As loyal TVGuide.com readers will recall, Days of our Lives head writer Hogan Sheffer recently told us that Stefano DiMera's long-lost son, Benjy Hawk, would return to Salem.

Daytime newcomer Jim Lunsford joins Days as Benjy on November 10. Patch and Kayla -- who adopted Benjy back in the day -- will likely be glad to see him!

See? I told you EJ Wells, who's played by James Scott, isn't Benjy. Some of y'all didn't want to believe me.

I can't wait to find out exactly what EJ's relation to the DiMeras is. Is he Stefano's son, too? Or perhaps Tony's? Hmm...

In other Days news, you recently read right here that Chelsea will get a geeky new love interest named Nick Fallon. That role has gone to another daytime newbie, Blake Berris. BTW, Nick -- who first airs November 7 -- is the grandson of Marie Horton.

http://community.tvguide.com/thread.jspa?f...eadID=700008969

And Marie too. Maree Cheetam could make a guest-stint. It would be so good to see her with Frances Reid again.

I can't wait until that first scene when we have Lexie, Theo, EJ, Benjy, and hopefully Stefano and Tony in the same scene at once. Hopefully it will be in the defunct DiMera mansion as well. The DiMeras have returned to Salem!

Oh and I can't forget Celeste. She's as much of a DiMera as anyone. I'll always consider her part of that family.

Wait.. Tony is rumoured to be back? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

If Tony's returning... it better be the 80's Tony, I won't settle for cartoon Tony.

As of right now, it's just a rumor going around. Hogan wants to bring back Stefano and Tony, but Corday doesn't want Mascolo or Penghlis back right now. If they were to return, it would only be a short-term thing and it's not guarenteed that either actor would agree to it. Mascolo wants to come back full-time. No word on Penghlis' views though.

I can't see them rebuilding the DiMeras without the father and eldest brother on the show.

I honestly would not mind Tony returning under Hogan, so long as it is not "cartoon" Tony that we last saw.

I want dark an mysterious Tony, not super-villain!! Tony NEVER was as bad as Stefano and still possessed some great "good guy" qualities!

80's Tony would be welcomed with OPEN ARMS by this DAYS fan!

Eactly, Mitch! Tony was always considered the black sheep of the DiMera family. And the fact that he is not really Stefano's son could come into play with all of these other DiMera siblings coming out of the woodwork.

Yup, they should just have the cartoon Tony turn out to really be Andre, then bring back the 80's Tony, Really not that hard.

However, I wouldn't be suprised if he didn't, but I hope Hogan remembers the fact that Tony is Eurico's son with Daphne and not Stefano, even though they all treat him like a Dimera which I am perfectly fine with, it is just the previous wirters have really forgotten that and half the people who did not watch Days back then think Tony's related to Stefano.

NO! Do not make cartoon Tony Andre. That would be the biggest cop-out. That's what they did back in '02 when Tony returned. Just make it Andre. That's played out.

If Tony does return, they need to write an indepth storyline that takes us into Tony's mind and we figure out why he finally snapped. Kristen could not be the reason to make everyone in Salem pay. There should be something more to the story. It would be even juicier if Marlena was called in to be his psychiatrist. That would cause tension for John and Marlena without having someone coming in and claiming to be a lover from the past or someone trying to break up their marriage to be with one of them. ORIGINALITY is key.

Your right.... even cartoon Tony is too cartoonish for Andre, it would save one character but ruin another!

I would welcome the Tony of the 80's and B&C back. He would be awesome. I still think EJ is Tony and Anna's son. EJ is alot like Tony.

I saved Tony in my blog using the Andre out and while it is a cop out there is no other way to go. Originality is key but there would be no reason to go into a "why Tony snapped" story. There was no reason for Tony to snap. Things were going good for him before he got stabbed by Maya's henchman and from that point on he seemed different. I wish there was another way to go about it but Andre makes the most sense and fits in with how JER wrote it. JER messed up so much it is the only way out. Keeping it as Tony that did all those things and making it a story about him going crazy would be better but there is no way it would make sense. There was nothing to make Tony snap and want to do all that. I like the idea but I can't see how it can be done but maybe it's me.

I think Stefano will work much better short term. I would like to see him popping in and out like he did in the 80's and 90's. He started being ruined when SSM and Langan had him living in Salem like a regular citizen. He lost his mystique and what made him great as a character. Stefano is a character that should lurk in the shadows always waiting to strike and then go back into hiding when things are over or when they go wrong. Tony is a character that could remain and, under Hogan, I can see him bringing Anna back with Tony and going from there.

I agree about Celeste Drew. I think of her as a Dimera too myself.

I absolutely do not want Tony to be back. I say kill him off off-screen. I have NO interest in seeing his character redeemed in any sort of switcharoo, which would be the only way to redeem him. I *do* want EJ to turn out to be Anna's long-lost son with Tony, but I'd rather Anna deal with that alone than sweep under the rug the past few years of terror with Tony.

Of course, I feel the same way about Stefano. I love Joe, but I have no interest whatsoever in that character. A new DiMera brood? Bring it on. Maybe they won't mess up this one.

I really really want Stefano back, but I think that even though he is the head of the family, new Dimeras could be built without him.

We got Benji, EJ and if Hogan wants more, he could always have Jan turn out to be a Dimera too and bring her back, then perhaps he could bring back some others that weren't as big as some others were Elvis JR, age him a little bit and you could make him a teenager, there are loads of possibilities as to how to make a whole new Dimera Dynasty.

I think Tony and Stefano have to return, even briefly, to start the new generation. I like them both but I am ok with them not coming back but they are needed to kinda pass the torch to the next Dimera's IMO.

I saved Tony in my blog using the Andre out and while it is a cop out there is no other way to go. Originality is key but there would be no reason to go into a "why Tony snapped" story. There was no reason for Tony to snap. Things were going good for him before he got stabbed by Maya's henchman and from that point on he seemed different. I wish there was another way to go about it but Andre makes the most sense and fits in with how JER wrote it. JER messed up so much it is the only way out. Keeping it as Tony that did all those things and making it a story about him going crazy would be better but there is no way it would make sense. There was nothing to make Tony snap and want to do all that. I like the idea but I can't see how it can be done but maybe it's me.

What are you talking about? There is so many possibilities to explain why Tony snapped. Having him turn out to be Andre is definitely not the answer. That's the stupid answer and the predictable one that uses no thought to create. The show could really develop a "Silence of the Lambs" type of storyline with Tony and Marlena. I would love to see it. Marlena loves her work and would not turn down the biggest challenge of her life (Tony), even though John strictly forbids it. There you have it, Phoenix, ORIGINALITY.