Today is the anniversary of Falcon Crest, 9 seasons on CBS, from 12-4-81 to 5-17-90. The California wine industry set in the fictional Tuscany Valley but modeled after the real life Napa Valley. Earl Hamner, Jr. meant for it to be the opposite of what he is so famous for, The Waltons. Jane Wyman, Robert Foxworth, Abby Dalton, Lorenzo Lamas, Susan Sullivan, etc.

 

 

On 12/2/2023 at 9:13 PM, kalbir said:

tale as old as time.

Yep, that same old tale, man marries a woman, then dies trying to save their child from a kidnapper, then she takes up with his half-brother and dies in a swimming pool when her diamond ring gets caught in the drain.  Same ol' story 😉

Edited December 4, 20232 yr by j swift

52 minutes ago, j swift said:

 dies in a swimming pool when her diamond ring gets caught in the drain.  Same ol' story 😉

Well, she had to die once she cut her shampoo commercial hair. Sorry, I don't make the rules. 

50 minutes ago, j swift said:

  Same ol' story 😉

Think of another classic story that CBS had these connections to: a drama series that was a take on said classic story, and the beloved film version of said classic story that had a much-loved CBS primetime star in the main cast who performed the only version of the theme song that matters as far as I'm concerned.

I usually have ignored the atrocious Season 8 since FC went streaming because I remember it being very bad on my SoapNet watch (yet I liked the infamous Season 9…) but I had wanted to watch Emma’s wedding to Daniel/RD Young because I couldn’t remember it. Just a couple observations of this dismal season:

—Where Ben Argetti and Gabriel Ortega suppose to be a couple instead of friends? Only have to ask after seeing a scene where they excitedly showed off their new boots to each other lol.

—I can easily see why SOD and the critics where so harsh as well the newest storyline of Richard vs. Angela was horribly stretched out.

-Angela likes a woman named “Cookie” better than Pilar 🤣

-Emma’s marriage to Daniel/RD ended in a huge disaster which makes this all the more laughable.

@Chris B What were your thoughts?

Edited December 27, 20232 yr by soapfan770

@soapfan770Fans tend to hate season 8 but I enjoyed it. The show has such wild shifts in style throughout the years so I just went with it and judged it on how entertained I was. 
 

Seasons 6-7 were very 80s and action packed and I appreciated the more simple pace. Michael Filerman admitted he didn’t watch the show after he left in season 3 so when he took over he just went back to the show he left. 
 

It didn’t totally work but I liked them re-directing the story to focus on the vineyards and as an Emma fan I loved her romance with Daniel. I also thought Pilar was a strong addition. 

On 12/26/2023 at 9:34 PM, soapfan770 said:

atrocious Season 8

Started going off the rails in season 7 and it was fully cemented as off the rails in season 8, plus budget mode kicked in. Season 8 was a chore to get through.

On 12/26/2023 at 9:34 PM, soapfan770 said:

—I can easily see why SOD and the critics where so harsh 

Most ruined show in SOD Best/Worst of 1989 issue. I'm sure you've seen the write up. Then again 1988/89 was an awful season not just for the primetime soaps, but I think for primetime in general. I chalk that up to after effects of the writer's strike and changing times. 

On 12/26/2023 at 9:34 PM, soapfan770 said:

newest storyline of Richard vs. Angela was horribly stretched out.

It was an awful storyline and also ruined all the progress the characters had made during the course of the series.

On 12/26/2023 at 9:34 PM, soapfan770 said:

woman named “Cookie”

There's only one primetime soap female named Cookie that matters, and she was some 25 years away 🤣

On 12/26/2023 at 9:34 PM, soapfan770 said:

(yet I liked the infamous Season 9…)

Did you change your mind about season 9 on a rewatch? For me it was too dark and too sad and I found it painful to watch.

https://variety.com/2024/film/obituaries-people-news/cindy-morgan-dead-caddyshack-1235863303/

Very sad - she was apparently dead for a while before her roommate returned from a vacation and found her. 

Here was a post she made about her time on Falcon Crest.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0PO2g3OLjW/

On 12/28/2023 at 9:47 PM, kalbir said:

 

Did you change your mind about season 9 on a rewatch? For me it was too dark and too sad and I found it painful to watch.

Apologies @kalbir I had thought my reply went through wayyy back, I was musing through recent threads and found my reply from last was still sitting in the reply box 😵‍💫

While I found Season 9 a lot more entertaining than Season 8, there is a little lot of stuff that is very unnecessarily cruel, like Maggie’s death, Pilar fierce to sleep with a sleazy obese businessman, Emma in an abusive relationship once again and Chris Agretti’s murder etc. I get the theme of the season was losing everything and then winning, but the losing everything part was overkill indeed. 
 

The storylines surrounding Frank and Genele and Walker made me think I was watching Twin Peaks, Melrose Place, or even Desperate Housewives to a degree. Definitely were not typical Falcon Crest or even an 80’s prime time soap stories. 

I think keeping Maggie alive and around the whole season as well as Emma would have been a lot more beneficial. The saving grace of Season 9 was at least everyone on got a happy ending, even right down the fact that Michael might still be Danny’s father after all. 
 

On 1/7/2024 at 5:08 AM, DRW50 said:

https://variety.com/2024/film/obituaries-people-news/cindy-morgan-dead-caddyshack-1235863303/

Very sad - she was apparently dead for a while before her roommate returned from a vacation and found her. 

Here was a post she made about her time on Falcon Crest.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0PO2g3OLjW/

I had seen Morgan’s obituary earlier this month, thanks for sharing this!

