Thoughts about Napa
I grew up in Napa, California in the 70's. Lovely town, nice place to raise kids. After "Falcon Crest" it became another cheesy tourist trap town. Good for business, I suppose, but I would never want to live there now.
The Napa Valley was a much simpler place in the early-1980s, but it already had tourist things and great restaurants like Auberge du Soleil (which Falcon Crest filmed a Richard and Julia scene in during the second season). Falcon Crest didn't ruin it. The foundation for that was already being built. I still like the place but it was indeed more appealing back in the 1980s before all the build out fantasy wineries and homes when every yuppie who struck it rich thought he wanted a trophy winery. Some lasted. It's a great way to lose a fortune when you don't know what you're doing.
shareTo me, replacing all of Napa with the fictional "Tuscany Valley" is a little silly. It's like calling Dallas "Southfork Town" or Denver "Carrington City."
It's something BATMAN would do.
They should have come up with a fictional corner of Napa instead, like calling the area that Falcon Crest was in something like "Tuscany Hollow" or whatever.
It's a great way to lose a fortune when you don't know what you're doing.Ha! I was thinking that just last night: such a nice pastoral location and a great way to go belly up if you're fool enough to dive in.
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They set the show in the fictional Tuscany Valley to avoid law suits from people who might have felt stories were about them (like the powerful Mondavis, et al., at the time). Even Anita Clay Kornfeld sued (and won) when she claimed the show was based on her book Vintage, which featured a "fiery redhead" named Victoria who was in a relationship with a Mexican from the wrong side of the tracks (which parallels a Vickie Gioberti storyline from the first season). Vintage isn't a particularly good book, but this is exactly why they set it in the fictional Tuscany Valley -- out of concern over lawsuits and wanting to have a free hand to write what they wanted to without people claiming a particular story was based on them.
shareI remember hearing about Kornfeld's suit --- the pilot was even named "The Vintage Years" before it was changed.
Why did they allow so many similarities to remain if they didn't want to get caught?
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The most profound of sin is tragedy unremembered.