PRIME-TIME SOAPS : CUTTING COSTS . . . AND CASTS
"We're talking some deaths," said Jeff Freilich.
www.latimes.com
Jeff Freilich L.A. Times
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I wonder if the money saved after Robert Foxworth's exit was spent on guest stars instead. Did the fees of the various guest stars add up to what Robert Foxworth would have paid for one season? In season 7 it seemed like money was lavishly spent on guest stars and there was no limit to it, which seems weird compared to this interview.
This article from May announced that Red Buttons joins “Knots Landing,” Eddie Albert turns up on “Falcon Crest” and Andrew Stevens and Jack Scalia will appear in “Dallas” in fall. I wonder if readers were blown away by those casting news or if they thought it could have been better.
Another reflection from the article: In the middle of the season (six), “Falcon Crest” had seven stories going at once; by the end of the year they had narrowed it to three. "Ultimately, you don't want to do eight stories that involve different characters," Freilich said. "You want to do three stories that involve everyone in the cast." ... Is it really the case that viewers prefer so-called umbrella stories?
This article from May announced that Red Buttons joins “Knots Landing,” Eddie Albert turns up on “Falcon Crest” and Andrew Stevens and Jack Scalia will appear in “Dallas” in fall. I wonder if readers were blown away by those casting news or if they thought it could have been better.
Another reflection from the article: In the middle of the season (six), “Falcon Crest” had seven stories going at once; by the end of the year they had narrowed it to three. "Ultimately, you don't want to do eight stories that involve different characters," Freilich said. "You want to do three stories that involve everyone in the cast." ... Is it really the case that viewers prefer so-called umbrella stories?
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"“After Bobby’s magic return, we’re very leery of killing anybody off,” Katzman said. “It is always better to have disasters happen off screen, if possible. If the body hasn’t been discovered or stuck in the ground, it’s easier to have them come back someday.”.PRIME-TIME SOAPS : CUTTING COSTS . . . AND CASTS
"We're talking some deaths," said Jeff Freilich.
Man is the only animal that stumbles twice over the same stone. It's a saying in Spanish
Ana Alicia died in her bed in the hospital. And we saw Susan drowned and inside her coffin."
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Jeff toldin 2003 the president of the German club
I first wanted to know why Bob Foxworth left at the end of season 6.
“Because I fired him!” Jeff exclaimed. He pointed out the actor was very nasty on the set during season 6; he complained about his dialog very often. The particular incident that led to him being fired was when he was very angry with his lines. Jeff described that Bob complained to him in a horrible way that particular day — with many of the main cast and crew people standing around. Jeff was so sick and tired with Bob’s longterm complaints that, when Bob lost his temper that day, Jeff went right on the stage telling the actor to stop worrying about his dialog for the future. When Bob wanted to know why, Jeff said because they would not be writing for him any more as he would not be back the following season. — Silence on the set. Everyone was shocked when they realized Jeff had just gotten rid of one of the show’s core characters.
He didn't really fire him but he didn't renew his contract at the end of the sixth
Then he became friends with Robert and wanted him to come back in the eighth
Shortly after that, Jeff and his wife were invited to dinner to Bob’s & Elizabeth Montgomery’s house in Benedict Canyon. That evening, Bob told Jeff being fired was a big shock at first, but that — even by the time he came home — Bob was very happy about it because he felt free — finally free from a show he was not happy with.
That's why in the last scene of the seventh he used an extra with a beard so that it was doubtful if he was Richard or Chase
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The article includes a great quote from Knots Landing's producer Lawrence Kasha:
I don't think Dr. Kimberly Shaw agrees with that!
I don't think Dr. Kimberly Shaw agrees with that!
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Due to the increased number of rotating guests on Falcon Crest and budget constraints, 5 of the top 10 stars did not appear in several episodes this season (Brett Cullen, Margaret Ladd, John Callahan, Dana Sparks, and Chao-Li Chi).
The problem is that Jeff, a good writer, became a director and production costs skyrocketed. For example, the rescue of Melissa and Lance cost a lot.
The problem is that Jeff, a good writer, became a director and production costs skyrocketed. For example, the rescue of Melissa and Lance cost a lot.
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Of course we can't forget about FC core cast members Abby Dalton and William R. Moses (back as guest star for 2 episodes in season 7) not being on the wine train, to the end of season 6. Their exits were not typical of the usual format i.e. the grim reaper. Then there was main cast participant Cesar Romero who flew out in exuberance, after dropping his bombshell. However he returned for a limited time, in the fall of '88.
That old culling apparatus sure went into overdrive down in the land of grapes; during 1987, accumulating in a big scalp when DESPERATION was over. The exodus ramped up, as regards main stars right up to the final quarter of 1989. Times were changing and not for the better.
William R. Moses talks about his FALCON CREST work, ('behind the scenes'; from season 1-6 as core cast, 1981 - '86):
“I was going to USC; studying international relations, got a movie and as I was wrapping up the movie, I got a chance to audition for the pilot of FALCON CREST. I started two weeks before my 21st birthday and that was the beginning of my career. All of a sudden, I had a career! I worked with incredibly seasoned people.
I’m eternally grateful for the actors who helped me and helped me learn what it is to be an actor; Jane Wyman [ex-Angela] in terms of having a professional work ethic, Susan Sullivan [ex-Maggie] and David Selby [ex-Richard], as well; they set examples for me professionally that have stayed with me to this day. I have a lot of wonderful feelings about it and a lot of wonderful friendships from it that are still alive and vibrant to this day and I’m so grateful for the journey that show launched for me.”
