| “ | The original is so iconic and we wanted to pay tribute to it in some way [...] I love that anthemic quality of what Bill Conti did with that theme. It was so romantic. Paul [Leonard-Morgan] found a way to adapt that trumpet and that piece he captured from original score and give it such swagger and a new context. Which generally is the theme of our reboot: giving it more attitude and swagger than the original had at that point in time.
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| Sallie Patrick, via Vulture (October 25, 2017).[1] | ||
The Dynasty title sequence was featured in the majority of episodes of The CW's Dynasty presenting the series' cast members, consisting of clips from the show itself for the second season onward.
The complete cast of the series includes Elizabeth Gillies (seasons 1-5), Nathalie Kelley (1), James Mackay (1-2), Robert Christopher Riley (1-5), Sam Adegoke (1-5), Rafael de la Fuente (1-5), Alan Dale (1-4), Grant Show (1-5), Nicollette Sheridan (2), Ana Brenda Contreras (2), Maddison Brown (2-5), Sam Underwood (2-5), Daniella Alonso (3-5), Michael Michele (3-5), Adam Huber (3-5), Elaine Hendrix (3-5), and Eliza Bennett (5).
Conceptualization and Development[]
Inspired by the opening theme of the 1980s Dynasty, Paul Leonard-Morgan composed a shorter, modern update of Bill Conti's original song and conducted an orchestra at Capitol Records in Hollywood to record it. Unlike the original song, nearly three minutes in length, the title sequence for the first season of The CW reboot is only 15 seconds.[1]
Leonard-Morgan worked with Grammy winner Troy NõKA on the tracks underlying beats, infusing the soundtrack for Dynasty with an '80s-rock vibe, which is brought out in the title song. When modernizing the theme, Leonard-Morgan opted to layer the trumpet with other beats and speed it up, using the original recording as a simple in there. According to Leonard-Morgan, "It could be a lot more modern in the sense that you can get rid of the trumpet player, for example, but then you lose the essence of what made it in the first place."[1]
Due to the title song not being ready for premiere week, Sallie Patrick chose for its debut to take place in the 1980s-themed third episode of the first season.[1] A 30-second version of the title song was originally produced for the first season, but was never aired. Both the 15-second version and unaired 30-second version contained promotional stills of the main cast. For the second season onward, the cast members' names were displayed across clips from the show itself. Every season, the strings were re-recorded and more beats and synths are added.[2]
Evolution[]
Season 1[]
The theme song makes its series debut in the third episode, displaying the eight original main cast members: Elizabeth Gillies, Nathalie Kelley, James Mackay, Robert Christopher Riley, Sam Adegoke, Rafael de la Fuente, Alan Dale, and Grant Show. The sequence concludes with the series' title card, followed by crediting Sallie Patrick, Josh Schwartz, and Stephanie Savage for developing the series, and noting Dynasty to be based on the television series created by Richard and Esther Shapiro.
The full title sequence is featured in 12 out of 22 episodes of the season, with the exceptions being "I Hardly Recognized You", "Spit It Out", "The Best Things In Life", "Rotten Things", "A Well-Dressed Tarantula", "I Answer to No Man", "The Gospel According to Blake Carrington", "Enter Alexis", "Use or Be Used", and "A Line From the Past".
Season 2[]
The title sequence is drastically reworked for the second season, extended from 15 seconds to 22 seconds, with the cast members' names displayed across clips from the show itself as opposed to promotional stills of the actors. The increase in time in influenced by the cast going from featuring eight series regulars in the title sequence to ten series regulars at a time. Additionally, due to the amount of cast changes within the season, three versions of the sequence exist. Debuting in the second episode of the season, the title sequence initially displays ten cast members: Elizabeth Gillies, Nicollette Sheridan, Ana Brenda Contreras, James Mackay, Rafael de la Fuente, Robert Christopher Riley, Sam Adegoke, Maddison Brown, Alan Dale, and Grant Show. Sheridan and Contreras replace Kelley in the line-up, and De La Fuente is bumped up from being listed after Adegoke to being listed after Mackay.
