Produced by Aaron Spelling for the ABC television network, Dynasty was introduced to American television as a three-hour movie, and lasted nine seasons in the form of a weekly one-hour drama serial, from 1981-89. Perfect for the decade, which, despite the conservatism and family values of the Reagan years, was characterized by increasing mass consumption, materialism, and the "me generation," Dynasty celebrated glamour, wealth, and capitalism. Inspired by the monumentally popular CBS program Dallas, Dynasty, along with Dallas and Falcon Crest (also on CBS) helped to define a new genre—the prime-time soap opera—while reaching unprecedented heights of melodramatic, over-the-top, escapist absurdity. Like their daytime counterparts such as General Hospital, the prime-time soaps presented serialized narratives, with each episode ending on a "cliffhanger," or storyline left unresolved at the highest point of tension, to be taken up in the next installment. The technique ensured a captive audience...