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# 019 <2.01> The Challenge The pictures on the main title cards of JANE WYMAN, ROBERT FOXWORTH, LORENZO LAMAS (current version of the main title), BILLY R. MOSES and JAMIE ROSE are identical with the ones from season 1; see there for details.   The main title picture of the vineyard with supervising producer ROBERT L. McCULLOUGH's credit is stock footage. It comes from the main title of the predecessor, "The Vintage Years"; MICHAEL SWAN, ABBY DALTON and SAMANTHA EGGAR as well as producer MALCOLM R. HARDING were given credit in that particular segment there.Series time frame: Melissa's baby is expected to be born in ten weeks. 29 weeks must have gone by since # 014 when Melissa became pregnant. As # 015 depicted mid-February 1982, the current episode must depict approximately mid-July 1982. A few months must have gone by since the season 1 finale (compare # 015 and # 018 for the season 1 time frame). So Melissa's baby is due around the end of September or beginning of October 1982 (compare # 024).
LORIMAR's original blueprints of many sets are available for DFCF members in the Show – Production Office – Filming Locations – Movie Studios – Interior Sets section.
 Lance drives a red 1983 (!) Porsche 944 from now on.Product placement: It is a pre-presentation of this model. Many carmakers — including BMW in those days — make their new model year (named after the following year) available in the second half of the year, i.e. the earliest time to order a 1983 model was the summer or fall 1982. For the shootings in the Napa Valley, which began in July 1982, the manufacturer delivered a preview model. The 1983 model year can easily be concluded from the fact that the facelift of this vehicle included body color mirrors for the first time.
Chase tells his family they could swim in the pool at Falcon Crest due to the equal use of the facilities. Considering that # 053 will reveal Angela is the sole owner of the Victorian Mansion (including its facilities on that parcel of land, of course), this seems legally inaccurate. It is obviously just Chase's provocative interpretation of the terms of the partnership agreement with Angela he is trying to force on her this episode.
It is a French Louis XV style ormolu mounted kingwood bureau plat, most likely produced in Spain in the 1940's or 1950's, with spectacular fire-gilded bronze mounts and female masks on the corners with a hammered texture. The top is a tooled gilt black leather edged in cross banded veneers and framed in a very thick gilt bronze rim with shell corners. One side of the desk has three drawers, all dovetailed, the other side with three faux drawer fronts. The entire desk rests over bold cabriole legs that terminate in scrolled sabots. The measurements are 69.75" (width) x 38" (depth) x 31.125" (height) / 23.625" (height to underside of center drawer). The desk was not a unique copy, but one of a few made by the SORMANI company in France and Spain. Some of them are still available in auctions or antique stores. When LORIMAR was bought out by WARNER BROS., the desk used on "Falcon Crest" became an asset of their prop department. It is still owned by WARNER BROS. Further information about this desk is available in the Beyond the Show – Props – Set Dressing – Tables & Desks section.   Also new in Angela's study are her iconic office chair and two matching guest chairs. They are French Louis XVI style armchairs with gold painted, carved wood frames. They have fluted legs and open armrests. The upper line on the backrest of Angela's office chair is basically horizontal (photo 1) while the two guest chairs have slightly curved upper lines (photo 2). All three chairs were upholstered in cream colored fabric.In season 8, the refurnishing of the Victorian Mansion will lead to two new guest chairs in the study. From that time on, Angela will use one of the former guest chairs as her new office chair, re-upholstered in a more elaborate cream colored fabric with gold and blue stripes as well as yellow, pink and red ornaments (as pictured on photo 2; compare # 193). When LORIMAR was folded into WARNER BROS., these chairs became assets of their prop department. Angela's original desk chair from seasons 2 through 7 as well as one of the guest chairs are still owned by WARNER BROS. For LORIMAR's further use of Angela's office chair, check out the Beyond the Show – Props – Set Dressing – Seating section. The scene with Angela and Lance in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion study (screen grab above — left; next to the desk) was originally staged in the Falcon Crest Bottling Building right next to the bottling plant in early script drafts.