Morgan actually played Lori,Lance’s side piece, before being recast and later returning in a new role as Gabrielle. Gabrielle was interesting but also DOA as the character was just placeholder to have Chase have another affair before Chase was killed off since Foxworth was known to be leaving anyways although she made a pivotal return in Season 7.

Interestingly the actress who was the Lori recast also returned in Season 7 in another supporting role. 

54 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Apologies @kalbir I had thought my reply went through wayyy back, I was musing through recent threads and found my reply from last was still sitting in the reply box 😵‍💫

No worries  

54 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

While I found Season 9 a lot more entertaining than Season 8, there is a little lot of stuff that is very unnecessarily cruel, like Maggie’s death, Pilar fierce to sleep with a sleazy obese businessman, Emma in an abusive relationship once again and Chris Agretti’s murder etc. I get the theme of the season was losing everything and then winning, but the losing everything part was overkill indeed. 

I didn't like either season 8 or 9, but I agree with you about the cruelty and losing everything being overkill.

54 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

I think keeping Maggie alive and around the whole season as well as Emma would have been a lot more beneficial. 

Unfortunately budget mode prevented that.

54 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

The saving grace of Season 9 was at least everyone on got a happy ending

I don't know what the timeline was for CBS deciding to end the show, but I have a feeling the final four episodes were refilmed to wrap up the storylines. Remember there was that five week break between the last Friday episode and the first Thursday episode. 

Promo for the first Thursday episode at 0:41

 

S9 of FC is a clear example of a cash-strapped show trying to reinvent itself for a new decade, but going about it the wrong way.

On 12/28/2023 at 8:22 PM, Chris B said:

Seasons 6-7 were very 80s and action packed and I appreciated the more simple pace. Michael Filerman admitted he didn’t watch the show after he left in season 3 so when he took over he just went back to the show he left.

TBH, I didn't mind the show getting back to basics, but I guess FC felt sluggish to viewers after the fast-paced Jeff Freilich-produced seasons.

The last season of Falcon Crest was absolutely horrible, and it felt like a completely different show. With Maggie and Emma gone and Angela absent for most of the season there was a gaping hole in the show that the new characters could not possibly fill. Everything felt dark and disjointed, and frankly I was glad to see it end. Dynasty had a much better final season, thanks in no small part to Stephanie Beacham's Sable, who was a much better replacement for Krystle than Wendy Phillips' character (Lauren) ever was for Maggie on FC.

Edited January 19, 20241 yr by I Am A Swede

16 hours ago, kalbir said:

 

I don't know what the timeline was for CBS deciding to end the show, but I have a feeling the final four episodes were refilmed to wrap up the storylines. Remember there was that five week break between the last Friday episode and the first Thursday episode. 

Promo for the first Thursday episode at 0:41

 

I suspect there was a lot of rewriting and refilming as well. Of course as we know Angela’s monologue was written by Wyman herself and I remember reading on that Falcon Crest Fan Club Website she also ad-libbed some things to bring closure during those last few eps. I’m just glad they were able to take a hint, especially after what happened to Dynasty the year and did not as we discussed in the Dynasty thread. Oddly Dallas made the same mistake Dynasty did.

I know Lorimar was collapsing at the time but I wish the show could have at least given Sullivan and Ladd their set number of episodes throughout the season, sort of like Joan Collins during Season 9 of Dynasty. But alas. 

4 hours ago, Khan said:

S9 of FC is a clear example of a cash-strapped show trying to reinvent itself for a new decade, but going about it the wrong way.

TBH, I didn't mind the show getting back to basics, but I guess FC felt sluggish to viewers after the fast-paced Jeff Freilich-produced seasons.

 

 

In addition to insult over the budget issues, a good chunk of viewers just did not come back after the 1988-89 reason.

I think the back to basics would have been a good thing but they totally botched it by killing off Melissa and inserting a bunch of boring characters I could have cared less for.

Even though they were nasty, I at least found myself intrigued by Michael and Genele while Tommy/Kelly and Nick/Anna drama felt very pointless IMO. 

 

 

Okay @kalbir I just went back to see what was originally planned and it was much worse 😮! This is what I found:

 

Before the writers came to realize that CBS would definitely cancel the series, they planned to have a seasonal cliffhanger in order to lay the groundwork for a tenth season. Their plans included the following ideas:

The question might arise if Pilar's baby is really Lance's or possibly Jovan's.

Falcon Crest was still supposed to belong to Michael Sharpe, who had plans to pave it over to turn it into an industrial park. Angela's attempts to get the property back with the help of her family were supposed to be supported by Sydney. Angela and Sydney were to come up with a plan to publicly destroy Michael Sharpe — at the wedding of Sydney and Danny. While Danny was supposed to really love Sydney and have turned against Sharpe, Sydney was supposed to marry him out of convenience only. Although Danny was to know she is not in love with him, he was to agree to the wedding. The ceremony was to be Sharpe's final victory, however as Angela's plan was supposed to backfire. The writers' ideas called for final scenes in the style of "The Godfather" movie where Sharpe was to orchestrate the demise of all of his enemies during the sacred event of the wedding. He was supposed to destroy them all — to quote the season 9 bible, "whether financially, emotionally, or physically — leaving all of our 'Falcon Crest' characters to pick up the pieces of their lives next season."

Yikes! I’m definitely glad none of this happened. Did they forget what kind of show they writing for? And double yikes that they had wanted to keep Frank Runyeon’s comical character around. 

@soapfan770 Yikes indeed. I'm like OMG what did I just read?