I don't know if I would use the word "fantastic," but Vanessa's returns to GL in its last decade were a huge improvement over the dishrag of the mid/late '90s who existed solely for "Matessa" or to put up with endless Dinah meltdowns. Maeve Kinkead seemed to have a lot of her distinctiveness back, and had much more flattering hairstyles. It was also nice to see some glimpses of her again as a businesswoman and intelligent woman. And, yes, I was thrilled they ended her relationship with Matt and she reconciled with Billy.   

2 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Was he fired?

I thought his  contract was up and neither side were interested in continuing - Wayne because the writing made Roman the 2nd choice in the triangle and Days because they had written John as Marlena's best bet along with the fact that Wayne was probably going to cost them mucho dollars if they renewed his contract.

It may have been mutual.  I just remember a quote in SOD that made it seem like the show's choice by saying something like the character of Roman needed to be "rested".   I could totally understand Wayne wanting to leave, but I always thought the "mutual" thing was to save face and JER already had the Possession planned.  Also, I thought it was suspect that Roman stopped needing to be rested about the time Wayne was committed to Port Charles. 

 

1 minute ago, BetterForgotten said:

They drove a ton of story in their return stints, but as characters, would anyone ever say characters like Marlena and Reva were ever on par with who they were in their initial stints? 

 

For Marlena, yes.   Of course she wasn't the same woman she was in the 70's/80's-soaps had changed too much.  I think Marlena was the face of Days in the 90's and fit perfectly well into that campy vibe.  It's not perfect and I do think her acting suffered, but I think she adapted very well to the change in style of Days and maintained her popularity throughout.  Do I think the Marlena of 1986 was a drastically different character from Marlena of 1996?  Not really.  Maybe a little dumbed down and involved in some silly plots, but is Stockholm of 1986 that much more intelligent than the underground world of Paris 1996? Lol.  SLIGHTLY more based in reality but not much.

 

Reva was just more of an 80's character in general.  OTT, vixenish, slutty.  I am not sure Reva as a character ever

would have fit in the 90's and beyond.  GL is a different animal than Days and some of the stories they gave Reva just didn't fit GL at all.  I think she as a character felt much more off than Marlena on Days, but Reva still drove some good stories.

2 hours ago, carolineg said:

Brenda's 2002 return.  The first half of the return had some of Guza's best stuff.  I think the Amazing Grace montage when Sonny/Brenda see each other for the first time is probably the greatest single moment on GH in the last 20 years by far. The 2nd half on the return went off the rails a bit.  The Jason/Brenda marriage was good but the Jax/Brenda stuff and the Alcazar stuff wasn't great.  And the weird lack of S&B stuff was an annoying way to prop Carson because MB/VM were still smoking together in 2002.

Tracy Q's return in 1996.  Not as splashy as the others I am mentioning, but it was so nice to see her back and she fit seamlessly.  Her thinking Justus was the butler, bratty baby Dylan, her trying to take over ELQ with Jax, and her creating angst for Ned/Lois.  Perfect, just a perfect return.

 

Deidre Hall/Wayne Northrup's return as Roman/Marlena 1991.  Again the Tale of 2 Romans also went completely off the rails and making RoJohn John is probably still a huge mistake in retrospect, but that Pier Reunion with RoJohn/Marlena and when we first see WN's Roman was fantastic and the whole story started great and eventually lead to Isabella's death and the J/M affair which changed so much about Days.  

 

Stefano's return 1993 on Days.  He hadn't been seen in several years, he was tied to Peter/Kristen, and he was scary still.  A great way to build up the Dimera family again. Watching a 9 month pregnant Marlena get hysterical with fear when she first saw him was such a far cry from the wacky villain he would become a few short years later.

 

Kristen's Days return was great as well.  Through the first Brady/Kristen wedding, I would say it was absolutely fantastic.

 

 

33 minutes ago, carolineg said:

 

Tracy was completely new to me as well as I was quite young and only started watching in 1992 for the teen storyline lol.  But she just worked from her first scene.  The perfect jabs, the exasperation of her family, the evil schemes, her take downs of Lois-everything was good.  Her working with Jax finally gave him a layer of gray that he really needed after being the perfect white knight too.

