Falcon Crest: The Complete First Season

In real life, I live in "Tuscany Valley," or in reality, the hills above it. But it's really called Napa Valley, just in case you didn't know. Why did the writers and producers of "Falcon Crest" (FC) change the name to "Tuscany Valley"? And why did they change the name of "Queen of the Valley Hospital" to "Tuscany Hospital," or something along those lines? And why did they change the name of nearly everything else for the show? Well, more than likely, they didn't want to pay some royalty fees. Either that, or they couldn't get the rights to use the real name. Or perhaps those in the area in which I live simply read some scripts first, and decided to "pass" on giving their names freely. Just a guess.My wife and I are wine members at the winery in which this show was first filmed, a winery to remain unnamed, although if you do a few web searches, you should quickly find it. That's how we first found out about this show, 30 some-odd years after the fact. I did find out recently, though, after reading a page or two on the TV show's web site that the winery only let them film there for the first season; it had something to do with the crew scratching the beautiful wood floors which led to some kind of a fallout between the owner of the winery and the producers of this show. But we watched Season Two first, but only because, at that time, Season One wasn't available for streaming. But then we purchased Season One, watched every episode, and now it appears that it's no longer available for streaming again! This is nearly as confusing as "Falcon Crest" the series, and all of it's characters, relatives, and relationships!While I only gave Season Two a 3-star rating, I decided to go 4 with Season One. Why? Was Season One really any better than Season Two? Well, probably not, but now that I've learned the characters a bit, I've warmed up to it a bit. I still laugh at the ridiculous characters and the more-ridiculous dialog, but hey, I laughed while watching "Melrose Place" (MP) (the original, not the reboot) too, and I liked that show. It was very funny. Only real issue: MP didn't take itself seriously, while I believe that this show perhaps did.Well, going back and catching this season after watching the second, I started to understand some of the relationships, nonetheless. I pretty much know who is who now, who is sleeping with whom, etc. etc., and that helps, since even most of these characters don't seem to know who anybody is either. But now, I'm actually looking forward to buying Season Three, as I need to see what happens next. Or rather, what happened after I watched Season Two, which was a while ago. Maybe I'll have to go back and watch a couple of episodes from that season again, as a refresher?Why not pour yourself a glass of Cab, buy a season or two of "Falcon Crest," and drink and laugh yourself silly? It's all in good fun. Not that it should be taken too seriously, though. After all, after you hear some of the dialog, you'll realize that the writers maybe didn't take it all that seriously either.

Long before the days when every yuppie with a line of credit could open a "wine bar" in their downtown area, there was FALCON CREST--the most glamorous vineyard of all. Brilliantly cast, this classic melodrama features some of the finest performances of its genre with one of the classiest ensembles ever to grace television. Jane Wyman plays matriarch Angela Channing, and shows up her ex-husband by ruling the airwaves at the same time he was ruling the country. The great Robert Foxworth begins his long run as Chase Gioberti, Angela's disenfranchised nephew and the head of his own (soon to be doomed) clan. Susan Sullivan, one of tv's most prolific actresses (Dharma and Greg, Castle) plays his long-suffering wife Maggie. Like 80s hunks? Falcon Crest's got 'em. First we have the swoon-inducing Lorenzo Lamas as Lance Cumson, Angela's devious grandson and Billy Moses (now better known as William R. Moses) as teen heartthrob Cole Gioberti. Rounding out the first season cast was Abby Dalton as Julia Cumson, probably the sexiest chemist ever to be shown on television, Jamie Rose as pouty but sweet daughter Vickie Gioberti, Margaret Ladd as batty, bipolar Emma Channing, and the late-season arrival of Ana Alicia as Melissa--the love of Lance's life. The plot? It's a very simple set-up--Chase inherits 50 acres of prime vineyard from his late father--and Angela WANTS it. That's all you need to know. And she'll do anything she can to get it. As the Giobertis move to Falcon Crest and attempt to revive their father's lands, Angela and Lance stab them in the back at every turn. And the battle begins. And the scrambling for power, wealth and above all--grapes--continues on through the show's remaining eight seasons. Falcon Crest got off to a better start than its contemporaries--Dynasty and Dallas. Everything was in place from the first episode. It's just the icing on the cake in the upcoming season two that David Selby joins the cast and from then on--it's like a Who's Who of Hollywood making their marks at Falcon Crest. The best is yet to come. As for the dvd itself--it's a standard dvd case with 4 discs with a slip cover--very handsomely produced. Sound and picture quality are good for the series' age; there seems to have been no attempt to remaster this series, but it's still held up fairly well (at least as good as the Dallas dvds). I have yet to notice any missing scenes or music substitution. I would give this dvd set five stars--a class act all the way--just like the series itself. It's a shame Warners took so long to start this series on dvd, but now that it's here...it's well worth your time to add it to your collection!

II watched this series every week along with a few others and it was great and glad all shows are out on DVD.

I watched this series when it was on TV in the 1980s and loved it. It was wonderful to see the 1st season again. I just wish the next season was affordable.

I really loved the first episode of falcon crest , Jane Wyman was hilarious. I'm eager to watch the remaining episodes.

Excellent.

very nice