Vote for why you think it jumped
Death (Maggie)
Melissa leaves the show
Death (Chase)
Angela is in a coma
Appolonia arrives
Shark Bytes
Two words: Jeff Freilich. This talentless hack replaced creator Earl Hamner at the beginning of the sixth season. He bragged about never watching any of the previous episodes, destroyed the Giobertis, and brought in the awful Kim Novak. Fortunately, he was fired after two seasons because the ratings took a nosedive, but the damage was done. Freilich went on to the ultimate in prestige positions: producer of the syndicated "Freddy's Nightmares" series, as well as countless soft-core cable TV movies.
The sharks seemed to be toying with Falcon Crest for quite a while before eventually moving in for the kill! But it all started late in the series.
Some posters say the introduction of “flavor of the month” Apollonia rang the din-din bell for the sharks. I disagree. Sure, she sounded like she was reading off cue cards, but let’s not place too much power in her hands and give her the sole credit for bringing the series to its knees. She was nothing more than a flash in the pan. If anything, she brought something to the series that 80’s buffs should relish: she provided a true 80’s time reference with her extreme fashion statements. When you watch those Apollonia scenes, you are in no doubt that these were indeed the crazy 80’s!
The first sign of shark activity was the opening of season 6 when the tastefully melodic incidental music was switched with a jarring synthesizer score that would have been put to better use in B horror flicks. Not only was this choice of music a quality step downward, but at times it even drowned out dialogue, now giving the series the feel of a parody of soap operas rather than a soap itself, especially when the music became more dramatic than the scene it was accompanying!
Still, the series still had some promise and continued for a few more seasons yet. Having new writers come in towards the end (who quite obviously did not do their homework and knew nothing about the series they were taking over!!) definitely kicked off the sharks’ feeding frenzy. Starting interesting sub-plots only to abandon them again, neglecting to let the audience know the outcome of these, was just one of the fatal flaws that come to mind. I remember how disappointed I was seeing Angela lose all interest in blowing Kit Marlow/Skyler Kimball's cover after spying on her so intensely.
The ultimate was, of course, the end of the 8th season and the beginning of the 9th, where we said good-bye to several central characters in rather rapid succession, i.e. characters who had been the backbone of the series and a part of our lives for almost a decade, only to leave us scratching our heads over the unnecessary introduction of a slew of new characters who failed to endear themselves to us. And Jane Wyman’s absence during the 9th season could hardly go unnoticed. Several fans maintain that the series “as we knew it” was officially over by the end of the 8th season and do not even consider that final season (aka “The Pilar Ortega Show”) to be a part of Falcon Crest. I couldn’t agree more.
All things considered, I think they could have had Maggie drown at the end of the 8th season and wrapped things up there. How ridiculous was it letting Richard embark on another relationship (... and marriage!!) after all that romantic chemistry had been building between him and Maggie for so many years? A 9th season should never even have been considered.
Some posters say the introduction of “flavor of the month” Apollonia rang the din-din bell for the sharks. I disagree. Sure, she sounded like she was reading off cue cards, but let’s not place too much power in her hands and give her the sole credit for bringing the series to its knees. She was nothing more than a flash in the pan. If anything, she brought something to the series that 80’s buffs should relish: she provided a true 80’s time reference with her extreme fashion statements. When you watch those Apollonia scenes, you are in no doubt that these were indeed the crazy 80’s!
The first sign of shark activity was the opening of season 6 when the tastefully melodic incidental music was switched with a jarring synthesizer score that would have been put to better use in B horror flicks. Not only was this choice of music a quality step downward, but at times it even drowned out dialogue, now giving the series the feel of a parody of soap operas rather than a soap itself, especially when the music became more dramatic than the scene it was accompanying!
Still, the series still had some promise and continued for a few more seasons yet. Having new writers come in towards the end (who quite obviously did not do their homework and knew nothing about the series they were taking over!!) definitely kicked off the sharks’ feeding frenzy. Starting interesting sub-plots only to abandon them again, neglecting to let the audience know the outcome of these, was just one of the fatal flaws that come to mind. I remember how disappointed I was seeing Angela lose all interest in blowing Kit Marlow/Skyler Kimball's cover after spying on her so intensely.
