Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[Chris 2]

Margaret Colin would have made a good Mary, IMO.

[safe]

Right ---Pauline Flanagan was almost Maeve and later came on as Maeve's  sister Annie. Pauline also was one of the many Sister Mary Joel actresses. 

Michael Levin was popular and he received 3 Emmy nominations. Paul Mayer's daughter said he was a fan of Michael's.

I have never been in favor of  killing off of core family members---so I would have liked  Mary leave town with possibility of being recast down the road.

That's a good one--- she might have made a good Siobhan recast too.

When I wrote that Michael Levin said Helen's suggestion  (Kathleen Tolan) was bad and he then said his suggestion was also bad--- I couldn't figure who he meant. I recalled that Nicolette Goulet was another one recommended by the cast ---so I figured that was who he was talking about. Now, I recall that it was John Gabriel who  brought Nicolette in for Mary. Back to having no idea what Michael meant with his suggestion was bad, too,  comment.

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by safe

[safe]

There was another new tidbit with Malcolm Groome that I forget to put in my MG paragraph ---he said he dated Kathleen Tolan (Mary #3). He had  Helen introduce him after Helen and Kathleen were in a play together. He was very complimentary of Kathleen. He knew her theater work ---and said Kathleen was a compelling and charismatic actress.

 

I was surprised there weren't more dating and behind-the-scenes flings revealed in the book.

Edited October 30, 2023 by safe

[safe]

Richard Backus thinks he read for Barry and for Ken George Jones ----Barry was the better part. The writers didn't know what to do with his character. He  had a lot to do when he first joined the show  ---and then was frustrated being more like furniture. He thought they should have reunited Barry and Delia. He resented Roscoe Born because Joe was getting close to Delia. He was then written out.

Trent Jones composed most of the songs he sang on the show. Network's Jackie Smith didn't want him hired for the part ---wanted someone who looked more like a rock star. Trent thought she gave in because it was going to be a short-term role.

Rose Alaio taught speech and the RH sound department loved the sound of her voice. Michael Levin would throw fits and yell during dress rehearsals and Rose would simply laugh. She was told Michael Levin was much calmer working with her. Ellen Barrett told her she needed therapy. After she was fired, the show still wanted to use Tom Aldredge. He didn't want to do it without her ---Rose told him to go back and do it.

 

 

[danfling]

I have been told that the late Pamela Toll (The Doctors, Pammy Davis on Somerset) was auditioned for the role of Mary at some point and that she was brilliant in the role.   However, she and the producers or network could not come up with her salary demands and she was never cast as Mary.

[safe]

Perhaps their decision to then go with 3 unknown actresses as the recast Mary's was, partly, a financial decision.

Edited October 30, 2023 by safe

[danfling]

The network also campaigned for actress Frances Fisher (Deborah "Red" Saxon on The Edge of Night; Suzette Saxon on The Guiding Light) to replace Sarah Felder as Siobhan Ryan.    Her contract on The Edge of Night was about to expire, and she was sent on a publicity trip with Richard van Vleet (All My Children) and Karen Morris-Gowdy around this time.   I don't know if that is when they tried to persuade her to change to Ryan's Hope or if the publicity trip gave then the idea of Ms. Fisher as Siobhan.

[Soaplovers]

It would have made sense for Mary to have left Jack and taken Ryan with her instead of killing her off.  The show had been setting up marital issues between Mary/Jack for months and he was basically having an emotional affair with Siobhan already.

And later on, the show could have either recast Mary.. or just had Kate Mulgrew come back as Mary for visits (she did come back twice in the 80s).

 

[Paul Raven]

Yes if they had built up the marital problems as well as Mary's criminal investigations(which got her killed). Instead she would have survived but scared and confused decide to flee NY (her family could have been threatened). That would have given the show some time to decide what to do with the character.

[Khan]

Yes!  And Hillary B(ailey) Smith would have made a good Siobhan recast, too, now that I think about it.

Oooh!  Another good one!

It's one thing to bring on someone like Robin Mattson because of the following she had enjoyed on GH, but anyone with even a passing knowledge of her and of Delia would have known immediately that she was all wrong for that role.  Should RH still have brought her on?  Absolutely.  But not as Delia.  She could have played Sydney Price instead, or even Maggie (not that Cali Timmins was horrible in that part).  But not Delia.

[Ryan Mason]

I could see where, on paper at least, Robin Mattson might have seemed to make sense as Delia because she does specialize in playing manipulative pot-stirrers, which you could say Delia can be. And back in the day I actually went through Robin Mattson taking over a part on the soap I watched back then, Santa Barbara. Seeing her as Gina was jarring as hell at first because she was NOTHING like Linda Gibboney...but in that case, at least, the character went from getting on my last nerve to one of my favorites within a month or so. But I agree that she didn't work as Delia in practice, and I feel like it kind of comes down to a matter of basic essence. Robin just seems to bring this sort of innate confidence and surety to a character that, as it turns out, doesn't work for Delia. Delia can certainly be convinced she's right about something, or go after something she wants like gangbusters, but at the same time, there's always at least some level and history of being neurotic, needy, and insecure underneath it all. I feel like Ilene Kristen had more of an in-your-face desperation to her Delia than Randall Edwards, but I think they both got this quality quite well and I really liked them both. But with Robin...as much as I loved her on Santa Barbara, from what I've seen of her here, I just couldn't see or buy her being desperate to be a part of the Ryans or to have Maeve's approval, for example. I don't know if that makes any sense or not, but that's the best way I can think of to describe it.

[safe]

Louise Shaffer said she had a "type" she usually played---aristocratic, rich bitch, emotional under ice exterior. It's what she did. She was not part of the core characters. Enter Kelli Maroney ---the show needed a nymphet--- and this allowed Louise to keep her job. Although she does say after Kimberly's arrival she stopped being Rae Woodard and became Kimberly's mother.  She thought Michael Corbett was let go for political reasons and egos. Louise and Kelli practiced willful suspension of belief regarding Kim's incredible short pregnancy.She didn't think the Charlotte Greer story worked. Repeated a lot that she was just trying to pay off her mortgage. I already wrote about her being fired.

Jason "Ash" Adams ---he disliked the character being called "John Reid" and was happy when they settled on just calling him John. Ash and Catherine Larson did not like each other. He said he really didn't know her. He didn't care for their storyline and thought Lizzie didn't really want to be with John. He was not showcased in the sex symbol mode like Brian McGovern and James Wleck were. He was hardly ever shown with his shirt off. He heard from reliable sources that he wasn't Claire Labine's choice for the role.

Edited October 31, 2023 by safe

[John]

Any truth to the rumor that even when not producing or writing RH that Claire Labine was used as a consultant?

[safe]

There were a lot of statements in book ---made by cast and crew--- but no clear answers. It was the same with the 1981 writers strike. Some in the cast and production said Claire, Paul, and other writers worked on and edited scripts during the strike. Others said they didn't. Paul's daughter didn't think he did but even she couldn't say that for certain.

[Chris 2]

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.