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# 056 <3.16> Bitter Harvest
 
 
(revised 03/11/2024)
 
 


 
 
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Script | Credits | Filming Locations
 
 

 
 
Maggie's drive in her Ford Thunderbird on a Tuscany Valley country road with Chase is filmed on Griffith Park Drive in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The section on Griffith Park Drive starts at approximately where — west of Griffith Park Drive — Mineral Wells Trail and East Trail form an arrow-like intersection, and the roadster is heading south. When the camera pans to see the car's taillights towards the end of the scene, Maggie has reached a section on Griffith Park Drive with a little picnic area between the road and Mineral Wells Trail in the west.
 

Mistake in the establishing shot of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion: Melissa and Phillip should be visible on the veranda as this shot introduces their scene (screen grabs below). Post-production used some generic footage of the Mansion though.

 
Season time frame: As it can be derived from # 054, this episode depicts the events around mid-October 1983. It is one week after Dan's surgery, and the Agretti crop is ready for harvest according to Phillip.
 
Product placement: Melissa reads the real American Woman magazine. It will also be placed on a sideboard in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion living room in a later scene in this episode.
 
The back of the magazine shows an advert for Wade's Wintergreen ("The Gum That Refreshes"). The magazine was propped with that ad. Wade's Wintergreen is not a real product, but a fictional chewing gum brand, which was presented in ads in various 1980's TV productions and movies. It was kind of an industry standard to use this prop ad whenever there was no sponsor for a certain product placement.
Further information is available in the Beyond the Show – Identical Names section.
 
Mistake: The bushes in front of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion veranda set (screen grab 2 above — scene with Melissa) are way too big in contrast to the real Villa Miravalle's surroundings. The art department obviously tried to obscure the backing with these plants as the backdrop might not have had a sufficiently realistic look.
Another error in this context is that the bush on the left in the second screen capture is placed right in front of the stairs from the driveway to the veranda.
 

Product placement: A Swipes tissue package is in Dan Robbins' hospital room.

 

The filming location for Vince Caproni's house was a private residence on Chiquita Street in North Hollywood, CA. It was demolished in 1997 when the cul-de-sac was redeveloped with the building of new smaller homes. For another use of the location in this episode, see below; for later uses, compare # 112 and 135.

 
In this episode, the backdrop behind the window in Chase's supervisorial office at the Tuscany County Building is visible particularly well. The scenic artists did a surprisingly good job with the painted backdrop, which shows the steeple of a church. Although the church on Town Square has been out of any viewing angle in the series up to now and will be visible in # 062 and 210 only, the backing is completely in accordance with the exterior set of Midwest Street at THE BURBANK STUDIOS (now WARNER BROS. STUDIOS), which portrays the Town Square in Tuscany on the show. The County Building is on Main Street, which forks off from Town Square. The fact that the church is visible from Chase's office means that this window is on the side of the building facing the Town Square.
 
Early script drafts contained a scene in front of Linda and Cole's new home in which Michael tells Linda about her father's health improvements and also helps Cole carry the couch from the truck into the house.
 

Product placement: There is a neon advert for Miller beer at the Hideaway bar in Tuscany.

 
An early script draft included a dinner scene with Emma and Dr. Foster and a preceding phone scene in which they agreed on the date. In the restaurant scene, Dr. Foster tells Emma that he primarily divorced his wife because he wanted children while she did not. The psychiatrist also admits having fallen in love with Emma, but also says he knows that she is still in love with Michael. The scenes were omitted to stay in the one-hour timeslot on CBS (including commercials).
 
Mistake: In the scene with Chase and Michael in the Gioberti House kitchen, the sugar bowl is farther away from the coffee mug on the table first than after the cut when Michael stands up; neither Chase nor Michael touched it in the meantime though.
This is a mistake caused by the various takes in filming — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 
Product placement: Michael wears a pullover by Polo Ralph Lauren.
 
License plate number of Spheeris' white 1981 Imperial: 1GKS843.
 
DAVID SELBY is replaced by a stunt double in some frames when Spheeris tries to run over Richard in the New Globe parking garage.
 
Pamela drives a black 1982 Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue in the underground parking garage.
 
The filming location for the New Globe parking garage is different from the one used in # 039 (compare there). For this episode and # 060, the underground garage at The Grand, a condominium complex in Wilshire Corridor in Westwood (a neighborhood in Los Angeles), serves for shooting.
 

Mistake: When Lance walks along the terrace of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion to join Melissa, who reads the "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" fairytale to Joseph, the reflection of the studio lights can be seen on one of the small windows in the main tower.

 

The filming location for Norton Crane's office at Whitewood Industries in New York City is an apartment in the condominium complex The Grand in Wilshire Corridor in Westwood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles.
For another use of this location, see above.

 

The establishing shot of New Orleans (stock footage from a film library) features St. Louis Cathedral. It is a southeastern view from Chartres Street.

 
The filming location for the New Orleans convent where Maggie speaks with Sister Jeanette is the upper floor of the GENERAUX / GUERRERO home (see # 055 for details), which has been in use as the McKay House since the previous episode. It is astonishing how well the producers create the illusion of different places by using other props and different camera angles although it is the same filming location.
 
Striking prop: The very same statue of the Virgin Mary appears in three different places in the convent: First, on a wooden stand in the hallway; secondly, on a white stand in the garden behind Sister Jeanette's office; and thirdly, on the wall behind Maggie in the nun's office again.
The prop is actually a fiberglass item made to look like stone. It is still in use by WARNER BROS. who "inherited" it from LORIMAR.
For further use of this prop, check out the Beyond the Show – Props – Set Dressing – Decoration section.
 
Early script drafts named the New Orleans convent St. Cecilia's Academy. In the final version, however, that name was not mentioned.
 

The entryway and the interiors of Cole and Linda's home are portrayed by the same private residence on Chiquita Street in North Hollywood, CA that is also used as Vince Caproni's home (see above) in this episode.

 
Original script drafts planned for Cole and Linda to discuss custody for Joseph and the possibility of having a baby of their own. That scene in the living room of their new home was totally revamped for the final version: In the end, Melissa appeared at the house, causing trouble between Cole and Linda by creating the illusion of a delicate scene in their bedroom.
 
Mistake: In the scene with Pamela and Spheeris in the New Globe executive office, the position of the thin red folder is different in various frames during the scene although nobody touched it.
This is a mistake caused by the various takes in filming — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 
 

 
 
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