Flamingo Road

[Jamie Barnes]

Hi guys,

I find Flamingo Road is the best soap I know and yeah my favourite series. I like the plot of the series so much. It has great episodes and great actors. I guess I like the parts of Sam, Michael and Claude at most. But actually I like all of them and there is nobody who I would want to miss. Im so http://images.bravenet.com/brpics/smilie/sosad.gif that FRoad was canceled so early. I find the series had great potential.

I would gladly know who among you also like Flamingo Road and why???

[JT]

I'm a BIG Flamingo Road fan! FYI, I used to be registered here as "Flamingo RD" but after a looooong time (my computer was broken for 2 1/2 months), I finally decided to come back here, but I forgot my old password so I registered again, and some mix-ups happened, but I finally got back here!

But anyway, back to FR. I love it. I saw for the very first time on June 2, 2003, when the Goodlife TV Network picked it up for once-a-week airings. It still airs in the same timeslot, Mondays @ 10PM ET. They are currently approaching the first season finale, which will air on this coming Monday.

I think the reason why I really love FR, is because I always came online and read about how GREAT all the other 80s primetime soaps were but I didn't have SOAPnet (still don't) so I never saw any of them, except "Dallas." I watched reruns of that on TNN for a long time and loved it. I was hungry for that time when lust, greed, power, and of course SEX, were regularly presented in primetime, and boy when I first saw FR, I fell in love with it, instantly! The character I like the most is without a doubt Morgan Fairchild's bitchy, scheming, connving Constance Weldon Carlyle. Constance was a bitch in the terms of Abby Cunningham and Alexis Carrington Colby, so she was the likeable vixen. My mother favorites include Cristina Raines' innocent girl with a past Lane Ballou, Stella Stevens' madam-turned-bar owner Lute-Mae Sanders, and David Selby's villainous Michael Tyronne.

FR had such great potential to last long. Many people say that "Dynasty" caused its cancellation, because DYN premeired a week after FR. This theory is just laughable, imo, because DYN and FR never ever ran opposite each other. FR spent the majority of its run on Tuesdays, and DYN was on Wednesdays. The thing that killed FR was NBC's dumb schedluing. They put it up against ABC's huge hit "Hart to Hart," which, as an Aaron Spelling show, had a large following. I think they would have done MUCH better by putting FR on either Sundays, or maybe even an hour earlier on Tuesdays. I think if they would have scheduled it better, it could have possibly ran to at least 1986.

Obviously, I haven't been able to find many FR sites on the net, but there is this one page that is dedicated to all primetime soaps (each one has its own site). Primetime Soap (http://medlem.spray.se/PrimeTimeSoap/new_page_1.htm). It's really a GREAT place if you want to learn about the long-running favorites and the shorter lived shows from both the 80s and 90s. There are episode guides and detailed series summaries for all the shows, as far as I know. Great site.

Nice to finally see another FR fan!

[Christine]

Hi JT, welcome back! I do remember you!!!
I am also a FR fan and currently watching the last few episodes of season 2. I LOVE the show.
But I must say another thing that might have killed the show is the incredibly stupid Voodoo plot, yikes! http://images.bravenet.com/brpics/smilie/22_yikes.gif
Today I watched the episode where Michael breaks up with Lute-Mae and I had to cry so hard, lol. Poor Lute-Mae! http://images.bravenet.com/brpics/smilie/sosad.gif
My favorite character in season one is Constance but I don't like her so much anymore in season 2. In season 1 she's only the very spoiled daughter and in season 2 she's suddenly this scheming bitch that I can't like so much anymore. I think overall my fav character is Sam! http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[JT]

Aww, the voodoo stuff wasn't that mad, imo. I do think, however, that if they were back for the 1982-1983 season, they should have just dropped the supernatural stuff. I like how the show mixed political stuff with the normal primetime sudsor topics. I can just imagine future stories, had the show had gone on....Constance is pregnant, but doesn't know who the daddy is; Lane's baby is autistic; Lute-Mae's mother comes to town and blasts her daughter. All those ideas and MANY others have been floating around my head since Goodlife aired the last few episodes (I wasnt able to catch the last three, however). Who knows, I might get on that Microsoft Word and start a "Fantasy Flamingo Road"! http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Christine]

I totally hate the voodoo stuff, lol. You see, I think adding Michael Tyrone to the cast was a brilliant idea, finally the show had a true villain a la JR Ewing. You could tell that Michael was a very clever business man but then it got so stupid and the plot where he had his sister killed was BAD. The love for his sister was something that made him more human so to show that he even goes THAT far isn't very believable. From that moment on Michael was nothing more than a monster. I like it that the villains on other shows also show a human side, like for example JR loves his mother and his son and would do anything for them.

