4 minutes ago, Khan said:

Even a storyline with Will developing one-sided obsession with Josh would've been interesting, if controversial, lol.

It would have, and would have made more sense of just why Will was obsessed with him. I would have added the ONS angle because Josh was, beyond sanctimony, such a passive character, even in a story where three people were obsessed with him. I would have appreciated seeing more exploration of his own actions driving people to extremes.

7 hours ago, P.J. said:

Honestly, I'm not sure what the plan with Sonni/Solita was. I'm not sure anyone knew. GL was not the kind of soap that would've kept a "bad" character (one who schemed to kill her husband). I'm not sure Long has ever said what the story was (both girls are alive or one living/one dead). I think the scabs at some point doubled back because Michelle and Joe Breen were really good actors and the scabs weren't very creative.

The reason this storyline jumped the trolley HAD to be because of the strike. Long was not prone to writing overly-convoluted mystery plots. Even if you didn't care much for her mystery stories, they were pretty straight-forward and understandable. That's true of both the Fishing Trip Mystery and the Barbados Mystery.

I'm not even sure that Long created the characters of Sonni and Will. I think Will came on before she returned, maybe Sonni, too? Will and Josh must have talked about her, at least. I believe Long came back just after Josh dumped Reva over Mara's paternity. Literally one of the first things she did when she came back was put Reva in her red dress and cause a scene at the country club, where she caught Alan's attention.

So she inherites this story, and then there's a long writers strike. I'm not even sure Will and Sonni were intended to be these dark, almost twisted characters in the beginning. Then when the scabs came in there was so much wacky stuff: Will and Sonni having this weird, sadistic relationship, plotting to kill Josh while Sonni was still jealous of Reva (because, of course), Will once being a priest, Sonni (or was it Solita?) being a porn star in Argentina. Sonni fell off the cliff, no, Solita fell off the cliff, no, Solita was impersonating Sonni, Sonni was caught in bed with Will and whipped almost to death by her father, no, it was Solita, who ended up hanging herself, then Sonni took over Solita's persona, blah, blah, blah...

It was pretty insane, and totally not the kind of mystery story Long had written before.

As crazy as the story was, the audience did like Forbes and Breen, so Long had to figure out ways to keep them on the show, at least until their contracts ran out.

I can't envy her coming back from the strike, because she had to put out a bunch of fires: Bernau was gone, she had to fix the Sonni story, she was told to bring Roger Thorpe back from the dead, which changed whatever direction she originally intended for Blake, etc, etc.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by DeeVee

21 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Josh for most of the '80s and onward was so dull it was hard for me to imagine him being with anyone, although I could have seen the Marland version as a scheming bisexual, complete with shades, LA connections, and coke addiction.

They never would have done the story but it would have added a much more interesting angle to the Will Jeffries character if he'd had a drunken one-night stand with Josh which Josh mostly wanted to forget about but had driven Will around the bend.

Now, that's interesting...something you could do something with. At first blush, It could have provided a basis for Will's hatred of Reva, which didn't really exist but could have. Perhaps it should have been Will who tried to destroy her rather than Sonni/Solita.

Making Will gay and Josh a closeted bisexual would've worked wonders for the show. It certainly would explain Josh's inexplicable loyalty to Reva, the crying, always blubbering, Diva of the Century. That both Josh and Reva are forever too dense to figure something like that out would add to the fun! Vanessa would figure something like that out fairly rapidly, which in itself fascinates me. Hmmm......there's an entire plotline in there somewhere. And lots of character development.

A viable alternative to a scenario like that would be for Josh to become impotent, admitting to Reva that he simply isn't physically attracted to her anymore. Imagine a scene like that! And a very bitter pill for Reva to swallow, something that would derail her. With her stock in trade in permanent absentia, Reva begins to adopt a Baby Jane Hudson-like persona, complete with smeared makeup and lots of cheap booze.

An appropriate end for a Diva.

