Chris B

I don’t mind producers bringing on people they previously worked with as long as they fit the show and are necessary. But here, do we need another white male in that age range? No.

Back in the day I used to be one of the mods on KnotsLanding.net and I got to talk to Kim Lankford when setting up her interview. One thing she mentioned is that after season four (when I feel the writers finally understood Kenny and Ginger), they were supposed to spin off into a music based show called Nashville. She wanted to do it but Jim Houghton wanted to become a writer and she seemed pretty upset by it.

Thankfully I feel the early years are more mature than the mess that was season one of Melrose Place lol. Season one actually ranks among my favorite seasons. The show was initially inspired by Scenes From A Marriage and I thought they did a good job of picking topics that could explore that. Season one dealt with adultry, rape, ex-wives, parenting children, abortion, etc. One character who I felt was at her very best was Karen, who was allowed to be more sexy and grey as the young wife to Sid. As the years went on, she became a more traditional heroine. I also love what a complicated and unique character Laura was. Constance McCashin was a unique and understated actress and she did a great job with whatever they threw at her. There is a clear weak link in the early years and that's Kenny and Ginger, but they had their good moments as well, including being the center of the very first cliffhanger.

I think Venus and Sally didn't return because they weren't close to the cast and there were years between seasons four and five. And you are correct. Originally, season five was going to include Lydia and Gina and Simone and Jackie weren't in the picture. Filming was canceled due to Covid and Lydia/Gina could no longer do it, but Jackie returned and Simone was added as a new housewife.

The first season is completely self-contained, but if you are open to the format, it has some really strong episodes. Season two and three are a mixture of both formats and then season four is when things become completely serialized. I personally still enjoy those first three seasons. They have a lot of memorable episodes and the episodes are well written. I also think they are important to the development of many of the characters, especially Karen, Richard, Laura and Valene.

I like Kristin Anderson. I’d be open to seeing her back on a soap.

I’m curious who it is as well. Jacob Young?

If the writing is good, I find this isn't the case. Like much of Knots Landing, which evolved really well throughout the 80s and always kept itself fresh until the end. I find that show holds up incredibly well. So does the best of Dallas, but these particular seasons of Falcon Crest were too trendy and plot driven to have long term appeal. Surprisingly, I'm four episodes into season 8 and I'm finding it so much more enjoyable. I liked that they brought back Ceasar Romero for Vicky's exit, which actually ended up being a shame because the new writers calmed her down and wrote her in a way where I might be interested in seeing her. Melissa's death is definitely a misstep, but I like that the focus is back on Falcon Crest and the valley and the core characters. The new people being brought in are supporting to the main cast and aren't dominating stories as new characters tend to do on Falcon Crest. I'm very curious to see when it goes off the rails completely.

The fans on another board I’m on also enjoy 6 and 7 which I do not understand. Ratings were good too! I think maybe they were fun at the time, but they’ve aged poorly. For example, the fashions became very 80s and the synthesizer score plays horribly now. But on the flip side there was nonstop action and lots of sex, even if the storylines didn’t make any sense.

I just realized I didn't respond to this. Christian LeBlanc was a finalist for Lance during the initial casting and he also auditioned when Richard was going to appear during season one. Michael Zaslow was a finalist for the final version, which ended up being cast with David Selby. I just finished season 7 and boy was it bad until the end. I thought Dallas and Dynasty had some rough seasons, but I'm going on record that this was the most unwatchable season of any of the big primetime soaps. I also watched the first episode of season 8 and it's a shame it doesn't work out because it starts off good. That dreadful synthesizer is gone and the focus is on the core characters again without so many outsiders. Kristian Alfonso's introduction is also good and the writing for Melissa has improved. I like that she finally got what she wanted (Falcon Crest), but is realizing she still isn't happy.

I just finished episode 21 of season 7 and it remains awful. I know Jeff Freilich likes to say he was fired due to budget concerns, but the show is so awful that I'm sure that had something to do with it. It's crazy I'm so far into the season and there is still not one storyline I would say is a success. I do like that Maggie and Richard are married, but I wouldn't say they're well written. If anything, this helps set up her death in season 9. He currently has her daughter kidnapped in a European prison and is constantly putting her life in danger. Her tragic end was bound to happen as she avoids every red flag since getting with Richard.