"Fantasy Flamingo Road"? Sounds great! I would definitely read it! http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

[JT]

Maybe I enjoyed the voodoo plot a little bit because I am also a huuuuge fan of "Dark Shadows" (which also starred David Selby), but I won't even get into my obsession with that show!

What did you think about the whole Field/Lane/Constance triangle of the first season? I absolutely loved it! Field showed his true colors (he actually HIT Constance a few times), Constance showed hers (and she hit him back too!), but nothing seemed to make Lane crack. My favorite episodes is definatly "The Jealous Wife," which includes scenes where Constance and Lane completely bitch each other out at the Truro Tennis Court. It looked so much like two high school girls fighting, because to begin with, the tenniswear they have on looks like high school PE suits, and then of course, Constance had her little clique of rich friends behind her laughing at everything she told Lane. Oh, how I wish those two women would have gone at it on those tennis courts!

You said you were watching the last few episodes of season 2. You have the whole series taped? That's cool! I'm assuming you've seen the scenes where Lane and Lute-Mae got into an emotional argument because Lane told Lute-Mae that Michael was a monster (I think she even called him a bastard! They did seem to like using that word a LOT on FR!).


Speaking of season 2, I loved the episode in the beginning of the season where Lute-Mae is raped by the grocery store boy. I loved it when Lane and Lute-Mae went on their little vacation out in the country and then when the boy followed them there, they beat him down! That was some great stuff!

You know, I can go on and on and on about FR, possibly all day long, but I think I better shut up now and let you say something http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif

[Christine]

And I am a Buffy fan but I still hate the Voodoo plot, lol. You see, such storylines make sense on shows like Buffy and Dark Shadows but not on a soap. Just think of the Alien plot on The Colbys/Dynasty, it's just not suitable for a soap but it makes sense on shows like "The X-Files".

Oh, I love the Field/Lane/Sam love triangle! When I saw the show for the very first time (I must have been around 15, that was 15 ys ago http://images.bravenet.com/brpics/smilie/22_yikes.gif) I really wanted Lane and Field to be together. But now I am more a Sam fan and happy that she ended up with him.
Gosh, don't even get me started on Field hitting Constance, what an a**hole! http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif What I find strange about Flamingo Road today is that they kind of make it look like this would be a normal thing that a man hits his wife. http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif
"The jealous wife" is also one of my favorite episodes! I love it that Field forces Constance in the end to sit on Lane and Sam's table, lol. The bitch got what she deserved! http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

No, I don't have the show on tape, there was a re-run on German tv but it's over now. I taped the last few episodes two weeks ago because I was on vacation. Now I only have one episode left, boo hooo. I really enjoyed re-watching the show, I think I even like the series more than 15 years ago! There are so many great things about it that I hadn't noticed before like the awesome acting for example! They have so many great actors on Flamingo Road, it's a shame that the series got cancelled so early. My favorite actors are Morgan Fairchild, Barbara Rush, Howard Duff and David Selby. Note that these are my fav actors, not characters. Also Woody Brown was very good, he did a great job at playing a blind man. Did you notice that on most soaps blind people walk around with dark glasses all the time but Woody didn't need this kind of help. I totally believed it that he was a blind man. http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

I love chatting with you about Flamingo Road and Jamie will be delighted to see that there are new replies to her thread. She is currently on vacation and will be back next week I think.
http://images.bravenet.com/brpics/smilie/wave1.gif

[Christine]

Hey, I just discovered this post on the tvTome Flamingo Road forum:

I have the series on DVD, if you need help....
scottp619@cox.net

This was posted on December 03, here's the link:
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowForumPage/showid-3614/threadid-6904/

Sounds interesting, I'd love to have the show on DVD! I could finally watch the series in English, yippppeee. I wonder if he would ship the DVD's to Germany though. And how much would it cost, probably a fortune!

