The Baby Boomers (born between 1945 and 1964) comprised some 82 million people in 2004 (or roughly one-quarter of the American public). When the TV series 'Dynasty' went on air in 1981, the Boomers I generation was reaching 40 and the Boomers II generation was approaching 30. 'Dynasty' was described as "an American fantasy". Esther Shapiro told 'New York' magazine in 1985, "I was pretty much the classic young mother in the 1960s. I baked bread and went to peace marches." With 'Dynasty', "We thought people had seen enough stories where families fell apart. We wanted a strong, 19th-century sort of family where people were in conflict but loved each other in spite of everything."
According to the U.S. Census figures, there were 44.5 million Americans between the ages of 45 and 64 in 1982. In 1982, the average life expectancy of an American was 74. On TV, John Forsythe (representing the 60s), Joan Collins (representing the 50s), Linda Evans (representing the 40s) and Pamela Sue Martin (representing the 30s) found stardom on 'Dynasty' which was watched by an audience comprised 58% female, almost half were 50 plus. "This is where the business is," one beautician said, matter-of-factly. "In the 1950s, middle age was 35 to 45, maybe 50 if you pushed it. There were no ads directed to the women over 50, and no woman would admit to being over 50. But a change has occurred in the last 5 or 6 years (around 1980): It's no longer unfashionable to be over 40."
Linda Evans: "Krystle has never been taxed with such problems as the resentment of Blake's daughter toward her. She has to work, made enough money to live on, come home and had fun with friends. Now, suddenly, she encounters not only an aggressive stepdaughter but enters a whole new way of life in which she has to deal with some of the most intelligent and wealthiest people in the world."
Pamela Sue Martin: "Playing Fallon is great fun. She has so much strength, sparkle and wit – she makes a statement each time she walks into a room . . . I think one of the most valuable things in life is the exchange of information. I try to live in the flow of information. I like to one way or another exchange with people or with books or movies or art."
John Forsythe: "Playing Judge Fleming in that film ('And Justice For All'), doing an absolute villain, is responsible for a curious kind of renaissance in my career. I even think that this part in 'Dynasty' came to me because of 'Justice'. Had I not played the evil Judge Fleming, I don't think they would have thought of me for this tycoon, who can be very rough on occasion."
Esther recalled, "We found that the audience wasn't interested in the oil workers' stories but people were just fascinated by what was going on inside that castle." By the 1985-86 season, some 120 million viewers in New York, Los Angeles and Europe were counted watching 'Dynasty'. Eileen Pollock observed, "The thing Esther is best at is figuring out how each character will react to an event." Robert Pollock added, "She has a very good story instinct; she's not as good at story creation. She knows what is going to turn on audiences, what is going to light up the skies, what is contemporary, what is current - and what is going to be dreary on television."
William F Buckley Jr. once said, "Life can't be all bad when for $10 you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for 10 years." On 'Dynasty', money would otherwise be used to film car chases and shoot on location were allocated to the wardrobe budget, which by the 1985-86 season came to about $1 million a week. Nolan Miller beamed, "When Aaron (Spelling) called in 1980 to tell me about his proposed new show, 'Dynasty', he said, 'At last I have a show that will make you happy'. 'Dynasty' was a designer's dream." Linda acknowledged, "My wardrobe is fantastic. I guess it's every woman's fantasy come true."
Clairvoyance was first introduced on 'Dynasty' in the 25th episode of the 2nd season when the fortune-teller Adriana (played by Viveca Lindfors) did a reading for Alexis in Rome. "Tell me about the future," Alexis enthused, "what do you see in the (crystal) ball?" Adriana interpreted from the Tarot cards that a powerful man who was attracted to Alexis was going to ask her to marry him. They did - in an intensive care unit after he had recovered from a severe heart attack as a result of him making love to her. However 3 episodes into the 3rd season, he would expire leaving Alexis with power and money. Tarot cards reading dated back to 1440. It was understood the character Cecil Colby was dropped "purely for plot purposes" because "as long as Cecil was married to Alexis, her story could not advance but, if he died, she could become the richest widow in Denver. So he was sent to his eternal reward just after they were married in his hospital room."
Tony Komheiser of Creators Syndicate went to New Orleans in 1997. "Being a journalist," he wrote, "I consider myself a man of fact and science. I place no credence in the frothy, imprecise foolishness of speculative pseudosciences, like astrology or psychic readings." However for the story, "I went to a Tarot reader here in the French Quarter. For those of you who have never had a Tarot reading, there is a deck of 78 cards, and the reader turns over 10, and from those 10, he or she tells you what's going to happen to you in the future. Some of the cards contain eerie Gothic drawings of people symbolizing hifalutin concepts, like Beauty or Hope."
