Falcon Crest
| Falcon Crest | |
|---|---|
Main title card (season 8)
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| Genre | Soap opera |
| Created by | Earl Hamner, Jr. |
| Starring |
Jane Wyman Robert Foxworth Susan Sullivan Lorenzo Lamas David Selby Abby Dalton Margaret Ladd William R. Moses Ana Alicia Chao-Li Chi |
| Theme music composer | Bill Conti |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 227 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Earl Hamner Michael Filerman Joanne Brough Jeff Freilich Camille Marchetta Jerry Thorpe |
| Producer(s) | Malcolm R. Harding Barry Steinberg Robert McCullough John F. Perry Phil Parslow |
| Running time | approx. 50 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Amanda & MF Productions Lorimar Productions (1981-1986) Lorimar-Telepictures (1986-1988) Lorimar Television (1988-90). |
| Distributor |
Lorimar-Telepictures (1986-1989) Warner Bros. Television (1989-Present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | December 4, 1981 – May 17, 1990 |
Falcon Crest is an American prime time television soap opera that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. The series revolved around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the Californian wine industry. Jane Wyman starred as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon Crest Winery, alongside Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela's nephew who returns after the death of his father. The series was set in the fictitious Tuscany Valley (modeled after the Napa Valley) northeast of San Francisco.
The show was created by Earl Hamner, Jr., who had previously created The Waltons, which had just finished its final season in 1981. Hamner wanted to create a family drama involving the wine industry entitled The Vintage Years. An unaired pilot episode was produced, but CBS requested that Hamner make the show more along the lines of Dallas, which was the network's biggest hit at that time. The script was rewritten and several cast members changed for what became Falcon Crest. The series first aired in December 1981, when CBS scheduled Falcon Crest at 10 pm on Friday nights, right after Dallas. The Dallas-Falcon Crest one-two punch proved lucrative for the network and Falcon Crest was a top-20 show in the Nielsen Ratings for several years. Both shows (like The Waltons) were produced for CBS by the same company, Lorimar Productions.
At the center of the action is Angela Channing (Jane Wyman), a corrupt, tyrannical matriarch who rules the Falcon Crest vineyards with an iron fist. When her brother Jason Gioberti (Harry Townes) dies from a fall in the winery, his son Chase Gioberti (Robert Foxworth) arrives to claim his inherited portion of Falcon Crest. The rivalry between Angela and Chase — whom Angela sees as an interloper — sets the tone for much of the series.
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Wikipedia