All - Returns that ROCKED

[Sindacco]

I agree with you. Nicole was best in 2001-2003.

[DRW50]

For consistency, yes. Generally, since her return, from what I've seen I think she's been a pretty interesting character with a lot of facets, and she drove the story which carried DAYS for a year. The first time around she became interesting but I think she lost something when they had her get obsessed with Kyle Lowder's Brady.

[JackPeyton]

I agree and i disagree.

it didnt rock, but it wasnt a flop.

She sumbled at first, but pairing her with EJ and then the swap? Amazing. everything after? Awful.

[Cheap21]

the thing is they further ruined her by making her leave. Her daughter dies and Maxie rips into her justifiably. Instead of staying and trying to mend her relationship with the daughter she has left, she leaves as a coward bc she couldnt bare to hear the harsh words said about her. Presumably she went right on back to living her selfish life with Frisco not giving a damn about Maxie. I really wish that Guza had had her get hit by a car and placed into a coma after she left the funeral. That would have left Maxie to refelect on and regret what she said to Felicia which ended up resulting in her leaving and putting her in a position to get hit. And it would also help mend the fences if and when Felicia woke up. Too bad he didnt care about preserving their relationship or Felicia's integrity

[Gray Bunny]

Nicole showed her best vulnerability in 2001-2002 with Austin right before he left the show. Soon after, she reverted back to her one-note slutty ways with Dr. Colin Murphy.

[Bright Eyes]

Nicole was turned into a great must see character the second she took that $5 million cheque from Kate until her marriage to Victor went the abuse route. Ruining their relationship was a terrible decision.

[darraholic]

Marlena (91)

Hope (94)

Larry Welch (02): His return was very well done. Probably one of the best storylines from the decade. I loved how well it was secret with his return. I liked how Larry was able to get Billie to help him without her knowing the real reason he was kidnapping Hope. Loved how he was able to frame Lexie for Hope's kidnapping. Bo killing Lexie on the rooftop was SHOCKING! Then loved the flashbacks of how they caught on to Larry's involvement.

[Mr. Vixen]

Amen, Cheap. Amen! Having her just leave town off screen might have been my least favorite part of the storyline. The Felicia we all knew/loved would have made it her mission to mend her relationship with Maxie. She wasn't a coward, like this. They should have just put her in a coma when Kristina Wagner walked in 2005. Instead we had to suffer that horrid recast, and then the total destruction of the character.

But I really, REALLY like the idea you had. That would have made more sense. Maxie justifiably was pissed at her mother, but had Felicia been put in a coma, it would have brought back some of the more positive memories too. And it would have shown us that somewhere deep down she really does still love her, and isn't so much ANGRY at Felicia, but just hurt because she feels like she lost her mother. Could have been so, so great. Especially the part where Maxie blames herself, because it would have been her words that sent her out of the chapel to get hit by the car. So much potential.

Maybe one day Kristina Wagner will agree to return again, and SOMETHING could be mended. Maybe even some spirit appearances by Lindze Letherman...Something. Even if Felicia never comes back as a fixture on the show, I'd like to see SOME closure with her/Maxie/Mac..

[Quent]

I think the most successful return I've seen on a soap had to be Martha Byrne's. When she left the show, Heather Rattray took over for about three years. She looked and acted nothing like the Lily we watched growing up on screen. The writers made her cold and bitchy, and there was no sparks between she and Holden. It's a shame the characters were married during Rattray's run, because most fans wanted that moment for Holden and "Real Lily". When Martha returned, it was for a great storyline...Lily was married to Damian, and got the mother=in=law from hell. This was ATWT in its glory days.

A second good return was James Stenbeck's first return from the dead ("Hello, Barbara!"), but they went to the well WAY too often with that plot device.

[Limenade]

^She sure rocked! I'm quite certain Marie Masters first returned to ATWT in spring '86 in a cameo appearance during the show's 30th anniversary. Then she came back again for several episodes later that same year right around the time that Emily reappeared as an adult in Oakdale for the first time (played by Colleen McDermott). Not sure when Marie was signed back on as a contract player.

I do wonder, watching Bob and Kim greet Susan at the entry way before Chris and Nancy's golden anniversary, Marland had already planned out the story of Bob and Susan's affair 4 or 5 years down the road...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv4SMI_zd58&feature=related

[DRW50]

I guess Susan returned as a contract player sometime in 1987.

I think Marland said he would adjust stories if he thought another outcome was better, so I don't know if he planned that far in advance, but it was amusing to see Susan as so harsh when she first came back, and Bob obviously not being overly fond of her, knowing what would happen several years later.

It's a real credit to Calhoun and Marland that they didn't just pretend Emily had no mother, or say, "She was a deadbeat," and use that as an excuse to not bring her back. Having Susan come on not only added more layers to Emily but also provided some phenomenal storylines. It also added one of the most unique characters ever on a soap, and a very different female character than any others on ATWT.

[Limenade]

You're right. It was just ironic (and funny), in retrospect, to see the next part of that clip where Kim told Bob that Susan couldn't hurt her anymore.

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if Marie's cameo performance during the anniversary sparked an interest in Marland, in the same way that he saw Barbara as so much more than a mere doormat, and that he saw the chemistry that was still there between Susan and Ellen, and thought about long-term story potentials for Susan.

When Marie returned briefly in summer 86 (Betsy was then duped by Tad Channing to look for Emily in California), she gave terrific performances again pairing up with Pat Bruder and also the first adult-Emily (McDermott). These performances are not talked about much generally, because of the heavy-weight performances by Liz Hubbard and Lisa Brown in the Lily's parentage story around the same time.