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''Ryan's Hope'' is an American SoapOpera that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975-1989.
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''Ryan's Hope'' is an American SoapOpera that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} Creator/{{ABC|US}} from 1975-1989.
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SoapOpera that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975-1989. The show focused on the Ryans, a working-class Irish family, and the Coleridges, an upper-class family, in New York City.
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p283280_b_v9_ac.jpg]]
''Ryan's Hope'' is an American SoapOpera that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from1975-1989. 1975-1989.
The show focused on the Ryans, a working-class Irish family, and the Coleridges, an upper-class family, in New York City.
''Ryan's Hope'' is an American SoapOpera that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from
The show focused on the Ryans, a working-class Irish family, and the Coleridges, an upper-class family, in New York City.
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Now requires at least two affairs with one treated as better than the other
Deleted line(s) 19 (click to see context) :
* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Frank Ryan and his affair with Jillian Coleridge falls into the Good category. Despite continuing his affair after fathering a child with his wife, Delia, the Ryans treat Frank's affair with Jill as true love and all but blame Delia for his infidelity.
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* SympatheticAdulterer: Frank Ryan and his affair with Jillian Coleridge. Despite continuing his affair after fathering a child with his wife, Delia, the Ryans treat Frank's affair with Jill as true love and all but blame Delia for his infidelity.
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* BackFromTheDead: Joe Novak, arguably. It was HEAVILY implied that he was killed after Jack Fenelli killed Joe's uncle Tiso. Month's later, after a {{recast}}, it was revealed he faked his death to protect Jack and Siobhan.
to:
* BackFromTheDead: Joe Novak, arguably. It was HEAVILY implied that he was killed after Jack Fenelli killed Joe's uncle Tiso. Month's later, after a {{recast}}, recast, it was revealed he faked his death to protect Jack and Siobhan.
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An example should not require the reader to scroll to another part of the page to find out what it means. If the information is important, it should be included in the example description directly.
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* TheBabyTrap: Delia used this on BOTH Ryan brothers. See BatmanGambit below for the beauty she pulled on Pat.
to:
* TheBabyTrap: Delia used this on BOTH Ryan brothers. See BatmanGambit below for the beauty she pulled on Pat.
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Not an example. Network Red Headed Stepchild is a show that is a different genre/style from everything else on the network, which certainly doesn't apply to a soap opera on ABC.
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* NetworkRedHeadedStepchild: See ScrewedByTheNetwork below.
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trivia migration
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* YouLookFamiliar: Played with by the two characters played by Diana Van Der Vlis. She was an original character on the show, playing Nell Beaulac during the first year of the show. She came back a decade later and played the similar looking Sherry Rowan. Her new character even ended up with Seneca at the end!
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* BigApplesauce: The show was set in the Riverside neighborhood of Manhattan, and name-dropped many real-life New York city locales (e.g., Sheepshead Bay) at a time when most SoapOperas took place in fictional, midwestern towns.
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* BigApplesauce: The show was set in the Riverside neighborhood of Manhattan, and name-dropped many real-life New York city locales (e.g., Sheepshead Bay) at a time when most SoapOperas soap operas took place in fictional, midwestern towns.
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* KilledOffforReal: Mary Ryan Fenelli, surprising for one of the main characters in a soap opera. Justified in that audiences did not respond well after the part was recast (Kate Mulgrew left the show for greener pastures).
to:
* KilledOffforReal: KilledOffForReal: Mary Ryan Fenelli, surprising for one of the main characters in a soap opera. Justified in that audiences did not respond well after the part was recast (Kate Mulgrew left the show for greener pastures).
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* Non-IdleRich: The Coleridge children, while not extremely wealthy, were shown to be well-off. Roger and Faith were doctors, and Jill was a lawyer.
* SettleforSibling: Arguably, Delia to Frank Ryan. Delia was involved with Frank's brother Pat in high school, and desperately wanted to marry into the Ryan family. When Pat rejected her, she eventually dated and married Frank.
* SORAS: The Ryan grandchildren were aged in the 1980s. 10 year old Little John Ryan was aged to 19, and 7 year old Ryan Fenelli was aged to 15 (and played by Yasmine Bleeth).
* SettleforSibling: Arguably, Delia to Frank Ryan. Delia was involved with Frank's brother Pat in high school, and desperately wanted to marry into the Ryan family. When Pat rejected her, she eventually dated and married Frank.
