Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Thanks for sharing your memories. It's so special to get to talk with your mother about a soap she watched when she was younger that you now watch.

'70s feminism had to be much tougher, and other than maybe Search for Tomorrow (where the Kathy character is mostly unavailable in '70s form), Ryan's Hope may be the only soap that delved into this. Jill is such a fascinating character, one I'm not surprised was polarizing with viewers. So much about her probably shouldn't have worked, especially when you think of all the backstory thrown at viewers immediately (a previous love affair with Jack, being adopted and never feeling at home in the Coleridge family, being Frank's "other woman" for much of the decade). Nancy Addison was just so special, and the entitlement and arrogance of Jill felt offset by her vulnerability (which was not the case for the rest of her family). 

Mary was also very important for feminist debates, and likely more popular with the audience, but I never really connected with her the way I did with Jill. Maybe because the inherent smugness of the Ryans felt like a wall. 

Sometimes I wonder if it perversely helped Jill as a character that she was lumped with a complete dud of a partner for a year and a half, because it humanized her - why are you sacrificing your dignity for this loser? 

@safe Thanks for reminding me of more Sarah Felder backstory. A great deal I had forgotten. I appreciate her sticking up for the Pat/Nancy story if it was struck down due to prejudice, but there was so much else wrong with that pairing (I say that as one of the few John Blazo fans). I suppose the narrative about Felder is just too easy to believe (and she never has spoken about her time on the show).

[safe]

Yes, that was probably the case. In  the book, after Malcolm Groome (Pat) said he dated Kathleen Tolan,  he said he saw her theater work and found her to be  "compelling and charismatic actress"  In one of Ilene Kristen's many video interviews promoting the book, she also praised Kathleen.

Edited May 16 by safe

[DRW50]

They clearly loved her offcamera. I wish I could appreciate her work more, but...I don't.

Thanks for telling me what Levin said at the end. I still don't think Carney was bad, but I guess he would always see them as not shining compared to Kate.

[safe]

It was one of the bigger disappointments that Sarah wasn't part of the book. 

[DeeVee]

Does anyone know what happened to her post-RH? She seemed to evaporate after she left the show. Which is why I can believe she said negative things about the show--maybe it got her labeled as "difificult?"

I thought she was a very good actress. I liked her performance as Siobhan. She had really good chemistry with Michael Levin. IMO, they were a bit gutless not to go for a Jack/Siobhan romance after Mary was killed off.

[DRW50]

Last I saw she was teaching acting (?) at a college, but that was probably ten-twenty years ago. 

She and Michael Levin had immense chemistry. This is one time where all the stuff about what was in character didn't matter to me - pairing them up just seemed like a no-brainer to me. The Joe pairing sapped Siobhan's spirit, and while I liked Rose/Jack, it was clear someone at the show did not.

[DeeVee]

A few years after my grandfather and great aunt passed away, my grandmother married her widowed brother-in-law. You could have knocked us all over with a feather when they told us.

My point is: it happens in RL, a lot more often than people think. In the Jack/Siobhan case, it would have been super messy, which is exactly what you want on a soap.

Putting Siobhan with Joe forced them to write her as very naive and gullible, which seemed totally wrong for the character they initially introduced.

I liked Rose, too, but that story also got derailed by the stupid mob stuff.

[DRW50]

Absolutely. And IIRC Rose Alaio has mentioned production having it out for her.

[Ryan Mason]

One of the things that I found refreshing about Ryan's Hope when I discovered it on SoapNet was that for the most part, Delia was the only female character whose life seemed to revolve around getting and keeping a man, and it was clearly viewed as a character flaw. Because by the 2000s, I feel like fully half the female characters on the soaps at that time were obsessed with trying to snare some vacuous lunkhead. Up that to like 85% of them if we're talking Days Of Our Lives or Passions.

Edited May 17 by Ryan Mason

[TheyStartedOnSoaps]

Tichina Arnold talks "Ryan's Hope" in a new interview this past May 2024

You played Zena Brown on Ryan’s Hope. Have you seen Tom Lisanti’s book — Ryan’s Hope: An Oral History of Daytime’s Groundbreaking Soap?

No, I didn’t know there was one! I’ve got to look for that! Ryan’s Hope was my first professional role [as a TV series regular]. Then, I went to All My ‘Kids’ [AKA All My Children as Sharla Valentine], too!

What did you learn from doing soap operas?

I learned what not to do. By that, I mean back then, we had teleprompters. Actors were known as “not the best” because they’re on soap operas. I say no, it’s not that they’re not good actors. They are. It’s that they’re reading teleprompters. I trained myself to remember my lines.

Did anyone take you under their wing and show you the ropes?

Yes. Michael Levin, who played Jack Finelli. Bless his heart and God rest his soul. [Editor’s note: the Daytime Emmy-nominated actor passed away on January 6 of this year at the age of 90.] It was because of him I got on the show. Michael insisted I get the part. He fought for me. He told me, “Tichina, when I saw your audition, I wanted you to get the role.”

https://www.tvinsider.com/1134502/the-neighborhood-season-6-finale-toni-braxton-marty-courtney-baby/

In 2022 she said about Michael Levin

“I've been blessed to have been around a lot of people who saw my potential and Michael Levin's one of them. I did a soap opera called Ryan's Hope years ago when I was about 17 years old and they didn't want me because I just didn’t have the soap opera look,” Arnold said. “I was a dark-skinned Black woman with crooked teeth. You didn't see that on soap operas, but it was Michael Levin's storyline and he said, ‘Tichina, I had to fight for you. I had to fight for you because you know, the network didn't want you, they wanted someone else.’ And I said, ‘Why did you fight for me?’ and he said, ‘When you came in and auditioned, you just lit up the room. I didn't want anybody else after I saw you.’ That gave me a lot of confidence.”

https://www.uptownmagazine.com/entertainment/tichina-arnolds-secret-to-longevity-is-being-able-to-put-her-ego-to-the-side

[DRW50]

Thanks. I wonder if Lisanti tried to get in contact with her about the book. She would have had interesting perspective.

[TheyStartedOnSoaps]

Yes he did - he sent a request to her publicist, but never heard back

[DemetriKane]

I'm surprised it took me this long to get into RH. The soap is so damn good, I am just as obsessed with the Ryan's as Delia. The Ryans are a great family unit and seem like good people. I wish I had a family like that.

This show has so many parallels to BTG. Frank's mystery is very similar to Martin's. Both are my favorites on each show.

adding more thoughts soon once I get a consistent watch going.