Falcon Crest

[Khan]

So, while Lana's initial appearance on the show did give FC an enormous ratings boost, later appearances failed to match those results.  (I don't count the S2 finale, because it was, after all, the season finale, as well as the climax of the "Who Killed Carlo Agretti?" mystery.  "Climax" would have rated highly whether Lana appeared again or not.)

I think that data reinforces my initial point: FC could have recast Jacqueline -- if not with another Hollywood legend like Miss Turner, then certainly with a formidable actor -- and the show would have been fine.  They could have brought in someone like Barbara Rush or Dorothy Malone.

[te.]

Eh, I thought Jacqueline appeared in the right amount of episodes and I liked the fact that she continued to be an antagonistic presence after her death.

[yrfan1983]

Ep 9 “Dark Journey” was the worst yet! Vickie runs away from home and into the clutches of a pornographer. God help me get through these “self-contained episodes”. I was thrilled when Michael Zaslow made his appearance as the villain - he saved the ep.

[kalbir]

@yrfan1983 You're at the home stretch. Episode 12 is a game changer.

[yrfan1983]

Thank you 

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I can do it!

[Khan]

Also -- and please, take what I say with a grain of salt -- but David Jacobs has said (and maybe everyone else at Lorimar agreed) that DALLAS and KL began with self-contained episodes, because he didn't believe that audiences knew enough about the characters yet to invest fully in ongoing storylines.  As a matter of fact, I think he said that's why he thought BERRENGER'S failed: it jumped right away into ongoing stories, and there were too many characters who were too new to the audience for them to follow along.

The initial seasons of DALLAS, FC and KL with self-contained episodes can be real slogs to get through, if only because the quality varies from episode to episode -- some are well-written; others...aren't -- and you know that very little of it will be recalled as the shows move forward.  If you're watching for the first time, then I do think you just have to push through, because they'll help acclimate you to the shows in general.  But if you've seen it all before, watching them all over again is definitely unnecessary, lol.

Now that I'm thinking about it, didn't I read somewhere (maybe it was on here) that when ratings for DALLAS and FC began to fall, Lorimar considered returning to the original, self-contained format, but soon decided against it?

Edited May 9, 2023 by Khan

[Vee]

Yeah, I had just recommended @Darn watch most of the first three seasons of KL, because I think there is way too much in those seasons that is important for the character and community fabric of later KL and informs the characters and relationships, especially the families and the parents and kids. But I definitely told him to dump more than a few lol.

I might idly browse FC but I am not really interested in committing to that. Dallas I skip around with and browse a lot for the reasons I have enumerated at length in my posts in that thread; I find it repetitive.

[Khan]

You find DALLAS, the series, repetitive; or just the self-contained episodes?

I will admit that I, too, have a rather love-hate relationship with FC.  I think it always had potential, but I also think it constantly shot itself in the foot, too.  Whenever the show appeared to be on a roll in terms of story, they'd always do something to mess it up and make me question why they (or I) even bothered.

[te.]

And wasn't he right? Dallas. Self-contained. Falcon Crest. Self-contained. Knots Landing. Self-contained. Beverly Hills 90210? Self-contained. Melrose Place. Self-contained.

 

The only major soap that started serialised was Dynasty, but that was accused of having a glacial pace for the first season (thus letting us know the characters). Prime time soaps need time and patience, essentially. Let people know your characters first, drama second.

[Khan]

DYNASTY's setup in the beginning was beautiful and classically soapy: the well-to-do Carringtons vs. the working-class Blaisdels, with Krystal as the character struggling to exist in both worlds.  It was all very down-to-earth, and also the most complex and emotionally layered we would ever see characters like Blake, Fallon and Steven, too.  Unfortunately, because the Shapiros had no idea how to write for the Blaisdels (Claudia notwithstanding), that whole season was written off as, "Well, no one watching cared about what was happening outside the mansion anyway"; when, in fact, had they put more effort into writing for Matthew and Lindsay, the audience might have welcomed keeping the original, "rich vs. poor" structure of the show intact.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Khan

[Vee]

The series overall.

[Khan]

Gotcha.  And I would have to agree.

[Vee]

I talked about it in the Dallas thread a bit over the last year. I am watching bits and pieces of it here and there as fluff and will watch the dream season in tandem with Knots S7 to examine the Lorimar creative swap with KL closely, but that's about it.

[Franko]

I'm not sure if she would have wanted to do a nighttime soap, and maybe she'd look too similar opposite Jane Wyman, but the first woman who came to mind was Maureen O'Hara.

[Khan]

And my first thought (before suggesting Rush and Malone) was Claudette Colbert, lol.