New beginnings - New to Falcon Crest

[pete lashmar]

Having watched DALLAS over & over I recently decided to hunt down Falcon Crest and finally I seem to have all the episodes.

I remember it being on in the UK in the afternoons but only ever saw it if I was off ill from school - but even back then I was a huge DALLAS fan, so always watched it when I could.

I watched The Vintage Years first - very odd animal of a show when you consider what it evolved into and am now on Family Reunion (episode 12) and absolutely thoroughly enjoying it.

I'm often very jealous of someone finding a show I love for the 1st time because I know of the joy & excitement there is to come - you can only get that surprise and delight the first time around, after that it's just sheer enjoyment.

Being able to binge watch it is fantastic too.

What instantly hit me was how Angela was from day one, there's no is she or isn't she covering/hiding/conniving etc it's all there - she is an absolute killer character and a breath of fresh air.

So looking forward to discovering this series after so long.

 

[Angela Chilling]

@pete lashmar you have some treats ahead. There are so many wonderful storylines, twists and characters to enjoy as the series progresses. It's great that you're enjoying it so far.

 

[Ome]

So looking forward to discovering this series after so long.

I recently watched the whole series for the first time and had an absolute ball with the show. Like @Angela Channing posted, you're in for some incredible and exciting times. Do keep us posted on your journey.

 

[pete lashmar]

I recently watched the whole series for the first time and had an absolute ball with the show. Like @Angela Channing posted, you're in for some incredible and exciting times. Do keep us posted on your journey.

Oh I will x

 

[Count Jockula]

Pete I’m glad you are finally getting to watch the Tuscany Valley wine saga. IMHO you should enjoy the show. FALCON CREST had a lot of ingredients to lure the viewer, in the show’s heyday. For a start you had all those vineyards; the main Victorian mansion, the Gioberti castle, the droll wit, Richard changing homes at nearly every farts end, the plethora of guest stars from Hollywood’s golden oldie era, the blood thirsty nature, the core cast lead by the formidable Jane Wyman and then there was the Catholic element.

After the show’s creator Earl Hamner relinquished his input post season 5 I feel the show’s identity for two years became a mixture of darkness and sitcom, which can of course be funny too. While not everyone’s cup of tea I thought the Freilich penned seasons (6 & 7) were entertaining. Season 8 started out promising until we had the Pilar Ortega show (Melissa’s replacement) and the ninth / final season IMHO wasn’t FALCON CREST, for the most part.

Let’s not forget it is nearly 11 years ago when Jane passed away and her co-star plus good friend Chao-Li Chi went into the other world in 2010. Of course all the many other guest stars too; Lana Turner, Cesar Romero, Father Curtis, Mel Ferrer, Edward Albert, Rod Taylor, Celeste Holm and Cliff Robertson.


Angela tells Lance that Chase and his family should be invited for dinner. They are going to live in the Gioberti castle mansion and the matriarch wants to treat them as friends. The Giobertis pull up to the mansion, in their station wagon. Angela, Julia, Lance and Chao-Li are on the veranda to meet and greet, (a scene from season 1, 1981-’82):

Angela: “Chase it’s so good to have you back!”

Chase: “Angela, it’s good to be here.”

They hug.

Angela: “Welcome to Falcon Crest!”

Chase: “Thank you!” He then looks over at the falcon Apollo on his perch and says, “I haven’t seen one of these in a long time.”

Angela: “Isn’t he a beauty?”

Angela: “Maggie! I hope it wasn’t too long a drive.”

Maggie: “Nice to see you! Oh, not too bad, not too bad.”

Angela: “And you’re Cole. Well he’s not a little boy. He’s a grown man.”

Cole: “It’s really quite beautiful here, nothing like New York.”

Angela: “I certainly hope not. Victoria! Welcome darling!”

Victoria: “Thank you!”

Angela: “This is my daughter Julia.”

Julia smiles at them and waits for her next order from mother dearest.

Angela: “Chase you have a beautiful family.”

Chase: “Oh thank you! I think so.”

Angela: “Julia why don’t you take them in and pour some of your favourite wine? I’ll be in, in a moment.”

Chase: “Sounds good.”

Lance: “Grandmother.”

