Used to wait all week for that show; loved Morgan Fairchild the most. This was my 1st introduction to Mark Harmon, and would guess that is where he got his start. Just as suave then as he is now! Always wondered what happened to her after it went off the air. During that time period i had never been to Florida or the deep South, now i have been there many times. It was because of my immersion in Flamingo Road that i developed a burning desire to see the South for myself. Sure wish it was available to purchase, so I could watch it again from beginning to end! Probably where i got my email address idea from (live in the NW (Camas, WA) but wish i was in Key West FL!))

"Flamingo Road" intrigued the high school boy that I then was far more than "Dallas," "Dynasty," or any other of the many prime-time soaps of the 1980s. The cast was stellar, the best a series of this type could ask for, consisting of a perfect combination of classic film veterans and talented newcomers. The steamy South itself, with all its accoutrements, both realistic and stereotypical, was the actual major living-and-breathing character of the show. From the pilot TV movie in 1980 to the second and final season, I was hooked. When no new episodes premiered in the fall of '82, I was saddened. Withdrawal symptoms of lust for Constance and admiration for Lane lasted quite a while. I have wondered about the arrested universe of "Flamingo Road" all these many years. How nice it would be to have a release of the complete series on DVD and/or Blu-ray.

Flamingo Road was a lot like Peyton Place, in that it took place in a small Florida town and was dependent on a paper mill run by Claude Weldon. This soap had the best names. . . Constance, Eudora, Skipper, Fielding, Lane, Lute Mae, Julio, Elmo, and Titus, for starters. How these great actors kept from going over the top was a miracle, as the material could easily have gone in that direction. The first season focused on the triangle of Lane/Field/Constance, and Sheriff Titus's efforts to get Lane Ballou out of town permanently so she wouldn't affect Field's up and coming political career. However, due to Morgan Fairchild's popularity as the very self-absorbed and spoiled Constance, she became the focus of season two and slept with virtually every man but her father and brother! Throw in the arrival of Michael Tyrone as a man intent on destroying everyone on Flamingo Road through blackmail, murder, voodoo, and black magic, and the series was at it's peak. Unfortunately, the series ended with a few unanswered questions and cliffhangers, but it was still one of the best nighttime soap operas ever. Featuring a very sexy cast, including Woody Brown, John Beck, Fernando Allende, and Mark Harmon, plus the aforementioned Fairchild, Christina Raines, and Stella Stevens for the few straight men in the audience, this series had it all.