RavenWhitney

LOL. Ron wins the award just as his worst 2021 storyline (Sarah/Kristin) aired.    

On 3/18/2021 at 7:36 AM, Darn said:

Good riddance. She's awful. I hope this is the last stop on her soap opera musical chairs go round.

Preach!

2 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

 

They would have made an excellent team....shame it never came to be 

How dare Pam compare herself to Doug!  She ripped off Dallas, Gone with the Wind, General Hospital and other movies and shows for her initial GL stories.  Her OLTL and SFT stints were utter failures.  Doug had his issues but he made a huge and positive impact on The Doctors, GH, GL and ATWT; his one pock mark is Loving but that was Aggie's failure too.

On 1/31/2021 at 4:38 PM, safe said:

Here is the entire article

 

Soap Opera Digest 

July 19, 1983 

 

"Ryan's Hope" : Long Awaited Return to Familiar Faces, Familiar Dreams

 

 

By Nerissa Radell

 

In 1974, while they were still writing for "Love of Life," Paul Avila Mayer and Claire Labine began work on another soap opera. "Ryan's Hope," as it was called, was different right from the very start. In 1975, when the show premiered on ABC, most soap operas were situated in fictional American cities. "Ryan's Hope," however, was one of a kind. The Irish Catholic Ryan family, headed by Maeve  and Johnny Ryan (expertly played by Helen Gallagher and Bernard Barrow) ran a neighborhood bar - not in everyman's town but in New York City.  Maeve and Johnny didn't own a house or have a luxurious apartment. They lived right upstairs from their bar with their four children, whom they unabashedly loved. In fact, "Ryan's Hope" was all about that love and the various forms it took within that close family. Sounds simple? Well, it was...

 

From 1975 to 1980, Paul and Claire produced, packaged and wrote their show very successfully for ABC. But in 1980, for financial reasons, Claire and Paul sold "Ryan's Hope" to the network. During that time, the series won 11 Emmys, including two awards for Best Show and four awards for Best Writing. "We were probably the lowest paid writers in daytime when we were winning all those awards," Paul smiles. "In fact, I know we were. We paid ourselves the absolute minimum so all the money could go back into the show. As soon as there was extra money, the actors got it. We were constantly over budget."

 

Once ABC owned the show, "Ryan's Hope",  began to change. "There was a difference in opinions as to which direction the show should take," Paul reflects. "The network wanted a new family on the show," Claire says. "All I have to say this in all justice -- philosophically, it was a viable decision. We had worked the veins of the Ryan's at this point! ABC have breathed new life into 'One Life to Live' by bringing in a new family in. But the problem here was that Paul and I had been doing this show for seven years and we were making up a new family on demand. We didn't  feel the need for it."

 

Nevertheless, because they relinquished creative control by selling the show, Paul and Claire created the Kirklands, a wealthy, power-monger family. Hollis Kirkland was played by veteran star Peter Haskell. Hollis fairly burst onto the "Ryan 's Hope" stage and his plotline, which linked him to the show's other reigning power-monger, Rae Woodard, soon consumed the whole serial. It was the end of "Ryanness" as the new emphasis on glitz, intrigue and heavy plotting took over. Viewers who had known and loved "Ryan's Hope" for it's done-to-earth storylines didn't know what to make of it, and ratings dropped to an all-time low.

 

 "We got a little off track," says Michael Levin who, as Jack Fenelli, has intrigued fans for eight years with his role as a crusading newspaper columnist. " When we were good, we really did good work and it wasn't about  millionaires and gangsters and mystery and adventure. " (Once ABC owned the show, the plots began to focus on way out storylines a la "General Hospital.") The good work was just about human beings trying to love one another or not to love one another. The whole idea of 'Ryan's Hope' is that it's a hope for love and for trust...and that's not easy," he adds.

