Falcon Crest

[yrfan1983]

Resuming my Falcon Crest viewing after a break…

Ep 16 - so much better than Ep 15 “Heir Apparent” aka the drunk driving afternoon special - the difference is night and day. Hopefully the show has permanently abandoned the “episode of the week” format.

Notable that this ep is directed by Bill Duke. This ep was shortly after his big break directing episodic TV with Knots Landing.

@Vee, don’t know if you’re a FC fan, but I thought of you watching this ep.. there’s some cool Bill Duke directorial flourishes in this ep, like the framing of the scene at 34:00 when Melissa walks in on Lance and his one-nighter… and at the end when Melissa tells Lance she’s pregnant and she stuffs wedding cake in his gaping mouth as the photographer takes the “perfect picture”. (Also see below, Bill Duke directs another ep soon after)

Ep 17 - Notable for Chao-Li speaking more than 1 sentence and not just being a background character. Unfortunately he’s still limited to carrying out Angela’s orders. He has such a compelling natural presence that I want to see more of him, and in his own story.

Stephen Elliott as Douglas Channing - he was a bit stiff in the beginning. But he eventually won me over with his warm portrayal of a father to Emma and Julia. Douglas’ offer to take Emma to Paris was so poignant. I can’t help but wonder if Douglas should have lived longer? Did the plot demand he die in this episode? Time will tell… but meanwhile, what a dramatic moment! Angela vs Chase is officially on!

DA Martin Deering played by original Spider-Man and Sound of Music veteran Nicholas Hammond!

I feel like Maggie got lost as a front-burner character as the season progressed. She’s devolved into a supportive and suffering wife. I’m confident season 2 will bring Maggie back to the spotlight she deserves.

Haha Angela doesn’t care one way or another whether Lance is the father of Melissa’s baby.

Ep 18 - Margaret Ladd was the MVP of this finale. There were some LOL moments like at the end when Angela told Emma to come along and Emma said “no thank you mother, when a gentleman (Cole) drives you somewhere, he’ll drive you home too” and Chase kissing Angela on the cheek after their devil’s bargain.

Richard Channing’s name is introduced like a bolt of lightning out of the blue! Quite the set-up.

Ep 19 - solid season-starter. They played a little fast-and-loose with the timeframe in advancing Melissa’s pregnancy, but we’ll let it slide.

David Selby, hmmm… what do people think of him? From my viewings back in the 80s of seasons 5 and later, he struck me as lacking in sex appeal and low-wattage in charisma. But I hope to be proven wrong!

Shannon Tweed - this is perhaps her first speaking part? Not Oscar-worthy but she has a nice presence that fits her role. I remember her saying in an interview that Diana was only slated for a few eps but it kept getting extended to last the full season.

Ep 20 - Bill Duke again! There’s a fantastic long tracking shot following Melissa as she arrives at the surprise baby shower and is greeted by all the guests.

LOL that Angela literally vows war to Chase’s face multiple times and he continues to be cordial.

I continue to have no interest in Jamie Rose’s Vicki. Hopefully her upcoming May-December romance with Roy Thinnes is a bit more compelling.

@kalbir - is the scene you mentioned the one where

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[kalbir]

Yes,

After seeing that unfold, I was like "I'm totally down for this".

Edited July 15, 2023 by kalbir

[Chris 2]

Margaret Ladd as Emma is the MVP of the entire series, IMHO. Emma is the only character in the Channing family who can talk back to Angela, who has a major soft spot for her younger daughter.

[yrfan1983]

oooh you've got me really excited... I'm barely spoiled for any of seasons 2 or 3 so it's all fresh to me.

[kalbir]

Emma was the family candor. She was the only one that could call out her family members on their nonsense and get away with it. Despite her mental illness, she was a lot smarter than her family gave her credit for.

Seasons 2 and 3 were the best. 

[Vee]

Thank you for this. I will peek at FC here and there sometime soon, though I am not picking it up like I did KL or more casually, some periods of Dallas. (I am getting back to KL shortly, BTW - a lot of stops and starts re: availability)

I do know Bill Duke has talked about how the Lorimar soaps kept him employed and paid for much of the '80s and IIRC he credited Jane Wyman and Larry Hagman in particular for their support of him and kindness, while he regularly heard derogatory and racist remarks from the crew, Teamsters, etc. Later he of course became more famous for his acting work in Predator, etc. but he still directs and acts today.

