Television series

The Colbys

Name: The Colbys
Genre: Drama
Released: 1985
Cast: Charlton Heston, John James, Katharine Ross, Emma Samms, Maxwell Caulfield

Family drama

The Colbys is a lavish 1985 spin-off that doubles down on Dynasty's soap opera excess. Charlton Heston presides over a California dynasty where scheming, betrayal, and romance collide weekly. It's unashamed melodrama for viewers who want their drama served hot, their costumes impeccable, and their moral compromises delicious.

TVMaze rating

4.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love glossy, melodramatic soap operas where wealthy rivals scheme in sunlit mansions and the camp is played with a straight face, and you don't mind a plot that loops back on itself.

Skip it if you want a tight, plotted drama with restraint; this one runs on soapy reversals, rapid cliffhangers and big performances, and its forty-nine hours can feel like a lot.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a long haul: an hour per episode, forty-nine of them over two seasons, with storylines that lurch in sprawling bursts rather than tidy arcs.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Dynasty1981

The parent show that proved primetime could run on pure glamour and intrigue. Addictive plotting, impossible costumes, and a cast that commits entirely to the soap opera machinery.

But The pacing is glacial by modern standards, and some storylines spiral into genuine absurdity before resolving themselves.

Falcon Crest1981

Another wine-country power play with similar DNA: wealth, family secrets, and characters who scheme as naturally as they breathe. That same intoxicating mix of glamour and manipulation.

But It shares Dynasty's slowness and relies heavily on you caring about increasingly baroque family trees.

Knots Landing1979

The other Dynasty spin-off, grounded in suburban Texas but equally committed to soap opera storytelling. Excellent ensemble work and genuinely surprising twists over its long run.

But Its domestic scale might feel smaller and less glamorous than what you're after.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Colbys

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Feud2017

Both are about power dynasties where appearance and performance are everything; Feud shows you what happens when you strip away the melodrama and look at the genuine pain underneath the scheming.

A psychological drama about two women in ruthless competition, with the same attention to glamour, costumes, and the poison underneath civility. It takes the soap opera template seriously—no winking.

But It's only eight hours total and grounded in real history, so the camp is incidental rather than the point.

Dallas1978

The godfather of 1980s primetime soap opera. J.R. Ewing is the blueprint for the charming villain, and the show's oil-money plotting influenced everything that followed, including The Colbys.

But Fourteen seasons is a commitment, and the middle years lose momentum.

The Forsyte Saga1967

British miniseries that proved generational wealth and family power struggles could anchor serious drama. Beautifully shot, with actual emotional weight beneath the social observation.

But The pace and register are entirely different—no camp, no melodrama, just restrained bitterness.

Lace1984

A miniseries event that understands the appeal of glamorous women with secrets. Joan Collins at her most delicious, and a plot that actually earns its melodrama.

But As a miniseries it's done in four hours—not the ongoing weekly commitment you might want.

Flamingo Road1981

Underrated soap with a working-class protagonist fighting her way into Florida high society. Good ensemble cast and a slightly grittier take on the wealth-and-secrets formula.

But Lower production values and less reliable writing than the major soap operas.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst2015

Both explore how enormous wealth isolates people and permits extraordinary bad behavior; one is fantasy, one is the nightmare version.

A real-life multimillionaire whose family dysfunction, schemes, and moral basement make any fictional drama look quaint. Mesmerizing true crime that treats wealth and entitlement the same way The Colbys did—as a character engine.

But It's a dark documentary about actual murders, not entertainment in the same register. Heavy, upsetting, and real.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst poster

Bloodline2015

Both understand family businesses as prisons; The Colbys celebrates the prison bars, Bloodline shows you the psychological cost of living inside them.

A modern family drama set in the Florida Keys where inherited wealth and family loyalty become an inescapable trap. Netflix series with serious actors and genuine darkness. Same moral universe as The Colbys, but nobody's having fun.

But Relentlessly grim and slow; there's no glamour or camp to lighten the familial betrayal.