why Margaret ladd left falcon crest during season 9

[Richard Denault]

Susan didn't quit. She was very displeased and disappointed about being fired, but she and Lorimar agreed on telling the public it was a mutual decision se would "leave". We spoke to her about it in one of our interviews for the "FALCON CRESTers Tell It All!" newsletter series. Her return for season 9 was the only option to give the long-term fans some closure because otherwise her character would have had to disappear off screen. There's a reason why Susan (and many of the loyal fans plus long-term cast and crew members) are still angry at what the new producers did to the show in season 9. Susan's statement in our 40th anniversary special on falconcrest.org sums it up pretty well.

The budget constraints for the final season seemed almost unreal for a show of that kind although the whole genre was affected by similar cuts.

It's interesting that there are some fans on this forum who seem to like season 9. It almost seems it's the only place where that happens.

In the first episode of the ninth season: Richard's lawyer goes to see Maggie , tells him that she is very busy!!!!
He tells her that Richard is desperate and that he wants to see her. He tells her that if he doesn't feel anything, he should at least pretend he's in jail. In the end she agrees
In meeting it is a jail room for a vis a vis. Fearing for his life, Richard wants to make love one last time there. ?
That he wanted to have an intimate conversation is fine but that he wanted to lie there, it's incredible
Maggie is cold and sanctimonious despite the fact that he looks desperate and defeated Maggie behaves as if she were a judge He misbehaved and deserved jail time
Their reunion was, well, kind of cold. The setting was the least romantic in the world and it was almost like she was doing him a favor.
At the end when he agrees to make love, the final shot of her is of her undressing her unwillingly and in the background that is the last image of one of the most famous couples in television history

 

[C Rose]

I’ve done my best over the years to explain why I love Season 9 so much, but maybe I just haven’t done a good enough job. Oh well.

Please tell us again for the newer members

 

[James from London]

It is an almost impossible task

Gosh!

What did you personally think of the kind of relationship Michael had with his sister from him.?
Greg_Harrison Wendy and I never really understood it, to be honest, so I just tried to play it the way it was written

Oh, interesting! Perhaps the fact that Harrison didn't have an intellectual understanding of the relationship and instead had to play those scenes on an instinctual level, from the gut, is part of what made his performance so compelling. But ultimately, how actors feel about their work has little bearing on my appreciation of it. I mean, I've seen Susan Howard overcome with emotion while describing how meaningful Donna's Down's syndrome storyline on DALLAS was for her to play, but it's probably my least favourite story of the entire series to watch. And viewing figures are even less relevant. When I'm watching Season 9 of FC on a laptop in the UK in the 21st century, knowing approximately how people in America were or weren't watching it thirty-something years ago makes absolutely no difference to my experience of it now.

Their reunion was, well, kind of cold. The setting was the least romantic in the world and it was almost like she was doing him a favor.
At the end when he agrees to make love, the final shot of her is of her undressing her unwillingly

And the sheets on the bed weren't even clean! It's so grim, I just love it.

one of the most famous couples in television history

I've never thought of them that way.

Please tell us again for the newer members

Well, if you have some time on your hands and can be bothered to skim through the last couple of pages of the "FALCON CREST versus ..." thread, I've written about what I liked about each episode of the final season there.

It starts here: http://www.tellytalk.net/threads/fa...-of-them-week-by-week.311/page-12#post-153799

 

[Willie Oleson]

Perhaps the fact that Harrison didn't have an intellectual understanding of the relationship and instead had to play those scenes on an instinctual level, from the gut, is part of what made his performance so compelling

I don't think these characters were supposed to understand their relationship. It was all very...complicated.

I've never thought of them that way.

I liked Richard's secret longing - something he hadn't expect to find in the enemy camp - better than the relationship itself.

 

[James from London]

I don't think these characters were supposed to understand their relationship. It was all very...complicated.

Absolutely. And I don't think it's uncommon for actors in a long-running series, especially a soap opera, to feel like they don't fully grasp their character or where they're going. I remember reading an interview with Lois Chiles, Holly Harwood in DALLAS, who said that she didn't really know what her long-term character arc was or even whether she was playing a goody or a baddy, and that Larry Hagman advised her to just to play each scene as a self-contained thing and let the overall picture take care of itself. Similarly, the actress who played Hilda Ogden, one of the most legendary CORONATION STREET characters of the 60s, 70s and 80s, once said she treated every episode as a little individual play. In a way, it's much closer to real life where we can't always grasp or fully understand the whole picture, and so have no choice but to live in the present.

