Bradley Bell spent an entire decade spitting on the Spectra family.

Kate Roberts - No, she never was Dr. Kate Winograd, but she should have been,

Laura Horton - I love Jamie Lynn Bauer and the story was fine, but that was NOT Dr. Laura Ann Spencer Horton Horton.

Tony DiMera (90's) - See Laura.

Dr. Sandy Horton, Steven Olson, Valerie Grant ... all failed returns.

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A return that SHOULD have happened ... Linda Patterson.

Edited October 8, 201015 yr by Amello

Did anyone mention Gina Tognoni's return to OLTL?

Kate Roberts - No, she never was Dr. Kate Winograd, but she should have been,

Laura Horton - I love Jamie Lynn Bauer and the story was fine, but that was NOT Dr. Laura Ann Spencer Horton Horton.

Dr. Sandy Horton, Steven Olson, Valerie Grant ... all failed returns.

---

A return that SHOULD have happened ... Linda Patterson.

OMG! I thought I was the only one who thought Kate Roberts should have been Kate Winograd. She would have been more like a Dorian Lord Character, businesswoman/doctor.

As for Laura, I like Jamie Lynn as an actress, but felt Laura was miscast. I never seen Sandy, Steve, or Valerie but I always wished Val had return to the fold when Tamara Tunie left ATWT. I know Steve was suppose to be a badboy horton but the writers never knew what to do with him and always wrote him into a hole.

Vanessa Marcil Giovanazzo's return in 2010. What a joke. I have gone from indifference to hives with this silly character. Dumb bitch walking around asking anyone who will listen to keep her from Sonny. Ugh! And those cheeks?! Yick!

ANDREA

ATWT:

Margaret Reed had the best comeback as Shannon, quickly followed by a horrible storyline. Her comeback from the dead (her head had been shrunken by Duncan's ex-wife...don't ask) was the last time a soap really surprised me with a storyline twist. There were no spoilers , so I never saw it coming. Unfortunately, Reed's great comic timing was never used on her return, as she was placed in one depressing story after another. To make matters worse, Duncan stayed with Jessica. Michael Swan and Tamara Tunie are GREAT actors, but they had no romantic chemistry. Duncan and Shannon had all the heat.

Ugh. The Shannon return was so depressing and miserable I keep blocking it out. That was also one of the last times, probably the last, a soap surprised me. They treated the character so poorly.

Jonathan Jackson

Natalia Livingston

Vanessa Marcil

Sarah Brown

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.

In hindsight, ITA. He never ever *bothered* me per se, but I was not at all enthused by anything Charlie was involved in, he seemed like a blander, more boring version of Jack (which is really saying something, imo). I think AMC was siced to have themselves a Kennedy/baby Rat Packer. He also suddenly seemed ten years older than the one who messed with Erica. I liked Charlie when he was a teen with Julie, the actor who was in the Masters of the Universe movie.

I saw him a few months (has it been years?) ago on either Oprah or Bill Maher (I know I know, what an either/or ). He'd struggled with alcoholism for many years which I did not know.

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.

I came to AMC as a kid just as Ceara's incest storyline was in full play (apparently this was how Nixon wooed her to do the soap). I thought it was *riveting*, but I actually back then had never even heard the term "Luke and Laura" and had no idea who she was--that coulda played all the difference.

I will admit they already seemed to have no idea what to do with her afterwards. I did follow her and Jeremy to Loving where they worked on their marriage for a month(Fall 1991--almsot a year before Jeremy moved there full time with Ceara being killed off camera), and that's how I got hooked on that show. So despite all that, I have a hard time calling her comeback a flop.

In hindsight, ITA. He never ever *bothered* me per se, but I was not at all enthused by anything Charlie was involved in, he seemed like a blander, more boring version of Jack (which is really saying something, imo). I think AMC was siced to have themselves a Kennedy/baby Rat Packer. He also suddenly seemed ten years older than the one who messed with Erica. I liked Charlie when he was a teen with Julie, the actor who was in the Masters of the Universe movie.

For some reason I found Lawford's Charlie just utterly unappealing and downright ugly--cruel I know, and I know many didn't. I do remember, again at a young age, I found out that some kids of family friends of my parents had watched AMC with their mom for years (AMC as well as Y&R, ATWT and GL)--and they all said how disappointed they were when he came on as Charlie as they had found the previous Charlie one of the most attractive cast members. Anyway, he just came off as obnoxious--and I suppose bringing back Cecily to hook up with him in maybe the first (and lamest?) Internet storyline on soaps was a good way to make him leave the show.

(And I've always kinda liked Jack in an older man kinda way I can kinda see the similarity but he never made your eyes role when he'd come on screen--at least not mine)

Edited October 8, 201015 yr by EricMontreal22

I think you mean Anita. I loved Campbell as Bobby also and never understood why he was axxed so fast while they kept Anita, who was the more boring and useless of that pairing. I thought Bobby and Greenlee had good chemistry and could have been a power couplem which might be why he was axxed as they were hell bent on forcing her with Ryan

I do Anita wasn't bad IMHO but was completely useless when Bobby left--and then if anything it seemed like Julia came in to replace her boring "random nurse" role. (and yes Bobby and Greenlee were tested ina few scenes and were charming I thought--I remember one in an elevator). Greenlee needed someone like him to set her off--maybe David was too extreme (though I liked them at times) but Bobby was a bit liek Leo--a charming schemer who DID have reluctant morals. She doesn't need to be paired with the Knight in White Armour type character--

One more I just though--another McTavish, was when they brought back the outstanding Broadway performer Tonya Pinkins as Livia. The show was lacking in Black females at the time, and it shoulda been dynamite, but she just faded away. I kinda wonder if all these lame returns were McTavish's fault--she seemed othave the idea and story for them to come on and then someone else just allowed them disappear (the same way Brooke did, a character McTavish, however dismally, loved writing for for years).

I have absolutely no doubt that's why CC was fired. The second McTavish started toying with Bobby and Greenlee and their scenes were getting a positive response Bobby was beaten to a pulp by one of Zach's goons (IIRC) and written out.

An example of Fronsian intervention at its worst.

RB as Greenlee return in 2008 aka the "REAL Greenlee" promotion

Eden's return as Bianca in late 2008

I don't think RB's return counts. Like or hate the story, scenes like her marriage to David were great--and the show certainly has used her. Of course they did with Bianca too but I do agree that ended in disaster...

Cecily was involved in that very dated s/l with Charlie, the surge of anonymous online romance in America, chatrooms, IM, *brrrring* They were being flirty on their computers all the while sitting across the room from one another, neither the wiser. I hardly remember Cecily doing anything besides working at the P.I. office, I think she may have also done some matchmaking/handholding for another female character, it's hazy.

Yep, when they were still wrongly half-trying to pair Charlie and Hayley, who shared the PI office.

She did have some great scenes with Mary Fickett (some of her last scenes I think) during the 25th anniversary week. Even looking back on her charming 80s work I think it was more due to the pairing of her and Maurice Benard as Nico who really are a lot of fun, when you look at old clips. (What the Hell happened? I have never found Benard even remotely appealing on GH--even initially, yet he genuinely was on AMC in the 80s)

CCBobby & Greenlee were very good in the little they had together.