Falcon Crest -- Part II

Did John Saxon's character Tony Cumson ever return to Falcon Crest after departing with Peter and Kit in the season 6 finale?

Maggie should have dumped Chase in season 1. He’s such a sanctimonious douchebag.

[quote] Maggie should have dumped Chase in season 1.

That would’ve required quite a spin on her part and in her character.

Was Vickie #1 as toxic as Dana Sparks' version of Vickie?

No, she was written as a more or less matured teenager. She wasn't really interesting. Teenager and kids hardly ever are written as three dimensional characters. Almost never are they relatable for adults or even for teenagers. In contrast to Vickie II she was not jaded and cynical though. She had a strong moral compass.

Please link to the first thread...

[quote] Did John Saxon's character Tony Cumson ever return to Falcon Crest after departing with Peter and Kit in the season 6 finale?

He pops in and out in Season 7 but I don't think Kit Marlowe was ever mentioned again. He also knocked up this Shannon chick (Raquel Welch's daughter) that was staying at the convent with Julia.

R6, here you go you fat whore.

Thx r8

Is it just me or do the prints on IMDbtv seem washed out. I was a child but I seem to remember all the big primetime soaps being more colorful.

We know there could be tension between Jane Wyman and female guest stars, especially, veteran actresses, does anyone know how she felt about Jane Greer?

I'm watching season 4 and her arc is just starting, she seems so grounded, especially after Gina Lollobrigida.

[quote] We know there could be tension between Jane Wyman and female guest stars, especially, veteran actresses

Not only them! The worst was Babylonia.

Tai Babilonia was on FC? Is there anything she can’t do?

Who had the biggest dicks among the Falcon Crest men? I say Billy Moses and Simon McCorkindale.

I'm getting into S6 now, and nuVickie isn't as annoying as I feared she'd be. The actress is no worse that Jamie Rose, and has a similarly spoiled entitled attitude that Rose's character had. I'm waiting for this Jeff Wainright story to run its course. It gets more and more ridiculous, and I'm over it. I'm also not digging Lorenzo Lamas' blond highlights. Kim Novak really brings the camp factor. She's a hoot. I'm guessing Billy Moses will be gone soon. Even with all the Maggie rape/pregnancy drama and Vickie's return, they've given him next to nothing to do. When does Mariska start?

The most satisfying scene in S6 Is when a fed up Maggie backhands that obnoxious nuVickie. The bitch had it coming.

Billy Moses had big dick energy. He had a strong jaw line and body was naturally athletic, and it's been my experience that guys like that have the biggest dicks. I know most people preferred Lorenzo Lamas' looks, but he had no chin and his body tended to be doughy without the steroids, which is telling of low testosterone, which generally translates into an average or below average dick. Brett Cullen was probably the hottest guy on the show. Now HE had big dick energy.

I used to get Billy Moses and Dean Butler(Almanzo from Little House) mixed up. Though I’ve also dreamed of a 3way with both 😏

[quote] body tended to be doughy without the steroids, which is telling of low testosterone, which generally translates into an average or below average dick.

You don't read that in medical books. Lol.

In S6 and the show has completely gotten away from anything do to with competing over the vineyards and harvests. It's all Maggie/Wainright, Richard trying to outfix Miss Jones for her framing him for Chase's shooting, Angela opening a spa, and Kim Novak pretending to be someone else in a bad wig.

[quote] Kim Novak pretending to be someone else in a bad wig.

That was rather the entirety of her career, was it not?

Good evening.

Lance CUMson!

Kim Novak had the Krystal Carrington do. Was that a thing in the mid-80s, you go into the salon and ask for the Krystal? Sort of like in the 90s you'd go ask for the Rachel from Friends cut...

They should've hired Stella Stevens for the Kim Novak role. She would've been better, and telegraphed younger than Novak.

Poor Stella. She’s been overtaken completely by dementia and is living in one of those “memory facilities.”

I wanted to fuck Andrew Stevens so hard in his prime.

Stella Stevens was too trashy acting, she would've been fine as the gangster moll Kit Marlowe but I don't think she could've pulled off the uppercrust Skylar Kimball part. Angela would've immediately been onto her.

[quote] is living in one of those “memory facilities.”

Memory - lack thereof.

The way Kim Novak says “OH FATHER” to Cesar Romero in that creepy Jackie Kennedy whisper voice is unsettling.

And why didn’t someone tell Jane Wyman her hairdo went out of fashion in 1958? Surely some gay on set could have convinced her to buy a new wig.

R29 It looked like to me that they got Jane a new wig for the start of Season 6. It had little wings on the side--but then towards the end of the season she went back to her original wig style. Maybe someone's terrier got ahold of the fancy new Season 6 wig.

Jane had the afro wig and then the Pearl Shay wig.

