Pride Month 2020: Dynasty’s Steven Carrington increased gay visibility on TV, so why did The CW drop him for the reboot?
Can a TV show influence the queer community? A prime time soap opera, ‘Dynasty’ changed the game with its breakthrough character, Steven Carrington. He was first introduced to the ABC show that aired from 1981 to 1989 when actor Al Corley played the role. Later, when the show got a 2017 reboot on The CW, James Mackay was chosen to play the role.
The son of Blake Carrington, even though biologically his father is the family butler Joseph Anders, Steven is an environmental activist and knows how to make his billionaire father pay for his fraudulent ways. Unlike his sister Fallon Carrington, he doesn't care much about the wealth and found that he was different than other boys. Soon, his character made a transition into one of the first main gay characters on TV and championed the cause of LBGTQ community in those days.
On the show, his father Blake couldn't accept his son's sexual orientation and they soon drifted apart. His kind and shy nature was in stark contrast to his extrovert and controlling sister and soon he went to Princeton, New York for graduation. He came back for his father's wedding to Cristal Jennings and then fell in love with Sammy Jo Dean in 1981. In the original ABC show, he eventually got married to Sammy and even had a son with him named Danny Carrington.
Known as Steammy together, they first meet at a bar and spontaneously hook up in a hotel room. They have romantic feelings and their relationship is so strong that Sam moves in with Steven into the Carrington residence permanently. While the relationship has its own set of ups and downs, the two find their way back each time.
A year later, he left Denver for the Java Sea, Indonesia to work on an oil rig. After an explosion, he was missing and was assumed dead. However, by the time, the show came to a close, Steven was put on Blake's board of directors where he has to closely work with state senator Bart Fallmont. Initially, the two have clashes but soon develop feelings towards each other. They cannot express it openly because Bart has not come out of the closet yet. The two grow apart but eventually reconcile when Blake officially accepts their relationship.
In the 2017 reboot on The CW, there were a few changes. Steven slept with Melissa Daniels (a former fling during his teenage years) played by Kelly Rutherford after seeking her help for Sam to get a proper visa to stay in the USA. It is then that he finds out he is the father of her unborn baby.
In a bid to deal with his issues, he leaves for Paraguay to work with his foundation and goes missing. Later, Steven is said to be in Paris where he seeks Fallon's help after his passport is stolen. It is there that he meets his friend, George. Fallon and Sam feel George is a hallucination resulting from a drug-induced breakdown but later 'George' turns out to be Adam Carrington, the long-lost Carrington sibling who has nefarious intentions.
After season three aired on The CW Network, fans have been wondering where Steven Carrington is. Irked that the showrunners haven't mentioned him at all, fans hailed him as the first gay character and want him back. "Also noteworthy. Steven Carrington was the first gay character on American television. (On the right) It was a BIG deal back then," one Twitter user wrote. Another said, "Steven Carrington was my first intro to a gay character on television. I’ve watched episodes again recently and my jaw dropped when Blake mocked him by declaring he’d learn from “the school of fa***try” or something along those lines."
One angry fan even went on to say: "Steven Carrington is an iconic TV character, one of the first gay leads on American TV, and @TheCW threw him out like trash. F**k everyone involved in making this decision. #Dynasty," and another posted, "Steven Carrington and the first gay visibility on tv, I was so happy back in time, to see some representation, apart from that and tales of San Francisco it was very lame."
Fans even started a petition for him to be back, but the question remains: Will Steven be back for Season 4? Many fans are upset that none of the Carrington members mentioned him even once. Have they all forgotten him? In a string of theories, some are wondering whether he will be back for Fallon and Liam's wedding.