* SORAS: The Ryan grandchildren were aged in the 1980s. 10 year old Little John Ryan was aged to 19, and 7 year old Ryan Fenelli was aged to 15 (and played by Yasmine Bleeth).
to:
* Non-IdleRich: NonIdleRich: The Coleridge children, while not extremely wealthy, were shown to be well-off. Roger and Faith were doctors, and Jill was a lawyer.
*SettleforSibling: SettleForSibling: Arguably, Delia to Frank Ryan. Delia was involved with Frank's brother Pat in high school, and desperately wanted to marry into the Ryan family. When Pat rejected her, she eventually dated and married Frank.
*SORAS: {{SORAS}}: The Ryan grandchildren were aged in the 1980s. 10 year old Little John Ryan was aged to 19, and 7 year old Ryan Fenelli was aged to 15 (and played by Yasmine Bleeth).
*
*
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Useful Notes/ pages are not tropes
Deleted line(s) 24 (click to see context) :
* TheIrishDiaspora: The Ryan's were fiercely (and stereotypically) Irish, and even ran a typical Irish pub. St. Patrick's Day was celebrated throughout the years on the show, typically with Maeve singing ''Danny Boy''.
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* FieryRedhead: Siobhan Ryan was originally this. Averted once the show recast the character as a dopey blonde played by [[BeverlyHills90210 Kelly Taylor's mom.]]
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* FieryRedhead: Siobhan Ryan was originally this. Averted once the show recast the character as a dopey blonde played by [[BeverlyHills90210 [[Series/BeverlyHills90210 Kelly Taylor's mom.]]
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* DawsonCasting: The first year of the show establishes that Maeve and Johnny Ryan have been married for 30 years, implying that Frank Ryan is around 28 years old. His (first) actor, Michael Hawkins, was 40 years old (just 10 years younger than the actors playing his parents) and looks every bit his age. Explained by the fact that, originally, the Frank character was to be killed off after the first 13 weeks, so the choice of actors was less consequential since the character would be unconscious in bed for the duration of the role.
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* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
** Averted in that episodes from the first 6 years of the show (1975 through 1981) were aired on Creator/SoapNet several times since 2000.
** However, Soapnet has never shown any episodes past December 1981, repeatedly rewinding the show back to the 1975 episodes and beginning the run again. In particular, episodes from 1982 seem extremely rare. A good number of post-1983 episodes are posted on video sharing sites.
** Looks to be true after September 2011, as Soapnet has plans to remove the show from its line-up.
** Averted in that episodes from the first 6 years of the show (1975 through 1981) were aired on Creator/SoapNet several times since 2000.
** However, Soapnet has never shown any episodes past December 1981, repeatedly rewinding the show back to the 1975 episodes and beginning the run again. In particular, episodes from 1982 seem extremely rare. A good number of post-1983 episodes are posted on video sharing sites.
** Looks to be true after September 2011, as Soapnet has plans to remove the show from its line-up.
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* MissingEpisode: Mostly averted; although some episodes are lost due to tape damage, the show is one of the few pre-1980 soaps with its entire run intact.
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* TheOtherDarrin: As with all SoapOperas, multiple parts were recast over the years, particularly in the case of the Ryan children - Frank (5 actors), Pat (4 actors), Mary (3 actresses + one temporary actress), and Siobahn (5 actresses).
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* ScrewedByTheNetwork: After introducing ''Loving'' a year earlier, Creator/{{ABC}} gave ''Loving'' the 12:30pm time slot in 1984 that ''Ryan's Hope'' had occupied since 1977. ''Ryan's Hope'' was moved to the noon slot, forcing affiliates to choose between this show and local news. Many chose news, and ratings for ''Ryan's Hope'' tanked.
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* TypeCasting: Andrew Robinson was cast as Frank Ryan after the original actor, Michael Hawkins, was fired in 1976. At the time, Robinson was best known for playing the Scorpio killer in DirtyHarry. Creator/{{ABC}}, arguing that viewers could not accept Robinson as a noble lawyer & councilman, demanded that the role be recast just 2 years later.
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** Christopher Reeve, famous for playing Superman (who, notably, got his start on LoveOfLife which was written by the creators of {Ryan's Hope}) had a cameo in 1981 during the premiere of Kim Beaulac's play.
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** Christopher Reeve, famous for playing Superman (who, notably, got his start on LoveOfLife ''Series/LoveOfLife'' which was written by the creators of {Ryan's Hope}) ''Ryan's Hope'') had a cameo in 1981 during the premiere of Kim Beaulac's play.
