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# 174 <7.19> Wheels within Wheels
 
 
(revised 02/13/2023)
 
 


 
 
Shortcuts to this episode's
 
Script | Credits | Filming Locations
 
 

 
 
The recap for the previous episode shows a take of Frank and Melissa at the door to the wine cellar in the Agretti Residence that is slightly different from the one featured in # 173 (screen capture 1). In particular, Frank is not nearly as close to the door frame in the recap (screen grab 2). This footage it is from one of the other takes of the same scene.
 
Different footage: While the preceding previous episode featured a long shot of Rosemont inviting Richard to become a member of The Thirteen (screen capture 1), the recap features that very moment in a close-up (screen grab 2).
 

The Agretti land where Melissa and Frank are riding (white fence in background and foreground) is filmed at Saddlerock Ranch.
 
When Melissa rides away on horseback, ANA-ALICIA is replaced by stunt double TRACY KEEHN.

 
Fictional entity: Richard wants to acquire the Sacramento Clarion, a newspaper.
 
As it will be revealed later in this episode, Eric and Vickie's hotel is located in Geneva / Switzerland (see below). The painted backdrop in the interior set, however, is not a wise choice because the mountains are not visible so closely from any window in the city of Geneva in real life.
 
Eric and Vickie's hotel suite is actually this season's usual bedroom set of the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion after a minor redress.
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.
 
The small park area near office building 5 on the backlot of CBS-MTM STUDIOS (now RADFORD STUDIO CENTER) — known from # 135 (compare there) and other episodes — is used again as a Tuscany Valley park (Maggie and Lance meet).
LORIMAR's original blueprints of this set and many others are available for DFCF members in the Show – Production Office – Filming Locations – Movie Studios – Exterior Sets section.
 
THOMAS BELLIN, the actor who plays the Del Oro assistant manager this episode, also portrayed Wiggins, Richard's loan broker, in season 5.
 
Uncredited extra JAMES MOHLMANN appears in this episode again as the Tuscany Valley County Planning Commissioner — this time in the Del Oro lobby in the company of the gray-haired Tuscany Valley socialite played by SHARRI ZAK (for her second appearance in this episode, see below).
It is JAMES MOHLMANN's last appearance on the show. He was featured in previous episodes (compare # 026, 031, 049, 053, 060, 061 and 073). His character seems to live in the Tuscany Valley and has had two different jobs, first as a nurse at the Tuscany Valley (Memorial) Hospital, later (in # 073) as a laborer at the New Globe.
For details about the extra, compare # 026.
 
Maggie and Richard move into their new ranch house.
All the first floor interiors — especially foyer, living room, bar, dining nook and kitchen — as well as the gallery shots in this episode and in all upcoming shows this season are filmed at Saddlerock Ranch.
The upstairs rooms — the master bedroom and bathroom as well as Garth's bedroom and the boys' bedroom — are interior sets built on sound stage 10 of CBS-MTM (RADFORD STUDIO CENTER). Especially the master bedroom and bathroom, however, resemble the architecture of Saddlerock Ranch with the native stone very well.
On 11/09/2018, the Woolsey Fire, a destructive wildfire in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, destroyed many parts of the Saddlerock Ranch, including the main house.
 
Inside joke: Maggie and Richard's bedroom furniture is characterized by native American design. This so-called "Santa Fe style", named after Santa Fe, NM, a city that is famous for native American art, was created by the writers and set dressers as a tribute to SUSAN SULLIVAN, who loves that style. Not too long before the filming of this episode, SUSAN had furnished her real-life home with pieces from Santa Fe.
 
The establishing shot of Las Vegas is stock footage from a film library. It shows South Las Vegas Boulevard (filmed in northeastern direction). The camera starts to zoom from the 3000 block onto the 2000 block, featuring the Stardust Hotel (demolished in 2007), the Silver City Casino (nowadays converted into a shopping center), the Riviera (demolished in 2016) and the El Rancho Casino (closed down in 1992 and demolished in 2000) among other hotels and casinos.
 
