Falcon Crest is an American prime time television soap opera that
aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990.
The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy
Gioberti/Channing family in the California wine industry. Jane Wyman
stars as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon Crest
Winery, opposite Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela's nephew,
and later David Selby as Richard Channing, the illegitimate son of
Angela's ex-husband. Other notable series regulars include Lorenzo
Lamas as Angela's grandson Lance Cumson; William R. Moses as Chase's
son Cole Gioberti; Abby Dalton as Angela's daughter and Lance's mother
Julia Cumson; Susan Sullivan as Chase's wife Maggie Gioberti; Ana
Alicia as heiress Melissa Agretti; and Margaret Ladd as Angela's
younger daughter Emma Channing. The series is set in the fictitious
Tuscany Valley (modeled after the Napa Valley) northeast of San
Francisco.Falcon Crest is an American prime time television soap opera
that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17,
1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy
Gioberti/Channing family in the California wine industry. Jane Wyman
stars as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon Crest
Winery, opposite Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela's nephew,
and later David Selby as Richard Channing, the illegitimate son of
Angela's ex-husband. Other notable series regulars include Lorenzo
Lamas as Angela's grandson Lance Cumson; William R. Moses as Chase's
son Cole Gioberti; Abby Dalton as Angela's daughter and Lance's mother
Julia Cumson; Susan Sullivan as Chase's wife Maggie Gioberti; Ana
Alicia as heiress Melissa Agretti; and Margaret Ladd as Angela's
younger daughter Emma Channing. The series is set in the fictitious
Tuscany Valley (modeled after the Napa Valley) northeast of San
Francisco.The show was created by Earl Hamner, Jr., who had previously
created The Waltons. Hamner wanted to create a family drama involving
the wine industry entitled The Vintage Years. He offered Wyman the
lead role of Angela Channing. She said, "I told him I'd heard Barbara
Stanwyck had turned it down. And he said that was an untrue rumor. It
had never been offered to her." Hamner said he was looking for a
"sympathetic actress" for the role. He called Wyman "one of the
legendary stars ... a great actress", and insisted that though she was
the ex-wife of 1980 elected US President Ronald Reagan, her casting
had nothing to do with her connection to Reagan. Hamner said Wyman was
chosen to add credibility to the role, and noted "The character is a
harsh one. Miss Wyman's nice-lady image gives Angie more dimension and
sympathy."Hamner's concept was "the flip side of The Waltonsâ€"this
family was infected by wealth, whereas poverty had threatened his
Depression story [in The Waltons]". After shooting the original pilot
episode of the series, called The Vintage Years in the spring of 1981,
featuring Wyman in a silver wig, the actress pushed for changes in
Angela. Hamner had warned Wyman that the press would call Angela a
female J. R. Ewing, the amoral oil baron from Falcon Crest's lead-in
series, Dallas, played by Larry Hagman. Not wanting her character to
simply be a J.R. clone, Wyman said, "I feel I'm representing all women
in business. I may come off as a hard, tough character, but I want
Angie to show she's also capable of love." Falcon Crest Top Movies & Young Movies