Kim Novak, when she decided to do a film or TV project, was a hoot in the 80s. Mirror Crack'd, Malibu, Falcon Crest. She pretty much camped her way through those. She was fun. She pretty much stuck to her Legend of Lylah Clare look in the 80s (speaking of camp).

Brett Cullen was sex on a stick when he first came onto Falcon Crest.

Jane should have gotten the Jan Brady wig, it would have spiced up the show.

That, or an Eyes Wide Shut sex party at Falcon Crest.

R33, I'm surprised they didn't try that Falcon Crest sex party in Season 9.

Angela and Chao Li were fucking. Chao Li would eat out that dusty old pussy until Angie screamed with pleasure!

Angela's pussy tasted like sour grapes.

R35 I always wanted them to go there.

Angela had a sex dungeon in the winery basement. She was the madam/dominatrix, Emma, Maggie, and Vickie were the hookers. She was also tricking out Lance for rich Asian businessmen.

Like Season 6 had some homage moments for Hitchcock, Season 7 has homage moments for the Godfather--the Senate hearings, Richard waking up in bed with a dead body, and a shootout at the tollbooth (which was pretty cheezy, basically a guy in a booth with a giant old timey cash register). And there was a bit of the Manchurian Candidate thrown in with assassin Eric. Also a Nancy Drew homage with Melissa--a mysterious key and searches of stagecoaches and mine tunnels.

Now I'm about to slog through Season 8--I may just skip over to 9.

I'm halfway through season 6. They really turned Chase into more of a sanctimonious tool than he had ever been. Seems a little TOO out of character. I'm guessing the character change was intentional. They knew Foxworth was leaving by the end of the season, so to make the dismantling of the popular Chase/Maggie couple palpable for viewers, they needed to turn him into a real jerk that Maggie could be without.

I'm watching the season 4 episode where Terry's friend runs Angela off the road, did they show her driving any other time? It is so strange to see her driving herself.

Angela had a yellow Mercedes SL she would drive from time to time-Julia used it too.

My favorite episode is when Lance is jealous of all the attention Richard is getting from Angela. So to prove he can be just as big a business mogul he starts Falcon Studios.

Season 8 is absolutely terrible, like an old Barbara Stanwyck movie. Slow pacing, bad dialog, lackluster characters (Ortega family), and the background music was totally changed from the modern 80s synthesizer-type music. It was a 360 from the prior two seasons of fast pacing and fun storylines. I can see why they totally had to retool it in Season 9, but by then it was too late and the audience was mostly gone.

Season 7: Maggie becomes a raging alcoholic within ONE episode. Richard's son, Michael, is experiencing very rapid growth (he was a baby in season 6 and, one season later, he's a 5-year-old who disappears from Angela in a toy store). Melissa's long-lost uncle Frank shows up...Frank Agretti...he tells Melissa that she is his only relative...but whaddabout that terrible Robin Agretti/surogate chick from seasons 4 and 5???

I am SORAS the all powerful. I give time, and I taketh time. You are at my mercy. I am SORAS.

I really wish one of the streaming services would add Carol Burnett's mini-series soap satire Fresno. It satirizes them all, but Falcon Crest is the easiest comparison since the family business was grapes, excuse me raisins. It would be fun to watch it in between episodes of FC. Someone added it to youtube but it is so washed out it looks like the whole thing was shot using Barbara Walters' "special" cameras.

I looked it up apparently Disney now owns Fresno because it was an MTM production, which was later bought by 20th Century Fox. So maybe hulu will dig it out.

R45, Does raging alcoholic Maggie slap Vickie?

I remember Fresno vaguely. It was hilarious. Terri Garr's character had a meltdown after she learned that she was actually NOT adopted, and her adopted family was her real family. And Gregory Harrison's character appeared shirtless pretty much through the entire run of the show. The show was good, but it really needed to stay a mini-series. This spoof concept is hard to keep up in a longer running show.

I'm early in S7, and it's a fascinating train wreck. Eddie Albert as a diabolical villain? Cole is married with a child within a year of leaving on his sailboat? Eric is suddenly both a deadbeat and abusive to Vickie, who still manages to be a total bitch to everyone? Some ho named Dina is paralyzed and we are supposed to care?

All this, and it's still eminently watchable. They are giving Jane killer lines so far this season--she's got at least two one-liners every episode.

The only redeeming qualities of S8 are David Beecroft and Dan Ferro. Why they didn't do a flip fuck is beyond me!

Leslie Caron, early in season 7, plays the WORST, cuntiest guest character of the entire series. Zero redeeming qualities!

Were Morgan Fairchild and Simon MacCorkindale written out of season 6 at the last minute? They were major characters In season 5, then they’re suddenly gone, with only a brief exchange in the premier between Richard and Angela explaining their absence. It’s odd.

Gabriel Ortega and Ben Agretti were like an old lesbian couple in Season 8. Hybrid bikes and giant, unisex sweaters.

