Like many, I'm hooked on the SoapNet re-runs of this canceled soap. At its peak, it was perhaps that most realistic and gritty American soap to be produced. It had an exceptional core cast, add to that the fantastic writing from Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer during its golden years and you have a gem.

So, any other RH fans out there?

On 7/3/2022 at 6:50 PM, slick jones said:

Posted by a group member of my FB page

Author Tom Lisanti has announced

"I am happy to report that the book I have been working on for over 5 years, Ryan's Hope Revisited: An Oral History, is completed and will be available in the second half of 2023 from a publisher to be named shortly. This tribute book to the beloved soap is a collection of memories and stories from actors, including original cast members Helen Gallagher, Malcolm Groome, Ron Hale, Ilene Kristen, Michael Levin, and Jadrien Steele, and later cast members such as Jason "Ash" Adams, Rose Alaio, Jose Aleman, Ana Alicia, MacKenzie Allen, Richard Backus, John Blazo, Roscoe Born, Fred Burstein, Michael Corbett, Christopher Durham, Randall Edwards, Ann Gillespie, Catherine Hicks, Trent Jones, Kelli Maroney, Malachy McCourt, Brian McGovern, Ariana Munker, Geoff Pierson, Gerit Quealy, Lois Robbins, Andrew Robinson, Louise Shaffer, Gordon Thomson, Cali Timmins, and James Wlcek; producer Joe Hardy; writers including Millee Taggart and Tom King; crew members; and co-creator Paul Mayer’s daughters, Rachael and Ruth Mayer. Brutally honest, they share the good, the bad, and the outrageous with regard to what went into producing this half-hour soap five days a week for thirteen years. They also remark on other soaps (including All My Children, Another Life, Another World, Bare Essence, Beverly Hills, 90210, The City, Capitol, The Doctors, Dynasty, For Richer, For Poorer/Lovers and Friends, Guiding Light, Loving, One Life to Live, and Search for Tomorrow) that they came from or went to after their departure from Ryan's Hope. Connecting their observations and anecdotes are plot synopses; tales of ABC-TV interference; the General Hospital influence; Emmy Award wins, ratings, and reviews from the time; and why the soap's most hated villain was Agnes Nixon. Illustrated with many never before published behind-the-scenes photos from the private collections of some of the interviewees."

 

 

 

@Vee @DRW50 @safe@applcin @victoria foxton @AbcNbc247 @Soapsuds @beebs@robbwolff @John @amybrickwallace @vetsoapfan @danfling @DeliaIrisFan @dc11786

Thanks for the tag - looking forward to reading it.

On 6/28/2022 at 10:04 PM, dc11786 said:

From how it's presented by fans in soap books, Avila Mayer and Labine's prior work was so radically different from "Ryan's Hope." I think the late 1980s was a better blend of the two styles. I'm not always the biggest champion of Millee Taggert, but I do think her stint with Tom King transitioned the show well that Labine was able to really revert back to form.

I think part of the issue was that the show was basically a show about one generation of people. All the Ryan and Coleridge kids were basically in the same age so while there stories were different, they fell into same category. It seems in the 1980s, when you had the third generation Ryans and Coleridges (Johnno and Ryan and Maggie and Ben) that there was a better mix of story. 

 

I think Labine probably enjoyed writing for the adult versions of the children of the characters who were front and center in the show's early years.  She probably would have never aged them so drastically herself, but once it was done she seemed to have fun with it and got to incorporate some of the characteristics/hangups she presumably always assumed they'd have because of who their parents were.

Semi related to the issues with Rae/Kim and Michael and their lack of connection to the rest of the canvas, I think the introduction of a character like Dakota was both too late and a wasted opportunity to connect the Ryans to the types of characters the network wanted on all their soaps in the '80s.  (It was also dreadfully written from what I've seen and I can't for the life of me understand why they had to tack on the amnesia cliche too, but that's neither here nor there.)  Playing the long-lost younger Ryan son card a few years earlier and having him been raised by a wealthy family like the Kirklands would have instantly grafted them onto the show, and they could have mixed it up with characters like Kim/Rae.

 

On 7/9/2022 at 7:09 PM, DeliaIrisFan said:

 

I think Labine probably enjoyed writing for the adult versions of the children of the characters who were front and center in the show's early years.  She probably would have never aged them so drastically herself, but once it was done she seemed to have fun with it and got to incorporate some of the characteristics/hangups she presumably always assumed they'd have because of who their parents were.

 

Not enough credit is given to the Ryan Finelli years...likely because these episodes never got a rewatch the way the early years did on SoapNet.  The show desperately needed a re-fresh and the new generation of Ryans did just that, while keeping many of the originals front and center in supporting roles. 

