9 hours ago, Vee said:

What irks me is I don't think they ever explained Reva being seen alive in that tourist video that sends Josh off searching for her. (I've always wanted to see those scenes but don't know where to look - did Kim return for them?) It also strains credulity beyond belief that she ended up in both San Cristobel and the Amish country, amnesiac both times.

8 hours ago, Khan said:

IIRC, she didn't. The travel video - which, I agree, shouldn't have been dropped - was a sort of Carlivatian device where characters would look at it on TV, but we ourselves didn't see any of it. At least, that's my recollection. Maybe they showed the actual footage and I just didn't catch it that day, lol.

That's correct. We never see the footage. It wasn't like after Beth "died" where we saw a body double. It's everyone's reaction to the video that we see. What's in the vault from Jan'91 doesn't cover it. The only episode in English that I've found is below, and only about the first fifteen minutes is GL. I know I've seen when Billy and Sarah actually first see the report, and Billy becomes obsessed by it, taking it to some video expert that tries to blow up the image, etc. Here, Billy has blown up an engagement party of sorts with the news.

I think when Josh came back in '93, he just says he searched and searched and never found anything that led to Reva, so he gave up.

5 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Desert Sun, Number 120, 22 December 1983‘Guiding Light’ writer looks for fresh ideas

By TOM JORY Associated Press Writer

“I get really upset,” says Pamela Long Hammer, principal writer for the CBS soap opera since March, “because I’ll come up with this neat scenario and someone will say, ‘That’s like “Strangers on a Train.’” “I think, ‘They keep stealing my material.’

Often, that involves inventing new characters. “‘I look at Vanessa (Maeve Kinkead), one of our leading ladies,” Miss Long Hammer says. "What could make theaudience care more about her? “Then I think, ‘Why can’t she find a man she can love, who will also love her?’ Voila, here comes Billy Lewis (Jordan Clarke).

“Another example,” she says, “is Alan Spaulding (Christopher Bernau). All of a sudden, he’s got a sister no one ever knew about. “They come complete,” says Miss Long Hammer of the serial’s characters, including the new ones. “We know who they are and where they came from long before the viewer gets all that information. That’s one of the most interesting things about daytime, the complexities of the characters.”

One, Pam Long never met a movie she couldn't rip off, whether that was GWTW, Grand Hotel, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or (I assume) something like The Manchurian Candidate (or wTfever Infinity was ripped off from). Not that this is unique, everyone did. (I was binging The Love Boat and was amazed to realize they ripped off an entire movie, at one point, including the final shot, with only tweeks that updated it from the '30's)

Two, she didn't exactly invent Billy, he'd been mentioned for years. She just fleshed him out and gave him to Vanessa. Which, obviously worked.

Three, I can't believe they spoiled Bev McKinsey's being Alan's sister nearly two months before she popped up in Springfield.

And four, shout out to the forgotten continuity people. Although if Long really wanted X and Y to speak, she simply had to invent a reason for them to do so. It's called motivation. Kobe simply solved that problem by firing most of the actors who'd been on prior to Long's arrival.

8 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

Oh I didn't know she was on AMC once - do you remember what year?

It must've been during the late '80's, b/c I think it was a scene with Peter Bergman, who played Dr. Cliff Warner, at Pine Valley Hospital.

2 hours ago, P.J. said:

One, Pam Long never met a movie she couldn't rip off, whether that was GWTW, Grand Hotel, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or (I assume) something like The Manchurian Candidate (or wTfever Infinity was ripped off from).

Don't forget every James Dean and young Marlon Brando movie for the Lujack storyline.

The GWTW obsession was a little much for me. I wonder if Robert Newman hadn't left if we would have found out that Josh actually was more love with a male school friend than with Reva in their Cat on a Hot Tin Roof replay. (Actually, that might have been interesting, LOL).

What's gagging me the most about that article is how she came to New York to become an actress in 1980, accomplished that with a major role on a soap, and by 1982 was head writing soap operas! Replacing some of the best in the business at the time! WTF. (There HAS to be some tea about THAT).

Yeah, I know Texas was already on its last legs when she wrote it and she had a co-head writer in the beginning at GL. But this isn't like, say, Harding Lemay being plucked from playwriting to write a soap. As far I know, she had zero writing experience before writing Texas.

Also, talking about writing from character, the Dreaming Death storyline had nothing at all to do with the characters, it was totally plot-driven nonsense. But I've always assumed it was nonsense she was commanded to write so they could compete with GH.