He leaves Angela standing on the veranda, looking at Apollo.

Angela leaves the bird outside. Dramatic music commences.

Camera freezes on the falcon.

Fade to black, closing credits and the theme tune.

 

[Chloe-Fusco]

Pete Lashmar I hope you enjoy the best FC has to offer. Mostly a crazy ride but a lot of fun.

 

[Arlene Halloran]

While FC completed the 80's super soaps quartet to me their cliffhangers topped the others. The setting was just lovely and all those old Hollywood stars guesting was another distinction. Who is favourite character at the moment, Pete?

 

[pete lashmar]

While FC completed the 80's super soaps quartet to me their cliffhangers topped the others. The setting was just lovely and all those old Hollywood stars guesting was another distinction. Who is favourite character at the moment, Pete?

Well I have to say I love Angela most because I just love the conniving. But I also adore Emma and Richard is a fantastic character too.

Melissa & Lance are characters that I really don't like, but that's what they're there for and without them the show wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun.

Chase, Maggie, Cole - all OK but too goody goody for me really.

I'm half way through season 4 at the moment (after just a couple of weeks) and it really does take it's twists & turns, not least with Julia. Absolutely loving it.

 

[pete lashmar]

Fantastic cliffhangers for Season 4!!!

Not at all keen on Cassandra Wilder, the character reminds me far too much of Hilary Taylor/Sheila Foley from Dallas's final season - a character who I really disliked and because of the dislike didn't enjoy the storyline - but we'll see what happens as I love Cassandra's mother (3 eps into Season 5 already!).

I thought marriages in Dallas were bad but in Falcon Crest they should come with a health warning - marry on Falcon Crest & one of you WILL die haha - it's brilliant.

Nice to see a softer side to Angela too, not too much but just enough for us to love her just that little bit more.

Still not convinced that Simon MacCorkindale doesn't turn into the Falcon when he's off screen (God Manimal was terrible wasn't it) - he's actually quite good in this, I'm not a great fan of his but he works well with everything - bit too goody goody though - what's the point in having an attorney if they're that goody goody?

So onto season 5 & this is the season I must have seen when I was off school because Cesar Romero is in it & I remember him because (obviously) as a Kid I loved Batman. So really looking forward to seeing where Season 5 goes.

Couple of quick points already... Nice to see Richard as the hunted for a change & not the hunter & Maggie...memory loss...HATE memory loss storylines (with a passion) BUT this is soap & I accept that.

Oh and...Season 4 titles....awful, just awful. The cast photos just appear randomly against the theme, did me eyes in!

 

[tommie]

I thought marriages in Dallas were bad but in Falcon Crest they should come with a health warning - marry on Falcon Crest & one of you WILL die haha - it's brilliant.

A lot of things can be said about Falcon Crest, but they really never were shy about killing off characters. It's easily the most lethal prime time soap - this ain't Dynasty where characters fall asleep during a gunfire and emerge out okay.

 

[pete lashmar]

A lot of things can be said about Falcon Crest, but they really never were shy about killing off characters. It's easily the most lethal prime time soap - this ain't Dynasty where characters fall asleep during a gunfire and emerge out okay.

Absolutely, it's very refreshing to watch a soap that kills of characters & although I don't know the details I know there are lots more to come. I also love how quickly everyone gets over the deaths, it's genuinely fantastic...loving it.

 

[Arlene Halloran]

Well I have to say I love Angela most because I just love the conniving. But I also adore Emma and Richard is a fantastic character too.

Melissa & Lance are characters that I really don't like, but that's what they're there for and without them the show wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun.

Chase, Maggie, Cole - all OK but too goody goody for me really.

I'm half way through season 4 at the moment (after just a couple of weeks) and it really does take it's twists & turns, not least with Julia. Absolutely loving it.

Ah yeah Angela is a hoot and her pairing with Peter Stavros was a good decision. Romance is one thing but business is another, she said something along those lines when he came back into her life.

 

[pete lashmar]

Onto Season 6 now - another great end of season cliffhanger (or 2) for Season 5 and overall still absolutely thoroughly enjoying it all.

