Paul Avila Mayer has passed away

[DRW50]

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2009/07/ryans-hope-co-creator-paul-avila-mayer.html

His most enduring work is what he made at RH with Claire Labine, but Labine, Mayer, and producer Jean Arley were also responsible for the revival of Love of Live in the early 70s, a show that up to that point had been all but completely written off. And they wrote for what is called one of the more surreal soaps ever, Where the Heart Is, full of actors who went on to great daytime fame and fortune.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

RIP.

I look at those old RH episodes on SoapNet and I'm amazed just how entertaining and riveting simple conversations were. The show felt a bit like a a slice of real life, soapy yes, but the characters were all so real and gritty to a point. Labine/Mayer's RH was one of the best humane and relationship soap operas ever created.

I guess a lot of people now, especially network execs, would see RH's earlier years as too "boring" and not plot driven enough, but those characters were so complicated and the show flowed very well in much of those early years.

[MarkH]

Now? The network mobbed up and sharked up and gorilla'd up the show even back then!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I know, hence I was talking about the show's early years.

The rise of Monty's GH and her vision are partly responsible for the crap that's happened ever since, IMO....

[DRW50]

The gorilla story was never that bad to me, I've never known why it was seen as a big downfall. It was just a brief story. The mob, and Kimberly, THOSE were downfalls and turned RH into being like every other soap.

I do love some of the early years, especially 1977-1978, when the show got into more of a groove.

What I love the most with RH is the long conversations between characters. Just gorgeously written dialogue flowing from person to person, and beautiful monologues delivered by some of the most incomparable actors to ever be on daytime.

[Cat]

It was old YouTube episodes of Love of Life (circa 74) that really made me appreciate the Mayer-Labine partnership. Great soap without all the bells, whistles and click-booms. From those clips alone, I am going to say that PAM was a talented, thoughtful and creative writer, and may he RIP.

[leevo64]

Rest in piece. Ryan's Hope is a great example of soaps being at their simplest and most profound.

[DRW50]

Is any of that still on Youtube?

[Cat]

sigh, no. YT clamped down. Maybe because they were taken from somewhere (WoST?) and not properly cited.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I totally agree, it was very old-fashion soap with a more grounded spin. Sadly, the 80's and the rise of Monty's GH changed everything. Somehow, network execs and writers/producers got the idea that people don't want conversation driven soaps that took their time telling stories and shows that didn't involve a stunt of the the week and wasn't all about shock and awe.

I fully believe there's still a market out there for slow, conversation based soaps, that type of storytelling is just thought of as too old-fashioned and there seems to be a stigma against it in today's daytime world sadly.

One thing I've always noticed about Labine soaps, there's always beautiful dialogue and the most rich conversations...

[Sylph]

Conversations between two matriarch housewives were invented by Irna Phillips. And they were - dreary. Either awfully written, unnatural dialogue, too expository or just plain long and lacking purpose. Harding Lemay hated them.

Those should be used sparingly. If at all. A big NO from me to domestic talk on daytime soaps.

[MarkH]

I actually didn't mind Kimberly at all.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

RH's had great dialogue, and the conversations weren't simply between housewives. The conversations were often meaningful and contributed a great deal to the stories and their impact. It wasn't all domestic talk, but I'm speaking squarely about RH in this case.

[leevo64]

Thing is, Ryan's Hope was a contemporary and gritty drama disguised as an old-fashioned soap opera. Delia is easily the best desperate housewife of all time. Pat paid dearly for his being a cad in those early years. Jill losing Edmund was devastating. Jack and Mary were so volatile yet so romantic. I wish it hadn't fallen victim to network tinkering.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

^^^^The characters were so beautifully complicated and layered on this show, especially during the early years. It didn't matter what happened to them, they were just entertaining to watch and so multi-dimensional.