Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[John]

Thanks for the Tag

[DeliaIrisFan]

Thanks for the tag - looking forward to reading it.

[DeliaIrisFan]

 

I think Labine probably enjoyed writing for the adult versions of the children of the characters who were front and center in the show's early years.  She probably would have never aged them so drastically herself, but once it was done she seemed to have fun with it and got to incorporate some of the characteristics/hangups she presumably always assumed they'd have because of who their parents were.

Semi related to the issues with Rae/Kim and Michael and their lack of connection to the rest of the canvas, I think the introduction of a character like Dakota was both too late and a wasted opportunity to connect the Ryans to the types of characters the network wanted on all their soaps in the '80s.  (It was also dreadfully written from what I've seen and I can't for the life of me understand why they had to tack on the amnesia cliche too, but that's neither here nor there.)  Playing the long-lost younger Ryan son card a few years earlier and having him been raised by a wealthy family like the Kirklands would have instantly grafted them onto the show, and they could have mixed it up with characters like Kim/Rae.

[gimmetoo]

 

Not enough credit is given to the Ryan Finelli years...likely because these episodes never got a rewatch the way the early years did on SoapNet.  The show desperately needed a re-fresh and the new generation of Ryans did just that, while keeping many of the originals front and center in supporting roles. 

Yasmine Bleeth was an engaging enough performer and with Ryan's trials, Jack, Maeve and Johnny were allowed plenty of airtime.  Ryan's pairing with Rick Hyde was exactly the young love fix that ABC Daytime mandated for all its shows in the late 80s.  There were certainly days and weeks when Ryan and Rick's romance was more compelling than many of ABC Daytime's other more highly rated couples.

[j swift]

I'm a fan of Ryan and the way she reinvigorated the character of Jack.  Although Rick's exit story to go to RADA was ridiculous, I liked the contemporary nature of Chaz as an ambitious yuppie.

But, it is hard not to remember her time as a young adult without thinking of the unwelcome additions to Johnno's storyline of Lizzie and Nancy Don.  IMHO, Lizzie was one of the least appealing heroines in the history of daytime. 

To this day, I still can't understand what Johnno's motivations were in that plot.  Was he a philandering jerk?  Was he seeking stability?  The fact that he was sacrificed as a hero in order to prop up Ben was a shame.  I would predict that if RH had continued they would have recast Johnno, and much like Frank, eventually found someone more charismatic, with more audience appeal, for the part.

Edited July 11, 2022 by j swift

[gimmetoo]

Agreed, Johnno was a weak link in the later years…but I don’t think Jason Adams was the issue.  He was charismatic enough and had great chemistry with and was perfectly cast as the child of Ilene Kristen and John Sanderford.  The right romantic pairing could have salvaged the character and set Johnno up to be as popular as Ryan.

Before Ryan, Maggie Shelby was the most exciting new character to pump energy into the show.  The camera loved Cali Timmons and she was perfectly cast as the foil to the Ryans and Coleridges.  I wish Cali had acted more after RH.  If Yasmine, Grant Show, Wlcek, etc. found success in primetime, surely Cali could have too.

[danfling]

What primetime success was found by James Wlcek?    I do know that he performed in some episodic television shows, but I had been thinking that those came prior to his being on either Ryan's Hope or One Life to Live.

[j swift]

In 1999 Wlcek starred in the Walker Texas Ranger spinoff Sons of Thunder.  To your point @danfling it was not a big success, and was cancelled after one season,  but the entire network series was based around his character.

Edited July 11, 2022 by j swift

[wonderwoman1951]

looking forward to this.

very curious why kate mulgrew, mary munisteri, and claire labine’s kids weren’t included. 

[danfling]

I had not heard of a spin-off of Walker, Texas Ranger.    Forgive me for being ignorant about this show.

 

I liked the Dakota storyline, but I also did not see why it was introduced with Jillian's amnesia storyline.   I have always supposed that the show wanted to give to Nancy Addison Altman a new big storyline.   I also agree with the post above that the introduction of Dakota was brought too late for the good of the show.

[gimmetoo]

Chris Durham was well cast as Dakota...he was a great foil for the saintly Ryans.  Chris sparked more w/ Ilene and Cali than w. Nancy likely because of the ill-conceived amnesia storyline.  

[j swift]

I like when soaps play with ideas like "What would the Ryan boys be like without the influence of Maeve"? which seems to be the inspiration for Dakota.

Unfortunately, Jill's amnesia was not only uncreative, but it relied on a change in Jill's hair to indicate her newfound feelings of freedom, leading to the question did she have a head injury or a perm?

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[DRW50]

Fun interview with Michael Corbett and Maree Cheatham. He says - without naming names - that one time a performer on RH went nude in a bedroom scene. I have my guess...

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by DRW50

[Chris 2]

I hate the name “Dakota”. No one in real life is named “Dakota”. It’s a ridiculous soap opera name, and RH was better than that.

[j swift]

Dakota Johnson and Dakota Fanning may beg to differ

Edited July 16, 2022 by j swift