Monique also announced that she turned down a WWHL appearance because she doesn't owe Bravo anything. Personally, I think that is stupid. I would hold my head high and show up and show I have a new show. Also, Andy was supportive of her. As for her Girls Trip replacement: LISA WU! This woman was excellent in both of her seasons (and Sheree said she brings it when she returns this season), but she's largely ignored. I don't know why she wasn't called or why they don't bring her back as an official friend. I hope the thing Sheree teased puts her back on peoples radar. I'm not sure if it was discussed, but in Carlos King's latest podcast, he mentioned how he was offered the EP position for season 11 of RHOA, but turned it down because they wouldn't allow him to work with his production company and wanted him as a contractor. He's mentioned that before, but the bombshell is that he was *thisclose* to becoming the EP of RHOD for season two. He said he saw potential with Leanne and had big plans for the show, but again, they wanted him to work as a contractor and Goodbye Pictures didn't want to share the production duties. He said the biggest issue with the EP for RHOD is that he had never done a Real Housewives show and didn't understand it, which we know is true. It's such a shame because he was critical to launching RHONJ and RHOA, the two highest rated franchises. Why wouldn't Bravo give him a show at RHOD? Goodbye Pictures has only ever produced forgotten one season Bravo shows. They choose him over a proven hit? It makes no sense, but whiteness allows you to get rewarded for mediocrity. He said he's still open to reviving it, or producing another HW show, but who knows if Bravo will do it.

That premiere was excellent! That’s how you come out the gate strong and set the tone for the season. I already cannot wait for next week! The cast definitely needed the refresh, but it's clear how important production is, because you could immediately feel the stamp of the new producers. The editing was tighter and it looked more glam. I don’t miss Porsha or Cynthia, not because I didn’t like them, but because we got years with them and it’s nice to see the dynamics get changed up after so long of the same issues. Marlo was flawless as a peach holder. It completely transformed her by allowing us into her life instead of only having her pop up to show fashions. I also feel like after some weak seasons, Kandi feels more vocal and needed right now. Drew is determined to embarrass herself I see and Sanya is a STAR out of the gate! Kenya and Sheree round out the group nicely as well and it’s nice to see them not bicker.

Oh of course, but who will be the HW when she returns? I wonder if Ron may have created the perfect storm to create enough backlash to get him fired finally.

The way Abby dies this summer has been leaked on twitter. People are going to mad and if the people leaking are right, there’s more to come. I know it’s the spoiler thread, but in case some don’t want to know I’ll tag it for now.

I agree with you about Angela, Maggie and Richard, but the season 6-7 writers absolutely destroyed Chase and Melissa IMO. In an interview, the writer said he was given the season 5 finale to watch and he fell asleep because he was tired. When the show reached out for his thoughts he said he had fallen asleep and because they assumed it was due to boredom, they gave him free rein to do whatever he want. As a result he never watched previous episodes and it was obvious. I don’t mind changes, in fact I love them, but you have to have some basic knowledge of the show you’re writing. It was clear he knew a brief outline of the characters so he often went with one characteristic for them. Only Richard and Angela maintained this complexities.

Okay I have a few minutes, so I'm going to drop some more tidbits! - Originally, the character of Cassandra was meant to remain for the entire 5th season and marry Richard. All of her storylines were instead given to Terry. - Despite Ken Olin hating his time on the show, his exit was always meant to be the way it was. He was contracted for 17 episodes with the option for more, but the network didn't like him so he was out. - I think this is commonly known, but when Ana Alicia was written off her contract had already been picked up, so they had to pay her out for it, which is why she later returned. - Originally, Chao-Li's daughter was meant to join earlier in season 5 and be a love interest for Lance. - Instead of Richard being Angela's secret child, they were looking at making it a daughter and Angie Dickinson is who they wanted for the role. - Chase was meant to return as a villain in season 7. There was also a focus group for season 7 and the people liked that the show had guest stars, but preferred when they were brought on to enhance the story of the core characters and they hated when they took over the show. They also preferred stories about the vinyards to the business storylines. They felt that Angela and Richard were the most important characters. With Maggie they criticized Susan Sullivan's acting and said the character was an "emotional seesaw" and no longer important to the core stories. Vicki, Eric, Dan and Carly were all hated, which doesn't surprise me. Another thing I noticed across the focus groups listed is that the fans seemed to love Emma due to her comic relief and scenes with Angela.

