Esther Shapiro

Show Creator / Producer / Writer

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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

About this interview

In the one-and-a-half-hour solo portion of her interview, Esther Shapiro describes her early influences and talks about her start in freelance writing. She discusses her work as an executive story consultant for the 1973-74 series Love Story, and she details her tenure as vice president of Novels and Limited Series at ABC, developing projects such as Masada, Roots: The Next Generations, and Ike.

In the two-and-a-half-hour joint portion of their interview, Richard Shapiro and Esther Shapiro describe creating the hit primetime drama Dynasty. They speak of the characters and the actors who played them, recall some of the well-known storylines, talk about behind-the-scenes production details, and comment on the enduring international popularity of the show. They also touch on the short-lived spin-off series The Colbys and offer their thoughts on why the show didn't match the success of the original program. They outline their early partnership, writing for the daytime soap opera Love of Life, as well as the television movies Sarah T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, Minstrel Man, Intimate Strangers, and John Steinbeck's East of Eden. B-roll consists of several photos from Dynasty. Jennifer Howard conducted the interviews on May 7, 2004 in Beverly Hills, CA.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"We began thinking of a series that had everything that you're not supposed to put on television: rich people, the Midwest, older women - particularly strong and powerful - lots of business, entrepreneurs, greed, opulence... all the Donald Trump stuff."

People Talking About ...

Highlights

Esther Shapiro on why miniseries worked well for the TV audience of the 1970s

02:13

Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Roots: The Next Generation

02:48

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the idea for Dynasty

03:33

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the creation of Joan Collins' character ("Alexis Carrington") on Dynasty

04:00

Richard and Esther Shapiro on memorable storylines on Dynasty - on "Steven Carrington's" homosexuality

02:10

Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On her childhood and early influences; on majoring in comparative literature; on meeting her husband/writing partner, Richard Shapiro; on her early memories of television

On becoming a freelance writer; on some of their early writing and the limited number of female writers in the 1960s; on working at Warner Bros.

On being Executive Story Consultant on Love Story with George Schaefer; on moving to Europe; on getting hired by ABC's Brandon Stoddard to start the miniseries department

On her role as an Executive and how much writing she did while she was still an Executive

Chapter 2

On her fellow executives at ABC

On developing the miniseries Pearl, Friendly Fire, and Ike; on projects she wanted to do, but didn't get to

On developing the miniseries Roots: The Next Generation; on structuring a miniseries

On why miniseries worked well for the TV audience of the 1970s and '80s; on developing the miniseries Masada; on why she left ABC; on starting to create Dynasty

Chapter 3

On becoming Senior Vice-President at Aaron Spelling Productions; on how she classifies herself (writer, producer...)

On meeting her husband, Richard Shapiro, at UCLA; on her writing partnership with her husband

Chapter 4

START OF JOINT INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD SHAPIRO: On becoming a writing team; on writing for Manhunt; on pitching

On Richard continuing to write solo; on the pair writing for the soap opera Love of Life

On writing the made-for-TV movies Sarah T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, Minstrel Man, and Intimate Strangers

Chapter 5

On writing scenes of conflict; on their involvement with the TV miniseries East of Eden

On creating Dynasty; on casting Joan Collins as "Alexis Carrington"

On the cast of Dynasty - John Forsythe and Linda Evans

Chapter 6

On Linda Evans' character "Krystle Carrington" on Dynasty; on the stars of the show

On the producers of Dynasty; on audience reaction to the show, merchandizing, and memorable storylines (including the catfights)

Chapter 7

On "Steven Carrington's" homosexuality on Dynasty; on Rock Hudson's kiss with Linda Evans; on the Moldavian Wedding Massacre

On their favorite storylines, why the show ended, and the legacy of Dynasty

On the Dynasty spinoff The Colbys; on writing Emerald Point, NAS and Heartbeat

On creating Richard and Esther Shapiro Entertainment; on then-current projects

Chapter 8

On whether or not they'd work in television again; on advice to aspiring television writers; on the highlight of their careers

On career regrets and how they'd like to be remembered

B-roll photos from their career: of a New Yorker magazine cover, a personal telegram, and the Dynasty cast

Shows

Bonanza

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing for Bonanza

01:23

Colbys, The

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the Dynasty spinoff The Colbys

02:19

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the actors and characters on The Colbys

02:17

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Charlton Heston's input on the scripts of The Colbys

01:03

Richard and Esther Shapiro on why The Colbys wasn't successful; on the alien abduction storyline

03:16

Dallas

Richard and Esther Shapiro on differences between Dallas and Dynasty

01:00

Dynasty

Esther Shapiro on her fashion inspiration for Dynasty

00:45

Esther Shapiro on Aaron Spelling wanting to work with her and Richard Shapiro and starting to develop Dynasty

01:09

Esther Shapiro on balancing her executive duties while still working on Dynasty

00:33

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the idea for Dynasty

03:33

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the pilot for Dynasty

00:55

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the title of Dynasty

01:10

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Aaron Spelling's involvement with Dynasty

