Falcon Crest

[Khan]

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[Chris B]

Season five I find is really dragging. I see why they made changes after this. This season has so many short term arcs and characters who go nowhere. The most enjoyable part I would say is the writing for Angels and Emma and I do love Peter, but the storylines aren’t doing anybody any favors. 

[Chris 2]

I’m to the point where Angela disappears for a few episodes and I have to agree. The Jordan portion of the show is kind of ridiculous. Lance is at loose ends with Babylonia gone. I’m really missing the season-long mystery arc the show had in its best seasons. I think in previous years, they sat down and plotted what where the whole season was headed (like season 2 with the Carlo Agretti murder). In this one, it feels like they’re doing that every six episodes or so.

[Khan]

nm

Edited April 4, 2022 by Khan

[Chris 2]

The other thing that makes no sense about season 5 is the show going  back to the “Angela wants to drive Chase out of the valley” stories. Why? In season one, she was trying to do this because she didn’t want Chase to discover the truth about Jason’s death, and wanted to prevent him from inheriting Falcon Crest. In seasons 2-4, Chase is Angela’s partner in FC and she wants to get rid of him. But by season 5, they were no longer partners, and there was no longer the possibility that Chase would inherit FC or regain control. So what was the point of those plots? It seemed like Angela wanted to drive him out just to be nasty. It didn’t ring true. 

[Chris B]

Season five just gets worse and worse. The awful Jeff Wainwright rape story for Maggie has begun. I remember hating that on my first watch because it went on for so long. I feel the same now. It’s so obvious where it’s headed, so watching week after week as he prepares is just sick to me. I am not fond of rape stories on soaps in general, but this has to be one of the worst. 

[Khan]

Was that the storyline where Maggie wrote a book while suffering from amnesia, and then forgot she wrote the book once she regained her memory (or something to that effect)?

[Chris 2]

Yep - it is. It’s fascinating how Maggie managed to write a whole book and no one even knew about it.

I hated the Jeff Wainwright story too. I always found Edward Albert (Wainwright) to be an unappealing performer, so that doesn’t help. Neither does his mustache.

And of course, when Falcon Crest had an almost-complete change in the writing and production staff between seasons 5 and 6, the Wainwright story was the one thing the new regime kept. It also set into motion the events leading to the dissolution of Chase and Maggie’s marriage, which I also didn’t like.

[soapfan770]

I have started Season 7 myself and this show is going off the rails fast yet still remains entertaining when it comes to Angela, Maggie, Richard and Emma. Chase’s death left a bad taste in my mouth although I understand of course Foxworth wanted out; Richard being Angela’s son is perplexing but Selby & Wyman make it work. 

One question I’m confused by is what the heck was up with the Nicole Sauget story? It seemed like it was going to be a big story but the show burnt through it in like 3 episodes and Nicole ended up being a pointless throwaway character. 
 

Dana Sparks’ Vickie is a chore to watch can’t wait for Eric to turn psychotic later on this season. 
 

At least the show does look visually good compared to Dallas & Dynasty at the time, with some of it looking more like 91-93. And Mark Snow’s score is a bright spot. 

[FrenchBug82]

I know people mark the decline at S4-5 but honestly I liked S7 well enough. There were duds and I still don't understand some of the strategic choices made here but even then I still thought there was plenty of soapy goodness and had someone known how to take the thread of Melissa as head of FC and Angela scheming to get it back properly, it could have set up another great leading storyline for S8
I thin S7 was decent enough for a show that long in the tooth.

And yes I can't imagine that was all that was planned for Leslie Caron. Was it one of these cases where Jane Wyman managed to get someone out that she thought was unprofessional? Was she a diva? I vaguely remember reading something about her having difficulty with lines but don't hold me to that.

[j swift]

After reading these comments I went back to watch S7E01 of Falcon Crest and I have some thoughts.

First, I think FC was the best when it came to season opening recap promos.  The YouTube compilations of season ending and opening recaps are thrilling.  Also, it really maintains a sense of humor throughout.

I also realized that I've conflated my memory of FC - Richard's parental history with KL-Greg's Sumner's backstory because I confused Lana Turner with Ava Gardner (easy mistake).  In comparison, Ava Gardner was far more compelling.

So, while Jacqueline must have known that she didn't give birth to Richard, do we ever get the reason why she lied to him years later when they met?

Also, there is something to the idea that wine has inherently lower stakes than oil, so it is kooky that all of these international criminals want to rule the valley, when the business is constantly affected by uncontrollable resources like unionized labor and the weather.   That being said, it is shame that they abandoned the idea of the annual harvest as a means of organizing the season, much like Dallas had tent poles like the Oil Barron's Ball and the Ewing BBQ.

Finally, much like B&B, it is a lost opportunity that a soap set partially in San Fransisco didn't have one gay character.  I mean after more than one of Richard's sexy female assistants screwed him over, shouldn't he have hired a stylish guy from the Castro?

Edited April 6, 2022 by j swift

[FrenchBug82]

First if they rebooted the show today (don't: Jane Wyman was this show), Joseph would be gay.
 

And while I understand your point about wine vs oil, as a Frenchman, I can tell you that wineries are a wonderful target for money laundering both because they are so low-key and low-attention on one hand (it is a plus!) and because they provide some level of prestige to criminals who get rich but never get the respect that comes with it because of where their money came from. Associating yourself with an old name and a luxury brand is good for the image.

There was a huge rush of Chinese nouveaux-riches buying up French wineyards the past few years (it has apparently died down since covid and many are rushing out after realizing that running a winery is actually harder than it looks).

Obviously the whole thing being a retcon they came up in late season 6 rather than a well thought-out plot, there are going to be huge holes.
That said, I think the explanation given - and I think it was a line in the show - was that was Jacqueline was being vindictive to Angela some more and, in some way, relishing stealing her child from her once again in adulthood.
Plus if Richard had sought to find out more about his real history and parentage, he might have found something regarding Angela, and Jacqueline's own role in stealing the baby all these years ago would have been uncovered. Better to play her cards first and quench his thirst for his roots that way.

The truth is obviously they thought that up at the last minute. My main problem with it was it being revealed through a letter. And a exposition-heavy letter at that. They literally used the letter as a device to get the backstory to the twist out of the way in two minutes so they could focus on the fallout in Season 7 but I think something that dramatic should have come up in a more interesting way. The letter was lazy writing.
 

Edited April 6, 2022 by FrenchBug82

[Soapsuds]

Speaking of reboot. There was one in the works when Dallas had theirs on TNT. It was suppose to feature Richard and Cole but I guess it didn't happen. I don't think Joseph would've been gay. FC never had any offspring except for Joseph. Dallas had John Ross, Christopher, Lucas and Rebecca. I still can't believe Lucas wasn't brought into the reboot.

[j swift]

Your point about Chinese ownership of French wineries is really interesting and could be its own soap.

I agree that the letter was lazy.

However, in reading your post it struck me that it was completely unnecessary because as Douglas's son, Richard had enough motivation to want the full FC empire, not just the newspaper. 

It was also another example of my soap pet peeve when adults start calling someone "mother" two minutes after they found out their maternity.  While Richard's use of the term was at times sarcastic, it is still so unrealistic that it always distracts me as a viewer.

And, Joseph would have totally been gay in the re-boot.  His great-grandmother was Lana Turner, he wore elaborate baby clothes while living on a farm, and his stepfather's last name was Cumson ('nuff said).

Edited April 6, 2022 by j swift

[FrenchBug82]

You are going to have to be more specific than that lol

That's actually a question I have. I understand why women wear a wig - it is a lot faster than be in hair and makeup for three hours every day AND I imagine a woman her age may not have been comfortable with the state of her real hair.

But is there a story for how that ... haircut choice for the wig came? It was such an incredibly odd style.
 

Exactly what I meant about not understanding the strategic vision for S7. The idea may have been in the original pilot but it clearly wasn't a thing in the retooling that became canon. 
I believe they revisited it because upon learning they were losing Chase, they wanted to keep the "family rivalry" angle and they didn't think, for whatever reason, that Angela vs her husband's illegitimate son was enough of intra-familial feud.
I however do not understand that. They were family if only through the numerous ties they had and, as you said, it provided Richard with a very clear BETTER motive and Angela a double motive to dislike him.
Suddenly Richard lost of his thoroughline in why he was trying so hard to get at FC and with Chase gone and later Melissa killed, that mostly left various criminals as the real threat to the ownership of the land rather than the convoluted familial interests and rivalries that were more interesting.

Just like Y&R once tried to do with Katherine and Jill, I feel writers sometimes think making people insta-family is a lazy way to build ties between characters while begrudging respect behind the hatred could have been just as compelling and a lot less forced.

In the end they sold it and it worked well enough - and the retcon was not such a stretch - but I didn't think it was necessary.