Chris 2

Sorry to hear that about John Sanderford. I thought he was the second best Frank Ryan, after Dan Kelly. He was a bit younger than the others, I think. Ilene in a recent interview said he was good but whoever she was interviewed with did not mention him as one of the best Franks - they praised Kelly, Geoff Pierson, and Andy Robinson (who i thought was all wrong for the role). One of the actors in the book criticized Sanderford for being too Hollywood - when he got there, he was concerned about how he was being lit, and that wasn’t a RH-type thing to do. I think Pierson was popular with his fellow actors, so I’m sure it was a tough environment to come into.

I thought they missed the boat to expand beyond the Ryans and Coleridges with Clem and Bucky. They were played by two charismatic actors who were never properly utilized.

Catherine Hicks has always been positive when reminiscing about RH. She still is, but she’s not pretending it was all sunshine and lollipops either. I really appreciated her candor. And yes, she’s the best Faith.

None of the Mary recasts had much chemistry with Jack. Mary Carney was believable as a Ryan daughter, but not fiery enough for Mary. Nikki Goulet was blah and too green. And Kathleen Tolan seemed like she was on a completely different planet than the other actors.

My guess is that they didn’t want John Blazo for another long term deal, and they brought in Robert Finoccoli as a temp to finish things up until they could write out Pat. Mary Carney was the best of a bad bunch. But she didn’t have Kate Mulgrew’s big presence/attitude, so I think she would have been fighting an uphill battle.

After RH was cancelled, Joe Hardy went west and produced General Hospital, taking over for Wes Kenney, who disastrously produced after Gloria Monty’s first exit (Kenney thought GH was some sort of psychological drama lol). I thought Hardy “got” GH and the show improved almost immediately after he took over.

Oh, no. Did she stumble over her lines on their dates, too? Robin Mattson has a fairly narrow range as an actor. She has that one character she plays, and it didn’t really align with either of the two previous iterations of Delia.

Margaret Colin would have made a good Mary, IMO.

And The Ponderosa

Karen Morris Gowdy also said that Claire Labine tried to lure her back a year or two before the show ended. She was reluctant to return because of how unhappy she was when she left, so she ultimately declined. And a short time later, she found out she was pregnant, so she felt it was the universe’s way of telling her she made the right choice.

I’ve read part of the book - lots of fun for RH fans. Someone mentioned that Kirstie Alley was “weird.” Catherine Hicks had a lot of praise for the show, but she doesn’t come across as a big fan of Kate Mulgrew’s. She said she was looking for a friend she could giggle with, and that wasn’t Kate. She said she’s not a big fan of “mannered” performances and that “Kate does Katherine Hepburn.” She also said that she felt that TPTB considered Kate the star and she resented feeling like she was second best, or something to that extent.

Continuing my rewatch on Pluto. I never realized before how unpleasant Jack Coleman is as Steven. He overdoes the anger angle. Makes me appreciate Al Corley all the more.

I wonder if it’s a regional thing? I grew up in the 70s and 80s and I didn’t remember “Tom Dooley” at all (though I listened on Youtube and the melody sounds vaguely familiar). But we definitely sang “This Land is Your Land” and “Home on the Range” and I could probably still belt out all the lyrics today lol. They taught us in music class in school. I didn’t learn them at home. Do they still teach those old standards in school?

Bronson Pinchot would have been terrific as Roger’s son - great idea!

Hahahahaha. I didn’t realize that Mother Blaisdel was played by Diana Douglas, mother of Michael and ex-wife of Kirk. I wish we had seen her more during Claudia’s tenure - I never get tired of the “mother-in-law from hell” trope. I saw a few episodes from early season 2 on Pluto last night. Some observations: They sure neutered Fallon once Alexis came on the scene. Krystle is a badass in her first head-to-head with Alexis (where she finds Alexis in the kitchen, giving orders to the staff). But she should have finished by personally escorting Alexis out of the house. I don’t understand the point of Nick Toscanni beyond, “Let’s add another middle aged guy for Krystle now that Matthew is gone.” Note that James Farentino had better billing than Joan Collins at that point. Claudia belongs in a proper care facility, not locked up in a room in the Carrington house. How bizarre. Blake is kind of a jerk. I don’t think John Forsythe has the right charm and charisma for the role. What does Krystle see in that crotchety old goat? Or Alexis? Or Fallon, for that matter? I would like to have seen what George Peppard - a more charming and sexually charistmatic actor - would have done with the role.

Claudia really should have been nicer to poor Mother Blaisdel. The old dear did lose her son, after all.

Picket Fences and The X Files were from the same studio, 20th Century Fox. Later, Picket Fences producer David Kelley did multi-network crossovers for his two (20th Century Fox) series, The Practice (ABC) and Ally McBeal (Fox). I can’t recall a crossover that happened with both different networks and different studios. Oh wait a minute - I can: Candice Bergen played Murphy Brown (CBS/Warner Brothers) in a Seinfeld (NBC/Castle Rock) episode. Kramer went out to LA and got a bit role in a Murphy Brown episode as her latest secretary. In this case, Murphy Brown was a fictional show in the Seinfeld universe. So it’s not the same as a true intermingling of Seinfeld and Murphy Brown storylines. But they did show Kramer on the Murphy Brown set with Bergen, on NBC.

I do remember Ilene and Sarah doing some work together. Siobhan was the only Ryan who viewed Delia as an equal and a friend, as opposed to someone who needed to be taken care of, or as an object of pity or disgust. I like Robin Mattson, but she doesn’t have much range IMO; she’s the same in every role she plays. And her character type is not Delia. I liked Randall Edwards as Delia. They were smart to take her Delia in a different direction as opposed to trying to copy Ilene’s version.

Or George Peppard! Oh, wait…

Ilene is clearly one of those people who keeps in touch with a lot of friends/former colleagues. She had something nice to say about most people and just seems like a great person. You can tell she bears some scars from her firing over her weight in 1983. That was the only time where a shadow crossed her face during the interview. What a shame. But I was glad to hear that her final stint on the show was so enjoyable for her.

Thanks. I wound up listening. Well worth the time. It sounds like Ilene did her best to convince Kate to participate.

Why did Kate Mulgrew turn down the interview?

I worked at Fox while Dynasty was still in production. Forsythe was known to be one of the nicest guys in the business. Collins was fine at the beginning, but once she “saved” the show, someone told her that big stars should be difficult, and she played that part to the hilt. I don’t know where Forsythe’s “vicious” characterization has come from recently, but I never heard it back then.

They should have gone with an actor/character in his mid to late 20s. Someone who was a little more butch. And more importantly, someone who had chemistry with Linda Gray. And has there ever been a more generic name than “Peter Richards”? Even his name was dull!

Angela reminds me a bit of my grandmother, another tough old bird who had experienced heartache earlier in her life, and developed a tough shell to protect herself from the emotional lows in life, but I think also prevented her from experiencing emotional highs.