[quote]The golden blond preppy athletic guy with the distinct tan line getting fucked next to a swimming pool was a classic in the 80s

That was Chuck Holmes' preference; in fact, we owe the whole Calvin Klein aesthetic to Holmes as much as Klein.

[quote]Falcon was still the most popular studio when the preferred look (post AIDS) had changed to incredibly built men

Post AIDs? I know what you mean, but still... the bottom line is that the twinks of the 80s grew up and became those incredible built men before succumbing to AIDs. And the whole muscleman look was part of what came out of the AIDs crisis, in that the way the virus decimated the body and the look of health became the exaggerated overly muscular look that dominates gay porn. But Falcon being the most popular studio in the era you're claiming? Hardly. Falcon was basically ruined by Chi Chi LaRue and her gang of thugs that bullied Holmes as his health declined into making movies that he had no interest in making... with condoms.

[quote]John Rutherford left it as studio head

Rutherford was, more or less, forced out (and just a fine point: you've confused Rutherford with Steven Scarborough, who left Falcon to launch Hot House because Holmes did not like the leathered/muscled look — and the focus on buttplay — that was Scarborough's cup of tea). Rutherford's departure from Falcon came with a large payout (in porn terms), which he blew buying Colt from Jim French (and then screwed out of his rightful payout). Rutherford was always more interested in selling calendars, toys and clothes to compliment what he thought was the gay porn lifestyle, and that is was what drove Falcon from its industry leading perch by losing its focus on making good wackoff material right as the internet exploded, the technology to make movies became readily accessible to the masses, and the stigma of being gay, and particularly a gay porn star, waned.

Holmes' success came from his background in sales (he was selling aluminum siding in rural America prior to starting Falcon) combined with the advent of the VCR moving porn from sleazy downtown theatres into the privacy of the bedroom. Falcon's demise came at the hands of condom nazis determined to change gay men's behaviour (yay!) as our numbers temporarily declined, and the internet finished Falcon off when others came along willing to go where Rutherford, Scarborough and Cam were not.

In the middle of this, Chris Ward entered the picture, bringing with him no business experience, an outsized ego, and a narrow view of what gay men wanted to see, which was popular long enough for Raging Stallion to grow too big for even Ward's considerable britches, just in time for piracy and the internet to come along and smash gay porn to smithereens. You'd think that watching Rutherford nearly bankrupt Falcon by making an incredibly expensive dud (that stupid Hawaiian film that reportedly cost about a half of a million dollars to make and sold nowhere near that many copies) would have told Ward to abandon his Hollywood-esque dreams, but no; he borrowed enough money from his online partner (AEBN) such that when he couldn't pay it back, they owned his studio lock, (film) stock and barrel.

And, of course, the nail in the proverbial coffin was that bareback came along and took over the market, helmed by younger, more in-touch guys (albeit some of them certifiably insane... looking at you, Paul Morris) who saw the potential of the internet and took full advantage of it. Whether it was Sean Cody (a former prison guard or parole officer, if memory serves, which is how he found so many of those incredibly hot guys), Randy Blue, or the plethora of newcomers that now form establishment gay porn, or the fact that average schmoes in the middle of nowhere filming themselves and their friends fucking sans condoms, Falcon/Raging Stallion/Hot House and separately Titan, Channel 1, All Worlds and the lot where done. Add in the financial crisis of 2008, and it's a wonder that any of these old names are still around at all.