LOS ANGELES • Dynasty - that decadent, power-dressing apotheosis of in-your-face 1980s excess - is back with a 2017 twist.

Nearly three decades after it went off the air, a sexier, younger-skewing and more diverse version is returning.

The CW's update, still focused on the trials and tribulations of the oil-rich Carrington clan, features Grant Show (Melrose Place) in the role of John Forsythe's suave, silk-tongued Blake Carrington.

"I always compare it to Roger Moore taking over from Sean Connery. Huge shoes to fill, but they are different actors completely," Show, 55, said.

"He did his own thing and that's what I'm doing. I can't do what John Forsythe did, so there are no ghosts there."

Linda Evans' blushing small-town bride Krystle is now a powerful, single-minded Venezuelan businesswoman named Cristal, played by Peruvian-Australian actress Nathalie Kelley.

The series has moved from Denver to multicultural Atlanta, where the rival Colby clan is now African-American.

In the original, Blake's son, Steven, married the scheming Sammy Jo despite being gay. Now, Sammy Jo, the character made famous by Heather Locklear is his male lover played by Rafael de la Fuente.

"Atlanta is this incredibly diverse, modern city," said the show's co-creator Josh Schwartz, who produced one of The CW's biggest soaps, Gossip Girl. "There are still pockets of that blue-blood, old money like Buckhead, where the Carringtons live, but we wanted the city to be reflecting the world and the company that Blake is trying to hold on to."

Dynasty premieres on Oct 11 on The CW and on Netflix in Singapore from Oct 12.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE