All - Returns that fizzled

[juniorz1]

I don't believe Doug's return lasted as long as you're saying. The main thing he did was run for mayor of Salem. Other than that, he was given little to nothing to do.

Doug did come back to usher Julie out of town, though I thought it was in '92, not to get nitpicky. I remember him singing to her out on the old Salem Pier and them reuniting. It sucked because during his return, all you wanted as a viewer was for Julie to be there with him. Same thing for SSH's return in 90. I'm pretty sure he was only on for a couple episodes to reunite with her & then both were gone. I've always lobster-loved Julie & was sorry to see her go again. I remember when Deidre Hall came back, I was more looking forward to her reuniting with SSH's Julie than with RoJohn (probably because they hadn't been seen together since 1984). Julie & Marlena were once very good friends, probably my favorite adult friendship DAYS ever had.

[Sindacco]

I must have been the only one who liked Alex North.

[remos]

The same thing that made Tracy Quartermaine better - it wasn't pushed down everyone's throats. Now do I think it wise to bring back characters like Justin and Adrienne? Not really - they weren't that much to write home about in the first place and I consider them bores then as now. HOWEVER they were not given the Greenlee/Brenda/Laura treatment and as thus were not set up for failure by writers who don't realize those stars have faded and fans who are more caught in nostalgia than willing to look at their value as meaningful characters in the modern context.

In and of themselves however, I would be more tempted to put Justin/Adrienne into the category of "waste of effort" rather than "returns that fizzled".

[SFK]

Speaking of Tracy, her return to GH in '96 and subsequesnt transition to The City was GREAT. It's the network, not either of the shows, that fizzled that return by yanking The City.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Chloe Lane first return (under reilly's pen)

John Black return from the dead.

Mickey Horton (Kevin Dobson) he should have been a new character.

Marley Love Hudson (1998-1999)

Denise Alexander as Dr. Lesley on GH.

[DRW50]

I thought Marley's last return on AW was good, aside from when she became a psycho for a while. I liked that they finally addressed Jake raping Marley and how it had scarred her.

Thanks for your comments about Justin and Adrienne, remos. That makes sense. You're right that they never tried to overhype them. Sometimes I wonder why they were brought back, but at least the show is making an effort.

Did they do that? I didn't remember. I know in 95 they tried to hint that Fletcher was Michelle's father.

[juniorz1]

I actually quite liked her return, especially since Ellen Wheeler came back to the part. While Anne Heche will always be the definitive Vicky for me (Wheeler was good also, but like a cartoon), Wheeler is certainly & positively the best & definitive Marley to me. I often wonder how much different, and more interesting, her return would have been if Anne Heche were still playing Vicky. I would have killed to see Anne's Vicky face off against Wheeler's Marley.

[quartermainefan]

Some returns have worked quite well, at least from an entertainment standpoint. Louise Sorel, Jay Kenneth Johnson, and Joe Mascolo I think have all contributed nicely to DOOL since returning after long absences. Arianne Zucker too.

Luke and Laura in early 90s was a huge return for GH. Marcy Walker returned as Liza Colby on AMC after a decade to a long run.

[LoyaltoAMC]

I think McTavish's plan was to do some sort of Hayley/Charlie/Cecily triangle. Of course, Lorraine would pair Charlie and Cecily, but they never really had their own story. They were essentially a plot device/supporting in the Hayley/Mateo A storyline. I think Cecily shared one scene with Phoebe the entire time, and I remember her mentioning in passing to Dixie that she couldn't stand living at "Chez Wallingford" any longer. Totally wasted opportunity.

[DRW50]

It was so painfully boring seeing them in that office, but then I thought Lawford's Charlie was dull all around. I never understood that casting.

While Ryan has certainly dominated story and Cameron Mathison has benefited in being able to branch outside of AMC while still being with the show, I have to say that for me his return is one long fizzle. More like a drizzle of dismal. I actually liked Ryan for most of his first run, up to when he left in 2002. Everything I liked about Ryan was pretty much destroyed when AMC/ABC decided that Ryan was some type of hero and upstanding man and they gave him endless financial resources.

[edgeofnik]

Genie Francis return to ABC Daytime as Ceara. I can't remember why exactly, but it just seemed off. Since I wasn't watching DAYS in late 80s, can't speak about her "return to daytime" there. Maybe others can comment. ITA with many of the others mentioned. On AW, when Cecile returned and they made her this mean, pretentious person -- it had no shades of what made NF's Cecile so fun to watch the first time around.

[DRW50]

Cecile's last return was yet another JFP blunder.

Speaking of that -- I'm just going to go ahead and list Vincent Irizarry as Nick McHenry.

[soapfan770]

Was it Eakes who wanted out? I thought it was just contract negotiations gone bad with Eakes jumping ship to ABC, exactly the same thing that later happened with Heather Tom. Either way, Macy's return was going fantastic--the pairing of her with Deacon along as being a fiery nemesis to Brooke and Amber was working quite well until they killed her off again(!) because, um, you know, they couldn't recast or anything like that.

None of Craig's many returns on ATWT we saw in the last four years worked out too well--all three actors too. Same goes with Rosanna's 2007 and 2009 returns as much as Cady McClain tried to make it work.

Malcolm's returns on Y&R have not worked either really. Shemar Moore's 2004 return was a disaster and he was clearly disinterested. He made comments making a mockery of his past run when he rejoined, how classless...

[DRW50]

Any exit that involves a falling chandelier and an offcamera plug pulling has to be a disaster, IMO.

[soapfan770]

Exactly, and we didn't even get a funeral. Here's the lovely story:

:blink: