Charlton Heston Starred In The Failed Spin-Off Of A Major '80s Primetime Soap Opera

For most people, starring in a TV show would be a pretty big deal — but, considering that Charlton Heston played Moses and Ben-Hur on the big screen, it's easy to overlook the legendary actor's tenure as the lead of a primetime soap opera. This is especially true as "The Colbys," a spin-off of the hit series "Dynasty," got poor ratings and worse reviews.

In 1985, "Dynasty" was the top show on TV, so it was only natural that ABC became interested in pursuing a spin-off. Originally titled "Dynasty II: The Colbys" before the network dropped the first part of the name ahead of the premiere in November of that year, the show followed the exploits of the titular Colby family. Like the Carringtons, the extremely rich family at the center of the flagship show, the Colbys were another well-off family, only they resided in Southern California rather than Dallas. Heston, who had made three appearances on "Dynasty" that season to help set up the spin-off, starred as Jason Colby, the family patriarch.

As befitted a series about absurdly wealthy people, "The Colbys" was an expensive show to make. Cheston and co-star Barbara Stanwyck, herself a legendary movie actress, reportedly got $85,000 and $75,000 per episode, respectively – that's over $250,000 adjusted for inflation. On top of that, the budget for the show's sets alone was $2.5 million, which is nearly $8 million today.

"The Colbys" premiered on November 20, 1985. The ratings were great to begin with, as the spin-off enjoyed a 39 percent audience share. It was an auspicious start for the much-buzzed-about spin-off of the hottest show on TV. However, the next episodes would face some serious bad luck.

The second episode of "The Colbys" was supposed to air the next night, but a speech from President Ronald Reagan preempted it. Heston, who was friends with the actor-turned-POTUS, reportedly called Reagan to see if there was any way he could change his schedule. For some reason, Reagan chose not to move the date of his address to a joint session of Congress, where he was set to update the country on how his recent peace talks with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had gone. (Notably, this was not the first time a member of the Reagan family caused problems for an '80s TV show.)

It was a tough beat for "The Colbys," which instead aired its sophomore episode the following Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, November 28, the third episode of "The Colbys" aired in what would be the show's regular time slot going forward. The issue with this date? That was Thanksgiving Day. "The Colbys" did not intend for this to be a Thanksgiving-themed episode of TV, of course, and ratings suffered as a result of the show's poor timing. 

With ratings falling and the cost of each episode remaining extremely high, the future of "The Colbys" wasn't bright. Barbara Stanwyck soon wanted out of her role as Constance Colby, Charlton Heston's on-screen sister. She reportedly told producers to kill her character off so there was no way she could return. Constance did indeed die in a plane crash, and Stanwyck didn't come back for Season 2. Stanwyck later told The Los Angeles Times the show was "a turkey." "It wasn't acting, it was just the same scene every week, in a different dress," she said. "I don't have very much integrity, but I have enough integrity that I got out."

Critics also believed that "The Colbys" was far from one of those spin-offs that are better than the original show. They dinged the show for being too similar to "Dynasty," which makes a certain amount of sense considering it was initially called "Dynasty II." In the end, ABC cancelled it after two seasons.

Heston, who had creative control over the show, stuck around until the end and later said the axing was premature. "We were coming closer to being a creative production team that could make the kind of show we'd planned on from the beginning," he told The Morning Call in 1987. He did, however, distance himself from the cliffhanger finale, which had Fallon Colby (Emma Samms) walk into a UFO. "I was not involved and I have no idea what they would have done with it," he said.