That old culling apparatus sure went into overdrive down in the land of grapes; during 1987, accumulating in a big scalp when DESPERATION was over. The exodus ramped up, as regards main stars right up to the final quarter of 1989. Times were changing and not for the better.
William R. Moses talks about his FALCON CREST work, ('behind the scenes'; from season 1-6 as core cast, 1981 - '86):
“I was going to USC; studying international relations, got a movie and as I was wrapping up the movie, I got a chance to audition for the pilot of FALCON CREST. I started two weeks before my 21st birthday and that was the beginning of my career. All of a sudden, I had a career! I worked with incredibly seasoned people.
I’m eternally grateful for the actors who helped me and helped me learn what it is to be an actor; Jane Wyman [ex-Angela] in terms of having a professional work ethic, Susan Sullivan [ex-Maggie] and David Selby [ex-Richard], as well; they set examples for me professionally that have stayed with me to this day. I have a lot of wonderful feelings about it and a lot of wonderful friendships from it that are still alive and vibrant to this day and I’m so grateful for the journey that show launched for me.”
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The cast in Season 5 and 4 was too big before Freilich took over and I didn't mind less Cullen, Callahan and Sparks because they were no core cast members (Chao-Li and Ladd didn't fare much better in other seasons with other producers, mostly underwritten roles). Season 6 and 7 are my favourite seasons of FC. I know they're not as popular with die-hard Cresties but I appreciated the music of Mark Snow, the faster telling of storylines, the editing, the birth twist with Richard (one of the best surprise revelations on soaps ever!), a special-guest-star mystery I liked (Skylar), the range Ana-Alicia could show as an actress from crazy to her win over Falcon Crest in the perfect S7 cliffhanger and if you compare it to the other prime-time soaps it still had the most location shoots. Both seasons of Freilich looked distinctively good. I think the only thing that looked bad was the rooftop scene with Emma on it because of the fake sky.
I agree. It was pretty obvious to distinguish the frames that were shot at the real Villa Miravalle from the ones filmed on the sound stage in these segments.
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I broadly agree. Season 6 is one of my favourite seasons of Falcon Crest and I really appreciated how they tried to do something different with the show to give it a fresh look. The more up-tempo music and the changes in how the show was edited really gave it a new feel. I wasn't a great fan of Kim Novak's performance but I thought the Skylar Kimble storyline was a really strong one. The other thing I liked was the dynamic between Angela and Peter and between Angela and Greg. They were both loyal, provided someone she could confide in and they would challenge some of her worse behaviours.
There were also a few dodgy- looking bits of back projections and green screen such as when Beaumont was being driven in his car during Richard's senate hearing and when Lance and Melissa pulled of their sting operation on the guy who was trying extort money from Emma.
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The sting operation I don't recall or didn't notice as bad but the scene with Beaumont in the car at least had him in the middle of the frame and showed him mostly in a close-up. Compared to Season 9 where Frank and Angela drive through the valley (in ep. 1 or 2) - and at daylight which makes it even worse - I'm willing to ignore such mistakes (or you know Roger Moore in his last Bond outing View to a Kill, also in the 80s, used far too much back projections and they had more time and money to produce it). Yesterday an old and restored b/w episode of Wagon Train (mid 1960s) caught my attention, in it Barbara Stanwyck led an all-female wagon and it looked somehow much more realistic because of the camera angle towards her and another character. The video technique they used on FC's latter seasons misses a lot of depth/ dimensionality with back projections, and then it somehow looks worse in Season 9 than when they started it around S6.
The soundstage for the roof scene was rather well built, it was the backdrop and the video technique that flattened it. Or maybe the lights were wrong? I still see it in Netlix movies: too much light in scenes that should imitate sunlight.
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The Emma/Chao-Li cliffhanger looked like something that would happen in the comedy SOAP.
Falcon Crest often tried to be funny in season 6 and then when they actually played it straight like they did in this season finale it became unintentionally funny.
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It was an intelligent move since comedies were triumphing in 1985.
Introducing some comedy into Falcon Crest worked very well in the sixth
In the seventh, the stories of Travis, Maggie's alcoholism and the thirteen did not have this comic touch.
The crazy thing about the ninth, incest, murder, thugs, is beyond the public's taste on that date.
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Soap operas don't need to be 100% humourless, but self-conscious comedy breaks the fourth wall of a soap's dramatic narrative. And that doesn't work for me at all.
If the characters no longer show how urgent their current predicament is, then why should I care?
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In this Earl Hammer interview from 1985
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the People of FALCON CREST, nBut Didn't Know Who to Ask!
It was said
M.B.: The character of Angela has always been very stern, non-sense. Yet this year, for the first time, we seemed to get a feel for her playfulness, her humor. In fact, all the characters seemed a bit more light-hearted. Was that a producer's decision?
E.H.: We discovered this year that there was a lot more humor and a lot more humanity in Angela than ever before. Jane Wyman is an extremely dedicated actress and she is never satisfied with a character being static. So Jane has often brought to our attention different aspects of her character that we have n’t realized. She has been especially inventive in giving freshness to her character. But I've never seen a clichéd performance from any of our actors.
Humor was introduced in Hamner's time of 1984 in the fourth season
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I didn't particularly care for how Jeff overseen the coupling of Vickie #2 with Eric. Even though she wasn't very likable, a lot of the time.