Biggest Drop in Quality

[ClassyCo]

But if Pia played both roles.......

Oh, I was making a funny. I don't like Appolonia on the show. I honestly could've done without that storyline entirely.

 

[Le Tits Now]

I honestly could've done without that storyline entirely.

It was so clearly an attempt to get younger viewers who liked Prince but she was not a great actress and really had zero chemistry with Lance.

 

[ClassyCo]

It was so clearly an attempt to get younger viewers who liked Prince but she was not a great actress and really had zero chemistry with Lance.

Yeah, it was one of those "stunt" things the show did. Season 5 took a sizable drop in the ratings in comparison to Season 4, which was still in the Top 10.

Pia Zadora

I've never seen Pia Zadora in anything other than her brief cameo in the original HAIRSPRAY (1988).

But, serious question, doesn't she have a reputation for being a bad actress?

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

But, serious question, doesn't she have a reputation for being a bad actress?

She's no Meryl Streep but I think she has or had a reputation for being in bad movies.

Her life, as I read it on wiki, is more interesting than the Harold Robbins character she played in the The Lonely Lady (a so-bad-it's-good cult film).
If anyone deserves a biopic it's Pia Zadora.
Her duet with Jermaine Jackson "When The Rain Begins To Fall" was one of my most-played songs in the 1980s.

 

[Le Tits Now]

Her life, as I read it on wiki, is more interesting than the Harold Robbins character she played in the The Lonely Lady (a so-bad-it's-good cult film).
If anyone deserves a biopic it's Pia Zadora.

But does her real life have a garden hose?

 

[juschill]

Season 9 is my vote. 81st in the Nielsens, hello. Things did slide earlier but the show was below par, in the ninth.

Season 9 is my vote. It declined episode by episode through the entire season. The bleeding stopped once the Brits left but the permanent brand damage had been done.

As much as it pains me to say I voted for season 7. It wasn't a patch on heyday FC, yet I enjoyed this 'bells and whistles' season more than 8 and 9 put together.

The cast from the 'bells and whistles' season.


The Gioberti castle is about to vanish; into FALCON CREST history, after a bomb goes off with Angela, Richard, Maggie, the two boys and the maid inside. Richard does what he never thought he would have to do; save Angela, (a scene from season 7, 1987 - '88):

Angela to Richard, as he picks her up out of the rubble: "Oh Lord! I've died and gone to hell."

Richard speaks to a paramedic: "She's fine!"

Richard then goes outside to Maggie and Fred Wilkinson (D.A.).

Richard: "What are you doing here Wilkinson?"

Fred: "Well it is not every day a house blows up in my valley. This is the second time for you Channing. You think it might be blamed on your explosive reputation."

Richard: "Why don't you save your comedy routine for the gas inspector. He's inside."

Fred: "Looking for what, gas leaks? He won't find any. When a house blows up with both Angela and Richard Channing inside it can't be blamed on excess gas."

Maggie: "Mr. Wilkinson my house is in pieces. I'm not in the mood for jokes."

The alleged gas inspector joins them, after finishing his inspection.

Fred: "Here. Here. I'm Wilkinson from the D.A.'s office. What did you find? Any evidence of anything?"

Alleged gas inspector: "Gas leak. No question. This pipe is part of the main line."

Fred: "I'll hang onto that. If you don't mind."

The alleged gas inspector provides his report of the explosion.

Richard glances at Fred: "There goes that Dick Tracy merit badge."

I am probably the biggest defender of Season 8 and one of the reasons is it had the greatest improvement over the prior season throughout the show’s running. Season 7 was that bad, just not the disaster that season 9 was.

Season 7 wasn't terrible and I agree that it was better than the following 2 seasons but it was when the rot started to set in, not least because....


...he wasn't an original cast member but a superb actor and a great addition to the show who made Angela even more interesting. It was a big loss when he was written out of the series.

Wrong, season 7 was not better than 8. Also David Selby and Ana Alicia were not originals either but they were two of the best.

 

[Angels Chanting]

Wrong, season 7 was not better than 8. Also David Selby and Ana Alicia were not originals either but they were two of the best.

There is no right or wrong, it's all just personal opinion and preferences and I think season 7 was better than season 8 (and season 9 for that matter).

 

[juschill]

There is no right or wrong, it's all just personal opinion and preferences and I think season 7 was better than season 8 (and season 9 for that matter).

There is for this one. The right opinion is that season 8 is better than season 7 and 9 is worse than a show filmed at a garbage dump, Gregory Harrison excepted.

 

[Popular Piggy Defying Gravity]

There is for this one. The right opinion is that season 8 is better than season 7 and 9 is worse than a show filmed at a garbage dump, Gregory Harrison excepted.

I wonder if Mr. Garrison (oops, Mr. Harrison I mean, shades of "South Park" you know...) has ever thought that he was partly responsible for the show´s cancellation (I totally hated his character from beginning to end), and if he´s moved on and erased it from his résumé à la Brad Pitt and "Dallas", or Ken Olin and "Falcon Crest"...

 

[TaranofPrydain]

9 was just so appallingly bad that nothing else can compare. The show felt like something entirely different, the loss of Maggie, Emma, and for most of the season, Angela were body blows, the new characters were poorly scripted (Wendy Phillips, a terrific actress was left stranded) and they even forgot about the winery for long sections of the season. It was cold, dank, and extremely sadistic. Honest, it is the worst season I can recall of any TV series I have seen.

 

[Oh!Carol Christmasson]

Say about Falcon Crest what you like, but this soap was never afraid of making big changes. Obviously that is not going to please everyone, but when I think of season 8 and how everything had run out of steam (understandably) I simply can't see it as drop in quality. Unless someone like David Paulsen had taken over, the series would never-ever return to the greatness of the first three seasons.
I think that some fans are hanging onto something that wasn't there anymore, and at the same time I think that feeling was perfectly justified during its fourth season when we only knew Falcon Crest as the great soap it was.