1 hour ago, DeeVee said:

The reason this storyline jumped the trolley HAD to be because of the strike. Long was not prone to writing overly-convoluted mystery plots. Even if you didn't care much for her mystery stories, they were pretty straight-forward and understandable. That's true of both the Fishing Trip Mystery and the Barbados Mystery.

I'm not even sure that Long created the characters of Sonni and Will. I think Will came on before she returned, maybe Sonni, too? Will and Josh must have talked about her, at least. I believe Long came back just after Josh dumped Reva over Mara's paternity. Literally one of the first things she did when she came back was put Reva in her red dress and cause a scene at the country club, where she caught Alan's attention.

So she inherites this story, and then there's a long writers strike. I'm not even sure Will and Sonni were intended to be these dark, almost twisted characters in the beginning. Then when the scabs came in there was so much wacky stuff: Will and Sonni having this weird, sadistic relationship, plotting to kill Josh while Sonni was still jealous of Reva (because, of course), Will once being a priest, Sonni (or was it Solita?) being a porn star in Argentina. Sonni fell off the cliff, no, Solita fell off the cliff, no, Solita was impersonating Sonni, Sonni was caught in bed with Will and whipped almost to death by her father, no, it was Solita, who ended up hanging herself, then Sonni took over Solita's persona, blah, blah, blah...

It was pretty insane, and totally not the kind of mystery story Long had written before.

As crazy as the story was, the audience did like Forbes and Breen, so Long had to figure out ways to keep them on the show, at least until their contracts ran out.

I can't envy her coming back from the strike, because she had to put out a bunch of fires: Bernau was gone, she had to fix the Sonni story, she was told to bring Roger Thorpe back from the dead, which changed whatever direction she originally intended for Blake, etc, etc.

Sonni came on in late '87, because she and Josh married just before Sally (or after) died. Vanessa is still in town, and attends the wedding. Reva is with Alan in Hawaii (on a "business" trip), pissing off V, and for some reason, Reva is calling HB's, I think Van picks up, and Reva finds out they remarried. Josh and Sonni end up in Hawaii on their honeymoon, Van telegrams her acceptance of Alan's proposal which Reva intercepts and then goes to Hawaii. Of course, Josh and Sonni end up at the same resort that Alan, Reva and Vanessa are at. Awkward hilarity ensues.

I'm not sure when Will arrives. It's before March of '88, when he tries to kill Josh and Reva ends up comatose.

The strike was '88, Long comes back in August of '87. She pours Reva into the red dress, kills Vanessa and Ross' romance, and ...cures Johnny's cancer? '88 wasn't a good year for the show, the Sonni/Will plot was the only real mover. Other than Phillip taking over Spaulding.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Josh for most of the '80s and onward was so dull it was hard for me to imagine him being with anyone, although I could have seen the Marland version as a scheming bisexual, complete with shades, LA connections, and coke addiction.

They never would have done the story but it would have added a much more interesting angle to the Will Jeffries character if he'd had a drunken one-night stand with Josh which Josh mostly wanted to forget about but had driven Will around the bend.

O

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Josh for most of the '80s and onward was so dull it was hard for me to imagine him being with anyone, although I could have seen the Marland version as a scheming bisexual, complete with shades, LA connections, and coke addiction.

They never would have done the story but it would have added a much more interesting angle to the Will Jeffries character if he'd had a drunken one-night stand with Josh which Josh mostly wanted to forget about but had driven Will around the bend.

Suddenly my sweat pants feel tight

2 hours ago, Khan said:

The more rabid Danny/Michelle fans were UNREAL. They literally wanted every scene of every episode to revolve around the two cooing at each other. I'd been used to seeing that kind of devotion to couples on other soaps - DAYS, GH, even AMC to some extent - but seeing it happen with GL was shocking, because GL, up to that point, had been above the fray. If you were a GL fan (or ATWT or Y&R fan), it wasn't because of this-or-that couple, it was because you loved THE SHOW.