 

Yet, despite their commitment to "Ryan's Hope," Paul and Claire left the show fifteen months after they sold it to ABC. "We were fired," Claire says matter-of-factly. I went back to work in February of 1982 without Paul to find there were various changes in personnel. "

 

"We'd gotten into trouble when the scenes the network wanted written weren't the kind of scenes Claire wanted to write or were written for performers who couldn't fill them," adds Paul. " "The result was, the scenes didn't work. When we wrote scenes for the Ryan's, the scenes worked."

 

So several months later, Claire left the show again. But in January of 1983, ABC approached both Paul and Claire about returning. Needless to say, there was some major overhauling to be done. Some of these "steps" included rather drastic moves, such as the releasing of nine characters from the show (including the entire Kirkland family). Plots were dropped right in the middle of their action lines. Several primary roles were recast. Says Paul, "It wasn't the performers' fault, but if you look at those characters, they were all nasty people grubbing for money. We write a very sentimental show, about love and sex, things we're interested in. We wanted to go back and build the stories around the family which meant we had to lose some of the Kirklands."

 

There were other compromises both the writers and the network reached. " We came back to the show with the understanding that we could get our original casting director, Shirley Rich, back," Claire explains. " Shirley had found all our other wonderful original cast members and we wanted another Frank Ryan for the show. (Daniel Hugh-Kelly, who was the last actor to play the part, left in 1981. ) We also wanted to have Malcolm Groome, the original Pat Ryan, come back because he's great and because his presence on the set brings such joy to everyone who works with him. There was a perfectly lovely actor, James Clark, who was playing the role, " Claire admits, " but he wasn't Malcolm. In order for us to come back, we wanted Malcolm back, too."

 

Malcolm Groome, who'd left the series in 1978, is thrilled to be back in New York and on the show. "Ryan's Hope" is a great working situation, "  he exclaims. " The fact that I am back and that the whole show is going back to it's original thrust should make a difference. The Ryan's and the Coleridge were getting to be strangers on their own show...Paul and Claire's return will make a big difference, we're already starting to see that. We're all very excited."

 

For Malcolm, the reclaiming of his role Pat Ryan was a natural process.   "As an actor, you bring part of yourself to a part. When I decided to come back, I thought through Pat as I had left him, how he would have grown since then, etc. Actually, I came right in at the peak of Jimmy Clark's storyline. I literally Jumped in and brought my understanding of Pat as I had always known him to that situation."

 

Ilene Kristen, another "Ryan's Hope " original, had left her role as Delia Reed Ryan Coleridge after three and half years of creating a character  who alternatively amused and infuriated audiences. As Delia, Ilene stopped at nothing, including a bout with blindness, to get what she wanted- usually attention from a man. When Randall Edwards - who'd been playing the role of Delia - decided to leave the show, ABC approached Ilene about coming back.

 

Although Claire and Paul have established their interest in keeping as much of the original cast as possible, Randall Edward's Delia was someone they could write for. When Ilene left the show  in 1979, it was hard to replace her, " Claire sums up. " But what Randall did was astonishing. She managed to continue the line of the character, to be her own Delia, and still be a Delia Paul and I enjoyed writing for."

 

Unlike Groome, Ilene had a harder time resuming her role after another actress had played the part. "It was totally different, " Ilene says of Randall's characterization. "As Dee, I suddenly had this restaurant with which I didn't know what to do. I had to dress up in elegant clothes. Dee is a real street fighter in a way, and the story had become very opulent - so had the show. I kept wondering what happened to those simple souls. I mean they'd gone Hollywood!"

 

Nancy Addison, another original cast member, had several problems with her character during the Kirkland reign. " I like Jill," Nancy says of her character, Jill Coleridge, one of daytime's first liberated women. "The year and a half while we were waiting to find another Frank Ryan for me was excruciating! The focus went to an entirely different thing, and none of the old people were being used. Viewers were used to these good family people who owned a bar and their good friends, the Coleridges, who had money. They were used to the love, the conflict, the children. All of a sudden we were trying to be something we weren't, and we couldn't make it there. I was feeling down about the show for a while, " Nancy admits. "But these changes have given me - all of us - a lift. Geoffrey Pierson is Frank Ryan. I feel like an actress again!"