 The scene with Angela and Phillip in San Francisco is filmed at the corner of California and Sansome Street (camera facing west) in front of the JH Dollar Building.A Budget truck is visible on the opposite side of the street in the background; Budget is a real American car rental company.   Mistake: In the wide angle shot near the Nuñez home, Vickie's position is slightly different from the one in her subsequent close-up.This is a mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details. As at the beginning of season 1, the Nuñez home is portrayed by the Coach's Cottage at Stags' Leap Winery again. Mario drives a brown 1970 Pontiac Firebird now. The license plate number is 277 PNM.   The exterior shots of downtown Tuscany (Main Street), including the phone booth where Cole calls Falcon Crest, are filmed on Lincoln Avenue in Calistoga, CA. Scenes for # 021, 023, 025, 026 and 028 will also be shot there. Parts of these scenes will be reused as establishing clips in later episodes.  The white building in the background, which can be seen in almost every scene of Main Street over the entire season, is a business called The Photo Shop. In real life, it used to be the Calistoga National Bank and has housed different businesses since the series was filmed.
In real life, that part of the building has been used for different commercial purposes in the meantime.
  Nob Hill in San Francisco is the filming location for the scene with Angela and Phillip; two famous hotels, the Fairmont and the Mark Hopkins, can be seen in the background. Their names are not mentioned.  Taxi cabs belonging to real San Francisco companies at the time are visible on Nob Hill:The green 1971 Dodge Coronet with identification number 426 is from Pacific Cab; phone number: (415) 776-7755. The blue / beige 1974 Ford Gran Torino with identification number 436 is from the Model Cab company. Its license plate number is 2A93335.
 Mistake: In the scene on Nob Hill in San Francisco, Phillip's position is not consistent in the various camera angles. While he is standing at an angle across from Angela in the the long shot and his close-ups (screen grabs 1 and 3), he is suddenly standing straight across from Angela in her close-ups (screen capture 2); this is not an illusion caused by the camera angle as Angela's unchanged position in all frames (straight in front of the fence) proves.This is a mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
Inside joke: The name of DAVID SELBY's character, Richard Denault Channing, resembles the name of a LORIMAR staff member: RICHARD DENAULT, who worked as a production assistant and an assistant director for various shows of the production company, including "Dallas". Although he started working on "Falcon Crest" in 1982, he received credit only beginning from season 4. Original script drafts called for Richard to be 37 years old (born in 1945). However, the show never mentioned explicitly how old Richard was until # 157: 45 in 1987, making 1942 his year of birth. Also compare # 031.   Inside joke: The interior set of Richard's Whitewood Industries office was "brought over" along with DAVID SELBY from "Flamingo Road" to save production costs. In that series, the set portrayed Claude's (KEVIN McCARTHY) study in the Weldon mansion (compare the right screen capture from # 031 of "Flamingo Road") — with slightly different furniture.
The scene in Richard's cartel office with his dictation to Diana (a letter to the Globe editor-in-chief) was originally staged in his jetliner while flying to San Francisco. The producers made the change to avoid additional costs for another set.   The picture hanging above the fireplace mantle in Richard's Whitewood Industries office in New York City is the same prop that was already used in Angela's bedroom in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion in season 1 (screen capture 1 from # 005). Even the frame is still the same.
The dialogs about Angela's and Chase's shares in Falcon Crest (episode cliffhanger) are misleading. Chase's statement seems to suggest the Gioberti Estate (his 50 acres) be reunited with Angela's part (500 acres) and Falcon Crest then shared 50 : 50. This is apparently wrong. Later episodes make a distinction between the Gioberti Estate and Falcon Crest, e.g. Chase mentioning he would like to work "here" (Gioberti Estate) that day rather than at Falcon Crest (# 025). Therefore, Chase obviously keeps his 50 acres separately as an independent vineyard, and only the 500 acres owned by Angela will be shared 50 : 50. This will be confirmed in # 052 when Richard wants to have 10 out of the 500 Falcon Crest acres condemned for his race track. ← Previous episode... ← General Information (Season 2) → Next episode... |
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