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Falcon Crest was an American primetime television soap opera about the feud between the Channings and the Giobertis, two separate rich wine families in West Central California, around San Francisco in a fictional town, Tuscany Valley. It aired on the CBS network from December 4th, 1981 to May 17th, 1990, and 227 episodes were made in total. Reruns of the show aired on SOAPnet, a decade after its demise.
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The Uncorking
The show was created by Earl Hamner, noted for his work on The Waltons. Hamner wanted to create a family drama involving the wine industry. CBS ordered him to make the show more sensational, along the lines of Dallas (The show was created so CBS could more easily win Friday night in the Nielsen ratings. Falcon Crest was scheduled at 10PM, with top-rated Dallas scheduled immediately before it). It also replaced the popular series The Incredible Hulk in its time slot.
Hamner proceeded to deliberately write what he viewed as trashy, turgid melodrama. It starred Oscar winner Jane Wyman as Angela Channing, a despotic woman and corrupt matriarch who ruled with an iron fist over her vineyards in the fictional Tuscany Valley region of California (modeled after the Napa Valley). Robert Foxworth also starred as Chase Gioberti, a man new to the area, having inherited a portion of the Falcon Crest vineyards and winery from his father, Angela's brother Jason, who died after a fall in the winery during the premiere episode. The rivalry between the established professional and the newcomer, who both happened to be tied together by blood relations, set the tone for much of the series. The Dallas-Falcon Crest one-two punch proved lucrative for CBS and Falcon Crest was a Top 20 show in the Nielsens for several years. Despite its success, Falcon Crest usually lost about three to five million viewers from the previous hour and was never as dependable a draw as Dallas had proven itself to be.
As it was certain that Angela wouldn't be moving into her nephew's, Chase Gioberti's own land that she pressured her young, playboy grandson, Lance Cumson (Lorenzo Lamas) to marry a beautiful, scheming woman with all the power his grandmother only had in her. Lance had a yearn for both power and money, compared to his grandmother, and was too lazy to work for it. He was also unable to stand on both feet. Other major characters were included at the beginning of the first season are her daughters, Julia (Abby Dalton) who was Lance's mother and winemaker, and the emotionally troubled Emma (Margaret Ladd). Chase's family included his sympathetic wife Maggie (Susan Sullivan) and grown-up children Cole (William R. Moses) and Vickie (Jamie Rose, later replaced by Dana Sparks). It seemed though that nobody could be as nasty to Angela until her conniving son, Richard Channing (David Selby) arrived in the show's second season. Originally a newspaper editor, Richard got into the business of running the wine fields when he wished to take control from Angela (Richard was the love child of Angela's late husband, and Angela despised him). Maggie's shifty, but warm-hearted, younger sister Terry Hartford (Laura Johnson), a former prostitute, joined the cast in the third season. But the biggest schemer in Tuscany Valley was Melissa Agretti (Ana Alicia). She did what she wanted to do with little regard for others.
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The Vintage Years
Despite its reputation as merely being "Dallas with grapes”, Falcon Crest soon found its own niche amongst the prime-time dramas of the 1980s, occupying the middle ground between the two extremes of the genre—being more glamorous than Dallas yet not quite as outrageous as Dynasty. The distinctive location filming in the Napa Valley and the dry, wryly humorous tone of the scripts gave the series a tone of its own.
Like Dallas and Dynasty, Falcon Crest employed the use of memorable end of season cliffhangers to boost ratings. The 1982-1983 season climaxed with the culmination of a murder mystery whodunit plot that had spanned most of the season—with the guilty party being confronted in front of the entire cast only to produce a handgun. Shots are fired, and a coffin is seen being lowered to the ground, leaving the audience to wonder who had been killed off. Other cliffhangers included the crashing of a plane carrying all the major characters, a bomb explosion and an earthquake that ripped through the valley.
