Falcon Crest – The Complete First Season (1981 – 1982/Warner Bros. DVD Set)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: B-
In an
attempt to compete with Dynasty, it
may have been too late to upgrade Dallas, but
the same producers at Lorimar decided to launch a similar nighttime soap opera
and even consulted Earl Hamner, Jr. (The
Waltons) to create what became Falcon
Crest. The result was a hit that
lasted a long nine seasons and Warner Bros. has finally issued The Complete First Season on DVD.
The show
centered on the wine-producing Channing Family headed by the not-so-nice Angela
Channing (Jane Wyman, the former Mrs. Ronald Reagan in an interesting irony of
the show) living in the title locale and how she tries to hold her dynasty
together in this endless melodrama that was not bad in the beginning, but soon
became the victim of the weekly TV grind.
At least Lorimar was putting the money into the show.
The cats
was also a plus, including Susan Sullivan, Margaret Ladd, Robert Foxworth,
William R. Moses (of The Paper Chase,
reviewed elsewhere on this site), Abby Dalton and Lorenzo Lamas subdued and
actually trying to give an acting performance before he threw such efforts out
the window. The twists and turns in the
first 20 episodes of what is practically a mid-season replacement series are
interesting and offer some amusing moments, but it becomes contrived by the
last show and found itself playing the late night outrageous storyline
card. Oh well.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot on full color film but these are older analog masters that
do not do justice to the original look of the show or its good cinematography,
while the Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono is also as dated and could sound much better
than it does. There are no extras, but
maybe next time?
- Nicholas Sheffo
