Falcon Crest  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 in 1979. 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 recently 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 Waltons"—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" and 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" lead-in series, "Dallas", played by Larry Hagman.