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For conspicuous consumption, Dynasty—co-produced by TV's maestro of glamour, Aaron Spelling—is the undisputed champion. Dom Perignon champagne and Petrossian caviar are routine props on the set, and the show's wardrobes, designed by Emmy Winner Nolan Miller, cost $18,000 an episode. Twelve to 15 new outfits are created for each hour, and none are worn twice. The popular series has even spawned a line of Dynasty clothing and home furnishings, and Collins has lent her name to a line of medium-priced jewelry.
Not to be outdone, archrival Lorimar—the producer of Dallas, Falcon Crest and Knots Landing—has hired Bill Travilla (once Marilyn Monroe's designer) to gussy up its shows. The company also plans to merchandise a line of women's clothes and beauty products tied in with Dallas. Paper Dolls has hired Designer Marc Bouwer, whose creations are sold in tony department stores like Saks, to drape Fairchild and her young models (Terry Farrell, Nicolette Sheridan) in lush attire. Each episode of Cover Up spotlights the fashions of a name designer (including Perry Ellis and Christian Dior) in exchange for a plug.
The boom in television glamour is probably a reflection of the times, though just what sort of reflection is a matter of debate. "We have a wealthy President, and the Reagans have style," contends Douglas Cramer, co-executive producer with Spelling of Love Boat and Hotel. "People are relating to the way the rich live. When capitalism is working, everyone likes to think it is within their reach." Leonard Goldberg, executive producer of Paper Dolls, sees a different picture. "In these difficult days, when the biggest fear the audience has is of somebody pressing a button and blowing the world away, I think people want a little fantasy," Goldberg says. "They want to escape. They want to look at beautiful women, especially when the rest of the world isn't so beautiful to look at."
TV's beautiful women, however, are serving a quite different function from their predecessors in movies and TV. Unlike most of the movie queens of Hollywood's golden age, or such TV stars of recent vintage as Jaclyn Smith and Suzanne Somers, the current bevy of beauties are not sex symbols so much as role models for their own sex. Many of them are approaching, or have proudly arrived at, middle age, and their fans are mostly admiring women, not ogling men. Dynasty's audience is 58% female, Hotel's 61%. Nearly half the women viewers of both shows are over 50.
The message fits snugly into the self-help '80s: if we can look this good at 40 or 50, there is hope for you too. It is no accident that several of TV's most popular glamour girls have written bestselling books on beauty or fitness. Among them: Victoria Principal's The Body Principal (and her just published sequel, The Beauty Principal), Linda Evans' Beauty & Exercise Book, The Joan Collins Beauty Book and Morgan Fairchild's Super Looks.