The ultimate was, of course, the end of the 8th season and the beginning of the 9th, where we said good-bye to several central characters in rather rapid succession, i.e. characters who had been the backbone of the series and a part of our lives for almost a decade, only to leave us scratching our heads over the unnecessary introduction of a slew of new characters who failed to endear themselves to us. And Jane Wyman’s absence during the 9th season could hardly go unnoticed. Several fans maintain that the series “as we knew it” was officially over by the end of the 8th season and do not even consider that final season (aka “The Pilar Ortega Show”) to be a part of Falcon Crest. I couldn’t agree more.
All things considered, I think they could have had Maggie drown at the end of the 8th season and wrapped things up there. How ridiculous was it letting Richard embark on another relationship (... and marriage!!) after all that romantic chemistry had been building between him and Maggie for so many years? A 9th season should never even have been considered.
I posted here two years ago and am still wondering when FALCON CREST will be uncorked on DVD? Isn't it about time WB? I mean, Dallas is out, Knots Landing and Dynasty are out. Where is FALCON CREST already? It's time to pour a glass of history from The Tuscany Valley for all to pass around and toast one of the greatest prime-time soaps since Peyton Place and Dallas. With all the vintage programming coming to DVD these days, FALCON CREST deserves its just desserts! If nothing more, to offer it to the next generation of its original fans and to enjoy the dry droll humor of Jane Wyman's one-liners, Melissa's psychotic episodes, and of course Emma's bad luck with men. This show had it all; wine, beautiful women, and fast cars. But above all, FALCON CREST was a story about family and their inner-workings. There was once a funny line in STORMY WEATHER, an episode in the seventh season where everyone was trapped at Angela's while a powerful thunderstorm pounded Tuscany Valley. Emma's friend Curtis Estabrook asks Lance what it was like to grow up at FALCON CREST? Lance told him it was like any other family only everyone dressed appropriately for dinner. When Curtis asked if it was black-tie dress, Lance shook his head and said, "Shoulder holsters!" One of the many well-placed one-liners of nine years of creatively clever and entertaining writing. Remember, my opinion is FALCON CREST never really jumped the shark...it just had two not-so-average vintages in a blue-ribbon streak of good ones. FALCON CREST deserves its eternity on DVD. Hopefully the fans will one day get their wish. "A toast to you, FALCON CREST, and long may you live!" On DVD hopefully one day VERY, VERY soon!!!
I agree with the majority of the posters here - the 9th season was the ultimate feeding frenzy of the sharks.
Maggie's death pulled the plug on the series - and this was just the first episode of the 9th season. I can't believe they managed to produce any episodes after that. But (unfortunately) they did.
How the producers could have killed off so many characters so vital to the show (characters who had been there for the better part of a decade) only to dismiss them all and replace them with new cast members who were impossible to care about) is beyond me.
I would have had more respect for these changes if they would at least have given the 9th season a spinoff title rather than tap into the Falcon Crest realm that, regrettably, was no longer there.
I short, the 9th season doesn't offer the viewer anything worthwhile apart from Jane Wyman's farewell toast at the end which provided at least some reflection of the Falcon Crest of yesteryear. Which is more than any of the 9th season storylines did!
Maggie's death pulled the plug on the series - and this was just the first episode of the 9th season. I can't believe they managed to produce any episodes after that. But (unfortunately) they did.
How the producers could have killed off so many characters so vital to the show (characters who had been there for the better part of a decade) only to dismiss them all and replace them with new cast members who were impossible to care about) is beyond me.
I would have had more respect for these changes if they would at least have given the 9th season a spinoff title rather than tap into the Falcon Crest realm that, regrettably, was no longer there.
I short, the 9th season doesn't offer the viewer anything worthwhile apart from Jane Wyman's farewell toast at the end which provided at least some reflection of the Falcon Crest of yesteryear. Which is more than any of the 9th season storylines did!