[Jamie Barnes]

Hi JT,

I remember you too. I wrote you a private message many months ago because I thought I could tell about Flamingo Road with you. But sadly you didn`t answer. http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

Its cool that after so many months there are two members who decided to give an answer at this topic. http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I really love Flamingo Road too. I can`t get enough from this wonderful show.

[paddylad]

does anyone have this show on video??

[JT]

I agree with you Christine about Woody Brown. Though it kinda freaked me out that he walked around with his eyes wide open all the time, it was a welcome change from the stereotyped sunglasses. Right now, Goodlife is in the beginning of the second season. Michael Tyronne just came to town and will soon begin to wreck havoc on Truro. I wish they would have kept some of the short-lived characters on for a while, such as Christie and Alice Kovacks, and Skipper's girlfriend from the pilot, Annabelle Troy. I wish they would have expanded more on the character of Tony, the guy who works at Lute-Mae's and later threatens her with information regarding Constance's maternity. I guess that would have required a third season, though.

[Jamie Barnes]

I also liked Skipper. Although I think he hadn`t an interesting part. The idea with his blindness was good but apart from that he was very boring but so cute. And I need to say that I truly like Elmo. :exit: He was a very nice man from the beginning till the end. And without him there would be missed something.

I think it`s sad that with Michael the show has changed. The friendship between Sam and Lute-Mae became colder. And I really liked Constance`s emotion for Sam. Since the beginning she was really fall for him. But then Constance felt in love with Michael. And also the relationship between them became colder. That`s a pity. Maybe they could have had a little bit fun together when Sam and Lane wasn`t a couple. I liked the episode „Hell Hath No Fury“ very much. Sam and Constance were another great couple!!!! :kiss:

I read in a feedback from an other fan that he believe after the end of the show Lane would have gone back to Field and the father of Lane`s baby would have been Field and not Sam. I would gladly know what do you think about that idea! Myself don`t believe that Lane would go back to Field. It would be very daft. Because Lane changed her boyfriends so often and it would be unbelievable if he would go back to Field once more. I believe Lane loved Sam very much. And I guess they would have been a happy little family. Every soap had a little baby! http://www.mysmilie.de/smilies/lieb/5.gif

[JT]

I would have liked it if Constance would have ended up pregnant too, and the two women give birth out in some stranded far out area in the Florida wilderness. Can you just imagine the bond they'd share afterwards? But then Lane's baby turns out to be Field's and Constance turns out to be completely pissed! That would have been awesome!

[Kirby]

[QUOTE=Christine]Hi JT, welcome back! I do remember you!!!
I am also a FR fan and currently watching the last few episodes of season 2. I LOVE the show.
But I must say another thing that might have killed the show is the incredibly stupid Voodoo plot, yikes! [img]


I agree Christine. The voodoo storyline was definitely stupid and a big turnoff. And Sam was my favorite character from Flamingo Road also.

[Kirby]

I totally hate the voodoo stuff, lol. You see, I think adding Michael Tyrone to the cast was a brilliant idea, finally the show had a true villain a la JR Ewing. You could tell that Michael was a very clever business man but then it got so stupid and the plot where he had his sister killed was BAD. The love for his sister was something that made him more human so to show that he even goes THAT far isn't very believable. From that moment on Michael was nothing more than a monster. I like it that the villains on other shows also show a human side, like for example JR loves his mother and his son and would do anything for them.

"Fantasy Flamingo Road"? Sounds great! I would definitely read it! http://www.soapchat.net/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif


I agree once again Christine. :hello:

[Kirby]

[QUOTE=Christine]And I am a Buffy fan but I still hate the Voodoo plot, lol. You see, such storylines make sense on shows like Buffy and Dark Shadows but not on a soap. Just think of the Alien plot on The Colbys/Dynasty, it's just not suitable for a soap but it makes sense on shows like "The X-Files".


Exactly!!!! Voodoo should not be on a soap like Dallas or Dynasty. Buffy, Charmed, X-files, Friday The 13 The Series, Twilight Zone, and Dark Shadows were supernatural shows. Shows like Dallas and Dynasty are realistic shows. And vampires and ghosts do not mix well with them.

[Kirby]

I never liked Lane with Field, they were so boring. I liked Lane with Sam and Field needed Constance to keep him from being so boring. Plus, I didn't think it was right for Field to use Constance in the beginning the way he did. And then the way he treated Constance was very sad. He even hit her once. Field was such a wimp; and I feel he kinda used both Lane and Constance. I liked Sam a lot better.