Richard Shapiro and Esther Shapiro are married American television screenwriters and producers best known as the creators of the long-running 1980s primetime serial Dynasty, its spin-off series The Colbys and the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion.
In 1984, Doubleday/Dolphin published the companion book Dynasty: The Authorized Biography of the Carringtons,[1] which included an introduction by Esther Shapiro.
In January 2004, Esther Shapiro participated in a marathon of the show's episodes on SOAPnet, Serial Bowl: Alexis vs. Krystle, giving behind-the-scenes tidbits and factoids.
In 2005 Ritchie Singer and Pamela Reed portrayed the Shapiros in Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, a fictionalized ABC television movie based on the creation and behind the scenes production of Dynasty.[2]
The first season of Dynasty was released on Region 1 DVD an April 19, 2005 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. This edition includes audio commentary by Esther Shapiro.
Esther & Richard Shapiro announced on January 12, 2011 that they had written a Dynasty prequel feature film script set in the 1960s, and were shopping it to studios seeking to begin a film franchise.
In an interview in September 2011, Joan Collins chatted about a Dynasty revival - "I've been in constant contact with Esther Shapiro, who wrote it, and apparently they've written a script."