Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[Chris 2]

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.

[althea-davis]

In the book I believe it was Ilene Kristen who said Mary Carney was totally wrong for the role. So, what works in recasting is definitely subjective. The network definitely should have let the character go when Kate skipped. There was no replacing her. What stood out to me was that it sounds like Michael Levin made people miserable because he was so unhappy about the recasts. That seems a tad bit unprofessional, and I say that as a big fan of the guy. There were some mentions of him being very, very grumpy about it.

[gimmetoo]

I'm about half way through the book...a great read !

Curious the consensus on the rounds and rounds of re-casting of the Ryans.  Of course, actors leave...but for so many others, were Claire and Paul making bad choices, or was it network interference, or what was causing such churn ?

I'm at the point where Anne Gillespie was pushed out.  Was her negative attitude so disruptive that it was worth ANOTHER recast of a Ryan ?!  Yes - we got Marg who was the definitive Siobhan, but did Ellen Barrett and ABC not realize how disruptive all the re-casting was to story, audience and cast harmony ?

On a show that made so many brilliant casting choices (Helen,  Bernie, Nancy, Michael Levin, Ron Hale, etc.)...I don't understand why the casting of the Ryan children was always so difficult.

[safe]

 

 

Another issue the Mary recasts had to deal with was that Claire Labine said she didn't know how to write for a married couple.

I expected to hear John Blazo something  about the the viewer reaction of the Pat/Nancy interfaith relationship. 

All those reasons, I suspect.

It looks like the show was more willing to put up with poor behavior from the men (Michael Hawkins, Michael Levin, Roscoe Born) than the women. I can't picture those men being taken by the hand and led off the set like they did with Ann.

Edited November 2, 2023 by safe

[Chris 2]

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.

[safe]

This was from a 1979 Michael Levin magazine interview ---he talked about the Mary recasts.  Sorry the text is blurry

 

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Edited November 3, 2023 by safe

[AmandainNC28655]

Was Nikki Goulet in the role of Mary when she was killed off?

[safe]

Yes

[AmandainNC28655]

Is there anywhere online we can watch that episode

[safe]

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[danfling]

Is Hannibal Penny, Jr. (Dr. Clem Moultrie on Ryan's Hope) quoted in Tom Lissanti's book, and, if so, what did he say?

[safe]

No, he was not in the book. A few actors do comment they should have done more with his character.

[DRW50]

I think the problem with the Ryan kids was most of why they worked was down to the original actors and their appeal. The characters themselves were not special. The character who was the sturdiest was Frank, at least after Michael Hawkins was fired, which is probably why Frank had the most well-received recasts of any of the kids. 

As for Ann Gillespie, she never should have been hired in the first place. She was a bad fit for the part. 

[althea-davis]

I just got through reading about the "Midnight Murder" storyline in the Ryan's Hope book and Michael Corbett's firing. I like Corbett, don't get me wrong, but is the writer exaggerating when he says Pavel was the most popular and well-known character the show ever had at the time of Pavel's death? He says not even Mulgrew had received the amount of mainstream press & acclaim Corbett did (he *was* on the cover of People). Now, I am a second-generation RH fan (by that I mean, I only discovered the show when it came to SoapNet), but do you agree with this assessment? Pavel always kind of seemed like a throwaway character to me, not one who was built to last, even though the book writer intimated he could have become like the next Luke Spencer if Labine and Mayer had only invested in him.

[DRW50]

I don't even think it was Labine and Mayer who killed him off - Labine gave an interview about watching during the strike and seeing him die, which did not make her very happy.

I wasn't there either, so I can't begin to guess, but if he had been that beloved, I don't think ABC would have let him go. Not that long after he was hired by Search for Tomorrow.