In his review, Todd VanDerWerff noted, "In a way, YouTube is the perfect vehicle through which to discover 'Dynasty'. Many, many shows have taken the lessons on pacing that 'Dynasty' taught to serialized TV and pushed things even further ... 'Dynasty' is perhaps the foremost TV series chronicling a nation's desire to celebrate its wealth as extravagantly as possible.
"To watch 'Dynasty' today (in 2013) is to be slightly mystified as to how the program could have ever gotten so popular, to the point where it attained wide critical acclaim and even won a Golden Globe for Best Drama Series. Like so many Aaron Spelling programs, it feels frozen in time. The Reagan-era excess drips from the program like honey …
'Dynasty' rose out of Spelling’s ability to see what was getting popular in the Nielsens and predict that the public would want more of it."
Aaron Spelling once said, "I think there is a need to escape. I think it is a release valve that keeps people from blowing their brains out or having nervous breakdowns. We find that the majority of our audience is worried, really worried, about the cost of food, how much it costs to send your kid to school, the cost of clothes. Unfortunately, we often have to make the choice between 150 critics and 150 million Americans out there, and I have always felt that my job was to please them. To entertain them."
John Forsythe believed, "The trick to doing 'Dynasty' was to present a realistic world with a fairy-tale icing." Jack Coleman recalled, "Most of the scenes in 'Dynasty' are very short and very choppy. There's a lot of storyline, and it's got to keep moving. So they don't write it the way most actors would want to play it."
Todd VanDerWerff continued, "'Dynasty' started out desperately aiming for something contemporary and classy, something that would play up the business angles of the early Reagan Era and provide the escapism of aspiration to a country starved on recession. What it needed to succeed, however, was absolute trash (or over-the-top story lines). And once it figured that out, it was the absolute finest trash TV had to offer."
During its Reagan-years run, 'Dynasty' epitomized the glamor and excesses of 1980s Reagan-era America. 'Dynasty' had been described as an hour-long commercial for clothes in which the dominant style was "a kind of out-of-date glamor with ornate clothing in bold colors and glitter." 'Dynasty' was also regarded "perfect for the fashion-conscious '80s." In Washington, Nancy Reagan worn gowns designed by Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta, on 'Dynasty', Linda Evans and Joan Collins worn outfits designed by Nolan Miller.
Speaking to 'Soap Opera Digest', Nolan Miller confessed, "I can't imagine life without a dream and I pursued mine." Of the costumes, "Visually, you have to look like the part for business. Simplicity is the best rule. It will give you more confidence for work, but you can also dress like the super-glamorous stars for special moments. Now every American woman can dress like a 'Dynasty' beauty without spending a fortune, particularly if she chooses clothes that have a harmony of proportion in the rich look and versatility of polyester."
Of Joan Collins' "dressed to kill" image, "As Alexis Colby she is obsessed with money and power. Visually she is saying, 'Look how rich I am.' On 'Dynasty' we planned that Linda (Evans) would be a low key, traditional woman, soft and elegant. I look for superb esthetics for her, fabrics with a luxurious hand, texture interest and dropability – all characteristics that will enhance and beautify the body."
"For many Americans, watching 'Dynasty' felt like having an intimate view of the lives of the hyper-rich," Laura McLaws Helms told 'Elle Canada' magazine in 2017. "Esther Shapiro realized that they wanted this type of life badly enough that they would be open to purchasing their way into it — and the 'Dynasty' licensing empire was born. It was the first television merchandising targeted at the upper middle class, yet it was available to anyone who wanted to buy into a little Carrington magic.
"While no other TV series has quite emulated the breadth and diversity of 'Dynasty's' licensing, the series changed the way networks and studios understood and exploited their products. The taste for large shoulder pads and sequined gowns has evolved and adapted to various styles since then, yet anytime they show up on the catwalks, a comparison to 'Dynasty' is inevitable."
Although Aaron Spelling wanted to create a fantasy world of the rich and famous, Esther Shapiro also stressed, ''We were doing a family show in which we talked about the values of love most of the time.'' However Brandon Stoddard of ABC did not see that in 1987 and complained story lines at the time lacked believability. Instead, Brandon Stoddard found comfort in 'Moonlighting', created by Glenn Gordon Caron and starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis.
'The New York Times' remarked, "While 'Miami Vice' is applying music-video techniques to an old police format, and while 'The Golden Girls' has found a marvelous cast to inject life into a fairly standard situation comedy, 'Moonlighting' is bringing something truly different to the medium: a private-eye formula with wit and style in both the production and the performances."
Of the number of the mid-season reruns in 1987, Brandon Stoddard lamented, ''I die when we don't have an original episode. I die for me because I enjoy the show, and I die for the audience that's sitting there saying, 'Dammit it all, when are we going to see another original?' It's a very difficult show to do. It takes 10 or 11 days to shoot an episode. It takes 20 more pages to write because of all the dialogue. It's a handmade show, not churned out on an assembly line like bottles of Pepsi.''