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** Averted in that episodes from the first 6 years of the show (1975 through 1981) were aired on SoapNet several times since 2000.
to:
** Averted in that episodes from the first 6 years of the show (1975 through 1981) were aired on SoapNet Creator/SoapNet several times since 2000.
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** ...that is, until 24 years after the series ended, as in 2013 GeneralHospital revisited Ryan's, complete with cameo by Ilene Kristian as Delia.
to:
** ...that is, until 24 years after the series ended, as in 2013 GeneralHospital Series/GeneralHospital revisited Ryan's, complete with cameo by Ilene Kristian as Delia.
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None
Added DiffLines:
SoapOpera that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975-1989. The show focused on the Ryans, a working-class Irish family, and the Coleridges, an upper-class family, in New York City.
Although it had a short run by soap opera standards, and never achieved more than mediocre ratings (its best rating was 7th out of 14 in 1981), the show developed a cult following and is one of the few soaps to be re-run after its initial run.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
* AbandonedHospital: The main setting of the Kenneth Castle storyline after he kidnapped Faith Coleridge - Kenneth kept her locked inside the surprisingly well maintained morgue of the old Riverside Hospital.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Jack Fenelli to Mary Ryan. Despite all but admitting that he married Mary for sex, and proceeding divorce proceedings while she was {6 months pregnant}, Mary wanted nothing more than to be with Jack. Fans gave the character the nickname of Jackhole for a reason...
* ArtifactTitle: Arguably, an example of this several times during the run when new families were introduced and the storylines focused less on the Ryans. The most popular example is the period in 1982-1983, when the Kirklands were introduced; many in the cast referred to the show as "Kirkland's Hope".
* TheBabyTrap: Delia used this on BOTH Ryan brothers. See BatmanGambit below for the beauty she pulled on Pat.
* BackFromTheDead: Joe Novak, arguably. It was HEAVILY implied that he was killed after Jack Fenelli killed Joe's uncle Tiso. Month's later, after a {{recast}}, it was revealed he faked his death to protect Jack and Siobhan.
* BackForTheFinale: Big time, as many characters (and actors) who had left the show in previous years (Pat Ryan, Faith Coleridge, Jill Coleridge, Rae Woodard) returned for the final two weeks of episodes. Kate Mulgrew, who first made a name for herself as Mary Ryan, returned as the disembodied voice of her deceased character.
* BatmanGambit: For someone presented as so dense, Delia pulls off a beauty to get Pat Ryan to marry her (despite Pat's engagement to Faith Colefridge):
** After losing custody of little John, Delia uses the family's distrust of Roger Coleridge (who blackmailed Frank about Frank's affair with Delia AND blackmailed Delia to continue an affair with him) to get Pat to rescue her from a planned cruise...which leads to a night of passion...on the ONE NIGHT she can get pregnant.
** After being rejected by Pat, she goes to an abortion clinic and breaks down crying. The clinician call Pat's mother Maeve to rescue her - informing Maeve of the pregnancy. Maeve and Johnny, being the good Irish Catholics they are, insist Pat break his engagement to Faith and marry Delia.
* BigApplesauce: The show was set in the Riverside neighborhood of Manhattan, and name-dropped many real-life New York city locales (e.g., Sheepshead Bay) at a time when most SoapOperas took place in fictional, midwestern towns.
* CrossOver: A notable aversion for Creator/{{ABC}}. All of ABC's other soaps were established as existing in the same universe in the 1970s/1980s, and had several cross-overs - EXCEPT for Ryan's Hope, which existed on its own little island...
** ...that is, until 24 years after the series ended, as in 2013 GeneralHospital revisited Ryan's, complete with cameo by Ilene Kristian as Delia.
* FieryRedhead: Siobhan Ryan was originally this. Averted once the show recast the character as a dopey blonde played by [[BeverlyHills90210 Kelly Taylor's mom.]]
* DawsonCasting: The first year of the show establishes that Maeve and Johnny Ryan have been married for 30 years, implying that Frank Ryan is around 28 years old. His (first) actor, Michael Hawkins, was 40 years old (just 10 years younger than the actors playing his parents) and looks every bit his age. Explained by the fact that, originally, the Frank character was to be killed off after the first 13 weeks, so the choice of actors was less consequential since the character would be unconscious in bed for the duration of the role.
* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Frank Ryan and his affair with Jillian Coleridge falls into the Good category. Despite continuing his affair after fathering a child with his wife, Delia, the Ryans treat Frank's affair with Jill as true love and all but blame Delia for his infidelity.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
** Averted in that episodes from the first 6 years of the show (1975 through 1981) were aired on SoapNet several times since 2000.
