Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[Chris 2]

I’ve read part of the book - lots of fun for RH fans. Someone mentioned that Kirstie Alley was “weird.”

Catherine Hicks had a lot of praise for the show, but she doesn’t come across as a big fan of Kate Mulgrew’s. She said she was looking for a friend she could giggle with, and that wasn’t Kate. She said she’s not a big fan of “mannered” performances and that “Kate does Katherine Hepburn.” She also said that she felt that TPTB considered Kate the star and she resented feeling like she was second best, or something to that extent.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Chris 2

[DeliaIrisFan]

Awww thanks for the shout outs. 

I just watched the Locher Room video, and I can't wait to read the book - should be arriving today.

What Durham said about Claire Labine was fascinating, although I believe she softened on the subject of Dakota over time.  She said in an interview in the '90s that the fallout from that was one of her five favorite stories, on any show she wrote.

Not only did I not watch RH during its ABC run, I also skipped 1984-86 on YouTube.  With that major disclaimer, I think there were a few issues with the way the interim writers introduced Dakota:

1) No moral judgments about Johnny having an affair from me, but it does seem completely out of left field for the character.  How was he not racked with guilt every time he and Maeve lay awake at night fretting about Frank or Pat breaking someone's heart because they couldn't keep it in their pants?  As long as they were going for a soap cliche, I think the long-lost son should have been Sean Ryan, the youngest (I think?) Ryan sibling, switched at birth with another infant who had died.

2) Speaking of cliches, of all the ways to reveal a long-lost, illegitimate son of a core family member, he just happened to be the guy his sister-in-law hooked up with while she had amnesia?  For a show that had avoided so many soap opera cliches, did they need two for the price of one (three, if you count the character name)?

3) Did Maeve and Johnny even get much material out of the actual reveal?  I do remember watching that scene they discussed on Youtube, with Johnny moving out after Maeve said Dakota was no longer welcome in their home.  It was amazing, but I remember being surprised to realize THAT must have been the story Labine had been talking about in the aforementioned interview—not devout Catholic Maeve's actual reaction to learning Johnny had had an affair in the first place.  And Dakota's mother was already dead, right?  If they were going to do this story, they should have cast a stage veteran to play her, at least briefly, and/or used Dakota as a bridge to introduce members of his other family.

Anyway, in the later episodes I saw Durham did make a great villain.  And he (and Ilene of course) still look amazing.

[DeliaIrisFan]

PS: I was sorry to hear Eleanor Labine declined to be interviewed.  I hope she does tell her family's story (or write it herself) someday, when she's ready: not just their work on RH but also GH, and anything else she wishes to share.  So much TV history.

[safe]

Catherine Hicks was hired  and she wanted a shorter contract  ---and they gave it to her because they needed a someone and they really liked her.  She felt frustrated in the role and wanting more of a story. She said the writing for Faith was strong at first--- and I think it was ---that first 10 or 11 months or so when Faith was in the thick of things between the Faith/Pat/Delia triangle coming together and lots of sister scenes with Jill. While she was part of the overworked doctors, and hospital strike story, and there was Delia's constant jealousy to deal with ---it was different for the rest of the year.   Things got better when they began with Tom Desmond & Faith relationship and Pat was anxious to leave Delia. To me, this was because Kate was gone and Mary (Mary Carney) had very limited screen time ---so it freed up air time for Faith. After landing her Broadway role, the show wanted her to stay and she was considering staying--- but the play had two months of out of town previews--- so she ultimately decided to leave 

Ilene Kristen was full of praise for Catherine and Ana Alicia's talents ---and how they took what they learned on RH and ran with it. Catherine and Ana were full of praise for Ilene.

Ana Alicia only had a year contract and told her Alicia wasn't that important of a character. Talked about that last minute decision to give the character an accent --- that Ana knew was inconsistent.  She wasn't given direction or motivation like when Alicia switched careers to work for Rae. Angel was there to show Alicia's love and depth but Jose Aleman  wasn't given anything to do.  Playing  Alicia made Ana not want to play the good girl anymore. She had gotten Falcon Crest six months after turning down a good girl role on Flamingo Road.