 

I would have to agree Deidre's return is probably the most successful.  Maybe Kim Zimmer at GL?  Unfortunately, it basically destroyed Roman as we knew him, but Marlena (and John) became more popular from it.  And it definitely had some of the most OMG moments ever.  Unlike Hope/Gina, this was firing on all cylinders at the beginning.  The Tale of 2 Romans ended up being an overall crappy story as did most of 1992 except for Isabella's death, but once Marlena got thrown in a pit the chain of stories lasted well over a decade and effected so much of the canvas.  We STILL hear about John/Marlena's affair to this day.  I always thought Days made such a mistake firing Wayne when the drama could have gone on for years.

I knew what I was going to say, but you beat me to the punch.   Could not have said it better so CO-SIGN!!! lol.

 

And yes, that is exactly how I feel about Tracy as well. And I followed her all the way to THE CITY as well. And LOVING her now. 

3 hours ago, Soap-princess said:

Michelle Stafford 2000 return as Phyllis. I feel like this was her peak year. She was great and Phack was smoking hot. 
 

Hunter Tylo return to Bold in 2005. Probably the last year I truly enjoyed the show. 

I also agree with this. Probably the last time (over than when GT was her) that I loved Phyllis. 

I agree about Roman and Marlena's return during 1991- that was a great story, at least the beginning of it. 

 

And I also loved the Maison Blanche story.. and Hope's return. I was captivated! I think 1993-1994 were very good, and 1995 with the possession was nice, and from 1996 onwards.. the show just wasn't the same. 

12 hours ago, carolineg said:

Deidre Hall/Wayne Northrup's return as Roman/Marlena 1991.  Again the Tale of 2 Romans also went completely off the rails and making RoJohn John is probably still a huge mistake in retrospect, but that Pier Reunion with RoJohn/Marlena and when we first see WN's Roman was fantastic and the whole story started great and eventually lead to Isabella's death and the J/M affair which changed so much about Days. 

 

I still remember the first time we saw Marlena again -- not on the pier with John, but alone in that bedroom, encased in silhouette as she awoke from her comatose state, with a storm raging outside.  It was positively electric.

 

11 hours ago, carolineg said:

Maybe Kim Zimmer at GL?

 

Nope.  Not by a longshot.  Ghost Reva was fine, if a little stoopid, as it put some closure on her and Josh's relationship and allowed him to move onto Annie.  However, when TPTB decided to make KZ's return "stick," they came up with Amish Reva, which undid the previous story, and was just awful to watch, with Amy Ecklund/Abigail's introduction being a lone bright spot.

Edited January 3, 20214 yr by Khan

12 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

I still remember the first time we saw Marlena again -- not on the pier with John, but alone in that bedroom, encased in silhouette as she awoke from her comatose state, with a storm raging outside.  It was positively electric.

 

Nope.  Not by a longshot.  Ghost Reva was fine, as it put some closure on her and Josh's relationship and allowed him to move onto Annie.  However, when TPTB decided to make KZ's return "stick," they came up with Amish Reva, which undid the previous story, and was just awful to watch, with Amy Ecklund/Abigail's introduction being a lone bright spot.

All those gauzy sheets around Marlena's bed.  With the camera going in and out of focus until you see Marlena clearly-awesome.  Also iconic, is Doc wandering around in the awful pink tracksuit for what seemed like months lol.  And she got her own wardrobe credit for awhile!  I could get my own pink tracksuit at some swanky boutique in Laguna Nigel!!

 

Joking aside, Wayne's reveal was pretty awesome too.  The anvils were all there starting with RoJohn forgetting a story about a stakeout with Abe (returning James Reynolds) in Miami, but when you were teased with a man in a jail cell watching videos of Marlena/RoJohn on repeat for days and they finally pan to Wayne it's fantastic.  

 

Everything was pretty great until the whole crew went to Chicken Itza or whatever that place was called in Mexico and the story managed to move fast and drag at the same time.  I remember being so sad about the outcome with Isabella and Roman just getting their original partners back (I found both characters extremely irritating at the time).   Obviously, the whole thing righted itself a year or so later, but at the time I was super bummed by the ending.