The series also made a virtue of casting former Hollywood royalty in guest roles – Lana Turner, Gina Lollobrigida, Cesar Romero and Celeste Holm all appeared in Falcon Crest. Kim Novak joined the cast in 1986 and enjoyed a season-spanning story arc that was a thinly veiled parody of her role in the classic film Vertigo. This aspect to the series seemed to be consciously embraced by the producers, who at one stage instituted a rotating guest star policy—Leslie Caron, Lauren Hutton, Eddie Albert, Eve Arden and Ursula Andress all made appearances during the 1987-1988 season.
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Sour Grapes
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At the end of the 1985-1986 season, Maggie's sister Terry (who had married Richard Channing and had seemingly begun to find contentment in her life) was tragically killed in the massive earthquake that rocked the valley in the fifth season cliffhanger. At the start of the 1986-1987 season, Cole Gioberti decided to leave the valley and literally sailed off into the sunset aboard a boat called “Free Will” (an inside joke since actor William R. Moses had asked to leave the series). At the end of that season, the scheming Melissa kidnapped Maggie’s newborn baby. Hotly pursued by Chase, Maggie and Richard, Melissa’s car crashed into the water at San Francisco Bay. Chase jumped in to save the baby and out of the goodness of his heart, went back down for Melissa. Melissa survived but Chase did not (in accordance with Robert Foxworth’s decision to leave the series). Melissa herself died in a house fire shortly into the 1988-1989 season whilst the first episode of the 1989-1990 season saw Maggie killed in a freak accident, drowning in the Falcon Crest pool after her wedding ring was caught in a drain (despite of Susan Sullivan's firing from the series). After Maggie's death, she was replaced with two new actors, Gregory Harrison as Michael Sharpe, and Wendy Phillips as Lauren Daniels, whose characters were both disfavored from the audience.
Some intriguing plot developments did occur late in the series, such as the long love affair between Richard and Maggie, and the shock revelation that Angela and Richard, bitter enemies for many years, were in fact mother and son. However, with the departures of many of the core cast, the series began to lose its former sparkle and the ratings dropped accordingly, coupled with a smaller fanbase for the night-time soap genre as a whole.
Fans took particular umbrage to the fact that major changes took place in the 1988-89 season, starting with the firing of Ana Alicia in favor of introducing Kristian Alfonso as Pilar Ortega, a much less popular character with viewers. Ratings plumetted to such an adverse degree due to Alfonso's hiring that Ana Alicia was soon brought back to the show as another character—but the damage was already done.
The last straw for many viewers came when Angela, who had been the pivotal character since day one, lay unconscious in a coma for most of the 1989-1990 season. This was not due to any contract negotiations as is widely believed, but due to actress Jane Wyman's ongoing health problems. The series shifted to a darker tone as the season dealt with the powerplays between various parties during Angela’s absence from the valley, introducing a number of new characters who failed to strike a chord with the audience. CBS executives made the decision to end Falcon Crest at the end of the season, and Jane Wyman defied doctors’ orders to return to the show for the last three episodes.
After many traumatic events over the course of nine seasons of the wine country soap (plane crashes, explosions, murders, drownings), Falcon Crest ends happily with a wedding taking place in the grounds of the mansion. Taking a walk outside, Angela delivers a speech — allegedly written by Wyman herself — that brings the series to a conclusion, mentioning past characters and events but looking forward to the future. Raising a glass of champagne, Angela ends the series with "a toast to you, Falcon Crest, and long may you live."
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Starring Cast
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Angela Gioberti-Channing - Jane Wyman.
The tough, tyrannical self-styled queen of Tuscany Valley and head of Falcon Crest Wines, Angela ruthlessly combats her enemies, determined to preserve what she sees as her birthright.
Chase Gioberti - Robert Foxworth.
Former airline pilot and Vietnam veteran, Chase moves back to Tuscany Valley from New York, having inherited Falcon Crest from his father Jason after his death. Chase determines to make a go of running the vineyards, which brings him into conflict with his aunt Angela. (Seasons 1-6)
Maggie Gioberti/Channing - Susan Sullivan.
Chase's wife was a freelance writer, who agrees with her husband's wish to build a new life for the family in Tuscany Valley. A warm-hearted but resilient woman, Maggie becomes the sympathetic heroine of the series. (Seasons 1-9)
Richard Channing - David Selby.