I'll go back and dig up some interesting story nuggets, but the casting info was what really interested me. One big writing change I noticed, is had the writers not been replaced in season 5, Julia would've returned full time, along with Tony, which explains his odd return with her quickly being written off. As for casting, for the role of Cole, Laurence Lau, Michael O'Leary and Ethan Wayne were the other three finalists. For Lance, Christian LeBlanc was one of the finalists. LeBlanc also auditioned for RIchard Channing (which almost went to Michael Zaslow). The most interesting casting tidbit was for Vicky. We got to see two actresses in the role, but neither was very interesting. The other finalists were Julia Duffy, Heather Locklear, Janine Turner and Catherine Mary Stewart. How Jamie Rose got the part is beyond me. Another random, but interesting tidbit is that one of the producers had suggested they create a role for Susan Flannery. Based on the timing I imagine the role might have been Pamala Lynch.

Here's the thing with New Jersey: Yes they need better production and a cast overhaul, but the ratings stay high and consistant, so it seems Bravo simply doesn't try for them. Casting? Why bother when the ratings have stayed high with this cast? Cast photo? Just use the old one. Same intro for six seasons? Why refresh it? Ratings are still high! Cast trip? Just do something cheap! People will watch anyway! It's a shame because they deserve better based on ratings, but the network seems to complacent with them. As long as people are willing to tune in to watch Teresa's life and everybody talk about Teresa, nothing will change.

Falcon Crest was entertaining, but it did always have an indentity crisis, which is why I feel I'm not as critical of it as I am when a show like Dallas or Knots Landing messed up. I do think the timeslot is how it was able to weather all of the creative upheavals. I bought three volumes of behind the scenes info from falconcrest.org and they have many of the story bibles included in it and it's interesting because even with the writing shifts, there are many attempts throughout to tell stories in a way that would be more character driven or explain character motivations better, but these scenes and stories were often cut. I wonder if that was because of the timeslot and the desire to keep up with Dallas, so they focused more on action instead of developing the characters.

Kristen is such a ruined character I don't know that I'd touch her now, but you could at least have regular (a couple times a year at least) appearances to deal with Zende's mess. Now Felicia? Lesli Kay was so successful in the role that it makes absolutely no sense that she doesn't pop up at all. I still hate her Y&R crossover didn't work out.

I like Tracy Melchoir as an actress, but I would've cast a name as Kristen. I find it so odd Kristen and Felicia remained gone for so long considering they were core characters. Seeing these early episodes, it's even more shocking Kristen never returned sooner when you consider how complicated her relationship was with Stephanie and her deep connection with Eric. Everything they've done with her character since the 2001 return is a disgrace and a waste of a potentially fiery character that could've shaken the canvas up.

Everything about this new season looks good, especially Marlo getting her peach. It looks very fresh and different. I feel like the peach is going to make a big difference since we will get to see more of her life.

I'd rank it like this: Top 5: 1. 4 2. 3 3. 9 4. 2 5. 1 Season 6 I'd say is watchable and the three seasons I find horrific are 5, 7 and 8 with 5 being the worst simply because it was so boring and had nothing to offer.

The crazy thing is, had Freilich not been fired, his plan was to bring Chase back, but as a full on villain. I do like the writing for Richard and Maggie in season six, but her didn't understand Vicky, Chase or Cole at all. I also agree with you about Julia. It's weird that they brought Tony back, but wrote her off. I bought some of the books they have with FC secrets on falconcrest.org and they mention in season 8 they had budgeted 5 episodes for Julia to return, but it never happened. I wish we'd seen her at least once more.