Weakest cliffhanger thus far: End of season 7. Melissa finds a dusty document in a mine and suddenly, within ONE episode, she owns Falcon Crest! Angela to mystery man: " Don't you think it's time you told Maggie you're alive?". Obviously that guy is NOT Chase. Oh, and once more, Eric slaps Vickie #2! So the tally is that Maggie slapped Vickie once and Eric slapped Vickie twice.

When it comes to slapping your children, Maggie Channing has got nothing on me!

The cliffhanger for S7 should have been the whole cast lined up to smack the shit out of Vickie2.

She’s like Diana Fairgate but much worse.

[quote] The cliffhanger for S7 should have been the whole cast lined up to smack the shit out of Vickie2.

It could've been like that scene in Airplane where the passengers are lined up with bats, brass knuckles, etc. to slap that hysterical woman.

Aw, I liked Dana Sparks as Vickie. She was much more appealing in the role than Jamie Rose.

For the show's all-time Worst Non-Guest Character, my vote goes to Eric Stavros, with Vickie #2 as runner-up. For Worst Guest Character, I vote for Nicole (Leslie Caron). Vile characters, no redeeming qualities, lame storylines! Oh, and it's pretty gross that Carly became sexually attracted to Dan Fixx once she found out they were not biological siblngs.

Agree R61, and I'm actually kind of liking Pilar Ortega.

Blasphemy, R62.

Then again, I became a huge fan of Andrea Thompson's Genele, so I get it.

Who is the man that Jane W says “you should tell Maggie you’re alive” to? I assume it’s Richard?

That was the big question hanging over the summer. Since Chase's corpse was never found and Richard was, um, shot, it could have been either of these two. I thought for a cliff hanger it was quite effective, especially considering that of all possible parties it was everybody's enemy who knew.

Falcon Crest had the best intro music.

I'm early into Season 7 (just watched episode where Chase's house is blown up, Emma is arrested, Eric gives Vickie a beating, and Chase's house is blown up). The pacing of the storytelling is breakneck at this point. It's like the writers were told to emulate a Sidney Sheldon novel.

I wonder if the blown up Gioberti house interior could have been repaired/restored and lived in again. I wonder about strange things.

Jane Greer said that Jane W had bowel issues. She farted constantly.

Why did the Season 8 writers think the viewers would care about 16 year olds Ben and Gabriel? Were they trying to attract teenybopper viewers?

Jane is getting really frail in Season 8 and no longer is the mean, menacing Angela. I think she was having denture issues too.

I am enjoying hunky Nick Agretti--that man is sexy.

Had a good laugh with the Season 7 episode where Emma makes a deal with an agent to sell her tell all. The agent said he could envision Emma's story being turned into a Hollywood movie with Lana Turner starring as her mother. That had to be an inside joke on the Wyman/Turner feud.

One thought keeps running through my head, has Lorenzo Lamas and George Hamilton ever played son and father? Or would they bankrupt a production with their tanning bills.

R61, can you blame Carly for wanting to have sex with Dan once the incest taboo was removed?

Where can I watch this show?

r74, it's available on Amazon Prime via IMDb TV:

Love how Richard has his own personal manservant, Garth.

FOR WHATEVER REASON, I somehow missed watching 99% of falcon crest... Guess I was too busy watching Knots Landing and elsewhere....

SO for those who did watch this show regularly, is it true, that lorenzo lamas (any other hunks guest starring in a episode?) regularly wore speedos/bikini's in pool scenes?...

I started binging when it became available. I’m almost done with season 7 and I’m getting bored.

I really, really disliked Chase, but the centerpiece of the show were the battles between Angela, Chase and Richard, and something is off with him not present. Also, Richard is being transitioned into the hero role in season 7, and he makes more sense as the outsider antihero.

I think seasons 5 and 6 are my favorite. Anne Archer is such a meek pillowcase, and I enjoy seeing her flattened by Angela.

Susan Sullivan was fired to save money and replaced by the cheaper Wendy Phillips

[quote] I think seasons 5 and 6 are my favorite

Fans of Falcon Crest consider season 5 the worst of the whole series

Right up there with the first year of Pilar Ortega (season 8)

I remember my family watching FC when I was a small child who maybe shouldn’t have been watching, and I’ve rewatched bits and pieces throughout the years because I fucking love Angela Channing. I did not realize until watching on prime that Jonathan Frakes was on there I’m guessing between the North & South and TNG.

I anyone suffers from insomnia, I suggest you watch season 8 of Falcon Crest.

I estimate Lance had about one speedo scene a season. Watching the first season and I forgot how hilarious it is the way Angela talks down to and belittles Julia all the time.

Has there ever been another character like Emma on tv?

I never understood what they had Apollonia Kotero play a character named Apollonia -She was such an awful actress and horrible singer. WTF was that all about?

R85, she was just coming off appearing opposite Prince in Purple Rain. I remember it being big news when she guested on FC. And she was a good sport in letting them have Angela refer to her as Babylonia.