The scene with Lance meeting Freddy Darrow in Las Vegas to find out where John Remick is right now, is shot in front of the southern entrance of the heavily filmed CBS-MTM (RADFORD STUDIO CENTER) administration building (compare especially # 074).
LORIMAR's original map of this part of the studio lot is available for DFCF members in the Show – Production Office – Filming Locations – Movie Studios – Exterior Sets section.
 
DAVID GUST, the tall, black-haired and mustached uncredited extra, who is best known for his rôle as an assistant district attorney (# 091, 092 and 154), but who also plays different characters in the series, attends the weapons convention in Las Vegas in this episode.
Compare # 187 for a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 063.
 
When Richard and Garth take a walk on the ranch grounds, the particular place on the filming site where the Gioberti Family Cemetery is installed by the crew for other episodes can be noticed (red arrow; compare # 171 und 183). The shed in the background (yellow arrow) was removed from the grounds of the real Saddlerock Ranch in the meantime.
 
The establishing clip, purchased from a film library, is from the real Schweizerische Volksbank branch near the railway station in Zurich / Switzerland. In 1993, the bank was taken over by Credit Suisse, which is still in that building.
 
The number of Richard's safe deposit box in the vault of the Schweizerische Volksbank in Geneva / Switzerland is 508; it contains bonds of $ 5 million.
The number of Eric's safe deposit box there is 168.
 

Although the camera in the vault of Schweizerische Volksbank is supposed to cover the whole room within 60 seconds, it does not move at all in the beginning of the scene.

 

The backdrop in the interior set of Alison's office is a view of Russian Hill in San Francisco, photographed from the Financial District in northwestern direction.

 

Frank's suite at the Del Oro is the usual interior set used for any suite at the spa (compare # 132, 141, 151 and 157). As usual, only minor changes in the furniture and other equipment were made to meet budget criteria.

 
George Westcott's house is portrayed by the western side of the Duchess Ranch, a former exterior set at CBS-MTM STUDIOS (now RADFORD STUDIO CENTER); it was also used as Jeff Wainwright's Tuscany Valley cabin (see # 122 for details).
Click here for a sketch of the multi-purpose use of this exterior set and its surroundings. LORIMAR's original map of this part of the studio lot is available for DFCF members in the Show – Production Office – Filming Locations – Movie Studios – Exterior Sets section.
 
Lance's rental off-road car is a black 1975 Ford Ranger.
 
Mistake: Fingertips can suddenly be noticed on the hood of Lance's rental car although they were not there before and nobody touched the car during this scene.
 
Mistake: In the scene with Carly and Melissa in the Del Oro lobby, a gray-haired man (an uncredited extra) and a blonde lady (see the following paragraph for details about her) pass behind Carly first, apparently coming from Melissa's direction. After the cut to Melissa, however, the same persons are still or again behind her and not anywhere near Carly.
Again, this is the typical mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 

The blonde woman (uncredited extra) who is best remembered as the Coit Café cash counter lady (# 154) is seen in the Del Oro lobby several times this episode.
Compare # 195 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 time next to Melissa in the Del Oro lobby. For her earlier appearance at the Del Oro in this episode, see above.
Compare # 202 for biographical details about this rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 009.
 
Mistake: When Carly points the spray at Melissa in the Del Oro lobby, a guy wearing light blue jeans is heading towards the hallway in the background of the close-up; two women are standing nearby. In the subsequent wide angle shot, however, the same guy passes by again, and three women are now standing nearby.
Again, this is the typical mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 

The bend Angela drives along to the gas station in her light beige Mercedes-Benz 380 SL is the heavily filmed place behind stage 4 of CBS-MTM (RADFORD STUDIO CENTER) used in # 073, 084, 089, 113, 121, 135, 137, 148 and 172 (see there) and will also be used for in future episodes (# 176, 180, 191, 192, 196, 207 and 213).