02:37

Richard and Esther Shapiro on differences between Dallas and Dynasty

01:00

Richard and Esther Shapiro on how Dynasty reflected the 1980s

01:38

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the development and pilot of Dynasty

02:58

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the creation of Joan Collins' character ("Alexis Carrington") on Dynasty

04:00

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the costumes of Dynasty

01:45

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the cast of Dynasty

03:49

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Linda Evans' character "Krystle Carrington" on Dynasty

00:56

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star John James

01:02

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Pamela Sue Martin and her character "Fallon Carrington Colby" and Emma Samms, the second actress to portray the character

02:45

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Jack Coleman ("Steven Carrington")

02:43

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Gordon Thomson ("Adam Carrington")

00:38

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Heather Locklear ("Sammy Jo Dean Carrington")

01:56

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Diahann Carroll ("Dominique Deveraux")

02:59

Richard and Esther Shapiro on production on Dynasty

02:36

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the producers of Dynasty

01:25

Richard and Esther Shapiro on audience reaction to Dynasty and the show's popularity overseas

03:05

Richard and Esther Shapiro on merchandizing on Dynasty

03:55

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the catfights between "Alexis" and "Krystle" on Dynasty

01:18

Richard and Esther Shapiro on memorable storylines on Dynasty

01:09

Richard and Esther Shapiro on memorable storylines on Dynasty - on "Steven Carrington's" homosexuality

02:10

Richard and Esther Shapiro on "Steven Carrington's" homosexuality on Dynasty

01:15

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Rock Hudson's kiss with Linda Evans on Dynasty

02:33

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the Moldavian Wedding Massacre on Dynasty

01:32

Richard and Esther Shapiro on notes from the network on Dynasty

00:50

Richard and Esther Shapiro on their favorite storylines and episodes of Dynasty

01:25

Richard and Esther Shapiro on why Dynasty ended

01:13

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the Dynasty reunion

00:39

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the success of Dynasty and how it affected them

00:55

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the legacy of Dynasty

01:05

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the Dynasty collection at Marshall Field's

00:44

Emerald Point, N.A.S.

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing Emerald Point, NAS

01:53

Friendly Fire

Esther Shapiro on developing the TV movie Friendly Fire

01:46

Heartbeat

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing Heartbeat

01:15

Ike: The War Years

Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Ike: The War Years

02:05

Intimate Strangers

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Intimate Strangers

03:02

Love Story

Esther Shapiro on being Executive Story Consultant on Love Story with George Schaefer

01:29

Esther Shapiro on the plot of Love Story

00:33

Love of Life

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing for the soap opera Love of Life and how it helped them later when creating Dynasty

07:50

Manhunt

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing for Manhunt

00:32

Masada

Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Masada

02:43

Minstrel Man

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Minstrel Man

07:04

Pearl

Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Pearl

03:35

Roots

Esther Shapiro on how Roots compared to Roots: The Next Generation

00:28

Roots: The Next Generations

Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Roots: The Next Generation

02:48

Esther Shapiro on her contributions to Roots: The Next Generation

01:34

Route 66

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing for Route 66

00:51

Sarah T.--- Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Sarah T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic

03:38

Topics

Advertising and Sponsorship

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Intimate Strangers

02:19

Censorship / Standards & Practices

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Intimate Strangers

02:19

Characters & Catchphrases

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the creation of Joan Collins' character ("Alexis Carrington") on Dynasty

04:00

LGBTQIA+

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Jack Coleman ("Steven Carrington")

02:43

Richard and Esther Shapiro on memorable storylines on Dynasty - on "Steven Carrington's" homosexuality

02:10

Richard and Esther Shapiro on "Steven Carrington's" homosexuality on Dynasty

01:15

Pop Culture

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the creation of Joan Collins' character ("Alexis Carrington") on Dynasty

04:00

Representation on Television

Esther Shapiro on the limited number of female writers

00:27

Esther Shapiro on being a female writer in Hollywood and whether or not having a male writing partner helped her

02:45

Esther Shapiro on fellow female executives at ABC

01:25

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Minstrel Man

07:04

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Jack Coleman ("Steven Carrington")

02:43

Richard and Esther Shapiro on memorable storylines on Dynasty - on "Steven Carrington's" homosexuality

02:10

Richard and Esther Shapiro on "Steven Carrington's" homosexuality on Dynasty

01:15

Television Industry

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Intimate Strangers

02:19

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the challenges facing an independent production company

Underrepresented Voices

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Minstrel Man

07:04

Women

Esther Shapiro on the limited number of female writers

00:27

Esther Shapiro on being a female writer in Hollywood and whether or not having a male writing partner helped her

02:45

Esther Shapiro on fellow female executives at ABC

01:25

Professions

Executives

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Esther Shapiro on her role as an Executive in ABC's miniseries department