ANGELA WAS A RACIST!!!! First, she disapproves of "Babylonia", then vetoes Pilar because she's from the "wrong side of the tracks".

She got to sing a couple of songs on the show. That story arc wasn't so bad and it didn't last very long. She eventually dumped poor Lance...and the radio station disappeared from the show, just like the racetrack!

Eddie Albert is not the most convincing evil mogul in his Season 7 guest turn.

I agree with poster above that losing Chase for Season 7 was not good for the show. If nothing else, given that Foxworth was ready to leave, then producers should have signed Ed Marinaro to be a permanent cast member as he could have filled the "Chase" slot on the show.

Watching episodes of Melissa in Australia trying to get her son back. Cole makes a return. Interesting to see William Moses and Brett Cullen do scenes together. Cullen is a much better actor than Moses.

I love our Falcon Crest threads.

I just started season 8. No more Dan Fixx??? Off-screen departure? WTF?

And suddenly 18-year old Carly Fixx is running the trucking company because Dan ran off to Montana. She then sells it for a song to Pilar. They could've done a better job of writing her and Dan out of the show. Dan probably would've also resurfaced after Melissa died, but by then he was wished out into the cornfield, never to be spoken of again around Tuscany.

I have to say there are times where Lorenzo Lamas can actually be quite good. He was excellent in the episodes around Lorraine losing the baby.

I'm enjoying the evil nurse played by Salome Jens who is "taking care" of Dina.

Probably just me, but when I re-watch these snippets and scenes from Falcon Crest with Jane Wyman as Angela, she just comes across to me as a mean bitch grandma... NOT, entertaining, in the way of the great villain Alexis was....

Wasn't Jane playing Angela as Nancy Reagan?

I'm just starting now...

Fond memories of me being a 6 yr old baby fag watching this religiously with my grandmother.

Angela just sent Jason's truck tumbling down the hill....

Wow, everyone quickly got over Melissa's death! The house completely burned down! Who's this Nick Agretti / David Beecroft guy? He's a poor replacement for Dan Fixx. Nick and his TV son (Ben) are only 12 years apart in age in real life and it's totally obvious.

[quote] Wow, everyone quickly got over Melissa's death!

She was replaced by Kristian Alfonso

The red headed chick is ugly.

How does she get to land the hot latino vineyard worker?

Well good Lord!

Vicky done run off to Frisco to star in pornographic movies!

Nick Agreti had a lot of potential as a character some of which was tapped. Ben Agreti however was like a whiny Pillsbury Doughboy.

Ben was a baby dyke.

Ben was a cry-baby. Was Robin, Melissa's cousin that had Cole's bastard child, also Frank Agretti's kid? After she left town, she was never spoken of again, like many other FC characters (Greg Reardon, Jordan Roberts, Dan Fixx, Julia Cumson, etc.)

Angela was an evil cunt in the first four seasons -forcing Melissa to sign away all rights to her child; gleefully telling Chase his mother was dead; bullying her daughters. Then she becomes snarky and less menacing around season 6, a rich version of Sophia Petrillo.

Ben Agretti looked douchey to me. But I think that was the vibe I got from the actor. The character wasn't actually too distracting.

Tommy Ortega and his wet blanket of a girlfriend Kelly plus the rival Hispanic gangs from Ridleyville--yawnsville. Yet I'm still struggling through Season 8, I must be a glutton for punishment.

I'm in Season 7. The evil nurse has been apprehended after Lance recreated the movie DOA. And previous episode Richard lived out the move The Most Dangerous Game. I wonder how many other old Hollywood films will be recreated this season?

Robin Agretti was not Nick's daughter. There was supposedly a third brother who was poor or at least not rich like Melissa's father.

I like the actor and character, but why did Simon MacCorkindale receive the special as Greg Rearden credit?

Good point, R110.

Surely it was for Manimal and Jaws 3-D.

R111 Yeah, I mean Susan Sullivan I get, because Maggie was the heroine, like Pam on Dallas or Krystle on Dynasty.

Robin Agretti was the daughter of Philip and Theresa (who were never onscreen). Nick was Frank's son. Chris Agretti was, a nephew of Frank, but his parents were never mentioned.

R110, just like James Franscicus getting that billing in Season 2 of Dynasty as Dr. Nicholas whatever his name was.

Simon MacCorkindale was so damn hot and sexy back in the day! whew! me likey!..

remember a tv movie he did with yvette mimieux where he played a soap opera actor star hunk and her character , a fan of his became obsessed with him, too bad she was nuts! However, she did manage to seduce him and screw him, so her fantasy DID come true, before it unraveled. Anyway, he was sexy in that tv movie and scenes of him in a blue speedo on the beach were so nice!.

Chris Agretti. Now if there was an award for a character who came out of nowhere with little to no back story he would receive it. I only realized he was an Agretti after several episodes.

We had some vandalism overnight and the police came to check it out this morning. I was asked if I had any enemies and had the presence of mind to snark "none of any consequence" and the cop chuckled.