 

Now that Paul and Claire have returned to "Ryan 's Hope, " the show seems to be headed right back where it belongs. Needless to say, there will be various problems to overcome- not the least of which is a heavy, rich "past" to contend with.  " One of the problems with refocusing on the Ryan family is that there have been so many interrelationships." Claire comments. " We have to avoid playing what we've already done."

 

For example, one of its hottest stories in the late 70's was the  love triangle between Jill-Frank-Dee. For a while, it seemed as though this same situation was brewing. Comments Paul, " The outlines were  ten days ahead of taping, and we really thought that in all honesty Dee, who' d had everything taken away from her, would go after Frank when he came home again.  Having written this for ten years, we used up a lot of our fantasies. It's sometimes hard to find things that are fresh."

 

Of particular interest over the years have been the romances between the Coleridge sisters (Jill and Faith) and the Ryan brothers, Frank and Pat.  "I'd like to see Jill and Frank get married," says Claire - no doubt speaking for the hundreds of viewers  who agree with her - " and have the most loving, the most trying relationship in the world of soap opera marriages. That is what we've promised the audience." As for the Pat and Faith romance, which seems to be headed for a triangle-type twist not unlike the Dee-Pat-Faith story of the late 70's." This is where we're in danger of being on worn ground, " Claire admits.  "But there is a difference between Amanda (the third part of the triangle) and Dee. Pat's response to both of them will be clearly drawn - Amanda is mad, curably mad. What is fun to play Pat and Faith trying to be responsible to one another and then to this person, Amanda, who's in this emotional mess."

 

Another compelling storyline will be the tempestuous romance between Jack Fenelli and Leigh Kirkland (played by Felicity LaFortune).  Viewers who remember the emotional relationship between  Jack  Fenelli and his first wife Mary Ryan (originally played by the incomparable Kate Mulgrew), will watch as Jack once again puts aside his fears of being loved and once again makes himself vulnerable to a woman. "We're going to do this in a very challenging way,"  smiles Michael Levin. " I hope the audience is ready for Jack to fall in love again."

 

Yes, "Ryan's Hope " is back where it belongs. " I hated to see it battered and bloodied, " Claire says. "We have the best dialogue writers in daytime: Nancy Ford, Judith Pinsker, and Mary Munisteri. One of the most you touching things anyone's ever said to me about the show is something Mary said once  - ' I would rather be part of a contributing popular myth than Proust.' " Paul adds, "Contributing is the operative word here. In order to do this, we have to invest a certain passion and caring. We know 'Ryan's Hope' is going to work again."

Interesting that author, Nerissa Radell, was one of AW 1988 strike writers along with Mimi Leahey. Both were hired after the strike but only Mimi lasted several years as a dialog writer on AW, ATWT and AMC I believe.

17 hours ago, Broderick said:

 

The biggest "mystery" of that storyline to me was why the parents named one daughter "Liz" and another daughter "Beth".   Were BOTH of them named Elizabeth?   

Because head writer, Lee Sheldon, was incompetent.  

Poor lady. As someone who's trained in psych, I can tell you that as her performances became more manic (and her hair styles changed weekly), I kept saying  to myself: something's up with this actress. I wasn't surprised to hear (sadly) about her mental health challenges. I think the producers made the right decision. 

18 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

So Emily Michael's had a 15 month stint and involved in numerous plots..and wouldn't leave Draper/April alone.

 

And all of a sudden, in the June 8 1981 episode (first rerun episode on USA network).  Draper confronts her over her lie, than April tells Emily she's pregnant right after Emily says she isn't out of their lives.  

 

And poof..she just stops appearing when I think there was mileage still left in the character.  I wonder if Slesar had further plans..but with Draper and April leaving..those plans were scraped?

 

I wondered why he didn't just place her in a different orbit like Slesar did with Bobbie (who came in due to the Bryson case..and than played a part in the Sky/raven orbit once April left).

