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(More customer reviews)If you loved the sudsy world of 1980s prime-time TV, February 1984 will forever stand out in your mind. With "Dallas," "Dynasty," "Falcon Crest" and "Knots Landing" all in the weekly Top 10, for three consecutive weeks viewers were also treated to epic, melodramatic mini-series. First was NBC's "Celebrity," followed by "Master of the Game" on CBS and then ABC's "Lace." Each posted bigger ratings than the previous.
"Master of the Game" was a nine-hour, three-night smash. Based on Sidney Sheldon's compulsively-readable novel, the saga told the 100-year story of the Blackwell family. At the center, Dyan Cannon wore innumerable preposterous gowns (don't get me started on the hats!), and guided her family's business empire to ever more dizzying heights. The plot moves at light speed, the diverse cast (everyone from Jean Marsh and Leslie Caron to Harry Hamlin and David Birney) was typical of the genre, and the sets were sumptuous.
Without providing any spoliers (not that they are needed for fans), this book-turned-mini advances the devilishly-addictive plot at breakneck speed. For newer fans of the book, this dramatization is well worth watching.
The collection would have earned five stars were it not for the *horrible* transfer. Produced at a then jaw-dropping cost of $3-million per hour, the series had a lush, gorgeous look. Unfortunately, the picture is often horribly grainy and the colors are inconsistent. But who cares? It's the story that makes "Master of the Game" the winner that it is.
Sit back and savor the sudsy goodness!
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Based on Sidney Sheldon\'s bestselling novel, the miniseries Master of the Game debuts on DVD in a 2-disc set 25 years after its network premiere. The lavish, international saga spans a century and focuses on the Blackwell family\'s rise to wealth from 1890s South Africa where the family\'s fortune is made in diamonds to the primary story of iron-willed Kate Blackwell, the driven, power-hungry head of the family's embattled corporate empire.
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