I didn't read much new from Malcolm Groome that we hadn't already heard over the years ---about how the show they changed Pat to a nice guy. After his addiction storyline, Malcolm said they didn't give him as much to play as an actor and it would have been fun to have played a more multidimensional character. He would have liked to have seen Pat remain a ladies man. Same stuff! One thing different --- he did say that he did not understand why Pat was with Melinda ---she was too young for him. Though, Melinda's death was a favorite scene of his.

There wasn't anything new revealed with Andrew Robinson, either. They pursued him for the role---after a long network battle they fired on Christmas day because of his Dirty Harry role. He said any actor is fired at least once in their career. He wanted to win the Emmy to stick it to the network. 

Karen Morris-Gowdy didn't care for the Theresa The Ghost story or the Merit Kara story. But she said it was a paycheck---so she did it. John Blazo told of how Karen kissed him when he was nervous in the middle of one of his auditions---he was supposed to kiss her. She loved playing Drunk Faith.  She was VERY unhappy on the show in 1983, and with Joe Hardy -felt he was tanking the show. She couldn't have stressed any more about how miserable she was! She said everyone was unhappy. She was fired even though she knew Joe liked her.  Karen felt Cali Timmins' Maggie had taken over and there wasn't room to work both characters (Faith and Maggie).  She was asked back in 1988 but turned it down to start a family and she still wasn't over how miserable she felt working on the show in 1983.

Louise Shaffer was fired, her Emmy hadn't even been engraved yet! Louise didn't get an exit scene like Karen. Joe didn't like Louise as much---someone thought Louise asked too many questions and Joe didn't like being questioned. Joe wanted to put his own stamp on the show. Ellen Barrett was now working at Search For Tomorrow and knew Louise needed a job and hired her to replace Marie Cheatman. Louise was very grateful to Ellen.

Edited January 13 by safe

[Chris 2]

Karen Morris Gowdy also said that Claire Labine tried to lure her back a year or two before the show ended. She was reluctant to return because of how unhappy she was when she left, so she ultimately declined. And a short time later, she found out she was pregnant, so she felt it was the universe’s way of telling her she made the right choice.

[safe]

Yes, Karen mentioned it on her Locher Room interview.  Several people in the book mentioned she wanted to be a mother--- even Randall Edwards mentioned it.

Edited October 31, 2023 by safe

[safe]

Early one afternoon, in 1986, Ilene Kristen received a message from Joe Hardy that he wanted her to get in touch with him immediately. Ilene waited until 6 p.m. to return his call! LOL! They wanted her back on the show! (He made some awkward comments about weight during their conversation). He also said they were making her a grandmother. Ilene told Joe that she had a very big off-Broadway career happening and, if she came back, she might have to leave early some days. Joe agreed and said anything you want.

Roscoe Born returned to the show in 1988 at his request. Roscoe and Randall were running out of money. They paid him very well. It was for 13 weeks --- after about  8 of 9 weeks --- he learned they were going to kill Joe. This was to bring Siobhan back to the show and her relationship with Fenno.

 

[applcin]

Has any other soap given a departing cast member a vacation in Ireland? It blows my mind that they took Levin and Mulgrew on a honeymoon to Ireland and filmed it all as part of Kate's sendoff. I always wondered how much of that was for fans to get that last grand story with those two and how much was basically a thank you gift to Kate.

[Jagger1966]

I'm about two thirds of the way through the book and am loving it!  As a couple of others have mentioned there are at least 2 people in the book who mistakenly say that Daniel Hugh Kelly left Ryan's Hope for Hardcastle & McCormick.  He actually left because he got a role in the NBC drama Chicago Story which unfortunately only lasted for 13 episodes.  Hardcastle & McCormick came along the following year.  Then of course there was I Married Dora.......

[Chris 2]

And The Ponderosa

[safe]

And Second Noah

[safe]

The consensus was, as great as Robin Mattson was on General Hospital, she was miscast as Delia. Somebody thought Robin wasn't as secure in the role.

