Falcon Crest

[soapfan770]

Maybe trying to ramp up the nostalgia factor? The only original characters left on the show were Angela, Lance, and Chao-Li. But FC hadn’t been watched by too many since 1987 and the finale didn’t bring back any old living characters like Emma, Cole, Peter Stravos etc. 

[DRW50]

That's a lousy ad. They didn't even choose good headshots. That's the least attractive I've seen Gregory Harrison look in his entire career. He looked hotter on GH last year!

And CBS would keep bringing over ABC or NBC actors (more often ABC) for their soaps, further gutting their identities. Sad all around. Of course, they are the only network to have more than one soap on the air, so who am I to judge?

Edited May 18 by DRW50

[chrisml]

Was Angela still on the show at that point? I think I caught some of the show on Lifetime or TNT  when they reran the series, and Angela never seemed to be on during the last season. I remember thinking it felt the like the last season was a completely different show and that Wendy Philips was too grounded of an actress (not a criticism) for a nighttime soap. 

 

I don't understand the concept because I don't think most people channel hop. I can understand wanting Alfonso's popularity to rub off, but why engender bad feelings by firing Ana Alicia and bringing on Alfonso? Soap execs never learned that lesson. Like Ellen Parker a few years later, I don't think they realized Ana Alicia's popularity.

[DRW50]

Jane Wyman had health struggles and was written out after the first few episodes. IIRC, she went against medical advice to film the final episodes of the show.

I guess they likely did think Alicia was just there as some kind of eye candy for viewers and could be replaced. As mentioned by several people in the CBS primetime soap threads, Moonves and others brought a real culture of misogyny to the shows in the mid/late '80s where every woman was seen as replaceable.

I didn't realize how many times Wyman's health had been a factor in the last 4-5 seasons of the show. Here is one example.

www.falconcrest.org | Deutscher FALCON CREST - Fanclub / German FALCON CREST Fan Club

Edited May 18 by DRW50

[Paul Raven]

Kristian probably had a high 'Q' score-that seemed to mean a lot in those days.

FC always brought unknowns in for the young cast, so her Days probably had little to do with it-just something that they thought might help.

The producers probably had no idea who she was, but that 'Q' score would have been a factor.

Otherwise she was just a pretty, competent actress as Ana Alicia, Mary Kate McGeehan, Kate Vernon etc had been.

[kalbir]

It was reported that Jane Wyman absence in the final season was due to health (it's documented that Jane was diabetic) but I believe her episodes being cut was a budget mode move. Similar move Dallas pulled in 1990, it was reported that Barbara Bel Geddes retired due to health (it's documented that Barbara had a heart condition) but I say salary dump.

Jane Wyman only acted once after Falcon Crest, a 1993 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, but she lived another 14 years after that. Barbara Bel Geddes did not act again after her last episode of Dallas in 1990 but she lived another 15 years after that.

The trifecta of suck at Lorimar was Les Moonves, Leonard Katzman, and Michael Filerman. It was a pattern across all three CBS primetime soaps in the off the rails plus budget mode era to salary dump the long-time female cast members and bring on sweet young things hired on the cheap. 

Edited May 19 by kalbir

[I Am A Swede]

Ana Alicia was far more dynamic and charismatic than McGeehan or Vernon though. Some of it due to the writing of course, but not all of it.

[Paul Raven]

Agree, but I am talking more about the initial casting. Melissa might have only lasted a season if Ana Alicia hadn't impressed.

[te.]

It's been pretty well-known since that that BBG was offered a similar deal as Ken Howard (ie 4-6 episodes) and she told them to fudge off. With Jane Wyman, I don't doubt they were willing not to hold her to her contract, but in those early episodes where she appears, she's written sitting down or in a bed for a reason. Her health genuinely seemed in decline.

[Soapsuds]

Who is Ken Howard?

I think you mean Howard Keel.

[te.]

You're right - though I did confuse his name with an actual actor who was on Dynasty.

[kalbir]

I did not know that Barbara Bel Geddes walked from Dallas rather than have her episodes cut in the final season. I had always read retirement due to health was the reason she was absent from the final season.

Jane Wyman was not looking healthy during the final two seasons of Falcon Crest but I still think budget mode lead to her episodes being cut in the final season, considering that she lived another 17 years after Falcon Crest ended.

[Khan]

I agree, and I think both could be true: Jane Wyman needed to reduce her work schedule due to health concerns, and CBS/Lorimar took advantage of that in order to cut costs, too.

[DRW50]

Audio of a Robert Foxworth interview from 1984.

Robert Foxworth Interview by Bob Lardine : Bob Lardine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Edited May 28 by DRW50

[kalbir]

The final season had a darkness and sadness surrounding everything and it was painful to get through. There were times I was like "make it make sense".

Sign of the times.

Hired on the cheap to fill both the good mother role and family conscience role. 

Did the writers really think that 25 years later (going by real time) the audience wouldn't notice the dust off of The Sound of Music?