That was pure Angela.

James Franciscus was never on Dynasty. James Farentino was. Duh!!! 🖕🖕🤮💩🚽

Out of Angela's various love interests, who was your favorite? I like Angela and Peter Stavros. He brings out the more feminine side of Angela in ways none of the others did. In some of their scenes Angela is downright coquettish.

Would Angela have been okay with Chase and Maggie keeping the castle house but just selling her the vineyard?

Me, I'd just want that house and its immediate grounds. Aunt Angela could have her land and I'd have enjoyed living near that cranky dame.

R120 When Chase and Richard lost their parts of FC to Cassandra Wilder, which I totally do not understand, Greg Rearden told her that the house was given to Chase in a living trust that couldn't be undone. She said something along the lines of well, I can tolerate him as a neighbor more than as a partner.

What I don't understand is how Cassandra got the 2/3s. Yes she bought Richard and Chase's debt, but Angela had already told them she had the money to loan them and she was herself looking into buying their debts. Couldn't she have just paid Richard and Chase's debt, and in the process bought them out? I don't think a debtholder can just refuse payment. I know Richard and Chase hated Angela but Chase, especially, would have rather sold to Angela than allowing an outsider in.

I think Cassandra purchased it before Angela could do so, r121. Regardless I enjoy wimpy Ann Archer attempting to play dragon lady and fail miserably in her attempts to outcunt Angela. And I wanted Celeste Holm to hang around and randomly start fires and act like a crazy bitch a little longer.

Watching this show is like getting a glimpse into the Reagan family home life. I’m sure Nancy and Jane bullied Maureen, Michael, Patti and Ron Jr the way Angela bullied Julia, Emma and Lance.

R122 Yeah she purchased the debt, before Angela could, but I still don't understand how that resulted in her owning the two shares. She would have had to give them some sort of a time period to repay the loans. I guess I'm just overthinking it and being logical. I do enjoy Anne Archer trying to be a cunt, though. It is like when some young girl singer does a duet with a diva. It is fun to watch them attempt it, but the diva blows them out the water.

Hmmm. I wonder if I can diagram all the various FC transactions through all the seasons. Angela has 100 percent. Then Chase gets 50 acres then Chase gets 50 percent. Then part of it is taken over via eminent domain for the racetrack. At some point Richard, Chase and Angela have equal shares. Cassandra gets all or a controlling share briefly. Then Stavros owns it. Somehow those carnival people in the last season end up owning it or controlling it thru Emma. Melissa owns it for ninety seconds. I think Chris Agretti owned it for a while. Michael Sharpe owned it for a bit. Who have I left out?

Too bad Jane hated Lana. They could have spent the rest of the series hissing at each other and joining forces to fuck with Melissa and Maggie.

I just finished season 8. OMG. Why was Richard so psychotic that season? He fucked up his marriage and ruined his improving relationship with his mother (Angela)! Lame cliffhanger...actually no cliffhanger other than Richard being indicted/investigated and Tommy Ortega and some chick (maybe) drowning in a lake.

Op starts with Sarah Douglas and nobody mentions her again. Never found Falcon Crest very interesting but Sarah in her day was fascinating.

Well, she only appeared on the show for two seasons and was basically Richard's henchwoman. I can't recall -- did Pamela have any romantic entaglements?

In the past when I've tried to google Sarah Douglas there were oblique hints she used to be into serious kink. But nobody ever would elaborate.

r128, in her second season they romantically linked her to Richard, only so that her bedding his aunt would be a betrayal to her. After that, she may have dated Greg Reardon for a short while (because that was the season everybody but Maggie was dating him.)

R130 Yeah she and Greg Reardon had a thing, when Terry would get upset because he wasn't wanting to jump her bones it was usually because he was fucking Pamela. At one point they were making it look like Greg might have had a thing for Emma, but the writers never pursued it. Poor Emma had the worst luck with men, Greg would've been a major step up.

R126 And I didn't buy Richard's obsession with the Melissa lookalike and fucking her at every turn. He was madly in love with Maggie and never really was into Melissa other than as a fling in the early years of the show.

Just finished watching Lauren Hutton complete her guest turn on Season 7 (unless they bring her back). Despite her silly story line resolution, she worked well on a show like Falcon Crest.

Now Tahnee Welch is on. And Mariska Hargity is about to start as Carly Fixx.

The Tahnee Welch character was pointless. Lance was going to move in with her after what, 2 episodes? Then she leaves town. Filler storyline and stunt casting.

Season 7 had too many guest stars who were each on the show for like three or four episodes. Pointless. Eve Arden was only on one episode. Leslie Caron 's Nicole was the worst character ever! And then so many cast members left in season 8...Vickie #2, Dan Fixx, Carly Fixx, Melissa...and even Emma and Chao-Li were gone for much of season 8.