Shady businessman and the son of Angela's husband Douglas, Richard arrives in Tuscany Valley having inherited his father's shares in the newspaper, the San Francisco Globe and proves to be a formidable adversary of both Angela and Chase. (Seasons 2-9)
Lance Cumson - Lorenzo Lamas.
Angela's playboy grandson, whom she often uses as a henchman in her schemes. A fervent ladies' man, Lance is as amoral as he is handsome. Angela even pressured him of marrying Melissa Agretti so that he could have only the money and the power that grandmother Angela ever had. Once divorced, remarried and widowed, Lance remarried Pilar Ortega, the foreman's daughter.
Melissa Agretti/Cumson/Gioberti - Ana Alicia.
Feisty young heiress of her father's vineyard, Angela plots to have Melissa marry Lance as a scheme to bring the Agretti vineyards under her control, only to find that Melissa herself is an unscrupulous scheming young woman. (Seasons 1-8)
Cole Gioberti - William R. Moses.
Chase and Maggie's son, who supports his father in his new venture running the vineyards (Seasons 1-7)
Emma Channing - Margaret Ladd.
Angela's emotionally fragile younger daughter
Chao-Li - Chao-Li Chi.
Angela's faithful Chinese manservant
Vickie Gioberti/Hogan/Stavros - Jamie Rose (Seasons 1-3), Dana Sparks (Seasons 6-8) Chase and Maggie's daughter.
Julia Cumson - Abby Dalton.
Angela's eldest daughter and the mother of Lance, Julia works as a wine-maker at Falcon Crest. (Seasons 1-6)
Philip Erickson - Mel Ferrer.
Angela's crooked lawyer. (Seasons 1-3)
Terry Hartford/Ranson/Channing - Laura Johnson.
Maggie Gioberti's younger sister. A former call girl who creates scandal in Tuscany Valley with her attempts to move up the society ladder. (Seasons 3-5)
Pamela Lynch - Sarah Douglas (Seasons 3-4), Martine Beswick (Season 5).
Personal assistant to Richard Channing
Greg Reardon - Simon MacCorkindale.
Smooth British lawyer who works for Angela. (Seasons 4-5)
Gustav Riebmann - Paul Freeman.
Head of a sinister neo-Nazi cartel who raises hell in Tuscany Valley (Season 4)
Father Christopher Rossini - Ken Olin.
Priest and illegitimate son of Julia Cumson (Season 5)
Peter Stavros - Cesar Romero.
Billionaire Greek industrialist who becomes romantically involved with Angela (Seasons 5-8)
Eric Stavros - John Callahan.
Peter Stavros' son, who marries Vickie Gioberti (Seasons 5-7)
Dan Fixx - Brett Cullen.
Long-lost relative of the Channings (Seasons 6-7)
Frank Agretti - Rod Taylor.
Melissa's uncle and love interest for Angela. (Seasons 7-9)
Nick Agretti - David Beecroft.
Melissa's cousin and Frank's son (Season 8)
Pilar Ortega/Cumson - Kristian Alfonso.
Possibly the most reviled and unpopular character in the history of Falcon Crest. Former teenage sweetheart of Lance Cumson. Her Hispanic family works at the vineyards. (Seasons 8-9)
Lauren Daniels - Wendy Phillips.
Love interest for Richard Channing. (Season 9)
Michael Sharpe - Gregory Harrison.
Ruthless businessman who becomes an opponent of Richard Channing (Season 9)
Genele Ericson - Andrea Thompson.
Frank Agretti's murderous sister-in-law (Season 9)
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Special guest stars
Jacqueline Perrault - Lana Turner.
Chase's flamboyant mother and an enemy of Angela's (Seasons 1-2)
Dr. Michael Ranson - Cliff Robertson.
Chase's cousin who causes a stir when he marries Terry Hartford (Season 3)
Francesca Gioberti - Gina Lollobrigida.
Angela's Italian cousin who visits Tuscany Valley (Season 4)
Anna Rossini - Celeste Holm.