Mrs Mona from New Orleans told Sarah Jensen of 'Ludington Daily News' in 2001 she became aware of her psychic ability when she was 7 years old after realizing she could sense details from a person's past and future, "I could just look at people and see what's coming and see what went on in the past." Mona maintained that everyone had the inborn ability to look within and develop intituition and awareness, that seeing the past and the future. It was "a natural gift from God." But Mona insisted a lot of people had never attempted to access at a level of consciousness "however valuable it might be in the process of self-discovery."
In August 2007, Associated Press visited Otis Biggs at the Bottom of the Cup Tea Room in the French Quarter to report, "What's in the cards for New Orleans: A different city with the old worries?" Otis had over 30 years of experience telling fortunes told the Associated Press, "There's hope," after he had shuffled his deck of Tarot cards "to peer into the future to 2015, the storm's 10th anniversary." Associated Press reported, "There are geophysical challenges ahead too. By 2015, parts of New Orleans will have subsided nearly an additional 8 inches. Roughly 240 more square miles of the eroding wetlands that protect the city from storm surge will be gone by 2015." One urban geographer told the Associated Press "by 2015, the city's population will be about 350,000."
Back in April 1970, John Keasler told the world via 'The Blade - Peach Section', "I believe in everything. Unfortunately, believing in everything has an unfortunate tendency to cancel lots of things out – nevertheless, I’m forever being asked to relate my experiences in precognition, automatic writing, ESP, astral projection, spirit guides, and New Orleans. I first knew I was sensitive when only 6.
"One night I sat bolt upright in bed, after a dream, and shouted, 'Our dog Spot has puppies!' My father jumped up and raced down to the cellar. 'Son,' he stumbled back up and said: 'Don't do things like that. You know we don't have a dog.' However, in less than 2 years I was given a puppy. I named it Bossy. (I wanted a cow.) But it had several spots on it, one particularly large one over its left eye. You should have seen it.
"I was never a good arithmetic student. When I was in the 10th grade, final exams were coming up. The night before the exam, I dreamed – this dream had a lifelike quality I can't explain – that I saw every problem I would get on the exam. The minute I picked up the exam the next day, a chill went through me. My dream had been accurate! The amazing coincidence is I had the same dream the following year when I was taking 10th grade business arithmetic again, after flunking. Every problem was in the dream. Gee, I wish my dream had dreamed the answers as well as the problems.
"Nobody believes this one. But once I was getting out of a taxi, with my packed suitcases, and a voice as clear as I am speaking now suddenly said, 'John Keasler, don't take flight 306 to Chicago.' I looked around but, of course, nobody was there – no human, that is. I went on in the terminal, puzzled. Fortunately, I was at the bus terminal taking a Greyhound to Little Rock. Don't tell me unseen forces don't protect us.
"Possibly the most startling psychic experience I ever had was just the other night (back in April 1970), after eating 3 salami sandwiches and reading an entire issue of 'Mccall's'. It was very late. Perhaps I dozed. (Who knows the mysteries of the subconscious: of universal awareness?) A deep voice suddenly said, 'This is your dead Uncle Oscar Joe. Don't be frightened, Winston.'
"'My name's John,' I said, strangely calm. 'And I don't have a dead Uncle Oscar Joe.' The deep voice said, 'Isn’t this 698 Maplewood Circle?' I said, 'No. This is 689 Fernwood Road.' The deep voice said, 'See, Clara? I knew we should have turned right at the Texaco. Big mouth.' I jumped up and searched the room but, of course, nobody was there. I did find a quarter under the dresser, however."
John Forsythe: "Playing Judge Fleming in that film ('And Justice For All'), doing an absolute villain, is responsible for a curious kind of renaissance in my career. I even think that this part in 'Dynasty' came to me because of 'Justice'. Had I not played the evil Judge Fleming, I don't think they would have thought of me for this tycoon, who can be very rough on occasion."
Esther recalled, "We found that the audience wasn't interested in the oil workers' stories but people were just fascinated by what was going on inside that castle." By the 1985-86 season, some 120 million viewers in New York, Los Angeles and Europe were counted watching 'Dynasty'. Eileen Pollock observed, "The thing Esther is best at is figuring out how each character will react to an event." Robert Pollock added, "She has a very good story instinct; she's not as good at story creation. She knows what is going to turn on audiences, what is going to light up the skies, what is contemporary, what is current - and what is going to be dreary on television."
William F Buckley Jr. once said, "Life can't be all bad when for $10 you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for 10 years." On 'Dynasty', money would otherwise be used to film car chases and shoot on location were allocated to the wardrobe budget, which by the 1985-86 season came to about $1 million a week. Nolan Miller beamed, "When Aaron (Spelling) called in 1980 to tell me about his proposed new show, 'Dynasty', he said, 'At last I have a show that will make you happy'. 'Dynasty' was a designer's dream." Linda acknowledged, "My wardrobe is fantastic. I guess it's every woman's fantasy come true."
