie pilot and eventual series. I thought this one was fun. (The pilot, by the way, was expected to tank, but brought in HUGE numbers. Even then the execs could hardly believe it so they re-ran it two weeks later, thinking it was a fluke, but the ratings were even higher still! So the series moved forward.)

This looks more like something out of Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) than an Angels promo. Clearly the exact style and concept of the show had not been completely honed, even taking into consideration that this was inspired by Helmut Newton (who himslef photographed Fawcett and, later, Smith for publication.)

Raise your hand if you remember "Angels '88" (which was later retitled "Angels '89" due to production delays before being abandoned completely!) Among the carefully-selected, but doomed to being unseen, Angels were Téa Leoni and Claire Yarlett. Dig the fun brooch on the gal with the ginormous shoulder pads!

It's just tough to beat that initial combination of gals...

I liked this shot of Linda Evans and John Forsythe because it's a rare one with Linda's hair much softer (and smaller!) and her eyes look terrific in it.

Just one shot of the four albums I have that are crammed full of Dynasty and The Colbys clippings/photos.

I saved every single picture of any star who was on the show and every picture from the show. If a magazine had photos on back-to-back pages, I bought two copies...! (Now I know where my youth went!)

I give you a campy portrait of spy supreme Cinnamon Carter, as portrayed by Barbara Bain.

Here's a second, even more random - though glamorous - portrait from the shoot. You can read more about Bain right here.

Strange elements in the posing for this The Big Valley portrait. Note the monochromatic blouse and pants (courtesy of Nolan Miller) on Linda Evans' Audra Barkley which would later become a staple of her Krystle Carrington wardrobe as well, often in tones of burgundy and blue.

The transformation of Audra Barkley from golden-haired colt to Brushfire Barbie (under the direction of new husband John Derek, who enjoyed crafting all his women into the same basic ideal...!)

A later version of the cast of The Love Boat. Pat Klous had replaced a substance-addicted Lauren Tewes for two seasons, Jill Whelan as Gavin McLeod's daughter had grown up to be an assistant and humpy Ted McGinley was brought on as ship's photographer.

Were you one of the seven people who watched The Love Boat: The Next Wave?  Doomed from the start thanks to a telegenic, but uninspired, cast, it also suffered the blow of star Robert Urich developing cancer during its run (which he bravely fought through, eventually appearing without hair in the wake of treatments.) Few guest stars of note came aboard, though one episode did reunite members of the first show's cast. The Love Boat ran for 250 episodes. The Next Wave ran for 25...

No matter how humiliating, did you really think I was going to refrain from sharing my senior prom photo with it's "design on a dime" approximation of the Moldavian massacre wedding suits?! Ha ha! Remember... I did say OBSESSED. But that's what TV has the power to do to us sometimes, then and now. I hope you enjoyed this post.