|
# 066 <3.26> For Better, for Worse  Audio commentary for this episodeby DFCF President THOMAS J. PUCHER for the 42nd anniversary of the series première (12/04/2023): Download the audio file and listen to it while you are playing the episode from your official WARNER HOME VIDEO DVD at the same time (turning down the volume of the disc is recommended):
If the DVD in your region does not contain the teaser before the main title (German, Spanish and Australian configurations), start playing after you hear "the nun with the gun" in the commentary.
  Different takes of Julia's line "I want to kill my mother!" (during the confession) in the sneak preview and the scene itself: The sneak preview shows a different take (left screen grab — from Father Bob's point of view) from the one used in the episode.Early script drafts contained a scene with Lance trying to trace Julia at Lucas' farm, which was rewritten several times. It was to take place right before Julia's distracting phone call with the police. In the earliest version, Lance was supposed to meet Lucas (released by the police again) there, in the later revision Deputy Scott. This scene — in which Lance was supposed to learn that Julia learnt how to shoot with Lucas' gun (which is still in her possession) — was deleted from the final version. The version with Deputy Scott, however, was actually filmed; this is the reason why TOM McFADDEN was listed in the end credits — after the scene was deleted, post-production forgot to remove his credit. Early script drafts contained a night scene in a San Francisco restaurant where Richard runs into Melissa and her young divorce lawyer, Jack Sullivan. It was to take place after Julia's distracting phone call with the police. In that restaurant scene, Melissa needled Richard about Pamela's disappearance. This scene was removed in later script revisions, and the Jack Sullivan character was dropped.  Mistake: The establishing shot of the St. Timothy Church of Tuscany Valley at night shows a different sign from the correct one used during the daylight scenes. The sign in the night shot cannot be read as it is quite blurry, but the lettering is obviously different from the one on the correct sign.The night shot is footage from the shooting of # 037 where the same location posed as the Convent Sainte-Marthe in France. The sign actually says: "Couvent Sainte-Marthe — Sœurs de l'Espérance" ("Sisters of Hope"). This particular establishing shot was one of several shots that remained unused in # 037. For more information on the filming location, see below. The original ending of act 1 in early script drafts was that Julia, on her way out of the church with the stolen nun's habit, had to sneak past Lance, kneeling in the church and praying for his mother after lighting a candle. This part of the scene remained unused in the final version of the episode. Real-life allusion: Linda is studying a concerto by LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN. Linda mentions Giulardi, who will be giving her an audition as a soloist for the conservatory concert. The impresario character, however, will never be seen on the show.   The table lamp in the groom's dressing room at St. Timothy is the same prop that was used on Angela's desk in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion study in season 2.  The exterior scenes of the St. Timothy Church of Tuscany Valley, where Angela and Phillip get married, were filmed in front of the Mary Chapel on the Chalon Campus of Mount Saint Mary's University in Brentwood, CA on January 26, 1984. This location was already used as the French Sainte Marthe nunnery in # 037.
  The wedding ceremony scenes inside the church, however, are from a different location. First, they were scheduled at the Mary Chapel for January 27, 1984. But when the cast and crew arrived there, heavy storms were about to rush over Los Angeles at a speed of approximately 60 miles per hour. Fires from the hills and canyons came closer in a very short time and threatened the neighborhood. Due to the destruction of several buildings in that area, the fire department decided to forbid filming. LORIMAR was forced to look for another church. Father BOB CURTIS was able to obtain a filming permit for interior shooting at St. Brendan's Catholic Church in Los Angeles at very short notice (already used for # 064). The cast and crew were in a horrible rush — not only did they have to move their equipment 12 miles, but there was also a funeral service scheduled at St. Brendan's for 5:00 PM. Being busy with all the preparations, they could not start filming the wedding scene until 2:45 PM. Despite the cast and crew being nervous, they got the scene in the can in less than two hours. After exchanging the wedding vows and the wedding guests moving through the nave to exit the church, a police siren started wailing in front of the church. The cast was professional enough not to react to the siren in any way, which saved the scene: that particular part of the film was filtered in post-production. The shooting was over right in time at 5:30 PM.When Angela walks down the aisle, RICHARD WAGNER's "Bridal Chorus" from "Lohengrin" is played. When the newly wed couple leaves the church, FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY's wedding march from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is played.  Uncredited stand-in GORDON HODGINS appears as an extra again — first in this episode, in his usual rôle as a Tuscany Valley gentleman; he is a guest at both Angela and Phillip's wedding ceremony and reception. See below for his later appearance in this episode in a different rôle.Compare # 182 for a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about GORDON HODGINS, compare # 001.
