Which soap characters were reinvigorated after some time away?

[quartermainefan]

Fans of who though? I think he always makes GH a superior show. He brings a little bit of humor to the show and a lot of history.

[DRW50]

I just got the idea that fans felt he looked too scummy, the weird thing with him stowing away on Laura's plane and this not being mentioned again, what they did to his son, etc.

[Cheap21]

I like Scotty but none of his more recent returns did the character any favors and most definetly did not reinvigorate him. Actually the opposite as each one seemed to ruin his character in some way. He was at his peak with his PC return. He's been on a downward slump since he made the jump to GH full time

[Cheap21]

Well you did say soap characters and not the actors. I can think of some examples where roles have been recast for vacant roles , which did reinvigorate the character. Lesli Kay as Felicia on B&B is one. She definetly put her stamp on the character and made people not miss the fact that Dion didnt return.

Heather Tom as Katie on the same show is another example. The character was all but forgotten and was quite bland during her early years. HT took over years later and has been teh definitive portrayal of Katie and has done wonders with the role.

Rosanna's return on ATWT under Cady McClain in 2002 reinvigorated that character

Constance Towers as Helena on GH in 1996

[Gray Bunny]

Excellent examples. I guess I would include Gina Tognoni coming to GL in 2004 as Dinah, although Wendy Moniz was fantastic in the role; they just needed to rest the character.

[quartermainefan]

He's supposed to be scummy imo.

[DRW50]

I guess you could also count Delia on Ryan's Hope - the first half of the 80's were rough for Delia, as she first coasted mostly on the many charms of Randall Edwards, then struggled very badly with Ilene Kristen (fired) and Robin Mattson (don't know what happened there). Ilene's 1986 return, and an attempt to move the character away from Frank Scheme #493, seemed to give her a new lease on life.

[DeeeDee]

Until she got baby rabies.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Kassie DePaiva bringing Blair back in 1993. Given how short a period of time Mia Korf played Blair, the fact that Kassie came on and not only made the role her own, but stayed for the duration of the series, is pretty remarkable.

And although it petered out in the end (or rather, TPTB didn't let it grow), I think Fiona Hutchison coming back as Gabrielle did allow her character to be reinvigorated a bit--we got Todd & Gabrielle plotting/blackmailing each other, an interesting dynamic with her and Blair, a newer relationship with her and Bo (with came with angst regarding Nora's presence as well) which made her grow as a person, a chance to see her mother Al with him now as a young adult, and finally, a chance for her and Max to have a stronger, more mature relationship (albeit as friends) than ever before, which was so important given how their marriage had ended in 1991. Their story ended with them as friends, but the turns their relationship took that time around indicated that they would most likely do a lot better should they have ever gotten back together romantically.

[DeeeDee]

Blair ended OLTL as one of least damaged, most viable characters left in Llanview.

That in itself is a miracle.