The Spencers (Novel Series)

***The Spencers*** (originally titled ***Beverly Hills Dynasty II: The Spencers***) is an novel series. Created and written by Maryam Wells, it is a spin-off of *Beverly Hills Dynasty* and revolves around the Spencers, another vastly wealthy family who own a large multinational conglomerate and are connected to the Marchettas of *Beverly Hills Dynasty*. Intended to surpass its predecessor in opulence, the series' producers were handed an immensely high budget for the era and cast a handful of well-known movie stars among its leads.

*The Spencers* featured tycoon --, his sister -, his wife --, Sable's sister and Jason's lover --, and Jason's business rival --. -- also star as their *Beverly Hils Dynasty* characters --. *The Spencers* was ultimately a ratings disappointment and was cancelled after two seasons.

## Premise

In *Beverly Hills Dynasty*, presumed-dead heiress - Marchetta-Spencer reappears alive, suffering from amnesia and using the name Jo Randall. Drawn to California after recognizing the name "Colby", she meets playboy Miles Colby (Maxwell Caulfield), not realizing that he is the cousin of her ex-husband, Jeff (John James). A mutual business venture brings the Spencers of California to the Denver mansion of Fallon's father Blake Carrington (John Forsythe).

Set in Los Angeles, The Spencers focuses on the extended Spencer family as Jeff relocates to California to start his life anew—and comes face to face with Fallon, now married to his cousin Miles. A fierce rivalry is sparked between Jeff and Miles, and the love triangle spans the series. Miles' father, billionaire Jason Colby (Charlton Heston), has a rocky marriage to the manipulative Sable (Stephanie Beacham), and a longtime attraction to Sable's sister Francesca (Katharine Ross)—Jeff's estranged mother, and the former wife of Jason's deceased brother Philip. Other characters include Jason's powerful sister Constance Colby (Barbara Stanwyck), Miles' twin sister Monica (Tracy Scoggins) and their third sibling Bliss (Claire Yarlett).
In addition to Forsythe's Blake, Dynasty characters Adam Carrington (Gordon Thomson), Steven Carrington (Jack Coleman), and Dominique Deveraux (Diahann Carroll) also made guest appearances on the show between 1985 and 1986.

## Storylines

The first season's storylines include the construction of an oil pipeline; Zach Powers' vendetta against the Colbys; the romance between Jason and his brother Philip's widow Francesca; the subsequent collapse of Jason's marriage to Sable; and eventually the revelation that Jason, not Philip, is in fact Jeff's father. There were initially a number of crossovers featuring members of the Dynasty cast, most notably Blake Carrington, his sons Adam and Steven, and half-sister Dominique Deveraux. At the end of the season, Fallon learns that Miles could be the father of her unborn child, Monica's plane crashes, and Sable has Jason arrested for assault and battery, claiming that he had inflicted the injuries she actually sustained by falling down a flight of stairs.
In the second season, Jason manages to divorce Sable and plans to marry Francesca, but the presumed-dead Philip reappears alive. Previously romantically linked to both Zach's nephew and former stepson, Bliss falls in love with a Russian dancer watched by the KGB, the son Monica had given up eight years before re-enters her life, and Constance and Hutch are killed in a plane crash in India. At the end of the season, Miles' wife Channing phones to say she will abort their unborn baby; Sable kidnaps Monica's son; Francesca seemingly dies after a car crash involving herself and Philip; and Fallon, stranded in the desert, is seemingly abducted by aliens who land in a UFO in the finale. The series' most infamous cliffhanger proved to be its last when the series was subsequently cancelled.

### Aftermath

Following the cancellation of The Colbys, the characters of Jeff and Fallon were immediately reintroduced into Dynasty during that series' eighth-season premiere, "The Siege – Part 1" in order for her to recover from her alien abduction experience, though Jeff disbelieves her. Sable (now divorced from Jason, who was still involved with Frankie, who survived the car crash) and Monica (who no longer had contact with ex-lover Cash or their son Scott) also later reappeared on Dynasty for the series' ninth (and final) season in 1988–89. During the final season of Dynasty, it is revealed that Monica and her twin Miles might not have been Jason's children, as Sable had been raped around the time they were conceived. Miles (who refers to Jeff as his half-brother, leading to the assumption that Jason was his and Monica's father after all) later appears in the miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion (1991), reunited with Fallon, and participates in Jeff's rescue from the Consortium. The Jeff-Fallon-Miles love triangle is finally resolved, as Fallon leaves Miles for Jeff once again, and it is loosely implied that Miles becomes involved with Sammy Jo (Heather Locklear).

## Synopsis

This spin-off of *Beverly Hills Dynasty* featured the adventures of Jeff and Fallon Colby and Jeff's other wealthy relatives in New York.