Cali Timmins did not love the Dave and Maggie relationship. She didn't understand the Maggie/Max story. She didn't like interaction with the younger set of 1984---on and off-camera. Scheming Maggie was more fun to play. Loved working with Ilene Kristen. James Wleck had a crush on her. She left the show to do other things. 

Ron Hale on the early years, again, were things we've heard before. How they really didn't know what to do with Roger until they put him with Ilene Kristen. Frank Latimore had a lot of trouble with his lines and Ron would mouth them to Frank when the camera was on Frank to help him.  Ron said he and Kate Mulgrew were like fire and water.  Roger and Rae were great comrades. Ron blocked out most of Prince Albert ---it was so off the wall. When Roger came to almost raping Maggie, a storyline he hated, Ron pushed them to make it because of excessive alcohol. New to me was Ron told the story about Malcolm Groome coming to him  after Malcolm overheard they were going to send Roger down the elevator shaft and kill him off. Ron went to the network's Jackie Smith and she told him she would take care of it. Ron said Delia/Roger/Maggie was fun but he blocked out a lot of those later years  and recalled more about the first 5 years. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by safe

[safe]

The show went to France for a location shoot in the mid-1980's. Someone said they didn't know how Joe Hardy got ABC approve this. There was also a comment that Joe and Jackie Smith were doing this to try and save the show. This was part of the Dubujax storyline and some cast members were envious but Marg Helgenberger was one who made the trip---so a Ryan went. Daniel Pillon had trouble remembering lines and blocking.

Walt Wiley had been an extra in scenes and made friends with everybody and got cast as Joe ---but blonde, tall Walt was not believable as Joe. Gerit Quealy thought Carrell Myers was too young and gentle to be Siobhan. Someone mentioned that she was tall, too ---and wouldn't have worked with Roscoe. When Claire Labine returned in 1987 --- and cut the story short sending Siobhan,Joe, and their son out of town.

Lois Robbins told of being fired from the CBN soap opera, Another Life, a day after she told the make-up man she was a Jewish-American. The make-up man asked if she was Italian. She said she was in the middle of a story when fired and called it brutal and eye-opening. She related the story of Ash Adams sticking his tongue in her mouth during a kissing scene and Joe Hardy scolding him. She was written out when Malcolm Groome left the show. She tried to talk him into staying.

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by safe

[safe]

The show received hate mail about Frank and Diana's interracial romance---so ABC killed it. Some thought the story might have stood a better chance to pair Diana with Pat or some other lesser character rather than leading man Frank. 

There was not as much from Michael Levin as I expected---Jack and Mary was probably his favorite story. He said soap operas are female-driven and written with them in mind. He said none of the Mary recasts were right. He said Helen Gallagher's suggestion (Kathleen Tolan) was bad. His suggestion (Nicolette Goulet) was bad.  Karen Morris-Gowdy said Michael was very grumpy during this time because he was frustrated --- he let everyone know how unhappy he was. Times he says he didn't have anything to do. He pushed for Tichina Arnold to be hired ---it was fun ---but not much came from that. He didn't like the storyline with Jack's parents ---thought it was silly ----although it gave him certain dramatic scenes and he was flattered by the attention it gave him. He liked the return of Leigh.

Helen Gallagher never auditioned with Bernard Barrow ---and she didn't like him a first. Ryan's Hope is the children. Prince Albert was a fiasco and her least favorite story --- she liked Randall. Deceased Mary visiting her was one of her favorite stories. Helen said Ryan's Hope was the most welcoming show (which it wasn't , though, for a lot of actors) 

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by safe

[Paul Raven]

Another actress had been cast I believe, she later played Maeve's sister.

With all the casting issues with Mary, I wonder why they didn't just send Jack and Mary out of town. Was Michael Levin that popular? esp w/o Kate M?

Then later they could return. If Levin wouldn't come back they could recast or have a new Mary return a widow.

Is there any actress around in the early 80's that posters think could have played Mary?