Did Morgan Fairchild do her best work in FC, compared to the other shows?

[Gioberti84]

Her Dallas time was limited, yet she was the female lead in Flamingo Road. I thought her split personality Falcon Crest role was interesting i.e. attorney by day and call girl by night. Then there was the additional twist of a troubled childhood. So what do you think?

P.S. Dynasty needed Morgan. Cousin Virgina could have been her role.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Her Dallas time was limited, yet she was the female lead in Flamingo Road. I thought her split personality Falcon Crest role was interesting i.e. attorney by day and call girl by night. Then there was the additional twist of a troubled childhood. So what do you think?

P.S. Dynasty needed Morgan. Cousin Virgina could have been her role.

I do wish Morgan had done the two Francine Tacker episodes of DALLAS. I haven't seen her Jordan Roberts story arc in ages.

She wasn't quite young enough for Cuzzin Virginia, but we could add Fairchild's name to the roster of possible Lady Ashley alternatives (although PAPER DOLLS was still in production -- if barely -- when Ashley first appeared in the middle of the '84-'85 season).

 

[Monzo]

According to a poll about Morgan Fairchild's best performances, Jordan Roberts only came in third: https://www.tellytalk.net/threads/morgan-fairchild-at-her-best.15135/

I can't really say whether she was most challenged as an actress in Falcon Crest. I think the problem was that as a fan, you already knew Falcon Crest so well in season 5 that you knew the dramas there never went as deep as on Dallas or Knots Landing. If Morgan Fairchild had had the exact same storyline on Knots Landing, I probably would have been more impressed, because everything there felt more real, whereas serious drama on Falcon Crest often came across as just another plot point.

I particularly liked Morgan Fairchild in her short-lived series Flamingo Road and Paper Dolls. Incidentally, I also liked her on North & South, which featured many guest stars who tried to make a big impression, like Elizabeth Taylor or Linda Evans, but Morgan Fairchild didn't overdo it on N&S, because she understands how to avoid presenting herself as a star in shows that aren't her own.

While I consider it unlikely that Morgan Fairchild would have appeared on Dynasty after her other soap experiences, if she had, I would have preferred her to be in a role that remained small with the original actress, but which Morgan would have owned so well that she would have been retained, such as Nicole from season 5, Claire from season 7 or Joanna from season 9.

 

[Jock Og]

Imho Morgan was a fine addition to the FALCON CREST cast. However with all due respect her storyline did get tiring, at times. Saying that who could forget her turning from Jordan into Monica, while in the company of Lucy's seedy photographer from DALLAS and the metamorphosis happening while she was speeding in her cabrio. The cop was very close to getting kicked in the nuts, by her.

Constance made FLAMINGO ROAD, along with Michael Tyrone and Racine in PAPER DOLLS was forever the cat, with her barbs. Morgan should have returned to DALLAS, in November 1983 as Jenna Wade. Although if she had then we probably would not have the pleasure of her, in the wine country (Jenna as acted by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley lasted 4 1/2 years).

I'll have you know I'm Jordan not Monica what's her face.


Monica (played by Morgan Fairchild) encounters Lance, at the Turf Club. There is a hot and steamy liaison before Lance takes her back to FC, for extra shenanigans. He was supposed to collect newlyweds Peter and Angela from the airport; (a scene from season 5, 1985-'86):

Chao-Li: "Welcome home!"

Angela: "Hello Chao-Li."

Chao-Li: "How was the honeymoon?"

Peter: "Well it was fine but you know Angela, nothing will keep her away from Falcon Crest."

Angela: "Now why didn't Lance pick us up, as planned?"

Chao-Li: "I don't know. Perhaps he overslept."

Angela: "Well we will see about that."

She marches up the stairs.

Chao-Li: "I'm not sure you want to do that, Mrs. Channing."

Angela: "Lance are you in there?"

She looks around and notices Monica's seductive clothing.

Angela: "Oh dear lord!"

Monica is startled and Lance equally so.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

And Season 5 of FC was so cluttered, Hamner's last season. Too many guest stars and drab, uncompelling storylines.

It's hard to shine in that atmosphere. Even slutty man-priest, Ken Olin, said he soon took FC off of his resume and wasn't proud of the work.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

 

[Soaplover]

I managed to watch a few episodes of season 5 (the beginning of the end of the show) and I thought that she had a promising intro with her playing a convincing lawyer that more than held her own against Richard...and I thought she had chemistry with the actor that played Greg.

The problem that she ran into was when the story veered not only toward the DID (which is a story that has to be told well or not bother to be told) and her story isolating her from the rest of the canvas. Her strengths were when she was in lawyer mode and it's a shame that the show couldn't have made better use of her.

 

[Toni]

Maybe Jordan could have crossed over to "Dallas" and played the girl Edgar Randolph molested as a teenager, who might have been a friend of JJ´s (you know, à la Jeffrey Epstein style). It´s twisted but stranger things happen...

Actually, I do think Jordan was Morgan´s best role, but I never watched "Paper Dolls". I always though that Constance Weldon almost was a Muppet caricature of supersoap beeches ("almost", I said, Miss Piggy...).

"Oh I damn you both, I damn youuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" (fall ensues)​

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Maybe Jordan could have crossed over to "Dallas" and played the girl Edgar Randolph molested as a teenager, who might have been a friend of JJ´s (you know, à la Jeffrey Epstein style). It´s twisted but stranger things happen...

Actually, I do think Jordan was Morgan´s best role, but I never watched "Paper Dolls". I always though that Constance Weldon almost was a Muppet caricature of supersoap beeches ("almost", I said, Miss Piggy...).

View attachment 57945

"Oh I damn you both, I damn youuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" (fall ensues)​

There are some PAPER DOLLS episodes on Youtube. I was in NYC in 1984/85, and that show, along with BERRINGERS, seemed to capture the Manhattan, uber-mauve glam zeitgeist of the era, however brief that era was, which almost worked...I never forgot the theme music to DOLLS, but remembered nothing else.

But if DOLLS hadn't been cancelled when it was, we would never have had Jack Ewing arrive in DALLAS. Just as DYNASTY could never have hired Diana Gould as a writer/producer fresh off of defunct BERRINGERS, despite Esther Shapiro trashing the "abysmal" story structure of BERRINGERS. (Which Fairchild wasn't in).

Go figure.

 

[Falcon Crest I]

I liked Morgan's pairing with Simon MacCorkindale. I cannot remember if she and David Selby shared had any racy scenes and thought her times as Monica was over acting. All in all Morgan was a memorable guest star.

 

[Angela Channing]

I liked Morgan in Falcon Crest and I thought the storyline of her character being the target of sexual abuse by her father when she was a child was an interesting and brave choice to have in a mainstream show at that time. What I didn't like was how they sensationalised it by giving her character a split personality which I felt slightly trivialised the subject matter. The storyline was meaty enough without giving the character an alter ego of being a sex worker which really isn't how survivors of child abuse respond to the trauma they have experienced.