FALCON CREST never really jumped the shark in my opinion...Warner Bros. has jumped the shark though for not releasing this series on DVD. While some of the storylines were far-fetcheddd, and when did the law pass that fiction should always make sense...that's what fiction means...to suspend reality in the hopes to entertain. FALCON CREST was very entertaining for me all the way through...and though the characters of Maggie, Chase, Melissa, Julia, Cole, Vickie, Frank, Terry, Dr. Ranson, and Emma were written off the show in lieu of newer characters, I enjoyed Michael Sharpe's sense of humor. Very, very funny at times. The only thing that took a while to rub off on me was the 9th season version of the main title theme. As for the mjusic, Mark Snow and Dana Kaproff wrote the best music on the show and with all 227 episodes in mint condition fron their original broadcasts on DHS and now DVD, I can enjoy my own DVD collection for years to come. FALCON CREST never jumped the shark, it just had a few bad vintages...not every winery puts out a first class product year after year, and it's nice to know that FALCON CREST was no exception
I loved this show and David Selby was great in this and Dark Shadows, although I was young when dark shadows came out, I enjoyed Falcon Crest big time!!!!!
When Richard was given a new love interest after Maggie died. That killed the show for me. But all the same I agree it was still one of the best TV shows of its time. Better than all the rest. I miss all the great music that you dont hear in today's soaps. Will it ever come out officially on DVD - we have waited long enough?????
falcon crest jumped when they made the
horrible mistake of letting parker
stevenson go. He was the best thing that season, quite a departure from
Frank Hardy. and bringing on morgan fairchild. boring.
horrible mistake of letting parker
stevenson go. He was the best thing that season, quite a departure from
Frank Hardy. and bringing on morgan fairchild. boring.
I was so happy when Chase died (he was so oldfashioned and horrible), but when Maggie drowned in the pool, Falcon Crest jumped the shark.
Falcon Crest was excellent until the last 2 seasons. I lost interest, first, when the house burns down, then second, when Melissa dies in season 8. Then season 9 started with the most horrible synthetic version of the theme song, and then new characters that had nothing to do with the show. Seaaon 9 doesn't even exhist in my mind!! You can still watch Falcon Crest online at AOL video although not all episodes are there.
Falcon Crest jumped in 1987, when Chase Gioberti apparently drowned in The San Francisco Bay, but the biggest jump I'd say would have to be the last season because pretty much everyone was gone and the only ones left were like Angela, Richard, Lance, Emma, and Chao Li, this season was worse after Maggie drowned in that pool, I hated that, and with Angela in a coma as the ratings were falling horribly, the only good thing about it was Angela's goodbye speech on The Final Episode as it was leaving CBS, and it also jumped when SOAPnet dropped it in late June 2003, I wish this Soap was on DVD.
"LONG MAY YOU LIVE..TO FALCON CREST" WITH THOSE REMARKABLE WORDS, THE UNEQUALED ACTRESS JANE WYMAN ENDED THE SHOW. IT SHOULD HAVE ENDED A YEAR EARLIER. WHEN THEY PUT THE STAR OF THE SHOW IN A COMA...BAD IDEA.HOWEVER, EVEN AT IT WORST(SEASON 9), IT WAS BETTER THAN ALL OTHER SHOWS PERIOD!!!I WISH IT WERE ON DVD OR AVAILABLE ONLINE TO DOWNLOAD. I MISS THE QUALITY WRITING OF CREATOR EARL HAMNER. TV ISN'T THE SAME WITHOUT IT AND NEVER WILL BE AGAIN. THAT AGE IS GONE WITH THE WIND!!!
Best prime time soap ever!Even at its worst made Dallas,Dynasty and all the less successful ripoffs look like Danielle Steel compared to Shakespeare.It just had the IT factor.Dallas was too "flat,gray,dull and hickish","Dynasty too trash noelish,shrill,pastell and goofy".Indeed,Falcon Crest was a great wine from a very good year!
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