Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

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This piece of information was on the Soapnet forum a few years ago and I had forgotten all about it until it was mentioned recently by someone. It was from poster, TotallyKate. She is the webmaster of TotallyKate! The Official Website of Kate Mulgrew.

3/15/08

by TotallyKate

A few years ago I happened to acquire from eBay notes about the original casting and storyline for Ryan's Hope. I had forgotten what was in it until I came across it last week when I was looking for something else.

In the original bible for 'A Rage to Love', Mary has gone to the police academy to follow in the footsteps of her big brother, Frank. Frank is still a policeman and he and his partner, Saul, are involved in a case with mob connections. Saul dies and then Frank is found at the bottom of the hospital steps. Frank eventually dies and Bob Clancey (last name was changed to Reid) and Mary investigate his death as they don't believe it was an accident. Mary "quits" the police force and goes undercover taking a job at the hospital. Jack does not agree with Mary risking her life by going undercover and this breaks up the relationship that has already developed between them. Jack then starts a relationship with Faith, although both he and Mary love each other. Faith was involved with Pat but that relationship broke up after Faith wanted marriage and Pat didn't. Jack's relationship with Faith of course is wonderful for the widow Delia who wants Pat back. So everyone seems to be without the person they really love which makes for many hours of wanting them to get back to the one they love.

Of course many aspects of the storyline changed drastically by the time "Ryan's Hope" made it on the air. It's interesting to note though that a lot of these original storyline ideas either ended up as backstory for the characters or as future storylines, such as the police academy and Siobhan.

[DRW50]

That's very interesting stuff. I think Kate's Mary would have made a more believable cop than Siobhan, and might have given more story than the reporter stuff.

I can't imagine Faith/Jack at all! I wonder if this plan is why they had Jack and Jill as previous lovers.

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I doubt they would have had the Jack and Jill backstory of a past affair, if they had gone forward with the plan for a Jack and Faith relationship.

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Last summer, I found this on a google book/magazine search - Just posting the part about RH

Edited January 4, 2011 by safe

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The reporter said the interview was conducted the day Malcolm finished the play, that would have been in August 1976. This article has his birthday wrong – it should say August 16th.

Edited January 4, 2011 by safe

[DRW50]

Thanks for sharing these with us. Malcolm is still into this type of stuff now. It's too bad he doesn't do more acting, but he seems to be happy.

I think Clem was dropped from RH not long after that article. What a waste.

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Edited January 6, 2011 by safe

[DRW50]

I never knew Jordan Clarke and Catherine Hicks were close friends. I wonder if they still know each other.

[DRW50]

From the December 1976 Daytime TV.

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More details were posted about that and it turns out that Jordan Clarke had graduated from Cornell a few years ahead of Catherine and was a friend of Catherine's boyfriend.

Thanks for the Helen Gallagher piece. Even though I've heard her real life New York voice elsewhere, whenever I read her quotes, I hear them in her Maeve Ryan Irish accent.

[DRW50]

I know what you mean. When I watch her OLTL clips again I still hear her Irish accent, even though it's not real.

I haven't had time to type up the pages of the article that had no photos but I will soon!

[DRW50]

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Andrew Robinson (Frank #2): After My Dad Died I Started Stealing (1977)

[DRW50]

That was a fascinating interview. He led quite a full life even up to RH.

His daughter went on to also appear on DS9.

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Over the years, Andrew Robinson has said he was fired because that the viewers couldn't get his Dirty Harry performance out of their head, which interfered with his being accepted as Frank. Sounds like there could be a little truth in that story. This was a short blurb in the gossip section.