Falcon Crest

[te.]

I will give them this - Maggie's death is actually my first memory of Falcon Crest, so it was certainly memorable!

And to be fair, the L'Oreal haired heroine actually went and cut her hair off, so how could she not die horribly for breaking such a simple soap rule? Don't cut your shampoo commercial hair off!

Edited February 20, 2023 by te.

[I Am A Swede]

Maggie's death..... 

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That is probably one of the most gruesome and haunting death scenes I've seen on TV, yet so well-done. You can feel her panic and desperation.  *shudders*

[DRW50]

I saw this as a child and it horrified me. Very effective, but I never watched the show again for a long time. 

[AbcNbc247]

Yeah 

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I’ve enjoyed it, but Dallas is still my favorite 

[Soapsuds]

You need to find $2.00 and buy an episode in HD.

There's fans of the show saying they'll see it on FreeVee for free. The quality does not compare.

[AbcNbc247]

[soapfan770]

Maggie’s death was the first of the Trifecta of shocking disturbing deaths amongst the dying CBS primetime soaps. April on Dallas was the second, and Linda on Knots would be the third. 
 

Season 9 of Falcon Crest is so weird after Maggie’s death and then Angela’s coma. The season itself is an improvement over the boring, mediocre and insipid Season 8, but the show simply became Falcon Crest in name only as the storylines involving Charley and Emma, Richard vs. Michael, and especially the creepy story between Frank and Genele makes it feel like one is watching a completely different show. Walker and Lauren are a obvious Chase and Maggie clones. 
 

The show really should have kept Sullivan  and just give Maggie the stories Lauren was given Michael was supposedly Maggie’s cousin or something. 

If I had to rank all 9 seasons of FC, it would look like this:

1. Season 3

2. Season 2

3. Season 4

4. Season 6

5. Season 7

6. Season 1

7. Season 9

8. Season 5

9. Season 8

Edited March 6, 2023 by soapfan770

[kalbir]

Agree. That final season felt like a totally different show. There was a darkness and sadness that surrounded everything and it was painful to sit through. Sitting through season 8 was bad enough but the final season was worse. 

Season 7 it started going off the rails and that had to do with the core families having shrunken and the supporting characters and guest stars in short arcs not really working.

Seasons 8 and 9 were off the rails plus budget mode. The core cast shrunk further and the new arrivals didn't work plus after effects of the writer's strike and changing times.

I break down the seasons as 1 good start, 2 and 3 peak, 4 still good but signs of tanking showing, 5 and 6 tanking, 7 signs of going off the rails showing, 8 and 9 off the rails plus budget mode. I'd rank the seasons as 3, 2, 1, 4, 6, 5, 7, 8, 9.

If CBS hadn't been such a mess in the late 1980s, none of the primetime soaps would have lasted into the 1990s. I'll always maintain that Spring 1988 was the natural end point for primetime soaps as a genre.

Edited March 6, 2023 by kalbir

[soapfan770]

I am glad that Season 9 ended on a high note and everyone got happy endings after the hell they went through that season.

I’d say the worst thing about the final season was Frank Runyeon’s strange European character who had a fling/unrequited thing for Pilar. WTF? It reminded me of Bill Paxton’s character from the movie True Lies. 
 
I had ranked Season 5 so low because I found that season to be so generic mediocre soap i.e. Maggie’s amnesia, Pamela’s silly plastic surgery, Morgan Fairchild’s DID, Robin being the surrogate mother from hell etc. Season 6 felt refocused besides some missteps (Demonizing Chase, Dan Fixx and Dana Sparks’ Vicki)

[Vee]

Out of somewhat morbid curiosity, as FC seems perpetually troubled and the also-ran: If someone was, let's say, terminally bored and looking to play Lorimar completionist, what FC material could he skim briefly to get a sense of the show? The pilot? A couple eps in Seasons X or Y? I am def not looking to pick the show up full time, I'm just mildly intrigued and I know I shouldn't limit my perusal to the very strange final season with the super-atmospheric opening and the OTT action-packed makeover.

[te.]

Just watch season 2 since it's there it finds its footing, though I'd really just recommend watching the entire series.

[Spin865]

As someone who watched the show for the first time when it started streaming on Freevee, I think any part of season 2 is the most "pure" Falcon Crest. 

[kalbir]

Start from the beginning. Season 1 is a good start and builds the foundation. Seasons 2 and 3 are the peak.

[Soapsuds]

Agreed!  Season 4 isn't bad either.

Season 2 really defines the characters and the mystery of who killed Melissa dad is prevalent.

[Vee]

I take your point but I am not watching the whole of this show, lol. I have enough on my plate with Knots, my occasional skip around through Dallas, other contemporary shows and IRL. I will check out the pilot and some bits and pieces of the first few seasons though.