Ben
Jane Asher
Posts: 169 
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Post by Ben on Nov 26, 2006 21:04:07 GMT
Just remembering all the big glamour soaps of the 1980's - and these two are really the most overlooked of the bunch.
Falcon Crest was huge in the States (on straight after Dallas) but didn't fare so well over here, being shown in an ITV afternoon slot. Substituting oil with wine, the show dealt with two feuding, grape-squishing families in California and wasn't shy about serving up the usual OTT antics - murders, plane crashes, gangsters, earthquakes etc. Although she missed out on the White House when her marriage to Ronnie ended, "Old Hollywood" royalty Jane Wyman was the first lady of Falcon Crest, delivering a particularly droll performance as the wine valley's mean-spirited matriarch Angela Channing (a sort of malevolent Miss. Ellie) and a rather neat running joke - with her perm and sharp, tailored suits, she looked and sounded almost exactly like Nancy Reagan. Falcon was actually the perfect halfway house between rivals Dallas and Dynasty, being more glamorous than the former but not (quite) as camp as the latter. The show also boasted a great theme tune by Bill Conti and my favourite ever 80's soap character name - Chase Gioberti.
There was also Flamingo Road which bombed in the ratings and was axed after two seasons. It had a late night slot on BBC1. This time the intrigues took place in a wealthy Florida town with later storylines incorporating occult action and voodoo (a la Live And Let Die). Plenty of memorably stupid character names too - Lane, Field, Eudora, Titus, Skipper, Elmo and Lute-Mae.
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Post by QuincyMD on Nov 28, 2006 13:14:09 GMT
The only things I can remember about Flamingo Road are the opening credits and Morgan Fairchild.
Falcon Crest used to prime time on STV but afternoons in Grampian which meant I could spoil it for my auntie.
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Post by jetsetwilly on Nov 28, 2006 18:27:57 GMT
Falcon Crest used to prime time on STV but afternoons in Grampian which meant I could spoil it for my auntie. I love this. I have visions of you running round to her house and shouting shoulder pad antics through her letterbox. |
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Ben
Jane Asher
Posts: 169
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Post by Ben on Nov 28, 2006 20:20:32 GMT
The only things I can remember about Flamingo Road are the opening credits and Morgan Fairchild. Ah yes, Morgan Fairchild - the patron saint of 1980's Big-Haired Blondes... Morgan was also the original and best Jenna Wade in Dallas and played a schizophrenic lawyer/hooker called Jordan in Falcon Crest. |
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Post by Adrian on Nov 29, 2006 16:17:06 GMT
One enduring image from my childhood is the chandelier shaking during the earthquake in Falcon Crest.
A
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Ben
Jane Asher
Posts: 169
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Post by Ben on Nov 29, 2006 20:07:26 GMT
Oh yes, and all the characters get drenched in Cabernet Sauvignon when the barrels in the winery all burst.
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Post by latoyajunkie on Feb 6, 2007 13:45:58 GMT
Falcon Crest is fantastic, and so is Morgan Fairchild!
I liked it when Angela always got annoyed over the press she and her family got in the New Globe! And of course when Julia went mad, and Vicki returned and got sold into white slavery.
It was great when Maggie tried to have a career too. First she was sexually harassed when she became a script writer, then she suffered amnesia when she became an author and when she had her own newspaper it got firebombed, only for her to die at the bottom of a swimming pool because her engagment ring got stuck! Didn't Pamela, Richard's assistant try to blow her up too, oh and not forgetting the rape saga, her becoming a widow or her tragic brain tumour! Poor Maggie!!!
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Ben
Jane Asher
Posts: 169
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Post by Ben on Mar 16, 2007 13:14:19 GMT
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Post by latoyajunkie on Mar 19, 2007 14:33:10 GMT
LOL! I'll believe it when I see it. Warner Bros are removing videos of it from YouTube though so maybe they're planning on making money out of it sometime soon.
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Ben
Jane Asher
Posts: 169
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Post by Ben on Jun 10, 2007 12:30:52 GMT
LOL! I'll believe it when I see it. Warner Bros are removing videos of it from YouTube though so maybe they're planning on making money out of it sometime soon. Not much chance of seeing Falcon or Flamingo on DVD. Apparently Knots Landing bombed pretty badly sales wise, so Warners aren't very interested in releasing the soaps. Although by all accounts Dallas is really popular on DVD. |
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Ben
Jane Asher
Posts: 169
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Post by Ben on Jun 10, 2007 12:32:01 GMT
It was great when Maggie tried to have a career too. First she was sexually harassed when she became a script writer, then she suffered amnesia when she became an author and when she had her own newspaper it got firebombed, only for her to die at the bottom of a swimming pool because her engagment ring got stuck! Didn't Pamela, Richard's assistant try to blow her up too, oh and not forgetting the rape saga, her becoming a widow or her tragic brain tumour! Poor Maggie!!! Maggie was great, a much better sympathetic character than Dynasty's Krystle Carrington. |
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Post by QuincyMD on Jun 11, 2007 13:50:56 GMT
Not much chance of seeing Falcon or Flamingo on DVD. Apparently Knots Landing bombed pretty badly sales wise, so Warners aren't very interested in releasing the soaps. Although by all accounts Dallas is really popular on DVD. But Season1 of KL is not real KL, it's some bizarre American version of Bergerac (or any other show where there is no mention of the previous weeks adventures) but I did really like the ghost episode when I was wee but the JR episode is rubbish. |
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Post by latoyajunkie on Jun 12, 2007 15:29:56 GMT
It seems that a lot of the first series' of these shows are just warm ups to the shows we all know and love and the inevitable failure of these duff seasons to do well on DVD is affecting the chances of shows like Falcon Crest which were brilliant from the outset getting released. Obviously if Dynasty does crap, there's no way that there would be an audience for Falcon Crest. But it seems like the people that put these DVD's out have no knowledge of what they are selling and it's such a shame. It's no surprise that nobody wanted Dynasty without Joan Collins! I just hope season 2 does really well and they start putting out other shows.
Another great 80's prime time soap opear to get hold of is 'Paper Dolls', it can be got very cheaply and it rocks. It's about a modelling agency run by Morgan Fairchild (Flamingo Road/Falcon Crest) and the two young models on her books played by Nicollette Sheridan and Terry Farrell. It's super trashy and has loads of 80's music and fashion shoots!
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Post by David Hunter on Sept 11, 2007 9:54:51 GMT
Poor Jane Wyman died yesterday aged 93 but it hasn't been mentioned because of Anita Roddick. She of course, played Angela Channing, head of Falcon Crest.
In real life she had been the first wife of Ronald Reagan but by the time he became President, would walk out of an interview if his name was brought up!
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Post by latoyajunkie on Sept 19, 2007 8:08:08 GMT
Very sad, without her there was no Falcon Crest as anyone who has seen the final season can confirm.
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Ben
Jane Asher
Posts: 169
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Post by Ben on Sept 20, 2007 18:28:52 GMT
R.I.P. Jane.
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Post by Merce on Oct 9, 2007 18:11:32 GMT
I had a huge crush on Lorenzo Lamas in this. I'm not quite sure what else I can say about that...
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