 

[Richard Denault]

Absolutely. And I don't think it's uncommon for actors in a long-running series, especially a soap opera, to feel like they don't fully grasp their character or where they're going. I remember reading an interview with Lois Chiles, Holly Harwood in DALLAS, who said that she didn't really know what her long-term character arc was or even whether she was playing a goody or a baddy, and that Larry Hagman advised her to just to play each scene as a self-contained thing and let the overall picture take care of itself. Similarly, the actress who played Hilda Ogden, one of the most legendary CORONATION STREET characters of the 60s, 70s and 80s, once said she treated every episode as a little individual play. In a way, it's much closer to real life where we can't always grasp or fully understand the whole picture, and so have no choice but to live in the present.

In Casablanca the script was written as it was shot. Ingrid Bergman asked who I am in love with. But not even the director knew it, so he made a face of love at both of them. But well, it was believable that, like her character, she didn't know who to choose.
But the thing with Lauren and Michael had neither head nor tail
Neither the public nor the actors believed it

 

[James from London]

Neither the public nor the actors believed it

Again, I don't require the actors to believe it, just for them to make me believe it (or at least be enthralled by it) and they did, so well done them. And "the public" have no bearing on my enjoyment of Season 9.

 

[Chloe-Fusco]

I liked how Emma got tough with Charley, in the end. She certainly would not have done it, pre season 9.

 

[Richard Denault]

No problem with that. It's just surprising.

The Cine Tele Revue magazine published in January 1990 about what happened. It was written when it was filmed
Headline

The Cine Tele Revue magazine published in January 1990 about what happened. It was written when it was filmed
Headline
In freefall in the polls, the wine saga is threatened with disappearance
"FALCON CREST", a behind-the-scenes investigation of a drifting soap opera!
Last August, a new producer, Jerry Thorpe, who had previously directed "The Incorruptibles", arrived at the head of the soap opera then in full internal upheaval. The creators of "Falcon Crest” are gone. Jerry Thorpe announced that to redress the declining ratings, he was going to turn this saga into a soap opera "located somewhere between 'Mafia Cop' and 'Miami Vice'..." In this moment, in the episodes broadcast by the CBS channel in the United States, the action is indeed centered on Richard Channing (David Selby) struggling with a powerful financier, Michael Sharpe (played by Gregory Harrison, the former star of "The Crystal Age"). More a police intrigue than a real family story like “Falcon Crest” has developed so far. Last september, in the first episode of the new season, Lance (Lorenzo Lamas) found a falcon (the emblem of the domain) dead in the vines. In the mind of producer Jerry Thorpe, this was the obvious sign of change. Alas, the results do not live up to his hopes: viewers no longer recognize “Falcon Crest”, they are totally uninterested in the police adventures that agitate the characters.
Michel Sharpe always struck me as more of a mobster than a financial genius millionaire or a stone-hearted playboy as Gregory was described when he was hired.

 

[Richard Denault]

Gosh!

Oh, interesting! Perhaps the fact that Harrison didn't have an intellectual understanding of the relationship and instead had to play those scenes on an instinctual level, from the gut, is part of what made his performance so compelling. But ultimately, how actors feel about their work has little bearing on my appreciation of it. I mean, I've seen Susan Howard overcome with emotion while describing how meaningful Donna's Down's syndrome storyline on DALLAS was for her to play, but it's probably my least favourite story of the entire series to watch. And viewing figures are even less relevant. When I'm watching Season 9 of FC on a laptop in the UK in the 21st century, knowing approximately how people in America were or weren't watching it thirty-something years ago makes absolutely no difference to my experience of it now.

And the sheets on the bed weren't even clean! It's so grim, I just love it.

I've never thought of them that way.

Well, if you have some time on your hands and can be bothered to skim through the last couple of pages of the "FALCON CREST versus ..." thread, I've written about what I liked about each episode of the final season there.

It starts here: http://www.tellytalk.net/threads/fa...-of-them-week-by-week.311/page-12#post-153799

Although I don't share your opinion about the ninth season I love your parallel episodes
And I agree with many of your comments.

 

[Chris]

I think in the end everybody wanted to leave rather quickly or they had so little money that they simply could not afford the core family any longer. Who wouldn´t have loved at least Abby Dalton, Margrett Ladd and Rod Taylor to return for the finale. Even without money. But I think nobody thought about such a thing in money-driven times.

 

[Richard Denault]

According to behind the scenes published by the German glub
Before Emma leaves the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion, she and Richard are sitting in the living room, looking at photos of Angela. This part was edited in post-production.
It's a shame that scene was removed what do you think