Also Days did 'back from the dead' with Mickey when he was kidnapped by Stefano and Maggie fell for Don.Although in this instance the audience knew Mickey was alive,the characters didn't. Then later Shane was presumed dead (he had amnesia ) and Kimberly turned to Cal.

So perhaps 'presumed dead' would be a more suitable tag.

Stefano was believed dead of a heart attack or stroke in 1983. It was later revealed he paid off the nurse, who Andre (as Tony) later killed. He turned back up in February or March 1984.

I forgot about him faking the stroke in prison, but you're right- both the audience and characters believed Stefano to be dead at this time.

Stefano was believed dead in 1984 after he, Petrov, and Alex Marshall crashed their limo into the river. Only Alex was pulled out of the river. He turned back up in October.

I'm pretty sure the audience knew he was alive and it only lasted a week or 2.

Stefano was believed dead after Marlena shot him at the ballet in 1985. This was the 1988 resurrection.

I don't think it was a ballet. Stefano had kidnapped Marlena, Eric, and Sami, intending on making Marlena his wife and using Eric & Sami to replace his dead daughter Megan, who's death he blamed on the Bradys. Marlena shot him during a struggle, after Bo had rescued the twins.

They teased around a good bit with Marlena in 1986 and 1987. She was believed dead before the plane explosion made her believed dead again. I don't remember if the first death was to the characters only or to the audience as well.

They did tease with Marlena quite a bit when Deidre Hall was in negotiations. It was a lot of "will they or won't they." RoJohn was taking Marlena out of town skiing for their anniversary, but she went back into the house, having forgotten something. When she turned on the light switch, the house exploded. The audience believed her dead for a brief time, until it was revealed that Orpheus had kidnapped her to an island. So the audience knew she was alive for the mostpart, only the characters thought her dead.

Of course, there was also the Days plot device where if you mentioned an ex-lover or ex-spouse of yours that had died offscreen before you arrived on the show, there was 100% guarantee s/he was alive and would turn up at the most inopportune time. Anna, Emma, Marina, Cal. Anyone I'm missing?

Yeah, but coming back from the dead as far as this thread goes I believed implied that you were already a character on the show. None of those 4 were, and Marina & Cal didn't come until the 90s.

Marina and Cal both came on in 89,although their stories continued into the 90's.

Edited February 7, 201114 yr by Paul Raven

I was thinking about when Cal actually did come back from the dead, with Joseph Bottoms playing the part. I remember during that time Anne Howard was subbing for Patsy Pease. I'm pretty sure this was before Howard took over full-time- Howard had subbed for a month before taking over, with Pease returning in between. It was actually a great story. Bottoms was a much more colorful Cal than Worthan Krimmer but unfortunately, Howard fell flat as Kimberly rendering it pretty much forgotten. But you're right- Cal & Marina both arrived in 1989.

Oh My! This brings back all of the near-misses they had with Marlena dying in those years. First, John "The Pawn" kidnapped her and when she grabbed the keys to make her escape, he chased her into the car and eventually caused them to crash. Then they were in some sort of a forest/jungle area and fell into a pit. After they figured out he was Roman, she was coercing a patient out of jumping off of a window ledge and actually got out onto the ledge with him (in heels mind you) to do it. The fire department had enough time to show up with a net, along with RoJohn, Carrie, and Mike Horton. She was able to get the patient back into the window, but when it was her turn to go back inside, she lost her balance and fell, missing the net entirely. She was in a coma for weeks, even waking up once to brush her hair. She did eventually wake up and then came the last time- the house exploding. I remember it was her wedding ring she had gone back inside to retrieve and that's what they found in the burnt down house. RoJohn figured she'd never take off her wedding ring and she was presumed dead. But as I said, she was actually kidnapped by Orpheus and eventually died for "real" in the plane crash.

I remember reading a Digest thumbs up/down that tore into DAYS for the Marina story and talked about how overused that device was and how ridiculous it was that he had never mentioned Marina. Then I read that the story was cut short due to fan anger. Was that true?

All true. The story was completely bogus and fans saw right through it. I sort of liked it myself, since I hated Steve & Kayla and took pleasure in their misery. Unfortunately, I was the exception and not the rule and it was quickly ditched by the writers.

Edited February 8, 201114 yr by juniorz1

I remember reading a Digest thumbs up/down that tore into DAYS for the Marina story and talked about how overused that device was and how ridiculous it was that he had never mentioned Marina. Then I read that the story was cut short due to fan anger. Was that true?

I remember a 1991 interview with Hunter Tylo in the Australian magazine TV Soap (she had just begun airing as Taylor at Australian pace of B&B but hadn't yet aired as Marina on Days as Australia was still midway through 1988 episodes in 1991) and IIRC she talked about how some Steve and Kayla fans were threatening to beat her up or something during her time on Days.

Was this after or before the story with the glass eye?

After, though I think Steve still had the glass eye when Marina turned up, and agreed to go to Italy with her to find some key in exchange for a divorce. It was in Italy that he had the fight with Victor's henchman (Victor was also after the key) and the glass eye got broken.

What was the last popular story Steve/Kayla had?

I don't really know to be honest. I assume Stephanie's birth was popular despite all the circumstances.

Another "wife back from the dead" storyline that didn't work out was Miranda from GH. The initial fall out was good (Jax's father collapsing from a heart attack right on top of a mortified Keesha was a highlight) but then the storyline dragged on for months before they dropped Miranda, meaning we never got to find out her mysterious Cassadine links (though dropped Cassadine storylines on GH could makeup an entire thread of their own!)