Is It True About Joey?

This is not an experience of myself, but of another man who wishes to remain anonymous. What you are about to read is copied off of an e-mail he sent me and has given me permission to show. Without further ado, here it is.
I'll try to remember this the best that I can, as everything I am about to say happened all the way back in late summer/early fall of 1993, almost thirty years ago.
I used to work at test screenings for several shows back in the late eighties, all the way through the mid-tens. One of those shows happened to be Full House. Believe it or not, Full House was actually one of the strangest cases of any of these shows. Specifically during the first half of its seventh season. The show mostly had a reputation for being very clean-cut and cookie cutter. In other terms, I would say it was very "safe" and "inoffensive." However, in 1993, when the seventh season came up, weird things started to happen.
It seemed as if they wanted to change the very nature of this show. Their first method seemed to be to write a script that would be the most likely accepted version to be aired on television, and then have the actors and actresses improvise alternate versions that may be racy, or different. For example: The episode Fast Friends. This episode mostly concerns the scene in the school bathroom. (if there were more, I have forgotten) There were alternate cuts that they screened to the audience to see what they liked best. (I guess hoping they'd pick racy ones) The scenes were stapled together in a rocky fashion, but the people insisted that they'd piece parts together in the final cut to make it flow naturally. Ultimately, the script accurate ones would always be chosen.
One was a take where, after Mickey referred to the girls as "the guys", Jodie improvised Stephanie to say something along the lines of "In Japan, they call your kind newhalves." However, everyone except for Marla (Gia's actress) were lost and confused by what this meant. Gia wasn't meant to laugh, here, but Marla broke character, and snickered at it, then composed herself, and said "Very funny, Steph.". Another notable take was the part when Gia commented on how Stephanie quit smoking. Stephanie's reply was "Well, you can quit, too. Perhaps you could start by taking that cigarette and shoving it up your ass." It was this quote where Mickey, played by one of the Morgan daughters (I think her name was Bonnie), laughed the way she does in the final version, because it was pieced together with the script accurate cut, even though it didn't happen during the filming of that one. Mickey's laugh was actually softer and more low key, but they used this one as her laugh was actually real. (NOTE: It's actually Molly Morgan that plays Mickey, not Bonnie the contortionist. The guy mailing me this says "Bonnie" through the rest of his message, but just to make it more accurate and less confusing I will correct Bonnie to Molly)
There was also an episode where Jesse cheated on Becky with Vanna White, but due to the poor reception from the test audience, the episode got hastily rewritten and re-shot into the episode, "The Test." The main attraction for this, however, and one that might have completely murdered the series, had it not been dealt with immediately, was a two-parter episode titled "Is It True About Joey?" This was later rewritten as, and retooled into, "Is It True About Stephanie?" Overall, I always kind of considered the episode sort of a sequel to Fast Friends, as it featured the return of Marla Sokolov as Gia Mahan (who was fresh off Boy Meets World, originally wanting a part on The Wonder Years, which had already ended when she came into the scene), and Molly Morgan as Mickey. On a slight note, I actually somewhat know Molly. Not super closely, but I know her because I happen to know her father, Gary Morgan. He had another daughter, whose name escapes me. (Bonnie)
So, let's dive right into this. I've seen the final version, which I will refer to it as the "Stephanie" version, multiple times, but I've seen the original version, that I will refer to as the "Joey" version, roughly twice. So, for that reason, some moments of the Joey version may be a tad wonky. It's also been forever since I've seen the Stephanie version, so it may be off, too. Bear with me. I should also leave a disclaimer that I am writing this with the idea that you've seen the Stephanie version. If you haven't, either go watch it on whatever streaming service you have, or look up a plot synopsis.
