The End:
Thanks For the Memories
Soap Opera Digest, April 30, 1991
by Donna Hoke Kahwaty
(Edited to Ryan's Hope Sections)If a primetime pilot never sees the light of day as a series, it goes relatively unnoticed. But, only daytime, where viewer loyalty grows quickly and fiercely, a cancellation causes quite a stir. Long after the show has become a memory to most, fans still recall special moments from soaps such as SEARCH FOR TOMORROW or RYAN'S HOPE. What they don't know is that the actors recall them too.
RYAN'S HOPE
(7/7/75-1/12/89*)Ilene Kristen (Delia Reid, 1975-89, on and off; currently Norma Gilpin on LOVING)
"My last memory is of Helen Gallagher singing 'Danny Boy' at Ryan's Bar for the last time. Helen symbolized hope, and it brought everybody together. There we all were for the last time standing around that bar. I thought, 'Well, this is really it.' It was the heart and soul of our show...the bar, the Irish heritage...I remember I was wearing a really heavy beaded dress, and I thought, 'Wow, this is the last time I'll ever be Delia.' All of us, misty-eyed, were looking at Helen singing that song."Helen Gallagher (Maeve Ryan, 1975-89)
"We knew two years before that cancellation was on its way. The minute they moved our time slot, it became a fait accompli. Whether we're glad or sad when it's off, it was a time of great camaraderie, because a lot of the old people came back for the end of the show. The final show was really sad. Getting through my song ["Danny Boy"] was almost impossible, because I'd sung that song so many times. It was a lovely show; it was like family. I miss not having that sense of family in my life, but I don't miss being in the studio from 7:30 a.m. until six o'clock p.m. I miss the memory. It's like growing up; you don't want to be seven again, but it's nice to think about."[*This is a misprint: The final episode was actually on the 13th of January.]