Ryan's Hope Discussion Thread

[safe]

One thing I can think of is that, in early 1982, Jill had to deal with learning that she was Ed Coleridge's biological daughter.

Edited December 4, 2013 by safe

[dc11786]

When Frank left in September 1981, Jill and Faith became involved in the search for the tomb of Merit Khara (which I probably butchered) involving Spencer Smith and Aristotle Benedict-White. Spencer hired Jill to track down Ari, who was some recluse Egyptologist, in order to offer Ari a job. I believe Spencer knew he was dying and wanted Ari to maintain his legacy. Also, Ari was obsessed with Merhit Khara and Spencer had the tomb in his possession, but didn't want it to be disturbed until after his death or some nonsense like that. Anyway, Ari moved to New York and romanced both the Coleridge sisters, which followed the legend of Merit Khara. This is where the SoapNet episodes ended.

Originally, the Merit Khara story was suppose to play with Frank Ryan in the role of Ari Benedict-White, which is a bit ironic as Gordon Thompson had been hired to play Frank Ryan in the late 1970s but was unable to get working papers.

Carl posted some summaries of 1982 on page 15. Jill is listed mainly as the go-to legal representative. With the return of Kim and Arley, Jill represented Seneca legally when he went after custody of Arley.

When it comes to Frank and Jill, it is important to remember that they were not originally endgame; Frank was suppose to die. In the early episodes, it was mentioned that Jack was a former lover of Jill Coleridge's, but that was a relationship that the show never really played. It's a shame they never had a Mary/Jack/Jill/Frank quad because that would have been glorious. I was never overly fond of Seneca and Jill, but I did love Seneca's role in Nell's final days. Nell's death was probably my favorite storyline in those early episodes.

[Soaplovers]

I had a feeling Jill was just a legal go to throughout most of 1982, but I did fine a summary that Hollis Kirkland was flirting with Jill when he first came to town and wasn't sure if anything was pursued with that. Given how Rae was a spoiler for Jill and Frank, I figured that the show would have Jill be a spoiler for Rae and Hollis... plus add the whole Kim/Arley/Seneca custody fight.. and that would have been a good story to play out in 1982... oh well.

[safe]

Ilene Kristen (Delia #1) sang Merry Christmas Darling on the 1983 album Soap Opera Christmas

Ilene's song can be heard here (about three-quarters down the page under "Soap Opera Christmas", 1983)

http://sammyreed.com/christmas/4.htm

These other songs from the album are also heard there-

"Oh Holy Night / Oh Happy Day" - Candice Earley (Donna, "All My Children)
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - John Wesley Shipp (Kelly, "Guiding Light")
"Blue Christmas" - Mary Gordon Murray (Becky, "One Life to Live")
"The Christmas Song" - Darnell Williams (Jesse, "All My Children")
"Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" - Lori Laughlin (Jody, "Edge of Night")
"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" - Hugo Napier (Gunnar, "As the World Turns")
"Winter Wonderland" - Tom Nielsen (Floyd, "Guiding Light")
"Jingle Bell Rock" - Denise Pence (Katie, "Guiding Light")
"White Christmas" - Frank Runyeon (Steve, "As the World Turns")

[DRW50]

That's interesting. I wonder if anyone's heard that.

[danfling]

Actress Joan Fontaine, who was nominated for an Emmy award for her work on Ryan's Hope as show business agent Paige Williams, died this weekend in California.

[DRW50]

[DRW50]

[DRW50]

[Soaplovers]

Been watching some episodes on youtube from late 1977.

I love Faith especially played by Catherine Hicks. I did find out the exact episode # that her replacement took over, and even though the script was written as if Catherine Hicks was playing the character, the new actress had a different way of delivering the lines. While CH seemed to have spirit, confidence, and a fun element... her replacement seemed a little whiny, a little unsure of herself, and more passive.

It makes me wonder if Faith would have had all the perils of the 2nd half of 1978 through 1979 with Tom, if CH had stayed in the part. Or if CH would have played Faith as less of a victim.

[DRW50]

I think you're probably right. The truth is that Faith generally was a victim - that's how she was conceived and how Faith Catlin played her. Catherine Hicks bucked that, but the show just seemed to write for Hicks as a person. When she left, it was back to status quo for Faith.

Since they may have known Malcolm Groome was leaving, they really should have just written Faith out when Hicks quit. To be honest I wasn't a fan even with Hicks in the role - I think Faith is one of the worst characters ever created on a decently written soap opera - but Hicks was the main one who kept the character going.

The only time KMG got it together was when Faith was written as a complete bitch, and that was rare, as most of the time, the writing sympathized with Faith no matter what she said or did.