Season 9, awful. Too many new dark/evil/psychotic characters: Michael, Charley, Charley's brother, Genelle. Awful!!!! 🤮👎

I'm up to the season 7 episode where Vickie has been kidnapped by a white slavery ring and she's still being a sullen bitch. Just as well--I don't think I could handle the Dana Sparks version of Vickie as a victim.

Vickie #2 is NOT a DL fave.

By the way Brett Cullen's hair flip on the season 7 opening credits was best hair flip on an opening credits sequence since Jaclyn Smith's for Charlie's Angels.

Wtf is up with Cliff Robertson’s horrible toupee? Did he go to Jane’s wig maker?

What were they thinking in S7 with Maggie's sudden friend, Alison, played by some dishrag with two expressions, who was somehow Maggie's talk-to and bridesmaid, and then completely disappears 2/3 of the way through the season? It was nice Maggie had a friend, since her bitch/whore/thief of a daughter was constantly gone or sold into white slavery, but they seemed to have no plan for her; she was just some rando with no subtext there to be a talk-to. So bizarre, in a bizarre season that somehow kept me engaged even as people kept popping in and leaving as fast (and finishing with Mariska trying to fuck Dan Fixx five seconds after revealing they weren't related--awkward!).

R141 I haven't gotten that far in my rewatch. Did they get rid of her maid? Why didn't they just use her as her talk-to?

r142, we lose the housekeeper when the Gioberti manse is blown up (not sure why she couldn't move over to the new house), and as we find out during Maggie's insta-alcoholism, they have trouble keeping staff (which allows Angela's spy to become the housekeeper, though she is fired pretty quickly and that story goes nowhere).

S7 never lost my interest, but man was it not very good when you add it all up. We'd pick it apart more if it weren't for how awful S8 is (I just started s8, and it's already slow and pointless).

Maggie also had that Imogene bigot from Designing Women spy that Angela sent in to be her sounding board. That actress must've been a CBS pass around.

I think Richard banished Maggie's friend after he caught them drinking together at the spa.

R143 Did her gambling mother ever comeback after pawning the pearls? I know Maggie visited her at least once. I liked that nutty dame, and her friend who was more famous for EH's The Waltons. He really should've used Ronnie Claire Edwards as a rich villain. With that little grey streak she would've camped it up, up and down the valley.

Vickie #2 should've brought home a black man. I think that might've cured her of her sullen-ness.

Season 8 was full of Agrettis and Ortegas...and then they all disappear in season 9! WTF? Only Pilar Ortega was in season 9...and she turned into a whore! Again, WTF???!

IKR R147, despite how bad Season 8 was, they were setting things up at the end for a battle between the Agrettis and Giobertis with Nick and Lance feuding over the FC deed--but then 9 starts and Nick is gone.

I also suspect Maggie's death was caused by a massive case of crabs she got from the dirty sheets at the prison conjugal visit room. She had toxic shock that caused her disorientation in the pool and she drowned. Why didn't they just pay the guard the 10 dollars? They are millionaires!

Season 9 was admittedly really bad. But in contrast to season 8 it was at least ambitious.

Season 9-lets kill Maggie in episode one in a gruesome way by getting sucked into the pool drain! And then follow it up in episode 2 by having this creepy Charlie dude take over FC and smother Angela with a pillow!

The last few seasons are like when your neighbors house is burning down and you can't stop watching until every ember is cold.

I'm in season 3 and the whole Julia in prison story is so boring; it doesn't help that she's isolated from all the other stories.

But Terry just arrived, giving a jolt of energy to the proceedings.

Well, I just finished the series. Season 9 is *the* worst. But nice ending...in the final scene, Angela gives a toast to Falcon Crest and talks about the show's history. I'm going to Napa in November to tour the show's filming locations...who wants to join me? Anyone know the location of the New Globe building? Give me the address. I need to know! 🍇🍷

I'm jealous r153, I would love to visit the sites associated with the show.

Not Falcon Crest, but I'm streaming Dallas (I alternate) and they just revealed that hideous death mask of murdered ranch hand Hutch McKinney. I let out a Diana scream.

You will all be relieved to know that Kelly survived the lake drowning at the end of Season 8!

(As told by Pilar, melting down at the dinner table and telling everyone that she fucked Richard).

R156, I thought Genele was great, a unique soap type. And the best laugh! An old lady laugh in a young woman. Andrea Thompson definitely got buzz as Genele circa 1989-90.

Gretchen Wyler should have been cast as Andrea Thompson's mother at some point. Sort of like I think Meredith Baxter needs to play Courtney Thorne Smith's mother before it's too late.

S8 Kelly was so annoying. Let her drown. She's a drag.

The Season 9 opening credits make me moist - down there.

I do like the way they redid the theme song for season 9. That was one good thing on Knots Landing, they were always updating the credits & freshioning the theme.

Season 9 theme is awful! Slow and new age crap!

How is Angela so wealthy and powerful and feared worldwide?