 Uncredited extra SHIRLEY ANTHONY appears as Dr. Lee Walkling again — this time as a guest at Angela and Phillip's wedding ceremony and reception.Compare # 207 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 016. During the wedding ceremony, Father Bob reads from the bible — he quotes from the 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians.   Different takes in the sneak preview and the scene itself: When Chase sees Julia in the foyer of the nunnery, the sneak preview shows a different take (left screen grab) from the one used in the episode. This becomes apparent because Julia turns around in the sneak preview whereas she does not in the scene.The original script draft had Julia force Chase in the church vestibule to help her find a big ladder they had discovered in the church as children. She planned to use it to get to a small upper church window from where she wanted to shoot Angela. When Julia tries to remove the ladder from a scaffold, some of the scaffolding topples over and knocks Chase down. Unconscious Chase is trapped under the scaffolding, but is later rescued by Ryan, the convent's building superintendent. All this was changed. In the final version, Julia locked Chase into a walk-in-closet and climbed up the spiral stairway to the church's gallery.   Mistake: When Chase discovers Julia in the janitor's office in the basement of the convent at St. Timothy, he opens the door to the outside, i.e. into the corridor. In the later close-ups of Chase when he goes into the room, the door is opened into the room though; the wood of the door leaf is also not as dark as in the scene in the corridor. This mismatch is caused by negligent preparation of the set — the janitor's office was an interior set built on the sound stage at THE BURBANK STUDIOS (now WARNER BROS. STUDIOS) while the segment from the corridor comes from the actual filming location, Brady Hall at Mount St. Mary's. Uncredited extra PAUL VAN appears in his usual rôle as the mustached Tuscany Valley doctor again — this time as a guest at Angela and Phillip's wedding ceremony and reception.Compare # 227 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of all his appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 014. Early script drafts contained a scene with Julia driving in Chase's Mercedes-Benz up to a security checkpoint at Falcon Crest. She would deceive the guard by pointing at the windshield sticker (a specific sticker for the guests of the wedding reception) and claiming to be Chase's or Maggie's cousin from New York, having been sent from the church to the Victorian Mansion earlier to check on the floral arrangements.
 Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion interior set — inconsistency: The way the stairway is built and usually seen from the first floor pretty much matches the architecture of the real Villa Miravalle at Spring Mountain Vineyards in St. Helena, CA. The set also creates the illusion that the second floor can be reached by two flights of stairs with the landing in between. In the view from the landing in this episode, a wall can be seen, which kind of blocks off the second flight of stairs though. It is impossible that the second floor can be reached by simply walking along the landing because the landing is just elevated half the level of one story.Also compare # 001 for related information on set inconsistencies in the foyer and stairway.  Uncredited extra NICK STEVENS appears in this episode again as Reuben Corsair — this time as a guest at Angela and Phillip's wedding ceremony and reception.Compare # 182 for biographical information about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 008.  This episode marks the first appearance of uncredited extra BARBARA SMITH, an American background actress. She was married to PETER PAUL EASTMAN, who became president of the Screen Extras Guild (SEG) in 1987 and who often played background parts on "Falcon Crest", too (compare # 021).In this episode, BARBARA SMITH is introduced as a platinum blonde Tuscany Valley socialite; she is a guest at Angie and Phillip's wedding reception. She will continue to play that part, but will look very different due to a new hairstyle in later seasons. Compare # 221 for a list of appearances throughout the series.  Uncredited extra SHARRI ZAK appears as the gray-haired Tuscany Valley socialite with the pony tail again; this episode as a guest at Angela and Phillip's wedding ceremony and reception.Compare # 202 for biographical details about this rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 009.  The curly haired blonde played by uncredited extra BETTY JEANNE GLENNIE is among the guests at Angela and Phillip's wedding ceremony and reception in this episode.Compare # 175 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 015.
When Emma calls Dr. Foster by his first name, she refers to him as Bob, whereas he was previously called Otto (see # 044 and 052). To solve the mystery: His name is Otto Bob Foster. This was revealed in the original scene in # 057 when Otto tells Emma during their dinner that he was named Otto after his grandfather, but prefers his middle name. This scene, however, was shortened to stay in the one-hour timeslot, causing the misunderstanding about the psychiatrist's name.   In the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion guest bedroom where Julia picks up the phone and hides the receiver in the bedside table, the bed is the same prop as the one in Chase and Maggie's master bedroom at the Gioberti House in seasons 2 and 3 (compare the left screen grab from # 024).This guest bedroom is the usual bedroom set, which was just redressed for this purpose. Compare in particular # 001 (guest bedroom and basic information), 021 (nursery), 023 (Lance and Melissa's bedroom) and 063 (Emma's bedroom).  Uncredited extra ROBERTA STORM appears in this episode again as Mrs. Winslow — this time at Angela and Phillip's wedding ceremony and reception.Compare # 219 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 035.
  After his earlier appearance as a wedding guest in this episode (see above as well as screen grab 1 on the left), uncredited stand-in GORDON HODGINS plays another part as an extra in this episode again — as a Tuscany Valley County Deputy (screen capture 2) when Chase, Sheriff Robbins and another deputy storm into the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion in their search for Julia. This is just a short time after GORDON was spotted in the living room as a wedding guest.Compare # 182 for a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about GORDON HODGINS, compare # 001.
 The interior sets of the upper floors of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion are different from the upstairs hallways shown in # 001, 002, 004, 005 and 013 as well as 031 and 046. Although quite similar, it is also different from the set shown in # 063 because the characteristic stained glass window is now in the opposite corner as compared to the hallway in # 063. This must be a similar hallway, but in a different part of the house.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. Drawings of the Mansion (floor plans and architectural views amalgamating the sets and the real location) are available here. Editing mistake: A part of the scene was accidentally omitted in post-production. Cole and Robbins start searching for Joseph from the same point: the hallway behind Joseph's bedroom. But all of a sudden, they both come from different places in the next frame: Robbins from Joseph's nursery, Cole from the guest bedroom.
 BOB McCULLOUGH, primary writer and supervising producer, leaves the series after 66 episodes. He will receive on-screen credit for the two remaining episodes of this season, but will no longer work on them.Since # 056, ANN MARCUS has been an additional supervising producer. Surprisingly, she will not be named executive producer for season 4, but get a three-year development deal for other productions at LORIMAR. ← Previous episode... → Next episode... |
Shortcuts to this episode's