It was insane. But I can't fully agree with everything you cited. There was a rabid ATWT fan who identified with the actor, as well as the character, who was definitely prolific and unbalanced.

Slowly catching up on posts from the last 24 hours and I am shocked knowing that PAS and Laura Wright were on Loving together, let alone a couple who got married! I had no idea PAS was on Loving. How fun! Although I can't with his long hair haha. He looked much better on GL as Danny.

1 hour ago, P.J. said:

Sonni came on in late '87, because she and Josh married just before Sally (or after) died.

I looked up some dates:

Will started June 1987. Sonni started July 1987.

It says in Wikipedia that Long returned July 1987, but they were still crediting the previous writers in the very few July episodes that I could find. By August, she is credited as head writer.

So it seems like it was the previous writers who invented Will and Sonni.

Sonni was in SF for a little while before she and Josh "remarried." It had to be autumn, because they got married outside and Josh gave Sonni a beautiful white fur cape to wear for the ceremony. I found a picture, in fact:

Edited 57 minutes ago57 min by DeeVee

2 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I looked up some dates:

Will started June 1987. Sonni started July 1987.

It says in Wikipedia that Long returned July 1987, but they were still crediting the previous writers in the very few July episodes that I could find. By August, she is credited as head writer.

So it seems like it was the previous writers who invented Will and Sonni.

Sonni was in SF for a little while before she and Josh "remarried." It had to be autumn, because they got married outside and Josh gave Sonni a beautiful white fur cape to wear for the ceremony. I found a picture, in fact:

So, whatever the original idea was, Long undoubtably retooled it, and the scabs twisted it into a double helix.

Ugh...that headpiece.

1 minute ago, P.J. said:

So, whatever the original idea was, Long undoubtably retooled it, and the scabs twisted it into a double helix.

Ugh...that headpiece.

It's a shame because the gown and cape are quite nice. But they couldn't stop there. It was the 80s. 😂

Just from the angle, it looks like Krista's staring at it thinking WTF? lol

Y'all...

I know we're supposed to suspend our disbelief to make this all work, but Josh just got thrown into a plane and sent back to Springfield... and then in the next scene, we see him at his house calling Ross to come over to help him. Meanwhile, Reva/Richard are still having the same conversation at the palace in San Cristobel and Michelle/Danny/Edmund are still having their same conversation. That means Josh teleported ~5 hours in the blink of an eye. 😂.

I thought their travels to Cross Creek were quick, but this takes the cake LOL.

4 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Y'all...

I know we're supposed to suspend our disbelief to make this all work, but Josh just got thrown into a plane and sent back to Springfield... and then in the next scene, we see him at his house calling Ross to come over to help him. Meanwhile, Reva/Richard are still having the same conversation at the palace in San Cristobel and Michelle/Danny/Edmund are still having their same conversation. That means Josh teleported ~5 hours in the blink of an eye. 😂.

I thought their travels to Cross Creek were quick, but this takes the cake LOL.

I grew used to the strange timing of conversations--one that was drawn out through the episode, when across town action moved at warp speed. But the travel inconsistencies annoyed the hell out of me. In later years, characters would travel across country (or even to Europe) in the space of a commerical break, then return home in time for supper. Before about the mid-90's its a tad more realistic. Not always, but not nearly as noticable.

7 minutes ago, P.J. said:

I grew used to the strange timing of conversations--one that was drawn out through the episode, when across town action moved at warp speed. But the travel inconsistencies annoyed the hell out of me. In later years, characters would travel across country (or even to Europe) in the space of a commerical break, then return home in time for supper. Before about the mid-90's its a tad more realistic. Not always, but not nearly as noticable.

Yeah it's wild. Aside from Cross Creek... I never really noticed too many crazy instances. Like when Reva went to Italy to visit a dying Sarah, or even when Hart/Dinah went to Switzerland, I don't remember those being as jarring or noticeable.

But yeah, knowing how long San Cristobel goes on, I'm just preparing myself for constant teleportation.