Season 6 has a different feel & from what I've read (briefly) this was a planned thing to refresh the show a little, but it doesn't seem too drastic - or certainly not as future seasons.

It's definitely a soapy soap now - dopplegangers, dream sequences etc...LOVE IT!

 

[ClassyCo]

I binged the first three seasons, but fell into a slump soon after starting Season Four. I'm planning on finishing the entire series, but I'm focusing on finishing other shows that I started beforehand first.

 

[ClassyCo]

A lot of things can be said about Falcon Crest, but they really never were shy about killing off characters. It's easily the most lethal prime time soap - this ain't Dynasty where characters fall asleep during a gunfire and emerge out okay.

Absolutely, it's very refreshing to watch a soap that kills of characters & although I don't know the details I know there are lots more to come. I also love how quickly everyone gets over the deaths, it's genuinely fantastic...loving it.

Yes, the other three that made up the Big Four --- Dallas, Dynasty, and Knots Landing --- were more cautious about whom they killed off, and those numbers were relatively few. The deaths of their characters rarely, if ever, effected the status quo, and they weren't always permanent, either.

 

[Karin Schill]

Yikes five seasons in about two months. You really are binge watching it!

I rewatched the first episode of Falcon Crest in december and I enjoyed a walk down memory lane how it all began. But it didn't make me super interested to rewatch the rest of it. It's odd but Falcon Crest is the only 80s soap out of the big four (Dallas, Falcon Crest, Dynasty and Knots Landing) that I have never watched more than once. I did try to rewatch it back in 2007 after I had completed my re-watch of Dynasty but I got stuck some 90 episodes into it and never finished it.

I originally watched most of it in reruns in the 1990s. They were showing two episodes/week on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I remember the first time around when I watched the show I loved Lance & Pilar (I watched the final season first in the original run which ended in 1992) and then I loved Lance and Melissa. But being young I guess it was easier to root for some of the younger characters. Although oddly enough Cole and Vicky never appealed as much to me.

Back in the 1980s Dallas and Falcon Crest were the two big soaps on Swedish TV. It was more popular here than Dynasty. But I guess the most popular of all the shows was Dallas...

 

[ClassyCo]

But I guess the most popular of all the shows was Dallas...

Dallas eclipsed them all when it came to its massive audience, which it maintained internationally.

 

[tommie]

Back in the 1980s Dallas and Falcon Crest were the two big soaps on Swedish TV. It was more popular here than Dynasty. But I guess the most popular of all the shows was Dallas...

True - Dallas and Falcon Crest (Titled "Power Struggle At Falcon Crest") were the popular shows here. Dynasty was cancelled initially after three seasons and I believe TV3 / MTG Media eventually picked it up in the 80s, along with Knots Landing (known as "Gary Ewing - JR's Brother"). It was just a small channel that barely anyone got - I also believe they only picked up the initial syndication packages and I think Dynasty was only shown in full in the 90s and Knots has never been shown in full here. The later is interesting because I'd assume the blue collar-ness of it would make it more popular here.

 

[Karin Schill]

I agree that it's a shame that all the seasons of Knots Landing has never been showed here in Sweden. It took me ages to watch it all and it was thanks to other fans that I finally did. I am sure it's the same for you.

I think Dynasty was first showed in full on TV4 in the early 1990s before TV3 showed it in syndication in the mid-90s.

Also as for the original runs I've read somewhere that the Swedish TV thought of shows like "Dallas" and "Maktkamp på Falcon Crest" as trashy TV and therefore SVT (who had the monopoly at the time when we only had two channels) thought one trashy show/channel was enough. So they tried to replace Dallas with Dynasty for a season or two around 1984 and it totally didn't work as there was a backlash where the viewers called the TV station and demanded they'd put Dallas back on so they did!

 

[tommie]

I agree that it's a shame that all the seasons of Knots Landing has never been showed here in Sweden. It took me ages to watch it all and it was thanks to other fans that I finally did. I am sure it's the same for you.

It STILL pisses me off that the last shot of Knots Landing we got was the season 6 cliffhanger - which I guess the original syndication package was limited to. It was rerun in 1996-97 when I first saw it and after THAT cliffhanger it was replaced with Days of Our Lives! Beyond rude.

Ahem.