** However, Soapnet has never shown any episodes past December 1981, repeatedly rewinding the show back to the 1975 episodes and beginning the run again. In particular, episodes from 1982 seem extremely rare. A good number of post-1983 episodes are posted on video sharing sites.
** Looks to be true after September 2011, as Soapnet has plans to remove the show from its line-up.
* KilledOffforReal: Mary Ryan Fenelli, surprising for one of the main characters in a soap opera. Justified in that audiences did not respond well after the part was recast (Kate Mulgrew left the show for greener pastures).
* LeftHanging: Faith never answered Pat's question ("Is Grace my daughter?") during the GrandFinale, although her facial expression indicates a "Yes".
* LonelyRichKid: Bucky Carter.
* IntrepidReporter: Mary Ryan, to the point that her investigation (on her sister's wedding day!) led to her death. Later, the show tried to make cousin E.J. Ryan this.
* TheIrishDiaspora: The Ryan's were fiercely (and stereotypically) Irish, and even ran a typical Irish pub. St. Patrick's Day was celebrated throughout the years on the show, typically with Maeve singing ''Danny Boy''.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Kenneth Castle and his love for Faith Coleridge, which included stalking, breaking and entering, and the murder of Ed Coleridge.
* TheMafia: A major component of the show once Siobhan Ryan fell in love with Joe Novak, nephew of mob boss Tiso Novotny. Amped up to 10 once Siobhan became involved with Max Dubujak, described in a promo as "the most dangerous man in America".
* MayDecemberRomance: Michael Pavel and Rae Woodard. Occurred at the same time Michael Pavel was having an affair with Rae's married daughter. It did not end well.
* MissingEpisode: Mostly averted; although some episodes are lost due to tape damage, the show is one of the few pre-1980 soaps with its entire run intact.
* NetworkRedHeadedStepchild: See ScrewedByTheNetwork below.
* Non-IdleRich: The Coleridge children, while not extremely wealthy, were shown to be well-off. Roger and Faith were doctors, and Jill was a lawyer.
* TheOtherDarrin: As with all SoapOperas, multiple parts were recast over the years, particularly in the case of the Ryan children - Frank (5 actors), Pat (4 actors), Mary (3 actresses + one temporary actress), and Siobahn (5 actresses).
* SettleforSibling: Arguably, Delia to Frank Ryan. Delia was involved with Frank's brother Pat in high school, and desperately wanted to marry into the Ryan family. When Pat rejected her, she eventually dated and married Frank.
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: After introducing ''Loving'' a year earlier, Creator/{{ABC}} gave ''Loving'' the 12:30pm time slot in 1984 that ''Ryan's Hope'' had occupied since 1977. ''Ryan's Hope'' was moved to the noon slot, forcing affiliates to choose between this show and local news. Many chose news, and ratings for ''Ryan's Hope'' tanked.
* SORAS: The Ryan grandchildren were aged in the 1980s. 10 year old Little John Ryan was aged to 19, and 7 year old Ryan Fenelli was aged to 15 (and played by Yasmine Bleeth).
* SpecialGuest:
** Appropriately, Nolan Ryan made an appearance in 1976.
** Christopher Reeve, famous for playing Superman (who, notably, got his start on LoveOfLife which was written by the creators of {Ryan's Hope}) had a cameo in 1981 during the premiere of Kim Beaulac's play.
* StarCrossedLovers: Frank Ryan and Jillian Coleridge.
** The first several weeks of the show revealed the long-running love affair between Frank and Jill, due in part to Frank's unhappiness in his marriage to Delia. The nature of their love made most of the Ryan family (except Pat) side with Frank and accept (if not outright condone) the affair. Meanwhile, once Delia got caught in an affair with Roger Coleridge, hell hath no fury....
** After Jill married Seneca Beaulac, she had a baby boy...who turned out to be Frank's.
** After cheating on Frank with Ken George Jones, Frank broke up with Jill and began dating (and eventually became engaged to) her sister Faith. Right before the wedding, Frank got cold feet...thanks to his love for Jillian.
* TypeCasting: Andrew Robinson was cast as Frank Ryan after the original actor, Michael Hawkins, was fired in 1976. At the time, Robinson was best known for playing the Scorpio killer in DirtyHarry. Creator/{{ABC}}, arguing that viewers could not accept Robinson as a noble lawyer & councilman, demanded that the role be recast just 2 years later.
