Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[Khan]

I agree.  I think they would have incorporated an oblique reference or two to the tragedy, with characters mentioning it briefly in dialogue; but aside from the one-year anniversary tribute that you've mentioned, @Mona Kane Croft, I don't see them incorporating the actual event into ongoing stories.

[MichaelGL]

I can see a writer wanting to introduce a new character (probably a young one who's in their teens or 20's.) who may have lost a parent in 9/11. Or a police detective who may have lost a wife in the 9/11 attakcs, and is afraid to move on until he meets someone related or close to the Ryan's. Of course this would have taken place 10-15 years after the attacks.  

Having a soap who's backdrop is New York City is so fascinating, I think it would've flourished in the mid to late 90s. 

[Franko]

"Yeah ... about that ..."

-- The City

[MichaelGL]

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 Oh yeah there was "The City" 

[Franko]

I will conceed that had Ryan's Hope hung around to the mid '90s, the opportunity was there to really tackle New York's transitional period.

[Soaplovers]

One issue I could have seen in RH in late 90s and 2000s would have been gentrification and more diversity.

The neighborhood the show took place in had higher crime that peaked in the 90s and started to decline in the late 90s/early 00s...and led to building and park improvements..which led to gentrification in the 00s.

And the show would had to have become more diverse in the 90s and 2000s to reflect trends in the real life locale.

[safe]

A new Youtube interview on Jim Masters TV with Ilene Kristen (Delia #1), Malcolm Groome (Pat #1), and Karen Morris-Gowdy(Faith #4) along with author Tom Lisante.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4o5WqYWxBE&ab_channel=JimMastersTV

 

There really wasn't anything new said about the show --- Malcolm Groome did say he was the one who talked to Claire Labine about the Leboyer birth method and it was after that she wrote it into Mary's pregnancy story.

Showed a commercial with Karen and then one with Ilene ---commercials Carl had shared with us here on the forum before.

Talked about some fan encounters

Ilene and Malcolm spoke a little about their Grease experience.

Malcolm talked a bit about the shaman healing he does.

Karen is busy taking care of her parents ranch in Wyoming and has 3 grandchildren.  

Author Tom is hoping to write a book that will be a combination about the soap opera Texas (another soap Tom watched) and in relation to what was happening on NBC around that time. Tom has already spoke to Richard Backus (Barry on RH and also on Lovers and Friends/For Richer For Poorer and Another World) about this book.

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by safe

[Khan]

That should be an interesting book to read.  When TEXAS premiered, NBC was in serious trouble.  The only shows on their lineup that were even marginally successful were "CHiPs," "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life."  Everything else was struggling, especially the new shows - "Hello, Larry," "Supertrain," "Pink Lady & Jeff," etc. - that then-network president Fred Silverman believed would bring the network to #1.  Affiliates were bailing, President Carter's decision to boycott the 1980 Olympics cost the network millions of dollars in lost ad revenue, and I think there was even talk of NBC folding, like the DuMont Network before them.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Khan

[Paul Raven]

That NBC book would be a must read.

Fred Silverman was under tremendous pressure to turn NBC around and I think he was overwhelmed by the task. NBC had a completely different culture to that he met when joining ABC.

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Paul Raven

[danfling]

i just viewed an episode of Ryan's Hope on YouTube.   In it, the third actor was playing Dr. Patrick Ryan.   Please help me:  I cannot remember the name of this actor.   Who was the third Dr. Patrick Ryan?   To me, he resembled or reminded me of Malcolm Groome, but the actor seemed very inexperienced.

[safe]

His name is Robert Finoccoli and was on the show for about 3 months. He did have some of Malcolm Groome's  Pat's mannerisms.

[wonderwoman1951]

marisa paven, who played max dubujak’s mother, chantal, has died. 

here’s a free link.

marisa pavan obit

[Paul Raven]

Cashbox May 85

MATHIS TACKLES TV — Johnny Mathis will appear as himself on the popular daytime drama Ryan’s Hope, where he will perform the show’s theme song and the title track from his latest LP "Right From The Heart,” composed by Earl Rose and Kathy Wakefield. Mathis was introduced to the song by Wakefield, who was working with him on the new album. Mathis was reportedly so taken with the song that he changed the name of the LP. In the soap opera story line, Mathis is in New York recording an album (he was, of course, actually there for shows at Radio City Music Hall, co-headlining with Dionne Warwick), when he is approached with the tune, supposedly written by one of the show’s main characters. Mathis is taken with the song and decides to record it — just like in real life.

[danfling]

I am about to ask a very broad question.   Excuse me for being so broad, and know that I ususally do not ask anything so general.

 

Who can share information about Michael Levin before 1975 when he joined the original cast of Ryan's Hope?  What professional experience in acting did he have?  Was he already married to Elizabeth Levin?  I know that he was a Jewish actor cast as an Italian-American character.  He seemed to burst on the scene along with Kate Mulgrew.   The pair was featured on a late-night preview of Ryan's Hope.

I have been wondering about Mr. Levin for many months.  I am sorry that he was not available to be interviewed for Mr. Lisantti's book.

[Paul Raven]

@danfling this article should answer some of your questions

https://ryansbaronline.tripod.com/levinrona78.html

Some highlights

After having been in the Navy for two years, Michael then went to the University of Minnesota. In his junior year, Michael found himself falling asleep in the journalism advertising classes, and decided that he wanted something different.

"I was going to be a writer. My father was a self-made businessman and I didn’t want to go into business. I tried writing, and I found it to be a very lonely and difficult thing," Michael recalled.

Had he ever thought of acting before then? Michael’s answer is very adamant. “No, I had never thought of it. I had always thought of acting as sort of sissy stuff! When I grew up, it was all sports and fighting. I remember, even in high school, thinking, ‘who would go out fo the class play?’”  he continued, “Because I didn’t want to work, I decided to become an actor!”

It was while Michael was at the Guthrie Theater he met his wife, Elizabeth. She was teaching at the University, and was also writing plays, one of which the Guthrie Theater produced. Their son Aaron, was born at this time. (Elizabeth also has a son, Scott by a previous marriage. Michael’s son, Jason, by his former marriage, also lives with them). 

1965 found Michael heading for New York, and his first Broadway role. “I got a part in Royal Hunt of the Sun. That was with David Carradine. Then after that I did some work at Lincoln Center, and at the Stratford Theatre in Connecticut.”

 

Edited February 16, 2024 by Paul Raven