So, the Joey version begins the same way as the Stephanie version. No difference at all, except for the fact that the director of the Joey version is listed as James O'Keefe, while the Stephanie version, despite the fact that it uses clips of O'Keefe's episode, is listed as Joel Zwick. I'll explain why later. But the episode begins to change up when it gets to the Tanner household. A lot of the same plot elements, like family baking cookies, Danny rearranging his house, due to his breakup with that girl whose name I forgot (Vicky). But the thing that is different with the Joey version, is that it introduces another plot element, where Joey is away a lot as of late, and that this has apparently happened a number of times before. They try to figure out why, and they come to the conclusion of the possibility of him having more standup shows, or having a girlfriend, which seems more likely, as he would have been open with the former.
So, after that, Joey finally arrives. They ask him why he was gone so long, and he doesn't say, but tells people not to worry about it. So, he goes to help them bake cookies, or a cake, or whatever it is they are doing. I seem to remember the Stephanie version added in extra footage that was filmed for the Joey version, but was cut for time and pacing reasons. The next scene has Stephanie run into DJ's room, to tell her about her boyfriend. It's mostly the same, except for the fact that it ends with them talking about Joey being away. Stephanie mentions that he's in his rearranged room, trying to find his stuff, and they decide to go ask him.
As they run in there, and ask Joey, he tells them it's private, and it's nothing to worry about. Kimmie comes across a strange book in Joey's room. They ask him what it is, and he tells them it's his diary, to which they ask why a guy would have a diary. Joey takes his "diary" out of her hands, and says "I'll have you know, I am quite in touch with my feminine side." DJ then makes a comment that he's also an adult, and he'd be a bit too old for that, anyway. Jesse happens to walk in as this is being said, and makes some comment about how Joey barely qualifies as an adult. He then asks what the fiasco is all about, and DJ tells Jesse that Joey has a diary. Jesse utters the same stuff as the girls, stating that, basically, diaries are for teen girls. Joey says "Well, didn't you have a diary as a teenager?" Jesse clarifies that it was a notebook for how he rated certain girls in his class. He thinks back to his youth, reminiscing about each girl, rating from a seven to a hard ten. He then snaps out of his trance and says "Anyway, I never had no girly diary." Joey responds with "Well, unlike you, I'm quite in touch with my feminine side, thank you very much." Jesse then backs up, and says "Whoa, have mercy. What you do in your free time is...none of my business." Jesse then leaves.
Beyond this scene is largely identical to the Stephanie version, until they get back to school. In the Joey version, I distinctly remember this scene being shorter, faster paced, and had a much more intense feel to it. The red hat kid isn't even here. Also, in the Joey version, it is Jamie (Stephanie's boyfriend) that brings the fake message on Stephanie's locker to her attention. Mickey actually shows up later and asks what is going on. When she does, Stephanie stuffs the message into Mickey's hands, which shocks and angers her. Like the Stephanie version, Jamie breaks up with her. In the Joey version, Stephanie's reaction is far more negative about it, and she almost doesn't want to accept it, but Jamie talks her into it. In the Stephanie version, we see Gia in the background, grinning, watching the scenario play out, and when Stephanie looks at her, she waves at her. But in the Joey version, we do see her, but she has her back to everyone, and it's only at the end she slowly turns her head around with a very sinister smirk on her face. The scene ends with Stephanie glaring at Gia, and saying to Mickey, "I'm gonna get her."
The next scene has Stephanie return home, and the living room has been rearranged. Jesse is actually trying to move the couch himself but is having little luck. Becky makes a mean comment about how she "didn't marry a man.", which I am glad was not in the Stephanie version. Jesse then wonders where the heck Joey is. Almost as if on cue, Joey returns. Jesse asks where the hell he's been, and Joey says he was going out for a drive. Jesse then tells him there's no time to worry about that and asks Joey to help him rearrange the furniture back to its original spot. He does, and Jesse ends up jealous that Joey is much stronger than he is, as, at one point, Joey pulls the sofa with ease, dragging Jesse along the floor with it. Jesse then makes fun of him for his diary, then tells Becky a "real man wouldn't have a diary." Mickey comes in, and tells Stephanie that she has something, and urges her to go upstairs with her. As they leave, Joey and Jesse get into an argument, which is broken up when Danny steps in. He questions what they are doing, and they have trouble explaining. Danny then concludes that they don't appreciate his new setup and leaves, leaving the two men in a spot of trouble.