A widow with a score to settle with Angela (Seasons 4-5)
Jordan Roberts - Morgan Fairchild.
A glamorous attorney who works for Richard Channing (Season 5)
Kit Marlowe - Kim Novak.
A shady lady who causes mayhem when she arrives in Tuscany Valley, posing as Skylar Kimball, Peter Stavros' daughter (Season 6)
Roland Saunders - Robert Stack.
Criminal out to kill Kit Marlowe (Season 6)
Vince Karlotti - Marjoe Gortner.
Psychic medium who has Emma Channing under his spell (Season 6)
Nicole Sauget - Leslie Caron.
Wealthy woman and old friend of Chase's (Season 7)
Liz McDowell - Lauren Hutton.
Businesswoman who has dealings with Richard Channing.(Season 7)
Carlton Travis - Eddie Albert.
Villain whose business with Richard Channing turns deadly (Season 7)
Madame Malec - Ursula Andress.
Exotic woman whom Richard Channing deals with in his efforts to rescue Vickie Stavros from a white slave ring (Season 7)
Lillian Nash - Eve Arden (Season 7)
Samantha Ross - Ana Alicia.
Exact doppelganger for Melissa Gioberti who becomes involved in the schemes of both Angela and Richard (Season 8)
Anne Bowen - Susan Blakely.
Danny Sharpe's mother, and an old flame of both Richard Channing and Michael Sharpe (Season 9)
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Other Recurring Cast
Gus Nunouz - Nick Ramus.
Foreman at vineyard and a friend to Chase (Season 1)
Douglas Channing - Stephen Elliott.
Angela's ex-husband and father of Richard, Julia and Emma (Season 1)
Tony Cumson - John Saxon (Seasons 1, 6-7), Robert Loggia (Season 2).
Julia's ex-husband and Lance's father
Father Bob - Bob Curtis.
Catholic priest involved with several major characters throughout the series
Carlo Agretti - Carlos Romero.
Melissa's wealthy, vineyard-owning father (Seasons 1-3)
Mario Nunouz - Mario Marcelino.
Gus Nunouz's son, romantically involved with Vickie Gioberti (Seasons 1-2)
Alicia Nunouz - Silvana Gallardo.
Wife of Gus Nunouz, and mother of Mario (Seasons 1-2)
Nick Hogan - Roy Thinnes.
Man who marries Vickie Gioberti.(Season 2-3)
Diana Hunter - Shannon Tweed.
Personal assistant to Richard Channing who is secretly involved in the mysterious Cartel organisation (Season 2)
Darryl Clayton - Bradford Dillman.
Film producer who works with Maggie Gioberti on a script as part of a plot by Angela (Season 2)
Katherine Demery - Joanna Cassidy.
Woman who becomes romantically involved with Cole Gioberti (Season 2)
Sheila Hogan - Katherine Justice.
Ex-wife of Nick Hogan (Seasons 2-3)
Linda Caproni/Gioberti - Mary Kate McGeehan.
Young woman who marries Cole Gioberti (Seasons 2-4)
Vince Caproni - Harry Basch.
Linda's father (Seasons 2-4)
Joel McCarthy - Parker Stevenson.
Terry Hartford's unsavoury ex-husband (Season 4)
Lorraine Prescott - Kate Vernon.
Stepdaughter of Richard Channing and love interest for Lance (Season 4)
Cassandra Wilder - Anne Archer.
Cool businesswoman who makes her presence felt at Falcon Crest. Daughter of Anna Rossini (Seasons 4-5)
Charlotte Pershing - Jane Greer.
Maggie's mother (Season 4)
Connie Giannini - Carla Borelli.
Woman with whom Chase Gioberti has a brief affair (Seasons 4-5)
Damon Ross - Jonathan Frakes.
Brother of Cassandra Wilder, and son of Anna Rossini (Seasons 4-5)
Robin Agretti - Barbara Howard.
Young woman employed by Cole and Melissa as part of a surrogate pregnancy arrangement (Seasons 4-5)
Apollonia - Apollonia Kotero.