Yasmine Bleeth was an engaging enough performer and with Ryan's trials, Jack, Maeve and Johnny were allowed plenty of airtime.  Ryan's pairing with Rick Hyde was exactly the young love fix that ABC Daytime mandated for all its shows in the late 80s.  There were certainly days and weeks when Ryan and Rick's romance was more compelling than many of ABC Daytime's other more highly rated couples.

1 hour ago, gimmetoo said:

Not enough credit is given to the Ryan Finelli years..

I'm a fan of Ryan and the way she reinvigorated the character of Jack.  Although Rick's exit story to go to RADA was ridiculous, I liked the contemporary nature of Chaz as an ambitious yuppie.

But, it is hard not to remember her time as a young adult without thinking of the unwelcome additions to Johnno's storyline of Lizzie and Nancy Don.  IMHO, Lizzie was one of the least appealing heroines in the history of daytime. 

To this day, I still can't understand what Johnno's motivations were in that plot.  Was he a philandering jerk?  Was he seeking stability?  The fact that he was sacrificed as a hero in order to prop up Ben was a shame.  I would predict that if RH had continued they would have recast Johnno, and much like Frank, eventually found someone more charismatic, with more audience appeal, for the part.

Edited July 11, 20223 yr by j swift

8 hours ago, j swift said:

I would predict that if RH had continued they would have recast Johnno, and much like Frank, eventually found someone more charismatic, with more audience appeal, for the part.

Agreed, Johnno was a weak link in the later years…but I don’t think Jason Adams was the issue.  He was charismatic enough and had great chemistry with and was perfectly cast as the child of Ilene Kristen and John Sanderford.  The right romantic pairing could have salvaged the character and set Johnno up to be as popular as Ryan.

Before Ryan, Maggie Shelby was the most exciting new character to pump energy into the show.  The camera loved Cali Timmons and she was perfectly cast as the foil to the Ryans and Coleridges.  I wish Cali had acted more after RH.  If Yasmine, Grant Show, Wlcek, etc. found success in primetime, surely Cali could have too.

What primetime success was found by James Wlcek?    I do know that he performed in some episodic television shows, but I had been thinking that those came prior to his being on either Ryan's Hope or One Life to Live.

In 1999 Wlcek starred in the Walker Texas Ranger spinoff Sons of Thunder.  To your point @danfling it was not a big success, and was cancelled after one season,  but the entire network series was based around his character.

Edited July 11, 20223 yr by j swift

On 7/3/2022 at 6:50 PM, slick jones said:

Posted by a group member of my FB page

Author Tom Lisanti has announced

"I am happy to report that the book I have been working on for over 5 years, Ryan's Hope Revisited: An Oral History, is completed and will be available in the second half of 2023 from a publisher to be named shortly. This tribute book to the beloved soap is a collection of memories and stories from actors, including original cast members Helen Gallagher, Malcolm Groome, Ron Hale, Ilene Kristen, Michael Levin, and Jadrien Steele, and later cast members such as Jason "Ash" Adams, Rose Alaio, Jose Aleman, Ana Alicia, MacKenzie Allen, Richard Backus, John Blazo, Roscoe Born, Fred Burstein, Michael Corbett, Christopher Durham, Randall Edwards, Ann Gillespie, Catherine Hicks, Trent Jones, Kelli Maroney, Malachy McCourt, Brian McGovern, Ariana Munker, Geoff Pierson, Gerit Quealy, Lois Robbins, Andrew Robinson, Louise Shaffer, Gordon Thomson, Cali Timmins, and James Wlcek; producer Joe Hardy; writers including Millee Taggart and Tom King; crew members; and co-creator Paul Mayer’s daughters, Rachael and Ruth Mayer. Brutally honest, they share the good, the bad, and the outrageous with regard to what went into producing this half-hour soap five days a week for thirteen years. They also remark on other soaps (including All My Children, Another Life, Another World, Bare Essence, Beverly Hills, 90210, The City, Capitol, The Doctors, Dynasty, For Richer, For Poorer/Lovers and Friends, Guiding Light, Loving, One Life to Live, and Search for Tomorrow) that they came from or went to after their departure from Ryan's Hope. Connecting their observations and anecdotes are plot synopses; tales of ABC-TV interference; the General Hospital influence; Emmy Award wins, ratings, and reviews from the time; and why the soap's most hated villain was Agnes Nixon. Illustrated with many never before published behind-the-scenes photos from the private collections of some of the interviewees."

looking forward to this.

very curious why kate mulgrew, mary munisteri, and claire labine’s kids weren’t included. 

