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# 188 <8.05> Tuscany Venus How can the reporters make their way up to the main house of the Channings' ranch? With 700 acres of land (as stated in # 199), armed security staff at the gate (as seen in # 199) and a long driveway (as seen in # 205), hardly anyone should have been able to get on the property.  Uncredited extra GEORGE SASAKI appears as Dr. Fong again — this time as the medical examiner investigating Ryder's death at Maggie and Richard's ranch.Compare # 222 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series. For details about the extra, compare # 026.
 Agent Frand's unmarked FBI car is a blue Ford LTD Crown Victoria.Both patrol cars of the Tuscany Valley Sheriff's Department are Dodge Diplomat models. Fictional entity: A broadcast van of KSFB 3 News, a San Francisco based TV station, is visible on the Channing Ranch driveway. KSFB 3 News was first visible at the rescue site after the plane crash in # 069. The logo was also visible on a camera outside the QVH in # 099. A KSFB 3 News crew was also seen at the QVH in # 102, at the Tuscany Valley Parish Church in # 128 and at Richard's Channing Enterprises office in # 185. For more details about the KSFB 3 logo, check out the Beyond the Show – Props – Signage section. The broadcast van of the KSFB 3 TV station on the driveway to the main house at the Channing Ranch is a blue / gray Ford Econoline. The ambulance at the Channing Ranch is a Dodge Ram.
 Mistake: At the beginning of the scene with Pax and Angela in her Del Oro suite, Lance is standing behind the couch that is facing the fireplace in the living room. After the angle favoring Angela on the settee and Pax from behind, the scene cuts to Lance, walking near the louvered folding doors of the dining room (screen grab 1) around the sofa on which Pax is sitting. After another cut, he is coming from the left (as seen from the camera's POV) and sitting down on the settee next to Angela (screen captures 2 and 3). If you compare the layout of Angela's suite, this is not possible because Lance would have to have moved through between Pax and the coffee table to reach his final position. Only two seconds go by until Lance is sitting down, which is way too short for that.For better visualization: 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 basketball court at the Tuscany Valley High School and the building behind is located on the grounds of the Monrovia Tennis Club in Monrovia, CA in real life. This location will also be used in # 190 (due to better visibility, screen capture 2 is from the latter).As episode # 203 will reveal, Ben's fellow student (and later girlfriend), Andrea, is Calvin Thompson's daughter. Thus, her full name is Andrea Thompson. Interesting: This fictitious character name is the same as the real life name of the actress who will later play Genele Ericson in season 9 (as of # 209). The names are the same only by coincidence though. At the time of shooting the scenes with the Andrea Thompson character in season 8, the rôle of Genele Ericson had not yet been created; therefore, actress ANDREA THOMPSON had not yet been cast for a rôle on the show either, of course. In early script drafts, the scene with Victor and Charley Field at the Del Oro Spa Restaurant featured Angela instead of Richard. Angela lured the district attorney into a meeting at the restaurant anonymously, letting him only know that a campaign contributor would like to support his running for governor of California in two years. During the meeting, Angela suggests the Channing newspapers would back him. When Victor asks if she is offering him a bribe, Angela laughs it off by telling him she would not have met him in a public place if she was going to do that. However, she suggests dropping the charges against Lance at the end of the scene, which has no effect on Victor. Angela was dropped from the segment during rewrites already, eliminating the idea to use pressure on Field through campaign funding. It was necessitated by JANE WYMAN's absence. After her accident on the set (see # 187), she was on sick leave and only returned to filming quite late in the shooting period of the current episode, which is why the number of her scenes had to be reduced. The same reason led to another change: Early script drafts contained a scene late in act 1 in Angela's Del Oro suite in the evening. She tells Richard, who — as a side note — mentions that he and Maggie have to give depositions about Ryder's death to the FBI the following day, that D.A. Field is "Mr. Clean" and could not be persuaded to drop the charges against Lance. With the rewrite of the aforementioned scene, this one became obsolete, so it was dropped from the script. Early script drafts contained an act 2 scene on the terrace of Maggie and Richard's ranch with Maggie, Penny, Michael and Billy Calloway (Penny's son). The kids, both of approximately the same age, play with toy guns — to their mothers' dismay after what happened to Ryder. The two women are looking at a New Globe issue with the headline saying "Ryder Linked to Death of Thirteen. Channing Cleared." Penny mentions her husband's name, Steve; as she says, he will be taking Billy to a camping trip at the weekend so their Mendocino cabin is free for her and Maggie. The scene was filmed with MICHAEL CIOTTI playing Billy Calloway, but not used in the final version of the episode. The piano piece Emma plays in R.D. Young's house is the beginning of FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN's (1810 – 1849) étude Op. 10 No. 3, "Tristesse". MARGARET LADD only creates the illusion that she plays the grand piano. The piece was actually added to the scene from a professional recording during the music editing process. It is the very same recording, by the way, that was added to # 118 (Eric playing the piano in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion).
Early script drafts contained Richard's attempt to speak to Victor Field on the patio near the Del Oro tennis court. Field shrugs him off like Angela (see dropped earlier scene above), telling him the next time Angela suggests subverting the law, she will find herself on the short end of a subpoena for trying to obstruct justice. This segment was dropped in rewrites.