Budding pop star and love interest for Lance (Season 5)
Dwayne Cooley - Daniel Greene.
Dashing truck driver who falls for Emma Channing (Season 5)
Jeff Wainwright - Edward Albert.
Press agent for a book written by Maggie Gioberti, whose interest in Maggie takes on a disturbing edge (Seasons 5-6)
Li-Ying Chi - Rosalind Chao.
Chao-Li's daughter (Season 5)
Erin Jones - Jill Jacobson.
Mysterious woman who works for Richard Channing (Seasons 5-6)
Meredith Braxton - Jane Badler.
Erin Jones' sister (Season 6)
Guy Stafford - Jeff Kober.
Heavy involved with Kit Marlowe (Season 6)
Francine Hope - Melba Moore.
Woman who tries to help Maggie Gioberti trace her baby (Season 6)
Gabrielle Short - Cindy Morgan.
Love interest for Chase (Seasons 6-7)
Dina Wells - Robin Greer.
Love interest for Lance (Seasons 6-7)
Garth - Carl Held.
Personal assistant to Richard (Seasons 6-8)
John Remick - Ed Marinaro.
Vietnam veteran and an old friend of Chase's (Season 7)
Carly Fixx - Mariska Hargitay.
Dan Fixx's sister (Seasons 7-8)
Ben Agretti - Brandon Douglas.
Son of Nick Agretti and Anna Cellini (Season 8)
Cesar Ortega - Castulo Guerra.
Pilar Ortega's father who works on the vineyards (Season 8)
Tommy Ortega - Dan Ferro.
Pilar Ortega's brother (Season 8)
Gabriel Ortega - Danny Nucci.
Pilar Ortega's younger brother (Season 8)
Anna Cellini - Assumpta Serna.
Love interest of Nick Agretti (Season 8)
Charley St. James - Mark Lindsay Chapman.
Sleazy villain who manipulates his way into Emma's affections and tries to kill Angela to gain control of Falcon Crest (Season 9)
Ian St. James - David Hunt.
Charley St. James' equally villainous brother (Season 9)
Sydney St. James - Carla Gugino.
Young wife of Ian St. James (Season 9)
Danny Sharpe - David Sheinkopf.
Headstrong young man who believes that Michael Sharpe is his father (Season 9)
Walker Daniels - Robert Ginty.
Lauren Daniels' husband (Season 9)
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Trivia
At first, Falcon Crest was originally supposed to be a family dramatic series. By its first season, it was considered to be a serial, but thanks to good scripts and ratings, beginning with the second season, CBS suggested to creator Earl Hamner to make these storylines more serialized, self-contained and abandoned to become yet another prime-time soap opera, next to Dallas, and its spin-off series, Knots Landing, and Dynasty.
The show had stirring, heraldic theme music composed by Bill Conti, who had also composed the theme to Dynasty.
On the second episode of the ninth and final season, Susan Sullivan left the series due to the problems she was suffering (although some rumours widely believed that her character, Maggie was repeating herself). She in turn was also fired from the series, as well. Prior to her departure, two new actors were replaced by Gregory Harrison and Wendy Phillips, neither one of these characters matched the popularity of Sullivan's, in the early years.
When David Selby came to Falcon Crest during the second season, he told Earl Hamner that he wanted to create the character's name of: Richard Denault Channing, who was the former staff member of Lorimar named: Edward O. Denault, in real-life.
An unaired pilot for the series was filmed entitled The Vintage Years. There are a number of significant differences between the pilot and the series as eventually aired. The character of Richard Channing is present in the pilot, but was not introduced in the series until the second season, albeit a very different character to the one seen in the pilot. Abby Dalton's character, Julia, is called Dorcas in the pilot, Jane Wyman sports an unflattering grey wig as Angela, while Chase and Maggie are played in the pilot by Clu Gulager and Samantha Eggar respectively.
