On 7/13/2025 at 9:55 AM, Khan said:

I also agree that FC as it came to be was not what Hamner himself wanted at the start.  If you'll notice, too, that although he was EP for several seasons, he wrote only two episodes.  To me, that says he wasn't as comfortable with FC as David Jacobs was with KL.

I think Earl Hamner producing/writing was reduced somewhat in season 5. I also think Earl Hamner was not producing/writing at all in the final four seasons. Earl Hamner involvement being reduced/eliminated probably is why the changes in direction in the final five seasons (season 5 Dallas with grapes/Miami Vice hybrid, seasons 6 and 7 high-octane action-packed thrill ride, seasons 8 and 9 off the rails plus budget mode).

Falcon Crest had all the ingredients for a great show but the execution squandered the potential and I think network interference and backstage drama played a big part in that.

Backstage drama is right @DRW50 I do also wonder how the show would have gone on had Cochran and Marcus gotten along better too. I love the gothic feel of Seasons 2 and 3 and over all dark/moody ambiance with ongoing mysteries. Unfortunately once Marcus left and Cochran was fired the following producers Peterson and Whitaker subsequently gave us bright 80’s pastels and average melodrama.

I think Freilich and Surnow came closest to recapturing that feel, except with mixed to  negative results. Season 8 was just a very terrible attempt to go back to Season 1. 

On 7/8/2025 at 8:24 AM, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

The original trailer for "Falcon Crest" from 1981 - afterwards the entire pilot was trashed and they started all over again 

The full episode. Watch/save before it's taken down.

 

Interesting that the unaired pilot dove right into the action, rather than setting up the series with the Giobertis coming to the valley.

And Clu Gulager is somehow as unlikeable as Chase as Robert Foxworth was.

I always thought Robert Foxworth looked like he could be a brother to Robert Reed. I ran that through Google one time to see if anyone else thought the same thing. I found a write up. It said that in the final season of the Brady Bunch. Sherwood Schwartz threatened Reed that if he didn't shape up he was going to be replaced if the show had continued. When Reed scoffed by who ? Sherwood mentioned Foxworth. Reed was taken aback. Reed knew and had worked with Foxworth. Foxworth said Reed had admired his curly hair and mustache. The next time Reed and Foxworth crossed paths, Reed was sporting his new curly do. After the BB ended, Reed started sporting the mustache copying Foxworth's look. Reed also later did roles with the full beard like Foxworth.

 

On 7/16/2025 at 10:35 AM, soapfan770 said:

 

I think Freilich and Surnow came closest to recapturing that feel, except with mixed to  negative results. Season 8 was just a very terrible attempt to go back to Season 1. 

I recently watched the entire series much of it for the first time on streaming. Season 8 and 9 where such dramatic shifts from the rest of the show. I thought both seasons had intriguing ideas, but the execution was off.

Exploring the lives of the workers, the have-nots, at the vineyard could have been a fresh new take with new storyline directions. But Season 8 was often soooooooo slow, and I struggled to finish it. Season 7 had been pretty fun, and then to get this serious earnest drama, it was just so off and not fun at all. Plus, killing off Melissa was a HUGE mistake. Really bad judgement. The whole season should have been Angela fighting to get Falcon Crest back from Melissa. They could have done a Melissa/Lance/Pilar triangle for the season as well.

Season 9, especially the first 13 episodes, had some fun parts. I often enjoyed some of the gothic feel and dark humor. Jane Wyman having to go MIA left a big hole, and then much of the second half of the season, we ended up with only a handful of characters and often just one storyline. I guess they tired the best they could without Jane Wyman and an obvious budget slash. I'm glad Angela was able to return for the last couple of episodes to at least make it feel a little bit like Falcon Crest for the end.

On 8/22/2025 at 1:49 PM, 1974mdp said:

Season 8 and 9 where such dramatic shifts from the rest of the show.

Seasons 8 and 9 were the off the rails plus budget mode era. They were not necessary and I feel they only happened because CBS was in their third place primetime mess era.

On 8/22/2025 at 1:49 PM, 1974mdp said:

But Season 8 was often soooooooo slow, and I struggled to finish it.

Season 8 was a chore to get through.

On 8/22/2025 at 1:49 PM, 1974mdp said:

Season 9, especially the first 13 episodes, had some fun parts. I often enjoyed some of the gothic feel and dark humor. 

Season 9 had a darkness and sadness surrounding it and it was painful to get through.

On 8/22/2025 at 1:49 PM, 1974mdp said:

Jane Wyman having to go MIA left a big hole

Jane Wyman was not looking healthy during the final two seasons but I think budget mode also played a part in her episodes being cut during the final season.

On 8/22/2025 at 1:49 PM, 1974mdp said:

I'm glad Angela was able to return for the last couple of episodes to at least make it feel a little bit like Falcon Crest for the end.

The final four episodes felt like they were refilmed in order to wrap up the storylines.