01:33

Esther Shapiro on becoming Senior Vice-President at Aaron Spelling Productions

01:32

Show Creators

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on their pitching style

01:06

Writers

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on advice to aspiring television writers

01:28

Genres

Daytime/Primetime Serials

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing for the soap opera Love of Life and how it helped them later when creating Dynasty

07:50

Richard and Esther Shapiro on creation of Dynasty

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the cast, producers, audience reaction, and memorable storylines on Dynasty

28:52

Richard and Esther Shapiro on memorable storylines and the legacy of Dynasty

11:22

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the Dynasty spinoff The Colbys

09:00

TV Movies/Miniseries/Dramatic Specials

Esther Shapiro on getting hired by ABC's Brandon Stoddard to start the miniseries department

05:00

Esther Shapiro on why miniseries worked well for the TV audience of the 1970s

02:13

Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Pearl

03:35

Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Roots: The Next Generation

02:48

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Sarah T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic

03:38

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Minstrel Man

07:04

Richard and Esther Shapiro on writing the made-for-TV movie Intimate Strangers

03:02

People

Aaron Spelling

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Esther Shapiro on Aaron Spelling wanting to work with her and Richard Shapiro and starting to develop Dynasty

01:09

Esther Shapiro on becoming Senior Vice-President at Aaron Spelling Productions

01:32

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the idea for Dynasty

02:33

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Aaron Spelling's involvement with Dynasty

02:37

Anthony D. Thomopoulos

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Esther Shapiro on working with Fred Silverman and Anthony D. Thomopoulos at ABC

01:18

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the pilot for Dynasty

00:55

Barbara Stanwyck

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on working with Barbara Stanwyck on The Colbys

00:28

Barry Diller

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on working with Barry Diller at FOX

00:57

Brandon Stoddard

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Esther Shapiro on getting hired by ABC's Brandon Stoddard to start the miniseries department

01:26

Charlton Heston

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on the actors and characters on The Colbys - Charlton Heston as "Jason Colby"

01:10

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Charlton Heston's input on the scripts of The Colbys

01:03

Diahann Carroll

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Diahann Carroll ("Dominique Deveraux")

02:59

Douglas S. Cramer

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on the producers of Dynasty

00:44

Elaine Rich

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on the producers of Dynasty

00:44

Ernest Kinoy

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Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Roots: The Next Generation

00:18

Fay Kanin

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Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Friendly Fire, written by Fay Kanin

01:26

Fred Silverman

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Esther Shapiro on working with Fred Silverman and Anthony D. Thomopoulos at ABC

01:18

George Peppard

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on cast changes in the pilot of Dynasty

00:32

George Schaefer

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Esther Shapiro on being Executive Story Consultant on Love Story with George Schaefer

00:35

Heather Locklear

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star Heather Locklear ("Sammy Jo Dean Carrington")

01:56

Irving Thalberg

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Esther Shapiro on her father's friendship with Irving Thalberg

00:58

Joan Collins

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on the creation of Joan Collins' character ("Alexis Carrington") on Dynasty

02:21

Richard and Esther Shapiro on what Joan Collins brought to the character of "Alexis Carrington" on Dynasty

01:39

John Forsythe

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on John Forsythe on Dynasty

00:20

Richard and Esther Shapiro on cast changes in the pilot of Dynasty

01:18

Richard and Esther Shapiro on the cast of Dynasty - John Forsythe

02:38

John James

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on Dynasty star John James

01:02

Katharine Ross

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on the actors and characters on The Colbys - Katharine Ross

00:16

Leonard H. Goldenson

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Esther Shapiro on working with ABC founder Leonard Goldenson

02:18

Richard and Esther Shapiro on ABC founder Leonard Goldenson's reaction the pilot of Dynasty

00:48

Linda Evans

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on the cast of Dynasty - Linda Evans

01:11

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Linda Evans' character "Krystle Carrington" on Dynasty

00:56

Richard and Esther Shapiro on Rock Hudson's kiss with Linda Evans on Dynasty

02:33

Marcy Carsey

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Esther Shapiro on fellow female executives at ABC

01:25

Marlon Brando

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Esther Shapiro on casting Marlon Brando in the miniseries Roots: The Next Generation

01:22

Mel Shavelson

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Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Ike

02:05

Nolan Miller

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on Nolan Miller's costume design on Dynasty

00:36

Peter O'Toole

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Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Masada

01:30

Richard Shapiro

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Esther Shapiro on meeting her husband, Richard Shapiro, at UCLA

00:43

Esther Shapiro on her writing partnership with her husband, Richard Shapiro

00:32

Robert Duvall

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Esther Shapiro on developing the miniseries Ike

00:18

Rock Hudson

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on Rock Hudson's kiss with Linda Evans on Dynasty

02:33

Toni Morrison

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Richard and Esther Shapiro on consulting with Toni Morrison on the made-for-TV movie Minstrel Man

00:59