Falcon Crest

[Maxim]

I'm up to episode 9. This show is so much better than Dynasty. I loveee it. 

[kalbir]

I thought I was the only person that liked Falcon Crest more than Dynasty.

When I watched Falcon Crest, I was drawn to it right away and when I had the two reactions I described earlier that cemented everything for me.

[Vee]

Both Falcon Crest and Knots Landing are now all up for free on demand on Plex streaming.

[Soaplovers]

I still love that the creator of the Waltons created this show.. and that his favorite scene/moment of Falcon Crest was when Melissa drops the bombshell on Lance after they exchange vows that she's carrying another man's baby.

From what I could tell, Falcon Crest wasn't as out there/over the top as Dynasty... but was moreso then Dallas/Knots Landing. 

Melissa and Maggie were the backbone of the show and once both were gone.. so was the show.

[soapfan770]

TBH same here as well especially after rewatching it ever since it resurfaced, where as before I had shrugged it off (probably because I always found Alexis more exciting) but then once rewatching I realized how much more likable the characters are and how FC had such unique characters like Emma, Pamela, Meredith, and later on Genele that weren’t found on any of the other primetime soaps.

 I love how debonair David Selby is Richard. I enjoy how he works as both the show villain and anti-hero. Rewatching the show made me Richard was a primetime counterpart to Victor Newman.

My last rewatch of Dynasty had me enjoying Seasons 1-5, rolling my eyes at Seasons 6-7, wondering what the heck I was watching for Season 8 and enjoying Season 9. The 1991 movie left me mixed.

For Falcon Crest I enjoyed Seasons 1-4, rolled my eyes at Season 5, entertained the high octane Seasons 6-7, wondering what the heck I was watching for Season 8, and Season 9 felt like a season of another TV show. Some of intriguing, some of it depressing. At least everyone got a happy ending and I was satisfied with the finale. 

[kalbir]

We think of Earl Hamner as more family drama, not soap opera in the vein of David Jacobs or Aaron Spelling or Bill Bell.

They are still remembered fondly 35+ years later unlike their budget mode replacements.

OMG yes, I noticed that too. I'm not going to deep dive comparison here so as not to derail this thread.

I break down Falcon Crest as

Season 1: Wealthy Waltons in modern day California wine country. Good start that builds the foundation.

Seasons 2 and 3: Dallas with grapes/James Bond hybrid. Peak.

Season 4: Dallas with grapes/James Bond hybrid. Still good but signs of tanking start showing after the abrupt ending of the war crimes storyline.

Season 5: Dallas with grapes/Miami Vice hybrid (if you can't beat the new hotness, might as well join it). Tanking is cemented. The start-and-stop storylines don't really work.

Season 6: High octane action-packed thrill ride but still tanking.

Season 7: High octane action-packed thrill ride but signs of going off the rails are showing.

Seasons 8 and 9: Off the rails plus budget mode. So much of the final two seasons I was like "make it make sense".

All the ingredients were there for a great show but the execution squandered the potential, and I think network interference and backstage drama played a big part in it.

Edited August 30, 2024 by kalbir

[te.]

I'm not really sure I'd define season 5 as the start of the Miami Vice hybrid - the main memory of season 5 is that they kind of start doing lame soap opera tropes but not really that well (see Maggie's amnesia). 

 

The issue with season 7 is that nothing seems to last more than three episodes. At least season 6 had an overall plot, but there's so many guest stars and the whole thing ends up feeling like they were throwing crap at the wall to see what stuck. 

[kalbir]

Apollonia arc was to get the Miami Vice demographic.

[Maxim]

This show is addicting! I'm nearly done with season 1 and LOVE AND LOVE AND LOOOOVE IT.

[kalbir]

@Maxim You'll love seasons 2 and 3. Those were the peak of the series for me.

[Maxim]

I can't wait! This show really has no weak moments so far... And I love how real all feels - like it really could happen somewhere. The characters are real. No over the top camp so far. 

[soapfan770]

@kalbir Another Y&R connection I actually totally failed to notice lol. I decided to take a break from watching Knots on Plex and noticed the actual Primetime Soaps Channel was running Season 5 eps of Falcon Crest (post Apollonia thankfully!)

Lo and behold I realized between his stints as Dynasty reject Marc Mergeron Y&R that Frank M. Benard also played a Dynasty reject character on FC in the form of Phillipe Hubert, Stravos’ treacherous son-in-law.

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I will say at least Sophia Stravos seems more interesting that whatever the heck JJ and Terry have going on at the moment this season, but alas she didn’t make it. 

[kalbir]

Dead at Dynasty reject 

Frank M. Benard spent a good portion of the 1980s playing characters that were way too Dynasty. Even on his one episode of Dynasty itself.

[j swift]

I was watching an early scene with Melissa and Lance (it was either Joseph's christening, or their wedding).  They were delightfully sparring underneath their breath while pretending to be happy.  It was so much fun to watch, and it made me wish that they were each other's romantic end game, and it didn't get so nasty between the two.  Cole was never going to make Melissa happy, and she was poorly treated by most of her other love interests.  But, there was a respect for the familiarity of their upbringing that could've bonded Melissa and Lance throughout the years.  Sadly, he became too dumb and she became too nutty. 

Edited September 10, 2024 by j swift

[kalbir]

Lance/Melissa was a business arrangement marriage between the playboy prince grandson of the main winemaking family and the vixen daughter of a landowner that turned into a love/hate relationship. I don't feel there was a genuine love between them. 

Did Lance even have a genuine love? He started with random hookups and ended with budget mode replacement wife that was the show's new pet.