I had not heard of a spin-off of Walker, Texas Ranger.    Forgive me for being ignorant about this show.

 

I liked the Dakota storyline, but I also did not see why it was introduced with Jillian's amnesia storyline.   I have always supposed that the show wanted to give to Nancy Addison Altman a new big storyline.   I also agree with the post above that the introduction of Dakota was brought too late for the good of the show.

7 hours ago, danfling said:

I liked the Dakota storyline, but I also did not see why it was introduced with Jillian's amnesia storyline.   I have always supposed that the show wanted to give to Nancy Addison Altman a new big storyline.   I also agree with the post above that the introduction of Dakota was brought too late for the good of the show.

Chris Durham was well cast as Dakota...he was a great foil for the saintly Ryans.  Chris sparked more w/ Ilene and Cali than w. Nancy likely because of the ill-conceived amnesia storyline.  

I like when soaps play with ideas like "What would the Ryan boys be like without the influence of Maeve"? which seems to be the inspiration for Dakota.

Unfortunately, Jill's amnesia was not only uncreative, but it relied on a change in Jill's hair to indicate her newfound feelings of freedom, leading to the question did she have a head injury or a perm?

Fun interview with Michael Corbett and Maree Cheatham. He says - without naming names - that one time a performer on RH went nude in a bedroom scene. I have my guess...

 

Edited July 15, 20223 yr by DRW50

I hate the name “Dakota”. No one in real life is named “Dakota”. It’s a ridiculous soap opera name, and RH was better than that.

2 hours ago, Chris 2 said:

I hate the name “Dakota”. No one in real life is named “Dakota”. It’s a ridiculous soap opera name, and RH was better than that.

Dakota Johnson and Dakota Fanning may beg to differ

Edited July 16, 20223 yr by j swift

On 7/3/2022 at 6:50 PM, slick jones said:

Posted by a group member of my FB page

Author Tom Lisanti has announced

"I am happy to report that the book I have been working on for over 5 years, Ryan's Hope Revisited: An Oral History, is completed and will be available in the second half of 2023 from a publisher to be named shortly. This tribute book to the beloved soap is a collection of memories and stories from actors, including original cast members Helen Gallagher, Malcolm Groome, Ron Hale, Ilene Kristen, Michael Levin, and Jadrien Steele, and later cast members such as Jason "Ash" Adams, Rose Alaio, Jose Aleman, Ana Alicia, MacKenzie Allen, Richard Backus, John Blazo, Roscoe Born, Fred Burstein, Michael Corbett, Christopher Durham, Randall Edwards, Ann Gillespie, Catherine Hicks, Trent Jones, Kelli Maroney, Malachy McCourt, Brian McGovern, Ariana Munker, Geoff Pierson, Gerit Quealy, Lois Robbins, Andrew Robinson, Louise Shaffer, Gordon Thomson, Cali Timmins, and James Wlcek; producer Joe Hardy; writers including Millee Taggart and Tom King; crew members; and co-creator Paul Mayer’s daughters, Rachael and Ruth Mayer. Brutally honest, they share the good, the bad, and the outrageous with regard to what went into producing this half-hour soap five days a week for thirteen years. They also remark on other soaps (including All My Children, Another Life, Another World, Bare Essence, Beverly Hills, 90210, The City, Capitol, The Doctors, Dynasty, For Richer, For Poorer/Lovers and Friends, Guiding Light, Loving, One Life to Live, and Search for Tomorrow) that they came from or went to after their departure from Ryan's Hope. Connecting their observations and anecdotes are plot synopses; tales of ABC-TV interference; the General Hospital influence; Emmy Award wins, ratings, and reviews from the time; and why the soap's most hated villain was Agnes Nixon. Illustrated with many never before published behind-the-scenes photos from the private collections of some of the interviewees."

 

 

 

@Vee @DRW50 @safe@applcin @victoria foxton @AbcNbc247 @Soapsuds @beebs@robbwolff @John @amybrickwallace @vetsoapfan @danfling @DeliaIrisFan @dc11786

More from the author:

"I am so happy to announce that thanks to literary agent Lee Sobel my book Ryan's Hope: The Oral History will be published by Kensington Books for release in November 2023."

 

@Vee @DRW50 @safe @applcin @Sean @victoria foxton @AbcNbc247 @Soapsuds @beebs @robbwolff @John @amybrickwallace @vetsoapfan @jam6242 @danfling @DeliaIrisFan @dc11786 @Paul Raven

Edited July 16, 20223 yr by slick jones