Let the diva battles begin: Nicollette Sheridan joins The CW’s Dynasty as Alexis Carrington

If The CW’s Dynasty reboot has felt a bit incomplete so far, it’s because it has been missing a key player: diva extraordinaire Alexis Carrington. Blake’s ex, and mother to Steven and Fallon, the character of Alexis electrified the original series from the moment Joan Collins first walked on set at the beginning of season two, kicking off several years of catty comments, scandalous late-night clinches, and no shortage of outraged slaps across the face.

So The CW’s new Alexis has some extremely high heels to fill, and the series has decided to fill them with Nicollette Sheridan. The choice makes perfect sense: Sheridan’s nighttime soap-opera pedigree is solid, as she was on Dallas spin-off Knots Landing starting in 1986, before becoming Desperate Housewives’ notorious Edie in the ’00s. Since that series offed Edie in a tornado accident in 2009, Sheridan has appeared in some Hallmark and other made-for-TV movies. But this is her first series since DH, giving her ample opportunity to dig into a role like Alexis, who sets the standard for impossible glamorous troublemakers. We feel sorry for Blake (Grant Show)’s new wife Cristal (Nathalie Kelley), who’s already had a few run-ins with step-daughter Fallon (Elizabeth Gillies). With a mother-daughter tag team like this one, Cristal doesn’t stand much of a chance. Everyone’s bound to wind up in the lily pond eventually.