Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Thanks for catching me up on him. I had no idea what his future career was. I'm glad he's happy and has a good life. He wasn't the best actor but was charming and fun, and he was one of many RH seemed to toss aside for no real reason (I think he didn't even last a year).

[DRW50]

Don't you think he looks like Todd McKee in that photo?

[Paul Raven]

Always fascinating to find out what becomes of these actors who don't find continual work in that field.

[shadow]

I agree with this, but the other actress (cant remember her name) was horrid

[DRW50]

Kathleen Tolan is possibly the worst recast ever on a soap.

Nicolette Goulet wasn't very good, although she got better towards the end.

[DRW50]

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Edited May 11, 2011 by CarlD2

[Paul Raven]

There is excitement brewing at ABC these days. And it is being generated by their new serial, Ryan's Hope. This is the first new show the network has produced since 1970, when A World Apart, The Best of Everythingand All My Children made their debut.Written by the expert team of Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer (former writers of Love of Life), the setting is New York City. The producer is George Lefferts, with Monroe Carol as his associate producer.

Both men are new to daytime, but have impressive credits from nighttime and movies.

Following is a breakdown of the characters and setting. As of our deadline, there had been no cast chosen. The final auditions were set, and ABC hoped to gather an expert group of faces familiar and new to the daytime audience. Also, changes in the characters and how they relate to each other could take place as the serial is further developed. But here is what is planned to take place, a sneak preview to tempt your viewing pleasure:

Ryan's Hope

The people who share an attitude called Ryan's Hope come from different backgrounds and a wide range of experience, but they have certain qualities in common: independence, energy, determination, all directed toward being the best at what they do and making their lives count in a positive way They all share in man's natural heritage of pain and trouble and occasional tragedy, but they prevail--and share.a laugh somewhere in the process.

Three families dominate the on-going story, which is set in the Riverside community of the upper West Side of New York City.

Largest of these is the Ryan family: Johnny, Maeve and their five children, whom they have taught to be responsible, loving and loyal.

Johnny Ryan owns a bar, which is in a curiously central location. To the East lies Broadway and pockets of urban poverty, largely Spanish and black. Directly across the street is the Emergency entrance of Riverside Hospital. Down the block is the local precinct headquarters. And to the West is an increasingly affluent area of new apartment houses intermingled with traditional brownstones, that extend all the way to the Hudson River.

Johnny Ryan was a school dropout at 14, prohibition beerhandleratl6, briefly a boxer, and W.W.II infantryman. He married his wife, Maeve, in Ireland and re-turned to the United States, where he bought a bar after being a bouncer, bartender and bar manager. He is proud of his five children and worked hard to put them through college.

Maeve Ryan had her heart ~captured by Johnny when he was in Ireland. She is not afraid of life, is warm, passionate and full of opinions, which she is not afraid to express. She was born in Dublin of a poor Irish background.

Frank Ryan is everything a parent could want. He is dark, calm and placidly self-assured, and has been since a child, He is a detective on the police force and has a Clouded marriage to Delia.

Delia Ryan is a beautiful Irish colleen. She met her husband through her brother Bob, since Frank and Bob are best friends. She is troubled and emotionally insecure.

Cathleen Ryan is the baby of the family, attended Manhattanville College and is now a novice of the Sisters of Sacred Heart.

Patrick Ryan, the third child, is a study in contrasts. He is fairly excitable and an intuitive leaper into knowledge. Me loves himself and returns his family's devotion because he has felt loved. He vitalizes other people.

Siobhan Ryan Moscolo is married to a chemical engineer, Art, and lives in Pittsburgh. She has two daughters, Maura and Dierdre. She is pretty, practical and predictable.

Ed Coleridge has tried his best to raise his two children, Roger and Faith. He is a physician, dedicating his life to medicine, and lives in the same brownstone in which he was-born.,

Roger. Coleridge was a lonely, unhappy teen. He won't admit he is wrong about anything~ He.is handsome with superficial .charm and has never learned how to love. His central figure is his father, of whom he wants approval. He lives on the top floor of his father's brownstone. He %s one of two first assistant residents at Riverside Hospital.

Faith Coleridge is daddy's girl. She isolates herself from emotional involvements and is determined to excel in her work. She, also, is a doctor, but many of her colleagues at the hospital don't like her. She is shy, inhibited and inexperienced and uses her intelligence as a protective barrier. She lives wit~ her father and keeps house for him.

Clem Moultrie, a supremely confident black man, is an intern and,first assistant resident. Heoan~ssumetobe relaxed and congenial with others.

Romona Gonzalez is the head nurse at Riverside.She grew up in Spanish Harlem of parents who came to New York in the 1940s.

Bob is Delia's brother and Frank's best friend. They work together on the police force. Bob is the living prototype of every Irish cop. He is big, broad-featured, steady, easy-going: a man's man.

Seneca Beaulac is of French Canadian background, a physician and is fierce and brooding, He had an excellent reputation as a doctor and will be a catalyst in the lives of the Collins and Ryan-families. His grandmother was a full-blooded Seneca Indian,from whom he:got his name. He is precise, demanding, and intimacy does not come easy.

Nell Beaulac is Seneca's wife. She is of a wealthy Boston family, is fluent in French and was indulged in material things as a child. She is a determined research doctor and takes for granted the luxuries of life:

These are the characters, as now planned. Of course, there will be additions as time passes, but, for now, Ryan's Hope looks to be interesting and different from anything now on the air.

Edited May 13, 2011 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Thanks for sharing this. I am always wondering why they switched the names for Kathleen and Siobhan and why they decided not to have Siobhan as a nun. And if Ramona was supposed to be a bigger character than she turned out to be. The description of Nell is also a little off. There's also no mention of Jill. Or of Nick Szabo.

[DRW50]

This is from the January 1976 Daytime TV. One of the only things I've seen on Rosalinda Guerra, who played Nurse Ramona Gonzales and was a fairly prominent supporting character in the show's early months before slowly fading and finally vanishing entirely (which also happened with their other minority character, Clem). I wonder if they had more plans for her but the actress didn't cut it, or if they just gave up on her character when they had to take up more airtime by keeping Frank around.

The only other writeup I've seen on her was around this time in another magazine, a brief mention that she was a S cientologist.

Edited May 15, 2011 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

[DRW50]

[safe]

I wanted to bring a few more posts over from the Soapnet forum - before it disappears.

This was from the Totally Kate webmaster.

Edited May 20, 2011 by safe

[safe]

This was posted, in 2007, by Michael Corbett(via his webmaster).

[safe]

The topic of Ilene being fired in 1983 came up again, today.

This would be from the summer of 1983 news, before she was fired later that fall.

[DRW50]

Thanks for these. Poor Ilene.

I shared Ellen's feelings on Michael - I loathed the character - but that's not very professional. It helps explain why the show was such a mess at this time.