The next scene is the same as the Stephanie version. No difference at all, except, if memory serves right, in the Joey version, when Gia turns her head, to reveal she is crying and is deeply hurt, there is no music. The scene just fades out in a bout of ominous silence.
After that we cut ahead to the Smash Club. In the Joey version, the Human Pudding concert is already in the process of playing, and Stephanie is watching it, but is unable to enjoy it. Jesse finds her and asks her what's wrong. Stephanie tells him, and the Joey version of this episode greatly differs from the Stephanie version, in that Jesse, here, tells Stephanie that she should never feel bad about getting back at someone who hit first. He does make the same comment about being "cursed with a good heart", but he actually tells her that she should be stronger, and never feel bad getting back at someone who deserves it, or she will be taken advantage of. However, Stephanie can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. She then recognizes the old group Gia used to hang with (bar Mickey) and asks where Gia is. Kelly tells Stephanie that they haven't talked to Gia in nearly a month. They state that she was absent for a couple weeks, and when she came back, she wasn't the same anymore, that she became clingy, obnoxious and possessive, and her ambitions seemed more cruel and one note than usual.
This leads Stephanie to actually go to Gia's house. (I can't remember if they ever explained how she knew where she lived) She knocks on the door, Gia opens, and says something to the effect of "Hello, Tanner. Come to rub it in my face?" Stephanie then says she came to apologize for what she did, and that she wants to hear her out. Gia seems to insist that Stephanie will just laugh, and tell everyone at school, and then tries to slam the door shut, but Stephanie sticks her arm in the door, stopping it. She then convinces her to at least let her stay for a few minutes, saying she asked her friend why she didn't show up at the Smash Club, and says she is willing to hear her out why, and be non-judgmental. Gia opens the door and agrees. Stephanie enters, and sees the house is a dump, but politely tells her that it's a nice place. Gia insists it's a pig stye, and Stephanie makes a "Tomato Tomáto" comment. She then asks Gia to explain everything, mentioning what Kelly told her. Gia asks Stephanie to sit down, and then she explains the following:
Gia didn't appear at the Smash Club because there's a "horrible man" there. A man she dealt with before and doesn't want to come face to face with again. This "horrible man" she speaks of paid a guy to kidnap her over a month ago and bring her to his cheap apartment room. He did "unspeakable things" to her, including rape (yes, she actually mentions rape, Stephanie even explains what it is). He also beat her when she wouldn't go along with him, and kept her gagged, so she couldn't scream loudly, or yell for help. He would then stuff her in his closet, and never let her out, sometimes for more than one day. Gia would "use the bathroom" on herself often and would do "unspeakable things" to quench her thirst. This is why her test score was so abysmal. It wasn't great already, because she ditched class a lot, and never tried, but she was also absent for twice as many days because of this event. And when she would return to class, she found it difficult to concentrate, because she knew she screwed herself by ditching class, but now that her friends ditch her, she no longer has that crutch of being the cool kid to ditch class, so now she's just a big fat failure in every conceivable way, and had this not happened, she would have still had that going for her.
Stephanie is shocked, and in tears over this. She apologizes for the report card incident. Gia concedes that Stephanie didn't know but says that it "deeply hurt her." Stephanie then asks who this "horrible man" is, and offers to make up for that, by having her family help report him to the police to identify him. Gia seems to think this won't work, and that the police are too corrupt to go through with any justice. Stephanie insists that she should tell, and maybe the evidence would be too strong against him, and if he is put away, he won't be a problem for her, or other kids anymore. Maybe now, the school will understand her problem and may try to help her. The last line of this episode is Gia telling Stephanie that the name of this horrible man is Joey Gladstone. It then leaves off on a cliff hanger, with Stephanie looking shocked and horrified.
