Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

It just came out earlier today, as someone kindly mentioned in the obit thread. I didn't know he had aphasia either. A wonderful talent.

[NothinButAttitude]

I got my copy of Tom Lisanti's book in the mail (finally), and it is a page turner. 

From where I am at, I am curious as to why Ron did not take to Kate Mulgrew. I think a few others hinted to it (too), but it didn't get fleshed out. 

I hate that the initial bible of RH couldn't be discovered by Paul's kids. I know that document would be a good read. 

I also hope that Claire/Paul's writing methods are further explained. By that, I mean how the two would split the show up and write certain stories before I guess coming together to thread it all together. As a writer, that interests me. 

[DRW50]

A number of RH moments in this "daytime dilemma" video compilation.

 

[danfling]

 

This was posted by Lisa Sutton (Nancy Feldman #1 on Ryan's Hope):

 

This is exactly how I use to feel when I taught ballet classes regularly. Sharing my gifts with the beautiful students, young and old, that would walk through my studio doors eager to learn.

—> I never felt exhausted from teaching and it truly filled my heart with so much joy. I loved molding them into beautiful ballerinas instilling the love of dance in each and every one of them.

.

#misslisasladybugs

.

I considered myself the guardian angel of the fifth position and I treasured every single day

.

Now I’m only able to teach through zoom, which is still very fulfilling but it’s not the same as in person. Maybe one day soon I’ll teach again

.

xoxo Miss Lisa

[NothinButAttitude]

OK. I am halfway through the book and some of my opinions are changing on Claire as writer. Do I think she's still immensely talented? Yes. However, the Merit Kara plot and the ape plot... Yeah. I can see that Paul was the one that kept her grounded at times. I think without Paul, Claire probably would've crumbled to the network long before she did. 

[safe]

I don't think this is RH's Lisa Sutton. This Lisa Sutton was also talking about her husband's recent health battles and in February post said she has been married to him for 35 years.

 RH's Lisa Sutton was listed as a couple with (former) business partner, Amy Lafayette, in a obituary of Amy's father. A few years ago,  Amy filed for Marriage Dissolution/Divorce from Lisa.

[DRW50]

I still think the King Kong plot was perfectly fine. It was mostly centered on Delia's loneliness and was short. I'll take that over the endless mob saga, Faith's years-long pity parties, or the obsessiveness over Kimberly's love life and tantrums.

[j swift]

One of my early soap memories was a family trip, where I insisted on going back to the hotel each day to watch Dee and the ape.  It was mesmerizing, and brief.

It is funny to read that people didn't like Kimberly.  I know she “took over the show” for a while.  There was something about her odd vocal tone, and I liked the name Arley.  My three favorites when watching it at the time were Delia, Kim, and Maggie.  For me, one of the true strengths of RH was the ability to write a female vixen who was multifaceted.  When Kim went after Seneca, we fully understood her motives, just as when Maggie tried to seduce Frank.  They weren't just covetous, wonton, woman, they were sympathetic in ways that were rare in the 1980s soaps. 

Don't get me wrong, I also like Jill and Siobhan.  I could take Rae and Leigh at times.  But, Faith and Lizzie were never my jam.  And Nancy Don, I could never get past the character's name.  

In fact, given all the silly “taken from the movies” plots (Jaws, King Tut, The Godfather), it is remarkable that the characters remained rich, even if their circumstances were preposterous.   RH was probably the only show that I practically watched from beginning to the end.  But, I rarely think about it, partially because the story lines were not as captivating as EON.  For example, I bought the book to read on a trip back in October, but I've never opened it.  And that's from a guy who once read Don Diamont's memoir (5/10, only recommended for the pictures, the OJ stuff, and his DAYS stories).

Edited April 23 by j swift

[NothinButAttitude]

I have only seen the actual ape story on YouTube and while it was shot beautifully for its time, I can see why many of the actors felt the story was absurd or how quickly it was wrapped up. It is the aftermath with Delia supposedly thinking about some past life and it causes her not to connect with Roger, which is odd for me. 

It saddens me to hear how each actress who played Faith expressed how they hated Faith being a drag. But I am concluding (and someone please correct me if I am wrong), that is because Claire only made all roads lead to Mary in a sense. 

[DRW50]

I don't really remember any of that. Most of the material given to Delia by that point was not good, although I did enjoy her pairing with Barry before that was trashed for no good reason.

I loathed Roger by this point. Couldn't even watch his scenes.

[NothinButAttitude]

Yeah. I just got past the Barry part the other night.

I am on the last few pages of the Charlotte Greer era of the book. I should be in the Greenberg era by tomorrow. 

Richard Backus and Trent Jones both seemed open to remaining on the show if given the option. Glad to see both of them went on to have successful careers in writing on soaps. 

I didn't realize my beloved Maureen Garrett was on the show as Barry's sister. I might need to go and look up some clips of her time on the show. I am interested to hear what some of you all thought of her time on the show. Per the book, it seems the character wasn't well-received b/c it was at the expense of Delia. 

I didn't know Will Patton was on RH too. But it makes sense from watching Search for Tomorrow how so many actors that were previously on RH pop up on that show (i.e. Louise Shaffer, Peter Haskell, Will Patton). Plus, I always said that the McCleary family seemed like a Ryan's family knockoff. Now knowing Ellen Barrett was EP at SFT at one point and Paul Avila Mayer was there for a stint too, I am wondering if this was devised by them. 

[DRW50]

Oh they said that? Wow. I never knew, although I did know she wasn't well received as she was only on for a year or so. Her first months are on Youtube. I love Maureen Garrett but the character did not work for me, because of the Delia element, and also being tied to tedious, sanctimonious Roger. 

It also made no sense that they wrote her in right after Barry left. 

I enjoyed Trent Jones' work but Ken was best in that one story arc. Barry could have stayed longer though.

[NothinButAttitude]

The book didn't outright say it, but it was implied that the audience felt EJ was too Mary Sue and it was at the expense of Delia, who always came up short when they were at odds. 

Richard Backus felt his character should've had longevity too. I surmised he felt that once they removed him out of Delia's orbit, he was doomed. 

I am enjoying the book for the most part. I didn't expect there to be so much tension and drama behind the scenes though. I guess because it was a smaller production, I assumed it would've been less drama. It seems like a lot of people were agitated that Claire was hung up on Kate Mulgrew's Mary. 

And a lot of people didn't take to either Lela Swift (director) or Ellen Barrett (EP) at times. Helen Gallagher got some critiques for being cold at times too. 

[Chris 2]

The problem with the Ryan cousins, Barry and EJ, is that they were cousins. Not siblings. Cousins are boring, dramatically.

[DRW50]

Jack on ATWT was able to provide some drama, although he was horribly used for most of his run on the show and mostly saved by Michael Park's charm. I'm not sure it has ever worked on other occasions. I think the idea made sense as the Ryan siblings felt very tapped out by then...but the show didn't try or just lost interest.