RH vs. AMC on Family Feud, 1978:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFBP9h9u6Jg

The "Ryans" (and "Ryans" by marriage) take on the "Quartermaines" on Family Feud, 1984!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLU6xlP45pU

Upon watching Ryan's Hope a second time, I decided that Mary #2 reminded me a little of the young Debbie Reynolds. She strongly resembled Helen Gallagher, who played her mother Maeve.

Mary Carney also seemed to have a spring in her step whenever she moved around, just like her TV mom, Helen. It's a shame MC couldn't have stayed around.

Mary & Kathleen each played Mary for six months. I believe Nicollette Played Mary a year

The second Mary was great and could've sustained the character for the rest of the run. Had they kept her and Sarah Felder the show would've been a lot better off IMO. The two following Mary recasts were terrible. I know Nicollette is considered to be the "good" recast, but she played Mary in such a shrill and annoying manner.

Nicolette is mostly seen as good by comparison. She was cold and had no chemistry with Michael Levin. Only in her last few weeks did she show more heart and emotion.

Mary Carney was the best recast, but there was no Mary without Kate Mulgrew. To me Mary was an unlikeable, unpleasant woman from very early, and it was mostly Mulgrew who mitigated some of that.

It's so hard to believe that Kate was only 20 when RH began. She had that maturity, wise-beyond-her-years aura about her and such a screen presence!! Kate dominated every scene she was in - no wonder she went on to primetime success, but she never forgot her RH roots.

On a side note, in 2000, she very nearly became the First Lady of my very own home state of Ohio when her husband Tim Hagen ran for governor.

Fave Mary's in order:

Mulgrew, Carney, Gouliet, Tolan

Tolan sucked as Mary

Supposedly Helen Gallagher brought Tolan in to read for Siobhan Ryan but she got recast as Mary

Edited March 5, 201411 yr by John

Yeah, I read that HG and KT had done a play together, and that's how the latter came to the attention of Labine/Mayer.

It seems like the casting change from Mary #2 to Mary #3 happened right away. I actually think Mary #1 could be very smug and judgmental, but she also was fiesty and interesting. I actually do think if Mary #2 had stayed on, that Mary would have become more of a supporting character. Mary #2 seemed more youthful and less harsh then #1, imho.

Watched some youtube videos of the last weeks of RH, and I think having Delia remarry Roger at the end really show-cased how much her character never changed or grew up. I would have much preferred Delia ending up single, but successful and more confident as opposed to married when the show ended.

I know you have to write to the strengths of an actor, even a recast, but I often feel as if doing that is the reason why so many of RH's oft-recasted characters seemed so inconsistent (for lack of a better word). The quality between one actor and the next varied too much, IMO.

You're right, and it got even worse once ABC bought the show from Labine/Mayer (though all the Marys were from when L&M Productions owned RH).

I disliked Pat Falken Smith as HW with Jim Reilly. RH tried to copy GH & Robin Mattson was horribly miscast as Delia

At least she didn't last long in the role and wound up on SB soon thereafter, where she had a long run as a character much more suited to her strengths (Gina).