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# 083 <4.15> Vicious Circle
 
 
(revised 12/04/2024)
 
 


 
 
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Script | Credits | Filming Locations
 
 

 
 
Uncredited extra PHIL PRENTICE appears in this episode again — not in his usual rôle as the Tuscany Valley doctor with a receding hairline though, but at the Tuscany County Jail, apparently in the part of the New Globe press photographer he has been playing since # 068.
Compare # 132 for a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 003.
 

The filming location for the interiors of the Tuscany County Jail are rooms in the former Los Angeles Design Center (Title Exchange Building) in downtown Los Angeles, CA.

 
The sneak preview features a far shot of the moment when Lance says that Angela thinks he tried to kill her. That part of Lance's conversation with Ralph is shown in a close-up in the scene itself though. The editors apparently used different takes of this segment.
 
Uncredited extra ERNIE TATE appears in this episode again, but he does not play his usual character, the mustached Tuscany Valley doctor with graying hair. He portrays a clerk at the Tuscany County Jail this time. Contrary to his appearance in # 077, he has not changed his looks for this rôle, but has his natural hair this time.
Compare # 124 for a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 004.
 

The filming location for the kitchen in the Agretti Residence is the kitchen in the Hancock Park mansion in Los Angeles usually portraying the McKay House (compare # 055).

 

Uncredited extra GARY MOERKE appears as the gray-haired Tuscany Valley gentleman again — as usual, at his place of work as the Tuscany Downs Turf Club bartender.
Compare # 215 for a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 072.

 

Uncredited extra DAN COTTER appears in this episode again as the white-haired mustached San Francisco Metropolitan Hospital doctor — this time as a patron at the Tuscany Downs Turf Club.
Compare # 140 for a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 016.

 

At the Turf Club, Charlotte reads the Racing Record, a fictional newspaper about horse races.

 

Uncredited extra DOUGLAS MAIDA appears as Dave in this episode again — as usual, as a Tuscany Downs Turf Club waiter.
Compare # 224 for biographical details about this minor rôle and a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 034.

 
Mistake: This scene with Dave contains a continuity error because he is about to exit the Turf Club and has not even reached the door in one frame, but re-enters already in the subsequent frame.
This is a typical mistake caused by the particular close-up filming technique — check # 001 (Chase and Maggie at the Gioberti Family Cemetery) for details.
 
Uncredited extra KATHRYN JANSSEN appears as the gray-haired lady from the Tuscany Valley again — this time as a patron at the Tuscany Downs Turf Club in the background of both scenes with Charlotte and Maxie.
Compare # 227 for a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 021.
 
Uncredited extra WALTER M. SPEAR appears as the bald and bearded Tuscany Valley gentleman again — this time as a patron at the Tuscany Downs Turf Club, again alongside the lady played by KATHRYN JANSSEN, his real-life partner (see above).
Compare # 148 for a list of appearances throughout the series.
For details about the extra, compare # 048.
 
BUCK McDANCER, the actor who plays the security guard at the Tuscany Downs Turf Club this episode, also portrayed David Hatch, the airplane leaser at the Tuscany Valley Airport in # 070.
He will appear in many more rôles; please see the references in # 086, 127, 163, 168, 179 and 181. Changes in his hairdo, glasses and a false mustache help make him look completely different when needed.
BUCK's main profession is performing stunts; from this season on, he serves as a stunt double for many cast members in countless scenes. In seasons 5 through 8, he will be the series' stunt coordinator.
 
Familiar faces at LORIMAR: RONNIE CLAIRE EDWARDS, who guest-stars as Maxie McCoy, formerly had a recurring rôle on EARL HAMNER's previous show, "The Waltons", where she played Corabeth Godsey.
Maxie McCoy's original last name was Malone in early script drafts.
 
Maxie mentions real-life horse race tracks: Del Mar (Del Mar, CA) and Bay Meadows (San Mateo, CA).
 
A part of the scene with Charlotte and Maxie in Tuscany Downs was looped in post-production: When Charlotte says she's been off the horses for "two years" (dubbed), her moving lips actually say "ten" (as scripted). It remains a mystery why the producers felt the need to dub the audio, which also occurred again in the same way in the later scene with Charlotte and Maxie at Tuscany Downs in this episode.
 
Historic allusion:
Greg mentions SHAKESPEARE's "King Lear".
Angela quotes from it: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!"
 
The dining room scene at Riebmann's house, the old Gianinni home, is filmed at the former Los Angeles Design Center (Title Exchange Building) in downtown Los Angeles.
 
The room was entirely dressed by LORIMAR. The chandelier, by the way, is the same prop as one of the chandeliers in the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion foyer and dining room — a screen grab from # 076 on the left to compare.
 
Herb Boutilier's office in Washington, D.C. is the redressed set that is usually used as the anteroom to the New Globe executive office.
 
Real-life allusion: Charlotte mentions the Hialeah Race Track in Miami.
 
The mix-up of stock footage of the previous McKay exteriors with current interior scenes filmed at the Generaux / Guerrero residence continues (compare # 081).
 

No time can be seen on the display of the radio alarm clock in Richard's bedroom.

 
Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion veranda set — inconsistency: There are too many high bushes in front of the veranda set. The bushes at the real Villa Miravalle are much smaller.
 
Inside joke: Greg mentions the name of a horse in the sixth race at Tuscany Downs: Easy Ernie. ROD PETERSON, this episode's writer, hoarsed around with the first name of his stepson, supervising producer ERNIE WALLENGREN.
 
Cameraman's mistake: At the beginning of the scene with Maggie and Charlotte in the Gioberti House bedroom, the camera is pulled too far back from the set. For that reason, it becomes apparent that the wall behind Chase and Maggie's bed is missing. The set has movable walls to accommodate any production requirements.
 
Angela says they just painted and papered up the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion upstairs hall. Probably, she alludes to the Mansion's renovation during the time the family was away at the beginning of the season (for Julia's funeral; compare this season's General Information for the renovation of the interior sets).
 
In her conversation with Emma about Julia, Angela says: "The most constant thing in life, Emma, is change." This expression is a quote from the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher HERACLTIUS (approximately 500 BC), whose original wording was: "The only constant thing in life is change."
 

The Tuscany Valley street in the cliffhanger scene (Richard and Joel during the thunderstorm) is actually in front of the Mill at CBS-MTM STUDIOS (nowadays RADFORD STUDIO CENTER).

 

The black / red van used for Joel's trip to the drug rehab is a 1982 Ford Club Wagon.

 
Season time frame: Since # 081, a little more than one week, but less than two weeks must have gone by. In # 081 — the end of the episode was a Saturday (car race between Lance and Joel) — it was mentioned that Terry and Joel's wedding was scheduled in two weeks. During the current episode, it was mentioned the wedding was scheduled for next Friday. Before that, however, Richard takes Joel to the drug rehabilitation camp at the end of this episode. The Friday of the proposed wedding, by the way, must be the Friday in the week after Chase's return from Europe (compare # 082).
 
 

 
 
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