* WeddingsForEveryone: The finale revolved around the wedding of Jack Fenelli and the reception at Ryan's bar.
* YouLookFamiliar: Played with by the two characters played by Diana Van Der Vlis. She was an original character on the show, playing Nell Beaulac during the first year of the show. She came back a decade later and played the similar looking Sherry Rowan. Her new character even ended up with Seneca at the end!
Although it had a short run by soap opera standards, and never achieved more than mediocre ratings (its best rating was 7th out of 14 in 1981), the show developed a cult following and is one of the few soaps to be re-run after its initial run.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
* AbandonedHospital: The main setting of the Kenneth Castle storyline after he kidnapped Faith Coleridge - Kenneth kept her locked inside the surprisingly well maintained morgue of the old Riverside Hospital.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Jack Fenelli to Mary Ryan. Despite all but admitting that he married Mary for sex, and proceeding divorce proceedings while she was {6 months pregnant}, Mary wanted nothing more than to be with Jack. Fans gave the character the nickname of Jackhole for a reason...
* ArtifactTitle: Arguably, an example of this several times during the run when new families were introduced and the storylines focused less on the Ryans. The most popular example is the period in 1982-1983, when the Kirklands were introduced; many in the cast referred to the show as "Kirkland's Hope".
* TheBabyTrap: Delia used this on BOTH Ryan brothers. See BatmanGambit below for the beauty she pulled on Pat.
* BackFromTheDead: Joe Novak, arguably. It was HEAVILY implied that he was killed after Jack Fenelli killed Joe's uncle Tiso. Month's later, after a {{recast}}, it was revealed he faked his death to protect Jack and Siobhan.
* BackForTheFinale: Big time, as many characters (and actors) who had left the show in previous years (Pat Ryan, Faith Coleridge, Jill Coleridge, Rae Woodard) returned for the final two weeks of episodes. Kate Mulgrew, who first made a name for herself as Mary Ryan, returned as the disembodied voice of her deceased character.
* BatmanGambit: For someone presented as so dense, Delia pulls off a beauty to get Pat Ryan to marry her (despite Pat's engagement to Faith Colefridge):
** After losing custody of little John, Delia uses the family's distrust of Roger Coleridge (who blackmailed Frank about Frank's affair with Delia AND blackmailed Delia to continue an affair with him) to get Pat to rescue her from a planned cruise...which leads to a night of passion...on the ONE NIGHT she can get pregnant.
** After being rejected by Pat, she goes to an abortion clinic and breaks down crying. The clinician call Pat's mother Maeve to rescue her - informing Maeve of the pregnancy. Maeve and Johnny, being the good Irish Catholics they are, insist Pat break his engagement to Faith and marry Delia.
* BigApplesauce: The show was set in the Riverside neighborhood of Manhattan, and name-dropped many real-life New York city locales (e.g., Sheepshead Bay) at a time when most SoapOperas took place in fictional, midwestern towns.
* CrossOver: A notable aversion for Creator/{{ABC}}. All of ABC's other soaps were established as existing in the same universe in the 1970s/1980s, and had several cross-overs - EXCEPT for Ryan's Hope, which existed on its own little island...
** ...that is, until 24 years after the series ended, as in 2013 GeneralHospital revisited Ryan's, complete with cameo by Ilene Kristian as Delia.
* FieryRedhead: Siobhan Ryan was originally this. Averted once the show recast the character as a dopey blonde played by [[BeverlyHills90210 Kelly Taylor's mom.]]
* DawsonCasting: The first year of the show establishes that Maeve and Johnny Ryan have been married for 30 years, implying that Frank Ryan is around 28 years old. His (first) actor, Michael Hawkins, was 40 years old (just 10 years younger than the actors playing his parents) and looks every bit his age. Explained by the fact that, originally, the Frank character was to be killed off after the first 13 weeks, so the choice of actors was less consequential since the character would be unconscious in bed for the duration of the role.
* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Frank Ryan and his affair with Jillian Coleridge falls into the Good category. Despite continuing his affair after fathering a child with his wife, Delia, the Ryans treat Frank's affair with Jill as true love and all but blame Delia for his infidelity.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
** Averted in that episodes from the first 6 years of the show (1975 through 1981) were aired on SoapNet several times since 2000.
** However, Soapnet has never shown any episodes past December 1981, repeatedly rewinding the show back to the 1975 episodes and beginning the run again. In particular, episodes from 1982 seem extremely rare. A good number of post-1983 episodes are posted on video sharing sites.