I give her a lot of credit for the good things she did with GL, and soaps probably should have given more newbie soap writers chances, but her backstory for how she got into writing soaps is still wild.

2 hours ago, P.J. said:

Three, I can't believe they spoiled Bev McKinsey's being Alan's sister nearly two months before she popped up in Springfield.

Oh, yeah, we knew she was coming and we knew she would be Alan's sister. They made a big thing out of it.

I think they did that to get the audience 1) excited about Bev coming on the show and 2) used to the idea that Alan had a sudden sister.

It worked.

The only good thing I will say about Christopher Pennock was he absolutely LOOKED like he could be Philip (Grant's) father. That was it. Nothing else bore any resemblance physically or character wise who left for Arizona with Helena Manzini (wonder what ever happened to her-he certainly never mentioned her) all those years ago. Oh how wonderful it would have been to get Tom back.

He was a in name only recast. The all time champ for that however remains Robert Bogue? as MALLET...absolutely nothing screamed former Italian NYC cop about this guy. He was like an entirely new character...hello...you have a sister Julie and you can't even mention whether she got better after going off the rails with Dylan and Hart?

13 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Come on someone, SPILL THE TEA! 😂

😂

Pour it up. But it is funny that Crystal seemed to have an issue on each soap.

10 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

For any Marj fans... one of her iconic scenes on AMC. Alex Spaulding almost kills Michelle Bauer Some of my favorites!

I liked Marj. She was really good with those over the top characters. I still liked Greenlee at this point. But "Alexandra" could've gutted her after the show became all about her.

54 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Don't forget every James Dean and young Marlon Brando movie for the Lujack storyline.

The GWTW obsession was a little much for me. I wonder if Robert Newman hadn't left if we would have found out that Josh actually was more love with a male school friend than with Reva in their Cat on a Hot Tin Roof replay. (Actually, that might have been interesting, LOL).

What's gagging me the most about that article is how she came to New York to become an actress in 1980, accomplished that with a major role on a soap, and by 1982 was head writing soap operas! Replacing some of the best in the business at the time! WTF. (There HAS to be some tea about THAT).

Yeah, I know Texas was already on its last legs when she wrote it and she had a co-head writer in the beginning at GL. But this isn't like, say, Harding Lemay being plucked from playwriting to write a soap. As far I know, she had zero writing experience before writing Texas.

Also, talking about writing from character, the Dreaming Death storyline had nothing at all to do with the characters, it was totally plot-driven nonsense. But I've always assumed it was nonsense she was commanded to write so they could compete with GH.

I give her a lot of credit for the good things she did with GL, and soaps probably should have given more newbie soap writers chances, but her backstory for how she got into writing soaps is still wild.

Oh, yeah, we knew she was coming and we knew she would be Alan's sister. They made a big thing out of it.

I think they did that to get the audience 1) excited about Bev coming on the show and 2) used to the idea that Alan had a sudden sister.

It worked.

LOL...confession--the only James Dean movie I watched was Giant. I initially didn't even like it, but on rewatch, Liz Taylor is really good in it.

re: Bev, I didn't have access to soap articles until later in the '80s, so it was all news to me.

10 minutes ago, CrazySexyQ said:

😂

Pour it up. But it is funny that Crystal seemed to have an issue on each soap.

I liked Marj. She was really good with those over the top characters. I still liked Greenlee at this point. But "Alexandra" could've gutted her after the show became all about her.

I liked Marj. I've been thinking on it---Marj had a better wardrobe than Bev. So often, they dressed Bev like the Queen Mother, all one solid color so they could pick her out of a crowd.

1 minute ago, P.J. said:

LOL...confession--the only James Dean movie I watched was Giant. I initially didn't even like it, but on rewatch, Liz Taylor is really good in it.

Honestly, I can't stand either Rebel Without a Cause or East of Eden, though he is quite fantastic in both. The only reason to see them at this point in time (IMO) is simply to see all of his performances and sigh over what might have been if he hadn't died.

I agree about Liz. She was criminally underrated as an actress. I have always loved her work. When she had a good role, she could play the heck out of it. That was one of her iconic performances. I'm certain Miss Ellie on Dallas was based on Leslie in Giant.

5 minutes ago, P.J. said:

re: Bev, I didn't have access to soap articles until later in the '80s, so it was all news to me.

There was no internet, so stuff didn't get saved forever until much later.

Which is likely another reason they did it. Not every soap viewer read every line of every soap mag, so it still would have been a surprise to a big portion of the audience.