Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[dc11786]

@Sapounopera I think there was a cast cull in early 1976 because the cast size was deemed too large. I don't remember who that was. I think the Bucky / Reenie romance and the Sam Cromwell character were part of the purge. Diana van der Vlis was supposed I'll and asked to be let out of her contract. Frank Latimore wasn't working in the role of Ed, in my opinion.

Kate Mulgrew became pregnant during her time on the show, but I cannot remember when that was or if that was in the first year or the second. I think there were some temporary Marys when Mulgrew was pregnant. 

The Kenneth Castle story was a variation of a story Labine and Mayer had cooked up on "Where the Heart Is" involving Christine Cameron, who had been stalked by her insane neighbor Will Watts. So the network may have demanded it, but it was definitely a story that Labine and Mayer had worked out before.

 

[Chris 2]

Nancy Barrett is so jarring as Faith. She’s too old for the role, for one thing. And then the whole sunny attitude - “Here am I, all better, and blonde and vivacious.” Weird.

[Khan]

I still can't believe it took so many recasts to make Faith work even a little; and even when they DID have a successful recast with Karen Morris-Gowdy, her Faith was so different from what Faith was originally, she might as well have been an entirely new character.

[DRW50]

Mary gets pregnant soon after she marries Jack, which was written in due to Kate's real life pregnancy. Sam Cromwell was likely directly affected by this, as he was clearly meant to be in a triangle with Jack and Mary. He wasn't that bad. 

I do wonder about Nell's story as to me it felt like a natural conclusion - if anything I felt like they extended her run a little. 

I think that Ed could have stayed longer with a different actor. Latimore had no real presence.

I definitely think Nick and Reenie were budget purges. And maybe that Latina nurse - or did she want to leave the show? She got more writeups in the soap magazines than in the episodes. 

Nancy was one of my favorites on Dark Shadows but I don't think she's worked in any other soap roles I've seen her in (I have not seen her Doctors work). She seems very artificial and fragile, which suited her more on DS.

The only time KMG worked for me was when they wrote Faith as bitter and resentful, which they never fully allowed because I guess they just couldn't accept that level of nuance in the character. Instead, we just had excessive airtime spent on this unpleasant and dull person we were meant to feel sorry for at all times...and of course many reminders of how wicked and rotten Delia was.

I don't think Faith ever worked. It's telling that even Catherine Hicks did not care for the writing, because that was the one time I think Faith connected - mainly because Labine and Mayer just wrote her to Hicks' spunky strengths and threw away any of what they had tried before with the character.

Edited May 18, 2024 by DRW50

[Ryan Mason]

She also seemed to have a slight Southern accent to me, which also definitely didn't fit!

I think I remember reading something on a Ryan's Hope website or board years ago that Rosalinda Guerra (Ramona) got married and decided to quit.

And Catherine Hicks wound up being my favorite Faith, because to me she just came across as really natural and likable and sensible and grounded...which, you're right, was definitely not how Faith had been written. That must have been some therapy she got in that month or two offscreen!

[Chris 2]

Catherine Hicks was also my favorite Faith. She was playing a completely different character than Catlin’s Faith; her Faith was the likable girl next door. Hicks only had an 18-month contract with the show and left to do a Broadway play. I think the writers wanted to continue Hicks’ take on the role when Karen Morris came in, but she was a greener actress and came across colder onscreen. And the writers eventually adapted to that.

[dc11786]

Faith was originally more of a neurotic young woman suffering from frigidity and a daddy complex. Not only did she seem overly devoted to her father, Ed, she had previously gone to bed with one of her professors, which had ended in disaster. I think Catlin did well with the neurotic nature of the character, but was unable to find ways to soften the character. The character's personality was probably shifted, as was so much of the show's foundation, because Frank lived. I'm sure it's somewhere in this thread, but I think Pat was originally involved with Delia post-Frank's death. This had to change when Frank lived. I think it's one of the reasons I have trouble with Pat / Faith as a couple. 

I feel like Karen Morris Gowdy grew into the role by early 1980. I thought Morris Gowdy came into her own after Tom died and Faith started to hit the bottle. I'm one of the rare people that really loved the 1980-1981 period with Faith and Frank's doomed from the start engagement leading into the nastiness between Faith and Jill. For too many years, there were attempts to change Faith to her core. I thought she was a bit of a spoiled neurotic and this came across more in that period than it had in previous years.

Hicks was probably a stronger actress, but I found her version, or the writing, a bit much. She played a lot of the Faith / Pat / Delia material. While I enjoyed Delia dropping the pregnancy bomb during the engagement party, I thought Faith looked like a fool thinking Delia would just give up the kid. I also had little use for Tom Desmond so that wasn't helpful. 

[Khan]

Me, too, lol.

[j swift]

To me, the best Faith recast was Cali Timmons.  Because Maggie felt like the sibling rival that Jill needed as an antagonist all along.  Even as a kid, I knew Frank was never going to pick Faith, but Maggie had a real shot at turning his head because she was a firecracker.  

Edited May 19, 2024 by j swift

[DRW50]

Jill could at least be more honest with her. One of the reasons the Faith and Jill rivalry is hard for me to watch is because Faith says the vilest things to Jill and Jill mostly just takes it. The whole thing feels dishonest to me in that Faith made so many stupid choices, lashed out when those choices blew up in her face, and was still presented as a victim. 

[Chris 2]

I also disliked Tom Desmond. Karen Morris’ first scene as Faith was her waking up in bed with Tom, so it didn’t exactly endear her to me.

The less said about Frankenfaith, the better.

[DRW50]

Tom was just a terrible, bizarre character who never should have lasted as long as he did, although he was OK in his last few months. My main memory of him is when he was jogging in green short-shorts.

[Ryan Mason]

I mainly remember the Apparition Lass gobbledygook...where his tumor made him hallucinate his ex (I think?) spouting endless variations of "She LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIED to ya, Thomas!"

[vetsoapfan]

It was his best performance!

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BTW, I am reading the Oral History book by Tom Lisanti, and enjoying it thoroughly.

I thought RH was excellent in its early years and in its final one (IMHO, it came to an end much better than most other soaps did), but a lot of its middle era was a mess.

Now that I am reading about how incompetent, foolish and combative so many of TPTB were at the time, I am not surprised!

The egregious and destructive mistakes heaped on the show by Claire Labine and Pat Falken Smith boggle the mind.

Edited May 21, 2024 by vetsoapfan

[Sapounopera]

I have a really hard time taking Faith seriously after the original actress left the role.

The third actress has just showed up. She is happy and confident. She is cooking cheese and bacon in the same house her father was killed and she was attacked by her kidnapper while blind. She left  the show in a tragic way. A few months ago. 

This is ten times worse than the Amanda Spaulding mess on GL.