 
The Tuscany Valley gas station where Angela and Frank meet (now called Moe's General Store) was also featured in # 082, 084, 113, 133 and 166 for other purposes (compare these episodes for details). This exterior set (eastern side of the Duchess Ranch) used to be located on the backlot of CBS-MTM STUDIOS (now RADFORD STUDIO CENTER).
Click here for a sketch of the multi-purpose use of this exterior set and its surroundings. LORIMAR's original map of this part of the studio lot is available for DFCF members in the Show – Production Office – Filming Locations – Movie Studios – Exterior Sets section.
 

Frank drives a blue-gray 1987 Jeep Wrangler YJ (screen capture from # 175).

 
Eric and Vickie stay at the Hotel Österreichischer Hof in Geneva / Switzerland. The etablishing clip shows the real hotel in Salzburg / Austria, which had the same name in those days, but is called Sacher Salzburg nowadays.
 
The picture in Eric and Vickie's room at the hotel in Geneva / Switzerland is the same prop that usually hangs above the fireplace in the study at the Agretti Residence, in a different frame though (compare the screen grab from # 167).
 
The biggest bonds in Richard's safe deposit box are 5 % interest bonds ("5 %-Anleihe") in the amount of 10,000 Marks ("10,000 Mark") issued by a bank or bank consortium named Die Banken Frankfurt ("The Frankfurt Banks", a fictional entity in Frankfurt / Germany).
 
Prop inaccuracies:
Despite the bonds being in — by and large — correct German language, the currency "Mark" is inaccurate. The currency in the Federal Republic of Germany (then West Germany) was "Deutsche Mark" ("German Marks", commonly abbreviated "DM") in those days.
The nominal value, "10,000", was written in the typical manner of English-speaking countries (using a comma as a thousands separator) instead of the usual equivalent in German-speaking countries, which would rather be "10.000" (using a point).
The issuing bank or bank consortium is misspelled "Die Banfen Frankfurt" instead of "Die Banken Frankfurt".
 
The building in the background of the phone booth in Tuscany (Lance calling Maggie) is the back of office building 5 at CBS-MTM (now RADFORD STUDIO CENTER). Compare # 091, 094, and 160.
LORIMAR's original blueprints of this set and many others are available for DFCF members in the Show – Production Office – Filming Locations – Movie Studios – Exterior Sets section.
 

Product placement: The audio tape (Garth's phone surveillance at the Channing Ranch) is a TDK cassette. It is a TDK SA-X model for 90-minute recordings.

 
From this episode on, Michael Channing is no longer portrayed by ALEXANDER ROSS DeANGELIS, but by TAYLOR BRIGODE.
 

BRANDON KASPER takes over the rôle of Kevin Channing this episode. He was previously played by an uncredited baby.

 
The colorful abstract with antelopes hanging in Frank's Del Oro suite apartment is the same prop that was previously used in Cassandra Wilder's office at Wilder Advertising in seasons 4 and 5 and across from the door to Kit's suite in the hallway at the Del Oro in season 6 (compare # 132).
For LORIMAR's further use of this picture, check out the Beyond the Show – Props – Set Dressing – Decoration section.
 
Despite LORIMAR's "new wardrobe for new season" policy, this episode, Vickie wears the red-black-white pullover she already wore in # 145.
 
KEN DEL CONTE, the actor who plays a process server this episode, also portrayed Frank Walker, the construction foreman at the Agretti Stavros Winery site, in season 5.
 
This episode makes it very clear Maggie is an alcoholic now. This storyline is based on SUSAN SULLIVAN's suggestion.
 

A stunt double replaces SUSAN SULLIVAN in the scene when Maggie crashes against the wall and falls down to the floor.

 
Season time frame: This episode opens Sunday, 02/28/1988 and closes Tuesday, 03/01/1988. Compare # 173 for details on how to find out these dates.
 
 

 
 
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