Edited February 15, 2014 by DRW50

[KMan101]

I loved Catherine Hicks as Faith. By far my favorite, honestly. Even though I liked Karen Morris Gowdy in the role. I don't think Faith was ever written 'evenly'. I also think they didn't seem to know what to do with her half of the time.

[Soaplovers]

It almost seems like CH was miscast as Faith because her version wasn't wishy washy, she was upfront, independent, and totally was a strong supporter of Jill/Frank while the other three Faith's were somewhat similiar (with Faith #1 being all shy and fragile, Faith #2 being more confident but somewhat eccentric, and Faith #4 being whiny and more passive). I don't see CH's Faith ever going after Frank like KMG's character did either.

Also, I just started the episodes with Mary #2 and I like her take on the character. She has some of the same mannerism as Kate Mulgrew, but she seems a little softer and not as harsh as KM was as Mary. I think had the show given her more time, I think she would have made a good Mary. I haven't seen Mary #3 or #4 yet to judge.

While viewing the Pat/Delia marriage... I think both were at fault for the marriage being so dysfunctional. I think Pat should have taken a firmer line with Delia, while I think Delia needed to stop thinking of her needs so much. There were a few instances where Pat is high on pills and Delia is almost the logical one... one must question how far gone they are if Delia is making more sense then they are LOL. I am interested to see how Randal Edwards does as Delia.. but I have countless episodes to go through before getting to the cast switch.

Also, love Rae! I can see why she took off quite quickly and was kept on for several years while other non Ryan/Coledge characters lasted a shorter time. It's a shame her daughter Kim was so annoying because Rae could have been a jumping off point to expand the canvas of the show beyond the Ryans/Coledges. I think part of the problem was that the Labine's kind of refused to evolve the show beyond their original format (The Ape, and the King Tut story don't count).

Shame 1982 isnt available anywhere because it sounds interesting. It seems from reading monthly summaries of the show in 1982 that the Labines introduced Hollis Kirkland, and had him revealed as Kim's father while he was interacting/flirting with Jill. Shame the Jill/hollis flirtation was dropped cause it could have been an interesting reversal of Frank/Jill/Rae story from 1977/1978 with Jill in Rae's role and Rae in Jill's role.

[Khan]

Several years ago, I read a soap magazine article that the webmaster at Ryan's Bar Online had posted on the site; and in that article, the writer expressed the opinion that RH, while still good soap opera, would have made for a better primetime series, given the relative narrowness of its format (a large, multi-generational Irish Catholic family and their family business, a neighborhood tavern). I believe it was written during the period when Labine and Mayer were attempting to position Sarah Felder's Siobhan as the new heroine of the show in the wake of Kate Mulgrew's decision to leave. Anyway, I wonder whether that particular argument still holds merit.

[dc11786]

There is a lot to respond to in this thread.

I like KMG as Faith once she starts drinking and attempts to pull herself together, while still being a neurotic, needy mess. There were times KMG could be a bit hammy, but I think KMG came into her own when they tried to merge the original concept of Faith (the young intern who had daddy issues due to her affair with her college professor) and the romantic ingénue that Catherine Hicks played.

I don't remember everyone forgiving Faith, but, now that you mention it, I can sort of see that. When drunk Faith gave penicillin to LJ and he nearly died, no one but Dee blinked an eye. Dee later made a rather astute comment after Roger revealed Dee, not Faith, had run down Barry Ryan, "You didn't hate Faith when you thought she did it."

I thought Daniel Hugh Kelly and Karen Morris Gowdy had passable chemistry and I believed Faith bonding with Frank was natural. I also thought it was natural for Frank to throw himself into a relationship with someone who worshipped him. In the fallout, I felt there was a lot of honest statements made about Frank, who often did really scummy things but was sainted by the Ryans so it didn't count. He really did a number on Faith. I didn't always like that Faith shifted so much of the blame on the end of Frank/Faith onto Jill, but I thought that was something an irrational person like Faith would have done. I did enjoy a lot of the bitter confrontations that resulted from that, but, tonally, that was a very different type of storytelling than RH was use to.

The show's narrow focus never really bother me. At a half-hour, many shows kept a small, tight canvas for many years. I had bigger issues with the show's fears to explore some of the darker issues within the Ryan family. I felt the conflicts between Mary/Siobhan and Pat/Frank were often downplayed, which was bizarre given their relationships with Jack and Delia respectively. I did like how they brought Aunt Annie in for some visits and alluded to a similar relationship between Annie/Maeve as there had been between Mary/Siobhan. From the little I've seen, it seems there were more successful 'non'-Ryans in the late 1980s.