I thought California wines weren’t a big deal until the 70s.

But she knows billionaires like Peter Stavros. The Thirteen and the Cartel knew who she was. And everybody wants this land.

I don’t think of Ernest and Julio Gallo being mega rich and running the world. Why does she? Is it because her husband (who had the worst Texas accent when he played Jenna and Jock’s attorney on Falcon Crest) owns a big city paper?

r161, I seriously started thinking about this in S4, during the Cassandra Wilder affair, and this is my theory:

Angela was sitting on a lot of cash because she never diversified. Her wines were world-famous, and she probably had a reputation as a fearsome bitch dragon goddess at a time when women were not meant to be powerful, but what she was doing was making profits, and putting back into her land, which, at some point, still yielded more profit than investment required. So, as the show moved into more global commerce in S4, Angela was sitting on money in a way Chase (who was arriviste and usually relying on loans) or Richard (who was constantly moving and shaking and risking everything) were not.

Then, in S5, they sorta make it clear that Peter was smitten with Angela from an acquaintance years earlier (which Angela exploited), and that Peter gifted Angela 2/3 of Falcon Crest as a wedding present. Moreover, the reason Falcon Crest was able to be annexed by Cassandra was because they were expanded facilities (and buying them rather than leasing) to prepare for a deal with Helios Foods that was a Trojan horse (the deal was never going to happen). So, the Falcon Crest Angela ended up with, months later, was now land-rich, facility-rich, and ready for an expanded market share (which is why they were able to consider the lower-end Angelina Wines Angela was toying with in S5 or S6).

I don't think Angela had world-beater money, but her reputation was there for the wine even before the events of S4/S5 left her, to an outsider's eye, substantially richer and more burnished than before (and without partners). If you didn't know what we knew, you'd know she had emerged victorious, and if you had The Thirteen's resources, you'd know she was ruthless and willing to sell her pussy to Cesar Romero for a megaprice.

Think about that for a second: that's not Melissa selling her pussy for a billionaire. That's Angela. And not only did she "sell" but she was the one who got paid with 2/3 of Falcon Crest (and she only fucked him when she wanted to, and not vice versa). That's one magical vajay to go with the business acumen.

Season 9: I don't understand why Frank Agretti was charged with murder. He killed his wife? How? Why? When? What's the evidence? What did Genele have to do with it? The wife was Nick's mother, right? So where is Nick in season 9? Where is Nick's son, Ben? And why, in the final episode, does Angela announce that Frank is being released from jail? Released, why? That was such a stupid, poorly developed, abrupt departure from the show for Rod Taylor!

And who were Chris Agretti's parents? Yet another random Agretti that shows up with no explanation.

R162 excellent analysis. I wondered the same thing about how she could be that rich in the later seasons. I just chalked it up to that Angela was in her 60s when the show started. All those years before she invested the money she made off of FC and she married well and had some rich boyfriends.

I did a spit take watching the Christmas Season 9 episode where Charley and Ian are attacking Emma and that Sydney girl. It was the part where Ian is choking Sydney and geriatric Frank Agretti comes crashing through the window, somersault style--I burst out laughing. And Emma was a little too old to suddenly be pregnant. Talk about stretching the limits of credibility.

Who was writing this mess? And hardly any of the original characters were left at this point. Poor, befuddled Emma hosting Xmas dinner at FC (apparently by herself, no Chao Li or servants in sight) with a bunch of weirdos and criminals. At least cunty bitch Genele was there to provide snark and entertainment. She's the only redeeming thing about Season 9.

Looks like halfway through season 7 the show had a budget cut, or else the producers blew much of their budget on all those special guest stars as it looks like production values have taken a fall. Just watched episode where Richard and Maggie finally exchange vows and they're about to go on their honeymoon, which apparently is derailed and they have to spend it at Angela's. Good way to save money producers.

Lauren's husband goes from hippy carpenter to alcoholic wife beater to suicide bomber. Just in a few episodes. WTF?????

Yes, R168, and Emma gives the Falcon Crest land (NOT the house) to Michael Sharpe (a truly awful character with no redeeming qualities). 👎🤮

Angela was correct all those years--Lance and Emma were nitwits unfit to run Falcon Crest.

I have to give it to Angela, she beat Jackie O. Peter Stavros was as rich as Onassis but a billion times better looking.

I liked this Michael Sharpe scene.

Did Lorenzo Lamas already have tattoos during FC? Because when he is shirtless there are large patches of skin that don't match up.

Actually that season 7 episode where everyone in the main cast is at Falcon Crest waiting out the storm has turned out to be the best episode of Season 7. A chance to slow down the crazy storylines a bit and let the characters bump up against each other and lots of good snarky line for Jane Wyman. Dan Fixx and Lance could have made a hot duo.

Angela snooping around at the keyholes and eavesdropping in that episode was a little like Murder, She Wrote R174.