Part Two begins where Part One leaves off. Stephanie is in denial, revealing that Joey lives at her house, with her. Gia is horrified and is "terribly sorry" that they have to live with him. Stephanie accuses Gia of trying to get back at her for her prank. Gia remarks that she had no way of knowing who could have possibly lived with her. Stephanie gets mad at her, and tells her she very well could have, and then leaves in a huff.
The next day, they have breakfast. Jesse is already on it before Danny can help. When Stephanie shows up, Jesse asks where she went, as she suddenly disappeared from the Smash Club until the last minute and came back looking down. Stephanie says she had to use the bathroom, but it was too full to use, so she left the building, and had a difficult time finding a private place to go.  Jesse doesn't totally buy it but doesn't ask any more questions. Jesse then asks where Joey is. Stephanie freezes up at this, but Joey enters, saying he was in his room. Stephanie has a difficult time looking at, or talking to Joey, as she has so many questions on her mind. Danny comes in and is surprised, and even somewhat disappointed that he didn't get to make his "surprise" breakfast. Jesse claims he didn't know and felt like being helpful. Danny then says he hopes he'll let him make his surprise dinner. Jesse and Joey look hesitant, but feel they have to allow him to.
The next scene would get used much earlier in the Stephanie version, and had one scene re-shot for it, with the exact same set up. It's the scene with the Japanese dinner. It goes exactly the same, except when Mickey shows up, it's to ask Stephanie about why she disappeared from the Smash Club. She came to see if she was alright, and had trouble calling, to which Danny reveals it was probably when he unplugged the phone to rearrange it. Stephanie excuses herself up to her room to talk with Mickey about things, and Jesse recommends it. As they leave, the rest of the scene is the same as the Stephanie version.
It then cuts to Stephanie having explained what Gia told her. Mickey looks deeply disturbed. They talk it over, and when Stephanie mentions about how Joey had a "diary," Mickey suggests that they go into his room and look at it. They agree. They peek out of the doorway to see no one there, and they make a dash for Joey's room, but as they do, Joey happens to come up the steps. He asks what they are doing, and Stephanie says they have to use the bathroom really badly. Joey nods and enters his bedroom. They decide that they have to go through with it, so they go inside the bathroom, and there's this pointless scene that's supposed to be funny, but I never thought it was. It just involves Stephanie and Mickey telling each other to go, but neither of them have to. Mickey states that she went right before she came, and so Stephanie comes up with the idea to fill up a cup of tub water, and dump it in the toilet, then flush it so it sounds natural. They do it, lasting about a minute, before they finish up. It cuts to Joey knocking on the bathroom door to tell the girls that he's heading out. The girls happen to walk out, doing a poor job of acting relieved. Mickey claims she had been holding it in since she got there.
Joey leaves, and the girls watch to make sure he's really leaving. The front door is heard slamming shut, so they go to Joey's room. They look around a bit before finding the "diary." Mickey shuts the door and locks it, telling Stephanie to go ahead. She looks it up, and at first sees nothing but a bunch of random names, and other various stuff that I can't remember, as well as dates going back to, I think, 1991. It gets weird, though, as the further the pages go in, there are prices next to the names, and the names of the three Tanner girls are on several pages, and they all say something about a "last resort." She then comes across the name Gia Mahan, and it is crossed out, with a price. Stephanie drops the book, shocked and horrified. Stephanie says, "It's true... Gia was right." The two began to cry and hug each other.
The door attempts to open, but it is locked. Jesse asks what is wrong. Stephanie wipes her tears before she unlocks the door and opens it. Jesse, Danny and Becky enter, and ask what is so wrong that she had to lock the door. Stephanie picks up the book, and hands it over to the adults. Jesse grabs it, having been curious with Stephanie's remark earlier. He looks through it, and the camera slowly pans up to his face, which looks furious. He says "I'm gonna kill that bastard!" He then drops the book and runs off. Danny, just as confused as Becky, hurries after Jesse. DJ and Michelle come in, asking what is going on. Stephanie shows the book to everyone.