** Looks to be true after September 2011, as Soapnet has plans to remove the show from its line-up.
* KilledOffforReal: Mary Ryan Fenelli, surprising for one of the main characters in a soap opera. Justified in that audiences did not respond well after the part was recast (Kate Mulgrew left the show for greener pastures).
* LeftHanging: Faith never answered Pat's question ("Is Grace my daughter?") during the GrandFinale, although her facial expression indicates a "Yes".
* LonelyRichKid: Bucky Carter.
* IntrepidReporter: Mary Ryan, to the point that her investigation (on her sister's wedding day!) led to her death. Later, the show tried to make cousin E.J. Ryan this.
* TheIrishDiaspora: The Ryan's were fiercely (and stereotypically) Irish, and even ran a typical Irish pub. St. Patrick's Day was celebrated throughout the years on the show, typically with Maeve singing ''Danny Boy''.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Kenneth Castle and his love for Faith Coleridge, which included stalking, breaking and entering, and the murder of Ed Coleridge.
* TheMafia: A major component of the show once Siobhan Ryan fell in love with Joe Novak, nephew of mob boss Tiso Novotny. Amped up to 10 once Siobhan became involved with Max Dubujak, described in a promo as "the most dangerous man in America".
* MayDecemberRomance: Michael Pavel and Rae Woodard. Occurred at the same time Michael Pavel was having an affair with Rae's married daughter. It did not end well.
* MissingEpisode: Mostly averted; although some episodes are lost due to tape damage, the show is one of the few pre-1980 soaps with its entire run intact.
* NetworkRedHeadedStepchild: See ScrewedByTheNetwork below.
* Non-IdleRich: The Coleridge children, while not extremely wealthy, were shown to be well-off. Roger and Faith were doctors, and Jill was a lawyer.
* TheOtherDarrin: As with all SoapOperas, multiple parts were recast over the years, particularly in the case of the Ryan children - Frank (5 actors), Pat (4 actors), Mary (3 actresses + one temporary actress), and Siobahn (5 actresses).
* SettleforSibling: Arguably, Delia to Frank Ryan. Delia was involved with Frank's brother Pat in high school, and desperately wanted to marry into the Ryan family. When Pat rejected her, she eventually dated and married Frank.
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: After introducing ''Loving'' a year earlier, Creator/{{ABC}} gave ''Loving'' the 12:30pm time slot in 1984 that ''Ryan's Hope'' had occupied since 1977. ''Ryan's Hope'' was moved to the noon slot, forcing affiliates to choose between this show and local news. Many chose news, and ratings for ''Ryan's Hope'' tanked.
* SORAS: The Ryan grandchildren were aged in the 1980s. 10 year old Little John Ryan was aged to 19, and 7 year old Ryan Fenelli was aged to 15 (and played by Yasmine Bleeth).
* SpecialGuest:
** Appropriately, Nolan Ryan made an appearance in 1976.
** Christopher Reeve, famous for playing Superman (who, notably, got his start on LoveOfLife which was written by the creators of {Ryan's Hope}) had a cameo in 1981 during the premiere of Kim Beaulac's play.
* StarCrossedLovers: Frank Ryan and Jillian Coleridge.
** The first several weeks of the show revealed the long-running love affair between Frank and Jill, due in part to Frank's unhappiness in his marriage to Delia. The nature of their love made most of the Ryan family (except Pat) side with Frank and accept (if not outright condone) the affair. Meanwhile, once Delia got caught in an affair with Roger Coleridge, hell hath no fury....
** After Jill married Seneca Beaulac, she had a baby boy...who turned out to be Frank's.
** After cheating on Frank with Ken George Jones, Frank broke up with Jill and began dating (and eventually became engaged to) her sister Faith. Right before the wedding, Frank got cold feet...thanks to his love for Jillian.
* TypeCasting: Andrew Robinson was cast as Frank Ryan after the original actor, Michael Hawkins, was fired in 1976. At the time, Robinson was best known for playing the Scorpio killer in DirtyHarry. Creator/{{ABC}}, arguing that viewers could not accept Robinson as a noble lawyer & councilman, demanded that the role be recast just 2 years later.
* WeddingsForEveryone: The finale revolved around the wedding of Jack Fenelli and the reception at Ryan's bar.
* YouLookFamiliar: Played with by the two characters played by Diana Van Der Vlis. She was an original character on the show, playing Nell Beaulac during the first year of the show. She came back a decade later and played the similar looking Sherry Rowan. Her new character even ended up with Seneca at the end!