Angela leaving all of FC in her will to Emma made no sense whatsoever. It was never explained. The will/arrangement they made in the final episode was more consistent with the overall storylines.

Agreed. Choosing Emma over Lance was a very lazy plot point to get from A to B. At the very least it should have been a result of forgery by the St. James brothers. There were some other 'facts' in season 9 that contradicted established events or facts. For example, FC was available for change. Wasn't FC sold for a mere 5 or 6 million dollar in the last season when it was worth more than ten times a few years before? Season 9 gotta be a dream season.

R175, ha ha! No doubt that may have been the intent of the writers. Imagine cunty Angela Channing filling in for Jessica Fletcher on Murder She Wrote to solve a mystery.

The revised opening theme is the best part of Season 9. It's like it was written by a seventh grader.

Lance gets a huge back tattoo in sesson 9. He was feeling overlooked and unwanted because Danny Sharpe (total dweeb with awful pony tail) was now in charge of the Falcon Crest winery. LOL. Also ridiculous...Lauren runs away...all the way to Chinatown in San Francisco, where she gets a job as a waitress in a crappy diner full of sexish, predatory men. Lauren is almost raped in her crappy Chinatown apartment by a customer...but she finds the time to deliver a neighbor's baby!

OMG R180 I just watched the Lauren finding herself in Chinatown episode last night. Seriously, she lugs around two suitcases up and down hills in SF to end up in some nasty flophouse. What happened to that minivan Richard had given her? Just drive that thing around instead of walking the streets like a homeless person. Maybe it was some personal quest to reject the stuff the men gave her or something. Then halfway through the episode she moves back in with Richard but keeps the waitress job--WTF???

And I think it was the episode before that, they were flirting with incest between Sharpe and Lauren. He says something like "I wish we were adopted from different families so that we weren't biological siblings" and she just sits there and giggles like "ooh, that's neat." WTF??????

Looking for the upcoming episode of Pilar in dirty rags playing poker with Sheryl Lee Ralph. I'm sure it's another 'so bad it's good' moment of Season 9

This was so bad--wasn't Joel Surnow (showrunner for 24) responsible for most of this nonsense? I always thought 24 was a ridiculous show too after the gimmick wore off, but it ran for a long time.

This very detailed and obsessive website about Falcon Crest is full of interesting facts about things like budget cuts you can see onscreen, etc.

Apparently Jane was pissed when she found out Kim Novak’s cost more than double her wig, so she demanded a new one-which is why she has a slightly different hairdo in season 6.

[quote] Apparently Jane was pissed when she found out Kim Novak’s cost more than double her wig, so she demanded a new one-which is why she has a slightly different hairdo in season 6.

The only appropriate response would've been for Jane to snatch that wig off Kim's head and flush it down the toilet.

Thanks for the link R182. Will have to check out in more detail. Hopefully site has new dirt on the Jane Wyman/Lana Turner feud.

Now up to Maggie in season 7 developing a drinking problem. Can't say I blame her given that she's married to Richard who is turning out to be absolutely unsuitable as a marriage partner.

Richard is such an odd character. At times you can't help but like him, but he's so fucked up and when his fucked up side dominates he's repelling and that makes Angela the one to root for in their battles. Angela knows what she is.

And other than being there for milk some potential comedy, I don't get why Carly and Angela are hanging out with each other. That being said, for season 8 the producers should have done everything in their power to keep Carly and Dan on the show. They would have been better "down to earth" foils to the Channings than the Ortegas proved to be.

On Season One Vickie goes from being in college to high school to college within a few episodes.

The first Vickie was fine and should have returned later on, she could have fought with Melissa over some new man. She was more palatable than the odious Vickie 2.

I just finished season 3; it was around the middle of season 3 when I first started watching FC, so now I'm in familiar territory. 3 was definitely an improvement over the meh season 1 and the confused season 2.

Not that 3 was perfect: Cliff Robertson seems visibly unpleased to be there at all, and it's hilarious that he's able to operate on spines, hearts, AND brains! And the stuff with Julia in the first half of the season, at the prison and then the hospital, are boring -- she doesn't get good stuff until she escapes and meets Lucas.

But everything else is pretty solid, Chase taking control of Falcon Crest, Richard building the racetrack and battling with the Cartel, and the marriage of Cole and Linda and their custody battle with Melissa and Lance. The best parts are undoubtedly the introduction of Sarah Douglas as Pamela and Laura Johnson as Terry; they were my favorites when I watched the show back in the 80s, and they do clearly ignite the screen when they're in a scene. And the lead-up to the season-ending cliffhanger really is perfection; I still think this is the best cliffhanger in the series' run, and one of the best of all the prime-time soaps (I remember Time magazine used the cliffhanger for an essay on the crashing fortunes of certain politicians in the summer of '84).

Cliff Robertson wears the nastiest toupee in season 3. Maybe the wig maker used leftover scraps from Jane’s wig to make it.