[soapfan770]

@kalbir Thanks for sharing those ads. I find it funny that CBS still used the intended Season 9 logo in their promos when then show had reverted back to the S6-S8 logo allegedly following viewer backlash.  That 1989 episode was actually Emma’s farewell episode while the 1990 episode was when that husband who was basically a Chase clone just like his wife was a Maggie clone blew himself up with a bomb just because he was jealous/depressed. 

I find it odd CBS did move the show to Thursday nights for the final few episodes especially if they had decided to cancel the series. Would have made more sense to end the show in it’s natural time-slot instead of against new colossal hits Twin Peaks ABC  and Wings on NBC. 

“When’s the last time you’ve been to Dallas?” made me laugh. I’m a lot kinder to the post dream 1986-91 years the most as that’s the period of Dallas I first remember watching regularly as my parents watched the show to the bitter end on Friday nights in retrospect the 89-90 season was the worst season for the whole show IMO. 
 

I myself have moved onto to rewatching Season 6 of Falcon Crest, I’ll share my thoughts in a separate post. 

 

[kalbir]

You're welcome @soapfan770

There was a five week break between the last Friday episode (March 16, 1990) and the first Thursday episode (April 26, 1990). Also Dallas was off two of those five weeks (March 23 and April 20) so more like a three week break. Let's not forget the show that owned Thursday 9 pm at that time, Cheers. 

As for CBS moving the final four episodes to a time slot that had been a dead zone since Fall 1985 instead of letting them be broadcast in their original time, this was the height of CBS primetime third place mess era so it was probably more fill space in the schedule because nothing was working as far as new shows go. CBS primetime was not in a position to have any tank jobs. I got the feeling the final four episodes were refilmed to wrap up the storylines but I might be wrong.

The lowest-rated episode of the series was May 3, 1990, Jane Wyman's return episode. It was head-to-head with Cheers season 8 finale.

Looking forward to your thoughts on season 6. I describe it as a high-octane action-packed thrill ride, and I found it an improvement over season 5.

Edited July 15, 2023 by kalbir

[te.]

I think it's more that they saw Thursday as a dead-end slot where no new shows could succeed and they had two comedies to premiere late in the season (Bagdad Cafe and Sugar & Spice); obviously they weren't going to put those up against NBC's monster line-up and they probably had hoped that Dallas might have enough pulse left to improve the Friday 10PM slot. Falcon Crest was dead anyway so they just threw it under the bus.

[Paul Raven]

Falcon Crest's last Fri ep was #66 with an 8.6/16

20/20 0n ABC was # 29 and Mancuso FBI on NBC was #62

When Dallas moved into the 10pm timeslot it ranked #39 12.7/23 so an immediate improvement.

[Chris 2]

The CBS promo department was occasionally misaligned with the programming dept in those days. I remember during the first Sharon Gless season of “Cagney & Lacey,” the “brought to you by” bumpers were still using the theme song from the Meg Foster episodes, a completely different tune.

[yrfan1983]

Just finished s2ep3 "Troubled Waters" with the murder of Carlo Agretti.  The plot twists keep coming! Wow, this much-improved show has no resemblance to the season 1 episodes-of-the-week format.

I am spoiled to who is the murderer. Does anyone know- did the writers already pick the murderer when they wrote the episode? Or did they decide later? I remember reading that the s2 finale cliffhanger had alternate scenes filmed with all cast members confessing they were the killer.

[kalbir]

Seasons 2 to 4 I describe as Dallas with grapes/James Bond hybrid. 

You're three episodes away from Lana Turner return, and that's when the real excitement begins.

[yrfan1983]

S2E4 “Murder One”

Joanna Cassidy!! I had no idea. This was filmed just months after the iconic Blade Runner was released, starring Joanna as a killer android.

What a cool move Chao-Li pulled at 16:00 to block the reporter. And then Chao-Li and Lance doing tai-chi in sync was beautiful to watch. I know Chao-Li will never get a real front-burner story but I appreciate the little character moments.

Maggie slumped over a typewriter and fretting for Cole is not the story I wanted for her. When the series started, she was a fully fleshed-out character but now she’s thinly drawn… just serving the plot. 

I’m sorely tempted to switch my limited viewing hours to the 100 vintage eps of YR that were just added… but I’ve finally reached peak era Falcon Crest and am loving it, so I’ll stick with FC.

[kalbir]

I liked Chao-Li and I considered him part of the Channing family, not just their domestic help. It was a missed opportunity that his backstory and family wasn't fully explored, especially in the later years. There could have been storylines involving his backstory/family that tie-in Chinese-American history in California wine country and future (in the 1980s anyway) events ie. Hong Kong handover and China economic reforms.

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by kalbir