20160101

THE COLBYS

In September 1987, Ronald Reagan addressed the United Nations (42nd) General Assembly. He made the comment at the time, "In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world." 

Earlier that year, in March 1987, 'The Colbys' ended its TV run with the character of Fallon leaving Earth in a UFO. Fallon was seeing drawn toward a figure emerged from a spaceship that came out of the sky. In a dream-like state, Fallon moved toward the alien. Charlton Heston told the press at the time, "It's like 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind'. You actually see the ship. It's quite a good – and may I say, expensive – effect." John Dykstra supplied the post-production light show. 

The writers chose Fallon to leave Earth with the alien because she was "the moral center" on 'The Colbys'. Maxwell Caulfield elaborated, "It's designed to make people tune in, if only to have a good laugh. Even people who don't watch the show will be intrigued by the last episode. And not just because of the UFO encounter. The storyline is galvanized right now (in 1987), driving towards a particular crisis within the family. The pacing exceeds anything we've done before. The writers have pulled all the stops out. And the cast has a genuine sense of urgency and desperation about their work, because it's one of their last chances to roll the dice." 

Back in November 1986, Associated Press reported the crew of a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 freighter aircraft sighted "2 small objects and one huge Saturn-shaped object" as the jumbo jet flew over Alaska. It was en route from Iceland to Anchorage. The lights on the objects were described as "yellow, amber and green." The Saturn-shaped object "showed up on the plane's weather radar."  

Also between March and June in 1986, Colonel (Ret.) Ozires Silva sighted UFO in São Paulo, Brazil. It was understood on the night of May 19 1986, "around 20 UFOs were seen and detected by radar in various parts of Brazil. They reportedly disappeared as 5 military aircraft were sent to intercept them." A press conference was held at the Ministry of Aeronautics in Brasilia on May 23. The Minister of Aeronautics, Brigadier General Otávio Moreira Lima announced, "Between 20:00 hrs (May 19) and 01:00 hrs (May 20) at least 20 objects were detected by Brazilian radars. 

"They saturated the radars and interrupted traffic in the area. Each time that radar detected unidentified objects, fighters took off for intercept. Radar detects only solid metallic bodies and heavy (mass) clouds. There were no clouds nor conventional aircraft in the region. The sky was clear. Radar doesn't have optical illusions. We can only give technical explanations and we don't have them. It would be very difficult for us to talk about the hypothesis of an electronic war. It's very remote and it's not the case here in Brazil."

In August 1986, the producers of 'The Colbys' threw a Season Two Premiere Cocktail Reception at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California. In 1985, Charlton Heston turned down the invitation to run for the Republican Senate seat held by Alan Cranston in 1986 because "I got all the good arguments that only a thousand men in the history of the Republic had ever been senators. Truly, I would rather play a senator than be one." However Charlton made known, "I take shameless advantage of the forum my public visibility gives me (to speak out on public issues). That's the kind of country we live in."

Strategically, Wednesday and Thursday were seeing as ABC’s savior nights in the 1985-86 TV season. In March 1985, ABC announced it had considered the pilots for its fall schedule. The network was committed to 'The Colbys' project. Emma Samms was hired to play Fallon. By July 1985, the producers of 'The Colbys' had signed Maxwell Caulfield, Barbara Stanwyck and Charlton Heston to appear in 6 episodes of 'Dynasty'. 

Filming at Paramount Studios started. Of Charlton Heston, Esther Shapiro reasoned, "Who would you cast as a combination tycoon and patriarch? Who has played more leaders of men than anyone in the world, a man who talks to presidents, to corporate leaders, a man with a public life but nevertheless a very private man. He embodied everything the character is." Associated Press reported Aaron Spelling Productions began building 'The Colbys' sets said to cost some $2 million. 

"I don't want to be the only one in a movie who's old enough to vote," Chuck explained of his decision to star on 'The Colbys'. "Movies are now (in 1985) targeted for an audience 14 to 16 years old." He told 'People' magazine Barbara Stanwyck "is the reason I did 'The Colbys'. (Barbara referred to Chuck as 'Moses.') She's a great broad. To say that she is a great lady is not the same. She is a great broad in the classic sense of the word. Most actresses would be infuriated by being called a broad. Not Barbara. She comes from the era when men like Gary Cooper and Gable thought being a broad was the best possible thing for a woman to be." 

By late August 1985, a press release confirmed Katharine Ross had been signed to play another principal character in the Colbys household and in early September, Ricardo Montalbán was signed to play an "ambitious and scheming (Machiavellian-like character), but with a kind of charm that can allow him to get away with almost anything." Of the part of Sable Colby, Stephanie Beacham recounted, "They cast me in England ('I said whatever rubbish I could remember and camped it up') and I had to come over here (to California) to say hello to Aaron Spelling. I was whisked into his office, then whisked into wardrobe and the next thing I knew I was doing a scene with Linda Evans."

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