The saga of a wealthy Denver family in the oil business: Blake Carrington, the patriarch; Krystle, his former secretary and wife; his children: Adam, lost in childhood after a kidnapping; Fallon, pampered and spoiled; Steven, openly gay; and Amanda, hidden from him by his ex-wife, the conniving Alexis. Most of the show features the conflict between 2 large corporations, Blake's Denver Carrington and Alexis' ColbyCo.

This saga chronicles a nation divided and two families,the Hazards of Pennsylvania and the Mains of South Carolina,caught on opposite sides when the Civil War erupts in May 1861. As war is raged on one battlefield after another, lives on the home front drastically change. The hatred, prejudice and greed that tear the fabric of a nation, also threatens the very foundation of love and friendship between these two families.