It cuts to Jesse at the door, getting ready to leave, almost about to throw himself out, until Danny quickly shows up, holding him back. Jesse resists heavily. Danny restrains him and asks him what is going on. Jesse then yells that Joey is trafficking children, and that he'll "sell out the girls." Danny freezes up, and asks, "What?" The rest of the family come out and watch over the balcony. They are all sad and crying. DJ kneels down, next to Michelle, comforting her while Mickey is comforting Stephanie. As Danny gets Jesse to shut the door, he asks him to explain everything. Becky comes down the steps and gives Danny the book. Jesse has his hands over his face, collapsing onto his couch. He can be heard moaning. Danny then goes over to Jesse, who repeats that Joey "is going to die." Danny tells him how he shouldn't throw his life away like this when there's a better way. Jesse says that he would rather serve life in prison, never to see them again, and know they're okay, than to live free, and worry about their safety every day. Danny then assures him that there will be a reason to worry, in some way or another, no matter what. He then says that they will play dumb, and report Joey behind his back, so he won't see it coming.
The next scene happens, and Jesse is sitting back on his sofa. Joey happens to return home. The very second that he sees him, he loses his cool, stands up on the sofa, runs, hops off, and throws himself at Joey, attempting to strangle him to death, yelling at him about being such a monster for hurting kids, especially theirs. Danny and the rest hurry in and pull him off. Joey asks what is going on. Jesse yells at him, telling him what they had just found out about. Joey insists it's a lie, and Jesse then asks him to explain his notebook. Joey pauses, then nervously asks "What notebook?" Jesse grabs his book off of the coffee table and shows it to him. Jesse waits for his answers, but Joey can't come up with any. This prompts Jesse to drop the book and try to lunge at him again, but he gets pulled back for a moment. He frees himself and ends up grabbing Joey by his heel, causing him to fall. Jesse tries to put Joey in a leg lock, but he wiggles his foot free, and hurries out of the house. Jesse tries to run after him, but Danny pulls him back. Danny then tells him that "It's not over." Jesse starts sobbing, as Danny hugs him. The episode ends.
The majority of the audience during the second part of this left. It seemed a lot of people sat, glued to their seats, waiting to see what would be revealed, but once it was too clear what Joey was, they rejected this and couldn't take it. By the end, there were only about five people left. I heard that this episode bothered Molly so much that a lot of people involved in the show got a "red hot, scathing call" from her father, Gary. As I have said, I knew Gary. He is NOT the type to get angry like that, so the fact that they got such a mellow, easy-going man to give a call like that says a lot. It's actually a miracle that they managed to get her back at all for the re-shoots. I heard they were trying to figure out how they would work around her absence, in the meantime. If I remember correctly, I think the reason they were able to get her back was the fact that she heard it was going back on the disturbing content, and would be like it was before, but apparently, after being on set again, it wasn't the same, so she never returned.
This version of the episode actually caused director James O'Keefe to get fired for quite a while, and even got his name removed from the opening credits, despite him directing more than a third of the episode. I heard he briefly returned for the final season, though. I still cannot figure out, for the life of me, what possessed them to make such an episode. I heard some rumors that Dave Coulier wanted to leave the show, and this episode gave him an out, as Joey eventually would be caught and apprehended. Still though, why take this direction? I saw the episode and I was baffled. I know it seemed like they wanted to take the show in an "edgier" direction, as shows were starting to go more of that direction in the nineties, but why did they tackle something that even the most racy sitcom (of the era) wouldn't dare to touch. I was actually surprised that the re-shoot left in the allusion to prostitution, with the whole bit about "pay me for a date." That was pretty racy in 1993, especially for a show like Full House.
No less, it still disturbs me to this day that a group of people sitting in a room, working on a family friendly show, actually thought that it was a good idea to concept and write such an episode, Not only that, but there were enough people who actually thought that it wasn't a half-bad idea to green-light, go through with, film, direct, and produce such an episode, only pulling the plug when the reception was poor.
Category:Creepypastas
Category:Lost Episodes
Category:TV Shows
Category:Mystery