The second version of the title sequence comes in the fifth episode of the season, following Mackay's departure from the series. A total of nine cast members are listed, the lowest amount of series regulars since the premiere season. Sheridan's exit from the series marks the debut of the third and final version of the season's title sequence in the sixteenth episode. Additionally, Sam Underwood is added to the line-up, listed after De La Fuente. The full title sequence is omitted from the fifteenth episode, likely to avoid creating a version to account for the single episode overlap in Sheridan's departure and Underwood's promotion.
The full title sequence is featured in 18 out of 22 episodes of the season, with the exceptions being "Twenty-Three Skidoo", "Even Worms Can Procreate", "Parisian Legend Has It...", and "Motherly Overprotectiveness".
Season 3[]
Mild revisions are made to the score for the third season, and it's the first season to debut the updated title sequence in the premiere episode. Two versions are produced for the season to account for the cast overhaul. In the first version, the following eleven cast members are presented: Elizabeth Gillies, Daniella Alonso, Rafael de la Fuente, Sam Underwood, Michael Michele, Robert Christopher Riley, Sam Adegoke, Maddison Brown, Adam Huber, Alan Dale, and Grant Show. Alonso replaces Contreras in the line-up, with Michele being inserted between Underwood and Riley, and Huber being added after Brown. A second version was debuted in the ninth episode to account for the addition of Elaine Hendrix, who was inserted between Alonso and De La Fuente in the line-up.
The full title sequence is featured in 11 out of 20 episodes of the season, with the exceptions being "Wild Ghost Chase", "Something Desperate", "Shoot From the Hip", "The Sensational Blake Carrington Trial", "What Sorrows Are You Drowning?", "You See Most Things in Terms of Black & White", "Is The Next Surgery on The House?", "You Make Being a Priest Sound Like Something Bad", and "Robin Hood Rescues".
Season 4[]
The fourth season made slight revisions to the score, but unlike the previous two seasons, maintained the same line-up of 12 series regulars: Elizabeth Gillies, Daniella Alonso, Elaine Hendrix, Rafael de la Fuente, Sam Underwood, Michael Michele, Robert Christopher Riley, Sam Adegoke, Maddison Brown, Adam Huber, Alan Dale, and Grant Show. This makes it the first season to not produce multiple versions of the title sequence (including the unaired version for the first season), with the fourth season's theme debuting in the season premiere and the same version featuring in the season finale.
The full title sequence is featured in 17 out of 22 episodes of the season, with the exceptions being "Everybody Loves The Carringtons", "Equal Justice for the Rich", "Go Rescue Someone Else", "A Good Marriage in Every Sense", and "Affairs of State and Affairs of the Heart".
Season 5[]
The fifth season produced one version of the title sequence, slight revisions made to the score and a single demotion and promotion to the line-up. The 12 series regulars included: Elizabeth Gillies, Daniella Alonso, Elaine Hendrix, Rafael de la Fuente, Sam Underwood, Michael Michele, Robert Christopher Riley, Sam Adegoke, Maddison Brown, Adam Huber, Eliza Bennett, and Grant Show. Bennett took Dale's spot in the line-up, without the honorable "with" title included.
The full title sequence is featured in 8 out of 22 episodes of the season, the least amount of episodes in any season. The eight episodes to include the full theme song are "Let's Start Over Again", "How Did The Board Meeting Go?", "A Little Fun Wouldn't Hurt", "Vicious Vendetta", "A Writer of Dubious Talent", "But a Drug Scandal?", "First Kidnapping and Now Theft", and "Catch 22".
Notes and Trivia[]
- The full title sequence is featured in 66 out of 108 episodes of the series.
- The orchestra conducted for the title sequence featured Los Angeles Philharmonic lead trumpet player, Thomas Hooten.[1]
- Nathalie Kelley is the only series regular to not feature in a title sequence with clips from the series itself.
Multimedia[]
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