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# 049 <3.09> Chameleon Charades
 A unique aerial view of the Gioberti Estate is featured at the beginning of this episode. It is the beginning of a helicopter flight over the estate from the south side of Stags Leap District. A later part of this sequence (not used in this episode; next to last screen grab) will be featured on ROBERT FOXWORTH's season 5 main title card; the final sequence of the helicopter flight with a close-up of the Gioberti House will be used during the opening credits of # 104 (last picture).Mistake: In the upper left corner, the shadow of a part of the helicopter can be noticed for a very short time during the flight (first screen capture — yellow arrow). Mistake: The establishing clip in the opening scene does not feature Terry's Pontiac Firebird Trans Am on the driveway although she parked the car there at the end of the previous episode and is still at the Gioberti House when the current episode opens. Post-production used this generic establishing shot of the Gioberti House without paying attention to the storyline. Chase and Maggie's Mercedes-Benz 300 TD is also parked on the driveway in the actual scenes. In contrast to Terry's car, this automobile would not necessarily have to be seen in the aerial shot as it might be obscured by the big tree opposite the dining room window.
  Parts of the McKay Vineyards (also refer to # 043 and 051) are apparently situated north of the walnut tree-lined main driveway to Falcon Crest because Michael and Chase head from one of Michael's vineyards directly towards the stone bridge leading to the Gioberti Estate. Parts of the Shafer Vineyards in Napa serve as the filming location for this part of the McKay Vineyards; the stone bridge is located on the neighboring property, the grounds of Stags' Leap Winery.License plate number of Harrison Albright's dark brown 1982 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue: 1EMB4Q4.
 Uncredited extra ROBIN BLAKE participates again as the middle-aged blonde Tuscany Valley socialite — this episode as a patron at the Tuscany Valley Inn.Compare # 222 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 015.
The gate is actually the gate to the Hart House from the "Hart to Hart" TV series. It was specifically built for "Hart to Hart" on the backlot of THE BURBANK STUDIOS (WARNER BROS. STUDIOS) when they shot seasons 4 and 5 (1982 through 1984) there — across Parking Lot L between buildings 137 and 140 on the eastern side of Lima Street near the jungle / lagoon area entrance. For "Falcon Crest", the white gate doors from "Hart to Hart" were replaced with black iron gate doors.
Luccio's, a San Francisco restaurant, is mentioned for the first time. It will often be referred to in dialog this season and seen in # 057 (interiors).   Continuity mistake: Chase first says he wants to meet with Michael at the County Building. In the following scene, however, Chase suddenly wears different clothes and is joined by Michael in the vineyard. The original scene at the County Building (original script) was replaced by the vineyard scene on short notice. Both scenes were not revised in post-production to avoid the continuity issue though.
 The former Inglenook crush and fermentation facility in Oakville, CA — nowadays no longer part of Inglenook, but an independent entity named the Napa Wine Company — was used for exteriors of the Falcon Crest Cooperage in this episode as well as # 051 and 052 (an area with pipes connecting fermentation tanks). Compare # 049 for interior footage of this location.Fictional entity: Pasquale's, another San Francisco restaurant, is mentioned. It will never be seen on the show though.   The establishing shot of The Corral, the cocktail bar in Tuscany where Terry meets Lance, is stock footage from a film library. It features what used to be Earl's Restaurant on the West Historic Route 66 in Victorville, CA at the time when the clip was filmed. The building is still standing, but under different ownership now.The interiors of The Corral, are actually the interiors of the Tinhorn Flats Bar & Grill, a rustic bar in Burbank, CA.  Uncredited extra DOUGLAS MAIDA appears as Dave in this episode again — first, at The Corral as a patron before his shift at the hospital. For another appearance in this episode, see below.Compare # 224 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 034. Strange: The Sheriff shows up unbelievably quickly when Lance starts the fight at The Corral.
 After his earlier appearance in this episode (see above), uncredited extra DOUGLAS MAIDA participates as Dave again — now at his place of work at the Tuscany Valley Hospital where the orderly examines Lance.Compare # 224 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 034.
Fictional entity: The Tuscany Valley News is mentioned. The valley obviously has more daily papers now (compare # 013). Real-life allusion: Terry compares The Corral with the legendary Studio 54 in New York. Richard's new home is located at 2055 Hilltop Road, Tuscany Valley — a fictional prop address. Inside joke: Writer ROBERT L. McCULLOUGH "borrowed" the street number from his own address. While working on the series, he and his wife, SUZANNE HERRERA, lived at 2055 Outpost Road in Hollywood, CA. Also compare # 050.
 This episode features Chase's new office at the Tuscany County Building for the first time (# 053 will reveal it is room 302). In the current episode, the office is not shown in a long shot though (screen capture 1); only later episodes will show a wide angle of the room (e.g. # 052 — screen grab 3). Compared with # 017 (screen capture 1), it is pretty obvious that it is a different office from the one from seasons 1 and 2 because, previously, there was no window in the exterior wall to the right of the door (as seen when entering).LORIMAR's original blueprints of this set and many others are available for DFCF members in the Show – Production Office – Filming Locations – Movie Studios – Interior Sets section. These blueprints also contain rough sketches of how the furniture was repositioned between # 049 and 052 on the one hand and # 053 and beyond on the other hand.
Cole hires a San Francisco law firm, which is specialized in family law: Smith, Plenn & Hogstedt. Inside joke: The names of the attorneys are the last names of uncredited crew members: SMITH (location manager), DAVID PLENN (camera operator) and ROY HOGSTEDT (assistant cameraman). In original script drafts, Ms. Smith was called Ms. Raymond (named after director of photography FRANK RAYMOND).
 The interior set of Ms. Smith's law office is the usual bedroom set of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion, just redressed; check # 023 for details. This time, however, the art department used one more trick to avoid too many changes: They just redressed the two walls visible in screen capture 2. Cole and Linda's close-ups were not filmed in front of the wall they seem to be sitting in front of on screen grab 2 though. Their close-ups were shot in front of the very same wall where Ms. Smith sits in screen capture 2. After the long shots and Ms. Smith's close-up were filmed, the furniture was rearranged, and WILLIAM R. MOSES and MARY KATE McGEEHAN switched places with PAT DELANY. This is obvious to the experienced viewer because the bathroom door of the usual Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion bedroom set is now visible (yellow arrow on screen grab 3).Slightly different redresses of this set were used in the previous season as Fred Tanner's accounting office in # 027 and Phillip's law office in # 028 (screen capture 1). Even the swivel armchair at the desks and the guest armchairs are the same props in each redressed office. For LORIMAR's further use of Ms. Smith's desk, check out the Beyond the Show – Props – Set Dressing – Tables & Desks section.
  When Richard points at the Gioberti House from his balcony, he refers to where the filming location, Stags' Leap, is actually situated, indeed. His pointing at the location for Angela's residence, Spring Mountain, is also quite right, at least as far as the direction is concerned. Spring Mountain, however, is too far away and cannot be seen from that balcony. The inconsistency in that scene, however, is that the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion is supposed to be situated east of the Gioberti Estate, i.e. behind the mountains. This has always been implied by arranging a shot of the main gate with the iron falcon sign first, then a shot of the tree-lined driveway to the Gioberti Estate (the Falcon Crest main driveway) and finally a shot of the Victorian Mansion. A map of Falcon Crest and its vicinity is available here.← Previous episode... → Next episode... |
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