Taking a book set in the 20's that was turned into a movie set in the 40's and then  TV series set in the 80's did create a problem in terms of tone and sense of place.

About halfway through the second season, and I forgot just how good the show gets after it moves on from trying to make Lane/Field the central couple. Michael was a great addition to the cast and provided a more nuanced antagonist than Titus ever was. Field was more interesting in his role as state senator, and Eudora finally had a little bit more purpose with the barrio storyline. The Sanchez family was good, too, even with some of the of-the-time writing for them. Gina Gallego and Fernando Allende were major finds for the show.

Constance really comes into her own in season two, and this is the version of the character people should know/remember. She was never an Alexis or Angela or JR. She’s really more of an Abby, but I think the fundamental difference is that while Abby would choose money every time, Constance would choose love (superficial or otherwise). She grew up rich, so she never needed to scheme to get money. She never really felt love, though, and so she kept chasing it. She held on to Field for so long because he was the one who was supposed to love her, and losing him meant losing the pretense. She and Julio were truly fcking HOT together.

There are still some things needing fixing. Elmo Tyson serves no real purpose and should have been replaced by another female character. Maybe one who was already established in the Flamingo Road circle and had a real history of animosity with Constance. Maybe a daughter for Elmo just to keep him around in a supporting role? I also thought we had more Lane/Sam in the second season, but they’ve been backburnered for the most part. Sam is Lane’s only saving grace for me, and her only reason for staying in town, so I wish we would have more of them together to solidify that or that they would have just written her out.

Mark Harmon wasn't exactly a cheerleader for the show.

Tlmes-News, Twin Falls, Idaho Friday, August 7,198

Flamingo Road suffered typical first-season jitters By Jerry Krupnick Newhouse News Service

NEW YORK "- Getting over that first year hump is the toughest part. -• For Mark Harmon and the rest of the Flamingo Road cast, the initial season of NBC's entry in television's night time soap opera sweepstakes was filled with anxiety and doubt. 'We worked very hard last year." Harmon said recently "trying to find consistency within our-characters of which there was very little. Whatever we were able to bring was from within ourselves, not through something that was written. It was hectic, but I think that will all change."

The problems "Flamingo Road" ; faced are those most new dramatic series face. The actors must get to know each other, the writers must flesh out their parts, the audiences must develop a viewing habit that will brlng them back for more. Complicating the picture was the the actors strike last year, which kept the show off the air until almost the middle ofof the season. So Flamingo Rood had to accomplish these goals in a much shorter time frame.

Insiders at NBC said the decision to renew the series was a close one, made at the last minute. According to one report, the final choice was between bringing back "Lobo" or giving Flamingo Road" a second season.

What will "Flamingo Road" be like this coming season? "I honestly don't know," Harmon said, and I'm even more curious about It than you are. It's my career right now, after all.

There has been a shakeup with the show, however. The staff, the writers, everybody but one of the producers was let go at the end of last season. We're going back at the end of August, now that the writers have settled, and we shall seer: "They did try to get a 'bible' together in a general outline of the storylines for the season , but I know that It will change, now that Grant Tinker has taken over NBC." How will Grant Tinker change "Flamingo Road? "I think he is interested in upgrading the network's quality as much as he can, and In those terms I think there's a possibility at least that "Flamingo Road' will be looked at very carefully. *But I have no Idea in what direction it will be going. haven't heard anything. I'm hopeful however that it will be handled better.

Was it handled that badly last year? No, no," Harmon said, "It's Just that I would love to think you can do wonderful programming and that people would be conditioned to watching it. I genuinely am a fan of the bottom five or six shows on the weekly Nielsen list and hope that rub off on 'Flamingo Road' a little bit. I have never tried to make our show anything than what I believe it Is - a fun and enjoyable fantasy - but If people can find a very thin vein of reality within the characters we portray, terrific.

Harmon, 6 feet, bIue-eyed, the all-American type continually made it clear that he is a far cry from Fielding Carlyle, the character he portrays in Flamingo Road. "Fielding is confused and weak torn between what he wants to do and what life expects of him. As a result, he makes a loveless marriage with the town vixen because it will advance his political career. And he constantly goes back to Lane Ballou an ex carnival dancer who has captured his heart.

"He's a rat." Harmon concluded "and when the camera's not rolling. I'm sure not Fielding Carlyle. I have my own style. I try to give him his. But I'm not trying to make him something he's not. There have been things I've tried to do all year with my character, and hopefully I've pulled some of them off. I worked very hard keeping Fielding unpredictable. At the same time. I tried to make him believable to the extent that people can find a quality there they either love or hate - anything as long as they don't fail asleep".

Hopefully, that's what 'Flamingo Road' is about. People can turn on their sets for an hour and fantasize along with these characters, beautiful .women and all that kind of stuff - anti they just go along with it. Turn it off after the hour and wait until next week. We're talking about formula stuff. The fact that we've been renewed for 24 shows must mean we're doing—something right.

9 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Mark Harmon wasn't exactly a cheerleader for the show.

Maybe Mark Harmon was one of those actors that was embarrassed to be on a soap opera.

I consider St. Elsewhere Mark Harmon's breakthrough role and NCIS his career resurgence.

5 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Maybe Mark Harmon was one of those actors that was embarrassed to be on a soap opera.

To be fair, it sounds like the production of the first season was a mess due to strikes and then the break between the first and second was filled with quite a bit of uncertainty due to turn-over of the brass. So I think his attitude stems from that.

4 minutes ago, te. said:

To be fair, it sounds like the production of the first season was a mess due to strikes and then the break between the first and second was filled with quite a bit of uncertainty due to turn-over of the brass. So I think his attitude stems from that.

1980/81 season was delayed due to actor's strike and 1981/82 season was delayed due to writer's strike.

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

I consider St. Elsewhere Mark Harmon's breakthrough role and NCIS his career resurgence.

Same here!

From watching the show, Lane worked best as an intro character. The character that the audience identifies with, but as the show continued and the audience got to know all the players.. the focus did eventually move to Constance. To me, she seemed more like a Fallon type then a vixen.

I think once the show figures that out in season 2, the show improves and it's a shame the show took too long to find it's focus and footing because season 3 would have definitely continued the stories set as the 2nd season was coming to an end.