Was Stanwyck's role wasted on The Colbys?

[willie oleson]

I mean, would things have been very different if she had played a different role, something like the wicked Mary Carson from the Thorn Birds?
In other words, do you think she could have been the next JR/Angela?
And how would that reflect Sable's position?
I for one don't like 2 leading villains because I don't want either of them to win.
Most people think Dynasty's S9 was better because of Stephanie Beacham, but with Alexis still around it didn't really work for me.
I much rather see the villain torturing innocent heroines.
Alexis vs Sammy Jo was OK because they operated/schemed on different levels and besides Sammy Jo wasn't even in the same league as Alexis.

Of course the name Barabara Stanwyck was a great addition to the spin-off soap but still I think she could have done so much more than, well, just being there (and dress up like Calamity Jane every now and then)

[SnarkyOracle!]

Problem is, the writers didn't really make Alexis much of a manipulator. She was more like a grown up Kristen Shepard: a grasping, sarcastic vixen who occasionally shot somebody.

[willie oleson]

Nevertheless, she ended up as one of the most hated (female) tv characters ever.
That's some sort of accomplishment, isn't it?

[Matthew Blaisdel]

Connie had a lot of potential... but as so often, they didn't use it. I LOVED her evil-smiling face, when she was listening first time to the dirty-talk-tape she recorded from Zach and Sable..
She should have done much more dirty business, f.e. try to overtake Powers Shipping instead of hanging around with that boring cowboy..

To Sammy Jo and Alexis... that's for me a little bit like Britney Spears and Madonna..

[ChrisSumnerMatheson]

I LOVED Connie from the first appearances on Dynasty. I know many were annoyed with her (including Stanwyck), but she was a lot of fun in the first season. I can watch Sabella run her over all day!

[TJames03]

Gee, I am glad that I am not the only one that didn't care too much for Conny! There was nothing specific in why I didn't like her, it just was. I think that they should have BEGGED BS to come back for the final episode and have Conny standing there in the doorway when the UFO ramp lowers to the ground to greet Fallon! She and Hutch could have been abducted by the same UFO before their plane exploded!

Seriously though, I have always wondered if TPTB were planning on recasting Conny had the series went on as her body was never found.

[Jason!]

Stanwyck was a legend. She just didn't have anything to do on The Colbys. And God, I hate it when LoveLaura does this but she was their Miss Ellie. Stanywck and Beacham were terrific together, but they created this backstory of Connie being such a powerful businesswoman in her time and she ended up with a story of denture swapping.

As much as I loved Stanwyck, I would have cast Lana Turner. Still, the writing would have to have improved.

[TJames03]

I agree that it was really only Conny that could keep Sable in line, but that seemed to be her only purpose on the show - which is not a bad thing, but Conny seemed so one-dimensional (but this IS The Colbys that we are talking about here). Sadly, she WAS wasted.

[Jason!]

I don't think Stanwyck was wasted. I enjoyed her time on screen. However, TPTB didn't know what to do with the character, and it was obviously frustrating for her, so she gave everyone hell.

Still think Lana Turner would have been perfect. Also, think of the hype. They could have created a rivalry between TC and FC and it might have helped both shows.

[willie oleson]

Yes, maybe if she had a more important role, like Jane Wyman.
That was the point of this thread: should Connie have been The Colby's First Bitch?

[Jason!]

Hell, yeah! When she got to show it, it was wonderful -- not only all her scenes with Sable, but the few times she's with Zach Powers. Would loved to have seen the two go at it! Business, that is!

[Colbyco]

I(...) Still think Lana Turner would have been perfect. Also, think of the hype. They could have created a rivalry between TC and FC and it might have helped both shows.

-a great idea !!!!
I would have loved to see the Lana/Constance. I cound ´t stand Stanwyck...

[Brian Carrington Colby]

Like everyone has mentioned, there was soooooo much potential wasted concerning Constance.

The biggest fumble I think was that the Powers That Be left Connie out of the boardroom. At one point mid-Season 1 she confronted Jason and said she was coming back to work. But she never really did, except to give Zach a dressing down.

Can you imagine the fireworks that would of been generated between Jason and Connie if she started taking control of Colby Enterprises. It would of created much needed friction between her and Jason for sure, but with just about every other character as well. Would Frankie side with her love Jason or her friend Connie? Jeff the side of his newfound father or his beloved aunt? Miles, Monica, Bliss, Fallon, everyone would be forced to choose sides! But most of all, it would of brought the feud between Sable and Connie to an all time high. Sable would never allow Connie to best Jason when all is said and done.

But no, Constance was kept to the sidelines as the season came to it's conclusion. Sure, there were glimpses of the Lioness, the spying on Sable and the threat to Zach, but they were too fleeting and few.

I wonder, if Constance was written some meaty scenes in Season 1, would Barbara Stanwyck of been content and would she of come back for the second season? I've always wondered because Stanwyck just seemed crotchety from the write-ups I remember reading from the time. Maybe it was just her total discontent showing, but I've always wondered.

As for recasting Connie, considering the disasters Dynasty & The Colbys had, that is a subject I shudder to think of.

Lana Turner in the role of Connie? It's an intriguing thought. Lana just had glamour to burn, so I couldn't see her wearing a cowboy hat and leather pants going to meet a cowboy like Stanwyck did in the first episode. LOL. Yet, in terms of the "Dynasty" overall style, Lana might of fit in better. Her Connie would of given Sable a run for her money in terms of glamour and style, more than Stanwyck's Connie could. And Lana could play bitchy very, very well.

Yup, lost opportunity concerning the character for sure.

[Brian Carrington Colby]

As to whether Connie was the show's first bitch, I think of Connie as a mix of Barbara Stanwyck's past roles. I don't think Connie was an out and out devious Phyllis Dietrichson or Martha Ivers, but she had a steely reserve that no man or woman would want to cross.

Connie was a "broad" in the non-derogatory sense of the word.

As for her dealings with Sable, I think when the show starts there are just too many years of stated and unstated acromony between the two that Constance and Sable are in "attack" mode whenever they are forced to deal with each other.

Just a thought, maybe the two women were just too much alike to ever be true friends. Sable was more than just an out and out bitch as well, so, maybe that's a thought there.

[Colbyco]

Conny was really wasted. she only had good scenes in giving Sable some hard words.... Conny back in the boardroom making every buisness descision really heavy for the family would have been great. I love when Sable joins the boardroom in S2 and shows Jason her power -together with Conny it could have been even better

[nubberjubber007]

conny was only realy there to give Sable someone to lay the blam for everything on. She acted like a pushy mother-in-law and that was basicly it. Although the few scenes she had when she was putting sable in her place where good, they could have had a realy good charicter AND a good actress, as it was they waisted that opotunity and conny became... just conny.

[Jason!]

So, you're saying award winning Hollywood legend Barbara Stanwyck wasn't a good actress? I agree she wasn't given much to do on The Colbys, but I wouldn't call her a bad actress.

[nubberjubber007]

:p :p
they could have had a realy good charicter AND a good actress, as it was they waisted that opotunity and conny became... just conny.
NO I WAS SAYING THAT THE ATCRESS WAS GOOD BUT THE CHARICTOR WAS A LOAD OF CRAP!:p

[lbf522]

Stanwyck left the show because she hated how her character was wasted. There was potential with Connie never explored. Instead of having her being the head of the family company as well as the Colby family, they wasted her in a silly romantic storyline.

[Jason!]

Missy was just hard to get along with. The romantic story had her approval and she cast Campanella for the role of Hutch herself.

[SERVALAN]

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