Edited August 24Aug 24 by kalbir

TV Guide July 20 1985. An aricle about actors' input into scripts and stories.

...

And on Falcon Crest, actors are reminded: of company роlicy by a paragraph that has appeared at the front of each script for about a year: "The producers acknowledge the need for creative input," it reads. "However, no changes, additions or deletions will be permitted unless authorized by the writing staff." Explains Sarah Douglas, who plays the show's saucy Pamela Lynch, "It's all beautifully worded, of course, but what it means is, 'Don't mess with the dialogue'."

Douglas has taken the message to heart. Normally not one to mince words, she thought better of causing a stir when her character behaved in a way she considered inconsistent. "Pamela would never have stayed with Richard Channing throughout the season," she grouses. "She would have left him as soon as he started messing around with the Italian woman. I was always bringing it up, but everything was so preset, I'm afraid I gave up the ghost.

"I mean, you have to feel pretty strongly to hold things up—to go to the writer, who gets all the producers to come marching down to the set. . . . It's a big deal,Douglas says, "and despite my reputation for being a naughty girl, ! don't really like to cause that much trouble."

On 8/15/2025 at 10:30 AM, chrisml said:

Susan Sullivan is on this interview programme talking with other actresses (including Genie Francis) about daytime v. nighttime. She discusses how she prefers the daytime way of telling a story. It's around the 4:05 minute mark. 

I had no idea Susan Sullivan started on daytime. LOL at her saying the daytime soaps are becoming larger than life. I'm sure she wasn't referring to any of the CBS daytime soaps, mindful of the network that she was collecting checks from.

David Selby Gregory Harrison & Wendy Phillips Discuss Final Season

 

28 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

I’d also throw in the fact that Falcon Crest wasn’t completely obliterated by the “new hotness”

I've pointed this out before but after watching Falcon Crest episodes I was surprised it made it past season 5. Tanking was cemented (signs of tanking were showing during the last 10 episodes of season 4) and the storylines were so start and stop plus most of them didn't really work.

Dallas weakening as a lead in and being head-to-head with the new hotness Miami Vice didn't help matters either. We know Apollonia was brought on to get the Miami Vice demographic because if you can't beat the new hotness might as well join it. Funny thing is, Miami Vice did not do the job NBC wanted it to and that's finish off Falcon Crest.

46 minutes ago, kalbir said:

I've pointed this out before but after watching Falcon Crest episodes I was surprised it made it past season 5. Tanking was cemented (signs of tanking were showing during the last 10 episodes of season 4) and the storylines were so start and stop plus most of them didn't really work.

Dallas weakening as a lead in and being head-to-head with the new hotness Miami Vice didn't help matters either. We know Apollonia was brought on to get the Miami Vice demographic because if you can't beat the new hotness might as well join it. Funny thing is, Miami Vice did not do the job NBC wanted it to and that's finish off Falcon Crest.

Don’t forgot our favorite Dynasty reject had a recurring role in Season 5! 🤣

There’s so much wrong with Season 5 of the top a lot of it was boring melodrama. So many good ideas went to waste and season fell into stagnancy. The back half after Apollonia, Father Chris (what was the point?!?) and Robin left was a lot better, but by that point I’ll say the show had teetered into the crime/mystery format with the 80’s synth music the show feels like it’s setting up for the Freilich era to start.

The high points of the season for me are Emma and Dwayne, Chao-Li’s daughter which was cut too short, and well Peter and Angela. The show still did well with 55+ crowd from the demos I’ve seen, and well it was implied  Peter and Angela had sex (more than once). Perhaps Cesar Romero and Jane Wyman together was comfort food instead of what Miami Vice for the older demos. 

51 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Don’t forgot our favorite Dynasty reject had a recurring role in Season 5! 🤣

Hahaha yes! Between Scruples, Bare Essence miniseries, Y&R, Falcon Crest, and his one episode of Dynasty itself, Frank M. Benard spent the bulk of the 1980s playing characters that were way too Dynasty.

51 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Father Chris (what was the point?!?)

Father Chris was more plot device than fully developed character. That lake scene, he was trying to purify himself but I don't think that lake was as purifying as Lake Minnetonka.

51 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

Chao-Li’s daughter which was cut too short

I liked Li-Ying and it looked like she was going to be paired with one of the young men from the main families but I have a feeling the writers chickened out, possibly afraid of backlash from older conservative CBS viewers.

12 hours ago, kalbir said:

I've pointed this out before but after watching Falcon Crest episodes I was surprised it made it past season 5.

It was lucky essentially. CBS was just getting weaker and the obvious option would've been to push Dallas into the 10PM Friday slot, but even by the 1988-89 season it was still in the lower top 30 and they had so much issues elsewhere that trying to find a replacement for the time slot wasn't on the cards. Dallas pretty much had to fall out of the top 40 for them to finally make that move. 

Season 6 also seemed to stabilize the show a bit, so that helped.