Ryan's Hope

I love this soap. It is so well written, and the characters are so wonderfully portrayed. It's so easy to love them all, and so hard to even hate the bad guys (mobsters Tizo Navotny and Joe Novak).

The family devotion the Ryan's have for each other is so often overlooked in today's soaps. They all stick together, no matter what the circumstances or consequences.

The acting is excellent, and the writing is awesome. This soap should still be on the air instead of in reruns on the soap channel.

Like Rosie,I never forgave "Loving","The City",and "Port Charles" for taking over that time slot.Being Irish,I'd cry my eyes out each time Ms.Gallagher sang "Danny Boy".The final episode was hard to get thru.I think I cried the entire show. I sometimes wonder if "OLTL"s' "Roxie",is actually Deliah,still looking for love.At least,to it's credit,"RH",never stooped to time travel,vampires,clones,etc.They kept it pretty real. When my daghters were born,I wanted to name them either Deliah,Maeve,or Siobahn,but my Italian ex husband wouldn't let me.Now,all 5 of my grandkids have the red hair,and the map of Ireland all over their faces! There will NEVER be a soap quite like "Ryans' Hope". (God bless you in Heaven,to MY Da!)

Ryan's Hope is a true classic. There are many fine men on the show like Jack, Pat, Frank and Bucky but I love the women on this show.

Helen Gallagher plays loving matriarch, Maeve Ryan. She is sometimes blind to the faults of her grown children but is always there to support them and offers her profound wisdom.

Mary Ryan Fennelli, first played by Kate Mulgrew, is a self-righteous know-it-all but she is also a fiercely loyal wife, daughter and sister.

Jill Coleridge (Nancy Addison) is a brilliant lawyer who was a true liberated woman of the 1970's. Jill is sometimes a little too independent for her own good.

Dr. Faith Coleridge started out as a clingy daddy's girls when played by Faith Catlin but when Catherine Hicks took over the role Faith blossomed into a stronger, smarter yet still sensitive woman.

Delia Reid Ryan Ryan is the shows villain. Delia is highly manipulative and selfish. She simply refuses to deal with reality and has never shown the slightest remorse for what she does. Ilene Kristen plays the Delia you love to hate.

Rae Woodard (Louise Shaffer) is a woman who will use her power and money to get what she wants.

All the characters on Ryan's Hope are very well drawn and much more interesting than what you will find on today's soaps.

This show never caught on and I'll never know why. The writing was crisp and witty. THe cast was excellent and it was only 30 minutes long. Their half hour has been replaced by news which to me shows the lack of interest in keeping daytime television especially dramas like Ryan's Hope on the air. Claire Labine who lives in Brooklyn, New york was one of the major writers of this show. I don't recall it ever being outrageous but it reminded me of the British soaps where it was only 30 minutes long and there was a bar. Helen Gallagher played the matriarch and she is still a fabulous actress who has done television, stage, and films as well. Other cast members were Nancy Addison who passed away so young and Ilene Kristen now on One Life to Live. The show is gone but not forgotten in my opinion. It was one of those shows that should have gone on forever as well but I guess ABC thought it was expendable. Too bad, people out there would have enjoyed a nice written show like this. Since they were set in NEw York (big cities as settings don't fair well on soaps except Bold and the Beautiful), they also went out on the streets of the city to shoot. It was great to see.

I really have a question about Michael Levin, He was a substantially great actor ... and I can't find anything much he did after Ryan's Hope.

I would so be interested in what type profession he found a liking for after Ryan's Hope ???? Would anyone know anyway to be in touch with his agent or self or fan base person ????

Thanks. There is just nothing like the older shows... the character structure is never as Good in the shows of today, as it WAS with RYAN's HOPE. I miss stories of the Regular people, the Above Common characters on this show. I was so sorry to see the original drama go off air.

They were the First Show Ever (to my study) to do a GHOST story with Mary Fenelli (Kate Mulgrew) returning to give profound truths and messages to Jack ! I loved those scenes and Am Now WAITING for them to return to that time on the soap-net reruns.

I Have A Complilation Tape of Most All of the Jack Fenelli scenes ...

Thanks to anyone who can offer information about Michael Levin.