Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[Chris 2]

I remember it took place shortly after John Blazo took over as Pat, and it was so jarring because his quiet introspective portrayal of the character was so different from Malcolm Groome’s.

 

I watched a few min of the episode. RH was a show in transition at that point - new Pat, new Faith, new Mary (again), the introduction of Siobhan. Even Pat’s girlfriend at the time, Nancy, had three different actresses playing her in a short period of time.

 

And wow - was Kathleen Tolan horrible as Mary! Even in the scenes where she’s not botching her lines, she’s so wooden and unnatural. How she ever got the job is beyond me.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Chris 2

[safe]

Wonderful reunion- very pleasant interviews.

 

Was looking for some holiday decor in the actors homes but didn't see any.

 

I had forgotten that Roy Poole (later Neil MacCurtain)  was up for the role of Johnny until  Ilene said she was sure Roy was going to get the part of Da

 

In an old James Wlcek  (Ben) blog radio interview, he had said that he had been involved with Catherine Larson (Lizzie)  off camera (and involved with Maria Pitllio [Nancy Don], too, - also said he would never get involved with a co-star ever again after those two)

 

John Gabriel (Seneca) telling Geoff Pieson that he was hired to save the ratings - boy, not much pressure there 

 

Speaking of saving the show - 

Looking at an old March 26, 1983 issue of Soap Opera Digest, it printed there was a rumor Ryan's Hope might be cancelled to make room for the new Agnes Nixon-Douglas Marland soap. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by safe

[safe]

Kathleen Tolan and Helen Gallagher(Maeve) were friends. Helen had Kathleen come in to audition for the role of Siobhan and they hired her to play Mary.  According to another message board,  Kathleen had a serious problem with nerves and would get physically ill before taping but it was said Claire Labine really liked her. 

[DeliaIrisFan]

 

I remember when Tolan's first episode was broadcast in the SoapNet run, she seemed to have more energy/personality than Mary had shown since Kate Mulgrew left.  In hindsight, I believe the first Mary recast, Mary Carney, turned out to be the best of Mulgrew's replacements.  But during MC's entire run she essentially seemed like a placeholder, and to be fair she never got much material to showcase her abilities and/or build a rapport with co-stars.  I do recall Tolan flubbing her lines, and once Mary and Siobhan really started going head to head, Tolan's Mary had to go to places I'm not sure any performer could have made work, but in any case her take could be hard to watch.  I can't believe Helen Gallagher would have recommended someone with no talent just because they were a friend, so it's a shame that KT wasn't able to sustain that initial promise—as they discussed on the reunion, not everyone was able to adapt to the medium, talent aside, and this was a particularly challenging role to try and make her own.  (If she was in fact dealing with performance anxiety, I'm sure the mail and calls to the studio from viewers wanting Mulgrew back and/or rooting for Siobhan didn't help.)

 

Speaking of the reunion, it was indeed great.  The guests were a bit of an eclectic mix, i.e., Geoff Pierson had not overlapped with several of the other guests at all, and we didn't even get to see the comic relief of his reaction to how quickly his on-screen son grew up to be Ash Adams—it seemed they all knew each other already, presumably through Cali Timmons' remaining on the show for years after.  But I do think GP was the best Frank, from what I've seen of his run over the years on YouTube, and he's often forgotten in the mix so it was nice to hear from him. 

I'm probably the only one who cares, but I wish he had been asked to speak about what, if anything, he knew/remembered of the original plans for the aftermath of the Charlotte Greer/McCurtain story that first introduced his rendition of Frank.  The climax of that was what landed Frank in the hospital in the scenes GP and CT alluded to, which did indeed coincide with Maggie's introduction—because Charlotte disappeared and Maggie immediately replaced her as the main threat to Frank/Jill.  After Delia, who had most often been the thorn in the Ryans' side, had been sidelined earlier in the year, I might add.  It's been reported the network insisted on backburnering Dee, and it's hard to believe Labine and Mayer put all that time and energy into Charlotte's story and then decided on their own just to drop it overnight...had they stayed and been left alone, could the Ryans and Coleridges have headed into 1984 being forced to contend with Charlotte, Maggie, and Delia all at once?

[j swift]

How early did we know that Jill was adopted?

 

Of course I remember the introduction of Bess, Maggie, and Ben, as well as the infamous line from Faith about Jill being unwanted.  However, I don't recall Jill's adoption as being a salient part of her backstory until later in the series.  Does anyone recall the circumstances under which we first found out that Jill, Faith, and Roger didn't share the same biological mother?  Was it a retcon or was that fact always part of Jill's bio?

[dc11786]

It was always part of Jill’s backstory. I believe it was mentioned in the first week or two when Jill was explaining how she never felt close to the Coleridge mother because she had been the orphan that Ed had brought home from a tour of duty. Her father was originally stated to be a friend of Ed’s but this may have just been a cover. 
 

Jill’s adoption was a bigger point in 1981 after Frank broke his engagement with Faith because he was still in love with Jill. Faith would coldly remind Jill that she wasn’t her REAL sister which then led to the whole Mehrit Khara story where it came out that Ed was Jill’s father. Between 1975 and 1981 it was mentioned infrequently. 

[Chris 2]

I also think that Mary Carney was the best Mary recast. The reason she didn’t have much to do is because the writers put Mary on the back burner when she was recast, so as not to shove her down people’s throats. This went on for six months, and just when they were ready to move Mary back to a front burner story, ABC got cold feet about Carney and insisted on a recast.

 

In reality, immediately following Mulgrew was an impossible feat. They should have taken Mary off the canvas for a few years before a recast. But that also would have meant breaking up the Fenellis or writing out Michael Levin.

[Soaplovers]

Mary C had the spirit of Mulgrew..but was warmer.  Shame she was let go cause I wonder how she would have handled Mary's issues with Siobhan

[rlj]

JW also was living with his GF too lol

 

KT was HORRIBLE as Mary, I liked Carney!

 

I thought it was always known Jill was adopted

Edited December 16, 2020 by rlj

[te.]

 

Just watching that scene I assume she's supposed to have fallen on the knife on the floor while holding it in her hands and then rolled over.

[John]

If Mary Carney had lasted a few Years, do you think Mary would have lived?

[gimmetoo]

Seems like on-set romances were not unusual for RH.  Grant and Yasmine, Randall and Roscoe, Geoffrey and Cali (although not certain of their timeline).  I'm sure there were others.  There's no denying chemistry...

[j swift]

In hindsight Nancy Don was an awkward name.  I could accept Nancy Dawn, or just Nancy, but the middle name Don, coupled with the fact that every character used her full name was an odd writing choice.

Edited December 16, 2020 by j swift

[Chris 2]

Yep. The only reason they killed her off was because they thought the recasts didn’t work and there was no way Kate Mulgrew was returning full time.

[amybrickwallace]

 

Geoff and Cali didn't get together until the show had been off the air for quite a while. I believe he was still married to his first wife when he played Frank.