  Falcon Crest Winery Building interiors: A new set is used for the first time. That part of the winery consists of limestone and wood, has a cave and is decorated with a big falcon logo — the same logo as on the elephant door of sound stage 4 at CBS-MTM (now RADFORD STUDIO CENTER); compare # 149 in particular.By and large, the elements of the set are the same as for the previous ones (compare right screen capture from # 177; also see # 171, e.g.), but rearranged. The most striking new addition, however, is the cave.
 In the final scene of the episode, the cave is prominently featured for the first time. The set designers used a very convincing trick here: The barrel room in the cave is actually a backdrop, a huge canvas with a photo of the cave at Spring Mountain taken during earlier Napa Valley filming (screen capture 2 from the season 2 main title to compare). Season 9 will continue to use this set; in # 224, the backdrop will be seen even more clearly (screen grab 3).JANE WYMAN is seated in almost all of her scenes this episode. Nick bringing a chair for Angela in the winery is the most striking of those scenes. After frail JANE fainted shortly before (see # 187), her physical condition requires tricks like that in this episode.  The Tuscany Valley lake used in this episode is portrayed by the lagoon at CBS-MTM STUDIOS (now RADFORD STUDIO CENTER), which was used for other purposes in # 089 (details see there in particular), 113, 124, 131, 135, 144, 146, 152, 153, 163 and 168.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.
Pilar's favorite dish is Coq au Vin. Richard reads the folk tale "The Three Little Pigs" to Michael and Kevin. Edited scene: Towards the end of the scene with Angela and Richard playing backgammon at her Del Oro suite, a very funny dialog between them was cut from the final version for unknown reasons. After Richard's remark about their relationship as mother and son ("What do they say? The apple never falls far from the tree."), their conversation continued in the director's cut: With a slap on the wrist, Angela says: "But next time wait until I ask for help." Richard steps closer to her and replies: "You ought to know by now, no one pulls my strings. Including you." With that, he kisses her on the cheek and exists. Post-production dropped that part and simply used an amused reaction shot of Angela right after the "apple" reference to end the scene.  License plate number of the dark brown Chevrolet Scottsdale K-10 truck used by Raúl's gang: 2CSI908. It is the license plate already known from Chase's red Porsche 928 S4 (season 6) and Eric's gray Chevrolet Corvette C4 (# 156) as well as Angela's light beige Mercedes-Benz 380 SL (late season 7); the same plate was also on Frank's gray Jeep Wrangler YJ at the beginning of the current season. What a horrible prop policy with those license plates!The filming location for the Tuscany street where Ben and Gabriel (on their bikes) are chased by Raúl and his gang is Highland Place in Monrovia; the beginning of the scene was filmed in northern direction towards West Hillcrest Boulevard. The alley where Ben takes the fall from his bike is an alley running parallel to West Foothill Boulevard in west-east direction between Highland Place and North Mayflower Avenue; the scene concludes at the corner of that alley and North Mayflower.
 When Ben takes a fall off his bike, BRANDON DOUGLAS is replaced by a stunt double.In the close-up, the bike on the ground is parallel to Ben's position; but right after the fall, the front wheel was closer to Ben's head. When he falls, he lands on his right hand and finally touches the ground with the back of his left. Then why is his palm wounded in the later scene with Frank? When the stunt double rolls over the ground, his pants are neither damaged nor dirty. But in the later close-ups of BRANDON DOUGLAS, his pants are torn, and his knee is bleeding.
 Libby's letter for Frank comes from the Compania De Minerales & De Oro, Montevideo / Uruguay.Another Agretti address can be read on the envelope — different from the ones seen in # 154 and 172 (see there): 5436 Lindero Canyon Road, Tuscany Valley, CA 90053. — There are probably three different addresses because the Agretti Residence consists of three wings (main, east and guest wings) with separate entranceways (compare # 013, 098, 103 and 193). The big mistake about this prop, however, is that 90058 is a zip code of downtown Los Angeles. Comparing other Tuscany zip codes (e.g. Del Oro in # 173), the zip rather has to start with "945-", but not "900-". Inside joke: 5436 Lindero Canyon Road is actually the street in Westlake Village, CA where a former filming location, the Pierce Brothers Valley Memorial Park, is situated. It was used in # 127 as the place where J.J. Roberts' grave was.
"Murder in the Mist" is another mystery novel by R.D. Young; Angela reads that book. For more titles of his novels, see # 184, 186, 189 and 201.   Mistake: Maggie's head is in different positions in subsequent frames — first it is lowered to her left side, then to her right side. 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 Heller Vineyards in the Tuscany Valley (as later episodes will reveal, the exact corporate name is Marty Heller Vineyards) are mentioned for the first time — they are closing their business. Episode time frame: The current episode starts on the day of Peter Ryder's death, which is identical with the final day of # 187, i.e. Friday, 11/18/1988. Giving respect to the day and night chronology of the current episode, a few days must remain unseen after the scene with Maggie and Richard in their ranch bedroom (Maggie shocked about having shot Ryder). This can be derived from the fact that Maggie's weekend trip to Mendocino with Penny cannot take place the weekend right after Ryder's death, but the end of the following week. Otherwise, too many days and nights would be in this episode's chron (three) since 11/18/1988 to be in accordance with the Sunday scene at the Agretti pond and mill (Nick, Ben and Lance). So the scene at the pond cannot take place on Sunday, 11/20/1988, but must rather be on Sunday 11/27/1988. Giving respect to this conclusion, this episode closes two days later, on Tuesday, 11/29/1988. ← Previous episode... → Next episode... |
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