At the beginning of the ninth and final season in 1989-90, there were rumours circulating about actress Jane Wyman's health as she was hospitalized with liver ailment and diabetes early that year, as the producers had written her out for most of the final season. At one point, the writers were going to put Wyman's character in Greece where she would visit her ex-husband (played by Cesar Romero). However, it was impossible for her to appear on the show, due to her impending leave of absence, so at the very last minute, the writers and producers of Falcon Crest put her in a coma in the hospital, after almost being killed, on the third episode of Season 9. In real-life, while the new season began, co-star (Lorenzo Lamas) paid a visit to see the ailing actress at the hospital to offer her words of wisdom. In The Return (episode 9-20), Lance and Pilar went to visit Mrs. Channing at the hospital, but she had already disappeared from the hospital room to return home (because filming these hospital scenes with Wyman was difficult due to her frail health).
Lorenzo Lamas was the only actor to appear in all 227 episodes of the series.
Jane Wyman was the runner-up in terms of a number of episodes an actor appeared in. She appeared in almost every episode from 1981-1989; she missed 3 episodes prior to the final season because of health problems. She missed 16 episodes in the ninth and final season (also due to health problems), before she came back (against her doctor's advice) to appear in the final three shows, for a total of 208 of the 227 episodes. Also in real-life, she wrote the soliloquy for the series finale.
Emma Channing's usual greeting whenever she saw her mother Angela was "How's tricks?"
At times, the backstage feuding was more interesting than anything on screen. Jane Wyman had a running feud with Robert Foxworth, to the point where they measured each other's dressing room trailers just to make sure they were equal in size. When Foxworth became a director for the show, Wyman demanded CBS add a clause to her contract making her a director. Although she never directed an episode, Wyman was pleased that she had the same designation as Foxworth. Wyman had had a long-running feud with fellow movie star Lana Turner which dated back to their Hollywood years. The two legendary actresses quickly refused to speak to each other and the producers had to film their confrontational scenes separately and then splice them together. Turner was written out of the show soon after. A few years after she appeared on the program, Turner noted that she believed Wyman was negative in demeanor due to the fact that her ex-husband, Ronald Reagan, was elected president during the 1980s, something that Turner believed Wyman could not reconcile within herself. Mel Ferrer, Celeste Holm and Simon MacCorkindale also stated that Wyman drove them off the show.
On the first season of Falcon Crest, Lorenzo Lamas's Valentino look is caused by his nearsightedness, insisting that his acting coach Jane Wyman made him wore contact lenses to solve the problem.
Between the first and seventh seasons, the Channing Family resided in the Falcon Crests, Victorian Mansion, that was built by Angela Channing's grandfather, Joseph "Giuseppe" Gioberti. In real-life, it is known as Spring Mountain Vineyards, a winery and tourist attraction in Napa Valley, California.
In Home Again, neither Margaret Ladd nor Rod Taylor came back for the series finale, because of budget restrictions. In this episode, Angela told her family that she received a letter from her daughter, Emma with a new baby named: Angela, making Emma's mother a great-great grandmother, and she received a phone call from her ex-husband, Frank, stating that he would be released from jail.
For the final season, the theme song, composed by Bill Conti, was redone by renowned composer and multi-instrumentalist Patrick O'Hearn, who had previously played bass with Frank Zappa, was a part of the 80's band Missing Persons, and has released numerous, highly acclaimed solo albums in the New Age/Electronic music genre. O'Hearn also composed and performed the score for these episodes .
The series reunited two minor co-stars from the smash hit 1978 movie comedy: Grease. Those stars being Eve Arden, who joined the cast as of season 7, and Lorenzo Lamas from the show's season 1.
During the 1988-89 season, creator Earl Hamner was originally going to have Jane Wyman to cross-over Dallas, and Larry Hagman to cross-over Falcon Crest, to guest-star on each other's show and on an episode where Angela would've confronted J.R. Ewing. They would also be stunned by the fact that both Jock & Angela had a son who was legally adopted. Despite of Wyman's health, Hamner plans of putting that material have been abandoned.
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Availability
Falcon Crest is not yet available on DVD. However, the rights to the series are held by Warner Bros. (successor-in-interest to original production company Lorimar). WB has now made selected episodes of the series available for viewing on AOL's free-on-demand Internet service in2tv.
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See also
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