'Falcon Crest' made its TV debut in December 1981. The show opened with the death of winemaker, Jason Gioberti. "They were making some changes in the pilot of 'Falcon Crest,'" Bob Foxworth recalled, "including some cast changes." Of his character, "The changes are still in progress. It evolved as the writers and producers saw what I was bringing to it."
When the last episode of the first season went on air in April 1982, Earl Hamner made known, "We will disclose the details of Jason's death in the final episode for the first season. We won’t set up any chapter leading into the next season." Susan Sullivan remembered, "The scripts constantly surprise me. We can’t write too far ahead because we have to see what’s working." Bob remarked, "With a large cast, the acting part gets, frankly, kind of boring...It’s really hard to define a role of this sort. It’s not a type or a character that fits into a pigeonhole." Susan reasoned, "It’s much harder to write for the good guys, but I think that would take away something fundamental if we changed...I think Earl’s influence is such, his integrity, that even the bad guys have a vulnerable side. It gives them a reality. So if you’re cast as a good guy the first thing you have to do is find your bad guy side...I think people will turn off a character who is too perfect to be believable."
Of guest stars such as Lana Turner, Gina Lollobrigida and Leslie Caron, Earl insisted, "We will be choosy in these situations. We have 11 characters in regular spots and we don’t want to crowd them out." Susan acknowledged, "The truth of the matter is, on these shows they have to get rid of somebody all the time. The stories get redundant, a little stagnant, so they have to push some people out." Lorenzo Lamas expressed, "I've been pushing for changes in this show for years. We already have the older audience, so let’s go for the young folks."
Programs such as 'Dallas' and 'Falcon Crest', Susan pointed out, "These are fantasy shows, escapes. This is not hard-core reality. It has escapism value. It’s nice to escape reality for an hour." However she made the observation, "You need an IQ of 140 to follow the storyline. With 14 characters we have so many storylines. In order to keep up you must watch and pay attention...Still, I feel the audiences are real smart. And I think the studios sometimes forget that and go too far. And when they do, when they take that extra, unnecessary step, they lose you guys out there."
