Falcon Crest

[amybrickwallace]

I see. Why did Ana Alicia leave FC? Was it her choice or was she let go?

[DRW50]

She was fired. They bought her out of her contract. After the negative reaction to this, they then brought her back as a new character for a few episodes. She said that the upside to the whole thing was she got to buy her mother a house with all that money they paid her to get rid of her.

[Soapsuds]

The show was already going downhill but once they fired her I lost all interest in FC. The show was not the same even when she popped up again as a different character.

[edgeofnik]

One of the most idiotic decisions a show has made. I never got why they would fire her and buy her out. AA was just the bomb to watch. There must've been some backstage reason why they did it because it made zero sense, but the show was desperate as the ratings really slipped badly after S6/S7.

[slick jones]

I liked the Carlo Agretti murder mystery. The Riebman Nazi story was OTT, but most of the stories were pretty good in the beginning. Anything w/Emma was silly, but I loved Margaret Ladd's take on the part. I just saw her on a Quincy rerun the other day. I also liked Abby Dalton/ Julia. Lance was always a fun character, and, of course, easy on the eyes. Chao Li and Angela's relationship was sweet, considering she was so mean to everyone. Jane Wyman OWNED that role. The queen of one liners. I didn't mind Pilar, but she was no Melissa. Ana Alicia was my teenage must see. Sooooooo much drama.

[Khan]

I don't know whether this qualifies as an actual storyline, but I was very intrigued by the Melissa/Lance/Cole triangle.

[Soapsuds]

I always wanted Melissa with Cole but she wanted bad boy Lance…loved the triangle….Cole and Linda were so boring together.

[Khan]

I just loved the idea of the resident playboy (Lance) and the fair-haired golden boy of sorts (Cole) both being in love with this vengeful, conniving vixen and how they brought out different sides of her personality. To me, it's straight out of the soap opera playbook.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Khan

[Soapsuds]

And no one has done it since on soaps….instead we get Maxie and Nathan and Spinelli…what a joke..

[rlj]

I think cuz peeps knew she was brought on to try and replace AA and that was a no no IMP, AA was everything as Melissa!

Best stories

Carlo Agretti's murder

Cole/Melissa/Lance

Jaquieline Perrault

Terry and Richard

I loved Dwayne and Emma

[amybrickwallace]

If the show was already going downhill, why fire your most popular vixen? That's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Khan]

Firing Ana-Alicia and attempting to fill that void with Kristian Alfonso was stupid (personally, I would have kept AA and maybe introduce Pilar as Melissa's half-sister) but I do give the production team that season credit for trying to introduce a rich-vs.-poor element to the series with Pilar's family and the returning Agrettis and bring it back to the doings in and around the vineyards after previous show runner Jeff Freilich had turned FC into some super-campy espionage drama.

I think Michael Filerman, who had re-inserted himself into the show's production after being hands-off almost from the beginning (due mostly to creative differences with Earl Hamner), made the changes he made, including firing Ana-Alicia, in order to leave HIS mark on the series. Pure and simple. But, in his defense, he did admit years later during an interview with someone from FC's German fan club (I think?), he really made some blunders throughout that season.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Khan

[te.]

Pilar wasn't horrible as such, just an obvious "replacement character".

See: Jennifer on Melrose Place, Gina on Beverly Hills 90210 etc.

[I Am A Swede]

If they intended Pilar as a "replacement" for Melissa they did a horrible job with it. I didn't pay that much attention to the final years of Falcon Crest, beacuse the show was deteriorating so much, but from what I remember Pilar was nothing like Melissa. Melissa drove story, whereas Pilar mostly reacted to what the men surrounding her did, Lance, Richard, her own two brothers etc.

[amybrickwallace]

Pilar wasn't still on FC when it ended, was she?