Clairvoyance was first introduced on 'Dynasty' in the 25th episode of the 2nd season when the fortune-teller Adriana (played by Viveca Lindfors) did a reading for Alexis in Rome. "Tell me about the future," Alexis enthused, "what do you see in the (crystal) ball?" Adriana interpreted from the Tarot cards that a powerful man who was attracted to Alexis was going to ask her to marry him. They did - in an intensive care unit after he had recovered from a severe heart attack as a result of him making love to her. However 3 episodes into the 3rd season, he would expire leaving Alexis with power and money. Tarot cards reading dated back to 1440. It was understood the character Cecil Colby was dropped "purely for plot purposes" because "as long as Cecil was married to Alexis, her story could not advance but, if he died, she could become the richest widow in Denver. So he was sent to his eternal reward just after they were married in his hospital room."
Tony Komheiser of Creators Syndicate went to New Orleans in 1997. "Being a journalist," he wrote, "I consider myself a man of fact and science. I place no credence in the frothy, imprecise foolishness of speculative pseudosciences, like astrology or psychic readings." However for the story, "I went to a Tarot reader here in the French Quarter. For those of you who have never had a Tarot reading, there is a deck of 78 cards, and the reader turns over 10, and from those 10, he or she tells you what's going to happen to you in the future. Some of the cards contain eerie Gothic drawings of people symbolizing hifalutin concepts, like Beauty or Hope."
Mrs Mona from New Orleans told Sarah Jensen of 'Ludington Daily News' in 2001 she became aware of her psychic ability when she was 7 years old after realizing she could sense details from a person's past and future, "I could just look at people and see what's coming and see what went on in the past." Mona maintained that everyone had the inborn ability to look within and develop intituition and awareness, that seeing the past and the future. It was "a natural gift from God." But Mona insisted a lot of people had never attempted to access at a level of consciousness "however valuable it might be in the process of self-discovery."
In August 2007, Associated Press visited Otis Biggs at the Bottom of the Cup Tea Room in the French Quarter to report, "What's in the cards for New Orleans: A different city with the old worries?" Otis had over 30 years of experience telling fortunes told the Associated Press, "There's hope," after he had shuffled his deck of Tarot cards "to peer into the future to 2015, the storm's 10th anniversary." Associated Press reported, "There are geophysical challenges ahead too. By 2015, parts of New Orleans will have subsided nearly an additional 8 inches. Roughly 240 more square miles of the eroding wetlands that protect the city from storm surge will be gone by 2015." One urban geographer told the Associated Press "by 2015, the city's population will be about 350,000."
Back in April 1970, John Keasler told the world via 'The Blade - Peach Section', "I believe in everything. Unfortunately, believing in everything has an unfortunate tendency to cancel lots of things out – nevertheless, I’m forever being asked to relate my experiences in precognition, automatic writing, ESP, astral projection, spirit guides, and New Orleans. I first knew I was sensitive when only 6.
"One night I sat bolt upright in bed, after a dream, and shouted, 'Our dog Spot has puppies!' My father jumped up and raced down to the cellar. 'Son,' he stumbled back up and said: 'Don't do things like that. You know we don't have a dog.' However, in less than 2 years I was given a puppy. I named it Bossy. (I wanted a cow.) But it had several spots on it, one particularly large one over its left eye. You should have seen it.
"I was never a good arithmetic student. When I was in the 10th grade, final exams were coming up. The night before the exam, I dreamed – this dream had a lifelike quality I can't explain – that I saw every problem I would get on the exam. The minute I picked up the exam the next day, a chill went through me. My dream had been accurate! The amazing coincidence is I had the same dream the following year when I was taking 10th grade business arithmetic again, after flunking. Every problem was in the dream. Gee, I wish my dream had dreamed the answers as well as the problems.
"Nobody believes this one. But once I was getting out of a taxi, with my packed suitcases, and a voice as clear as I am speaking now suddenly said, 'John Keasler, don't take flight 306 to Chicago.' I looked around but, of course, nobody was there – no human, that is. I went on in the terminal, puzzled. Fortunately, I was at the bus terminal taking a Greyhound to Little Rock. Don't tell me unseen forces don't protect us.
"Possibly the most startling psychic experience I ever had was just the other night (back in April 1970), after eating 3 salami sandwiches and reading an entire issue of 'Mccall's'. It was very late. Perhaps I dozed. (Who knows the mysteries of the subconscious: of universal awareness?) A deep voice suddenly said, 'This is your dead Uncle Oscar Joe. Don't be frightened, Winston.'
"'My name's John,' I said, strangely calm. 'And I don't have a dead Uncle Oscar Joe.' The deep voice said, 'Isn’t this 698 Maplewood Circle?' I said, 'No. This is 689 Fernwood Road.' The deep voice said, 'See, Clara? I knew we should have turned right at the Texaco. Big mouth.' I jumped up and searched the room but, of course, nobody was there. I did find a quarter under the dresser, however."