Tony Scott was in contract negotiations and quit. Terry Davis became pregnant.  The writer's strike also happened at the same time.  Slesar may not have been the one making the Emily decision.  Lois Kibbee and Lori Durbrow were writing the strike episodes using Henry's bible with Erwin Nicholson supervising. This info came to me when I met Ernie Townsend in NY years later and I asked him who wrote the show during the strike.  He told me.  He was so hot in person. And loved gossiping. He said Henry had full power over most stories, that ABC didn't really interfere. It was P&G who tinkered with plot and casting but that Henry/Erwin had a lot more control than P&G gave other shows.  

17 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

The Corringtons were long gone by this stage - they departed when they began writing Texas in 1980.

Oh, that's right. It was Gabrielle Upton for a while, then Don Chastain took over during the writer's strike and was hired after the strike for a while. He played Max I think.  Didn't Ellis/Hunt take over in early 82 and stay a year to transition the show to NBC? What a mess. Too many writers and producers.  P&G execs were nuts.

Who's the actor who played Zach in this episode?

17 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Thanks for posting that. Summer of 81 and the beginning of the story that had Travis and Liza on the QE 2.

Didn't know Tucker Smallwood was still on as Bobby that late.

Search always had good production values but the stories were lacking. Zach and Sylvie were short term and the whole story had no long term repercussions.

Wish there had have been credits.

Joyce and John Corrington were head writers and they had for most of the run, three script writers.  Mary Ellis Bunim was exec producer.

Y&R can't be saved until Steve Kent is gone. Period.  He's the Brian Frons of Sony.  

Whitesell lasted 6 months before they moved him to AW as EP (and fired Gary Tomlin as HW a second time), and David Lawrence took over as EP for the final months  the show aired (with Pam Long/Addie Walsh further ruining the show with the non-sensical Judge Henderson/McCleary saga).  The flood was a waste of money and they killed off Ryder, a young viable character and actor.

Susan Banks updated her profile on linkedin to show she's been a staff writer since November.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-a-banks-65735a2/

This concept and show..TIRED.

Amanda Beall and the script writers were not listed today.  

On 2/3/2021 at 9:46 AM, Khan said:

 

LOL!!

 

But seriously.  Some of the names we (African-Americans) plop down on our offspring go past self-parody.

One only needs to watch Paternity Court on a regular basis to understand all the creative names in fashion these days...But getting back to Jackee. She's a big girl now, much bigger than I recall. And it looks like she's going to play her standard character....which will be fun until Ron ruins it.

Can someone splice out Jenny's part. OMG how obnoxious.  FJ is so classy.

Alan's lack of knowledge of EON was on full display with this reunion. Luckily, the three ladies are so endearing and such class acts. Sharon is steeped in EON stories and has told more detailed accounts in other interviews and reunions; but some of the tidbits in this one were nice. This reunion is more about getting to know the actresses.  I enjoyed it.

Days of Our Lives is the most realistic soap on the air right now........for MAGA and conspiracy theorists!

Gail Kobe installed the Cullitons and Tomlin as interim writers to clean up the show for Long who was already working on the bible and under contract.  

I'm sure all three hundred regular viewers of this horror show won't care.

On Twitter, Ron's desperately attempting to justify Laura's death. I've watched soaps for a long time and there aren't many shows I wished off the air (cancellation). Guiding Light was one that needed a quick death after Ellen Wheeler ruined it whereas ATWT still had some potential. Even Ron's OLTL was salvageable.  But Days needs to be cancelled.  It's not about who's head writing. It's about Ken Corday and his producer hacks (Alaar) who haven't a clue how to entertain.  

CBS clearly wants to kill this show as NBC did with Another World.  It's the only explanation for keeping Morina and Griffith.

No he's not out.

Ron has pulled Days fully back into Dena Higley territory. Dumb, embarrassing, nonsensical - along with character assassination (Laura). Poor Linda Dano. The plot is awful and she's horribly miscast as Viv.  Ben and bug eyed Claire. No thanks.  

What would be newsworthy is reporting which episodes they submitted.