savonclassique

Thank you for posting the clips of RH when Pat Falken Smith was headwriting, saynotoursoap. I've always felt that Smith got a bum rap during her tenure as headwriter; granted, her writing style was very different than Claire Labine/Paul Avila Mayer, but I thought her espionage/adventure storylines worked well with a show whose setting is in a place ripe for such activity (New York City). The one period of RH I found very difficult to watch, or accept, was in the summer of 1986 when Millee Taggart/Tom King were headwriting. The only storyline that saved me from completely tuning out was the Vinnie Vincent storyline with Rick. Every other storyline was lackluster; what really sticks out for me was the recasting of Siobhan (Carrell Myers replacing Marg Helgenberger)--one of the worst recasting jobs I've ever seen. I don't think it was Myers' fault so much; the writers made her look like she had never set foot in Riverside before, as if she was some stranger who just happened to be related to the Ryans. The writers also made her an annoying, obnoxious bitch, completely lacking the balance of strength/passivity Helgenberger brought to the role. The writers at that time also didn't know how to write male characters with any shred of resilience or substance; they were all depicted as callous, uncaring, milquetoasty, pigheaded or just plain into outer space. This writing team did have a streak of brilliance when they transformed Jillian into Sara Jane and gave her a side we never saw before, but by the summer of 1986 she had no storyline; her relationship with Dakota was in the air and she was just "there"...

You pretty much summarized all of 1984 on RH in a nutshell!! 1983 was a pivotal year for RH, in my opinion. It had a transition of four headwriters (Mary Munistieri, Claire Labine/Paul Avila Mayer and Pat Falken Smith and saw shifting towards (Labine/Mayer) and away from (Munistieri/Smith) the Ryan's twice. Maggie's boyfriend back home at the trailer park was Dusty. He reminded me of a character on RH the year before, Ox Knowles (Will Patton), in terms of his voice and appearance. From what I recall, he didn't die but spilled the beans to Jill about Bess/Betsy being her mother. The deterioration of Roger was brilliant. Roger rebuffed Maggie's romantic advances while at the same time scheming with her to prevent Jill from knowing where her mother was. I didn't like what Maggie did to Faith, though (setting up a trap that Faith accidentally got caught in, making her wear a cast on her ankle or leg or something). Then came Roger's obsession with Maggie that gradually developed into total paranoia and rage. That, along with the fantasy scenes of Frank and Maggie kissing each other, just made it all more juicy. I agree with you about Smith being a master of bitchy dialogue; she did that very well with Jacqueline Dubujak and especially when Maggie and Jill had their showdown after Jill returned from France with Max. This all occured in the first half of 1984. The one big blemish on Smith's writing with RH was the recasting of Robin Mattson as Delia. I'll be honest in saying that even though Mattson gave the character her own style and apporach, what she did to her new husband, Matthew Crane, was deplorable--accidentally forgetting to give him his heart medicine while sneaking off to a rendezvous with her "other man"; Matthew then goes into cardiac arrest or something. I didn't like her "other man", who was played by Frank Luz (can't remember the character's name he played). Thankfully both were written out at the end of 1984. Then there was the cringe-inducing Katie Thompson (when it was played by its originator, Lauren O'Bryan). When she was recasted in late 1984 by Julia Campbell, it was one of the best recasting jobs I had ever seen. Campbell was great in the role and her feud with Maggie throughout 1985, culminating in her falling down the stairwell in the Greenberg's loft, was great. I was never that crazy about Dave Greenberg or his deli, and yes, the focus throughout 1984 was on the deli and Maggie as a heroine just didn't work. Maggie was best when being devious, scheming and just plain bad!!

I am probably one of the very few RH fans who enjoyed Pat Falken Smith's tenure as headwriter. I loved Max Dubujak; his daughter, Jacqueline, and Siobhan had a very intense feud in early 1984 that was well-written because it truly exposed Siobhan's vulnerabilities and brought Jacqueline's bitchiness to the forefront (considering how she was introduced as a spoiled little rich girl). The bombing of Ryan's Bar (which wasn't seen on Freeflyur's You Tube channel) set the tone for the backburnering of Maeve and Johnny for almost the entire year (not that I really minded, since my attention was focused mostly on the Dubujaks). The aftermath of the bombing did provide Maeve with one powerful scene, where she confronts Joe Novak's cousin, Lazlo Novotny, amongst the ruins and refuses his money to help restore the bar. If there was one period of RH post-1983 that I wasn't crazy about, it was the latter part of 1985. Jack Fenelli went through a revolving door of lovers it seemed (Betty Sherman, Gloria Tasky, some anonymous girl who made a move on him). Despite a good storyline with Jill having amnesia and assuming the name "Sara Jane Hillyer", Marg Helgenberger (Siobhan) left the show, which resulted in the backburnering of Max. Ilene Kristen's return in the latter part of 1986 definitely rejuvenated RH. Labine/Mayer's return in 1983 had two great storylines: Charlotte Greer and the romance of Jack and Leigh Kirkland. They were also respsonsible for bringing Bess and Maggie Shelby to the canvas, which definitely set things in motion. The addition of Sydney Price (Robin Greer) to stir trouble for Jack and Leigh was a nice touch, but unfortunately Leigh's character became wasted--not good. Smith had some good moments as a headwriter for RH; as for Taggart/King, not so much. A few bright spots here and there, but I don't think they truly understood the core characters much.

I am a relative newcomer to ANOTHER LIFE as a viewer, but I have enjoyed watching some of the episodes on You Tube. Always nice to see Susan Scannell; I enjoyed her performances on RYAN'S HOPE as Gabrielle Dubujak/Chessy Blake and on DYNASTY as Niki DeVilbis. Especially the latter; she was so good playing a conceited, rude and obnoxious bitch!! Ditto to saynotoursoaps' comments about Jerry Timm--what a HUNK!! So sorry to read of his fate; he also did print advertisements for Kool cigarettes in the mid '80s (he was the man on the motorcycle). I also like Matt Williams (Ben Martin)--very handsome :-) I wish this show could be released on DVD; as fortunate as it is that these episodes are being shown on YT, I could do without the subtitles .

RYAN'S HOPE was one of the great daytime serials of all time. It may have gone through a revolving door of writers in its last few years, but the quality of the show never wavered too much. It's a shame SoapNet never went beyond 1981; 1982-89 had some very memorable characters and storylines that were as good as they were in its first few years. SoapNet viewers who got used to RH in its first five or six years never got an opportunity to know characters like Leigh Kirkland (Felicity LaFortune), Bess Shelby (Gloria DeHaven), Maggie Shelby (Cali Timmins), Max Dubujak (Daniel Pilon), Jacqueline Dubujak (Gerit Quealy), Chaz Saybrook (Brian McGovern) and many others. It's unfortunate that ABC decided to treat the show like a redheaded stepchild by moving it to 12 pm in late 1984 and putting LOVING in its original time slot (a move to solely appease LOVING's creator, Agnes Nixon, who already had her AMC and OLTL in a back-to-back block in most markets). That move alone hurt RH badly in terms of ratings. Thankfully, almost 25 years after its last show, it is remembered fondly by many people.