 

As far as Reva goes, I wasn't talking about her initial return as much as her impact after her return.  Besides Marlena, I couldn't really think of a character that returned after several years who became the leading lady of her show again for an extended period of time.

 

On Y&R, Dina's 2017 return breathed new life into the Abbotts. Marla Adams was the real MVP of that family.

I had seen Tracy’s run in the early 1990’s, the fountain fight with Monica, her sadness when Edward was dead, her positioning of Ned.  I loved her scheming with Marco Dane, and running Jenny down.  So I knew what was coming when she arrived and they did not disappoint with that mini story with Jax.

 

I also loved Marlena’s return.  It was epic as it should have been, full of emotion and dramatic.  The scene on the pier is incredible.  And it was exciting when they revealed Wayne.  But that story really did suffer and Roman was pretty much destroyed.

 

Eileen’s first return as Ashley on Y&R was pretty awesome.  If I remember correctly, didn’t John follow shortly after her, or did he come back just before?  Either way, she almost single-handedly reinvigorated that family from years of just Jack.  The writers really brought back the Abbotts in a huge way.

Edited January 3, 20214 yr by titan1978

13 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I had seen Tracy’s run in the early 1990’s, the fountain fight with Monica, her sadness when Edward was dead, her positioning of Ned.  I loved her scheming with Marco Dane, and running Jenny down.  So I knew what was coming when she arrived and they did not disappoint with that mini story with Jax.

 

I also loved Marlena’s return.  It was epic as it should have been, full of emotion and dramatic.  The scene on the pier is incredible.  And it was exciting when they revealed Wayne.  But that story really did suffer and Roman was pretty much destroyed.

 

Eileen’s first return as Ashley on Y&R was pretty awesome.  If I remember correctly, didn’t John follow shortly after her, or did he come back just before?  Either way, she almost single-handedly reinvigorated that family from years of just Jack.  The writers really brought back the Abbotts in a huge way.

 

I wouldn't say Roman was destroyed.  He was the heavy in the triangle, but he was also 100% the wronged party.  The problem with the affair is J/M got to describe their feelings a lot.  And Roman was clearly a man living in the past, thinking everything could go back to the way it was 7 years ago, while having to live with everyone in town, his entire family, his wife and kids readily accepting another man as him for that entire time.  He wasn't missed.  There was a lot to play on that and he only voiced it a few times.  But again, John lost his entire life because of a crazy mans schemes and Marlena lost 5 years and was in limbo because she still loved fake Roman and no one let her deal with it.  There truly wasn't a bad guy in this scenario.  Let's be real, even at Roman's 1983 height of popularity, he was still kind of a jerk and sexist.  So he didn't exactly change.  It just wasn't cute in the 1990's the way it was in the 80's.

The whole thing led to Josh Taylor’s Roman, so in effect, the character was destroyed.

I wouldn't say "destroyed" so much as "devalued."  Even if John and Marlena had to be endgame, Roman still could've been a valuable character.  But, it was as if JER (or someone) felt DAYS' canvas couldn't support both Roman AND John in heavy, front-burner roles.

8 hours ago, Khan said:

I wouldn't say "destroyed" so much as "devalued."  Even if John and Marlena had to be endgame, Roman still could've been a valuable character.  But, it was as if JER (or someone) felt DAYS' canvas couldn't support both Roman AND John in heavy, front-burner roles.

 

9 hours ago, titan1978 said:

The whole thing led to Josh Taylor’s Roman, so in effect, the character was destroyed.

 

But Josh Taylor was more casting than writing.  

 

True about Roman being devalued.  I think different aspects of the triangle could have played out for years.  Since Marlena was mostly alone or kidnapped for years it still could have played out with Kristen and Roman.  Idk, how you could have done the Possession with Roman though.  Off on an unreachable assignment for awhile?

I do see the point of keeping both of them front burner difficult.  They do fill very similar roles.  They could have spun Roman off into a different direction with a new love interest and dealt with his kids problems, but Roman/John both couldn't always be the hero nor could they both be Stefano's greatest enemy.  And with Roman around, how could Sami blame John/Marlena for every problem she ever had?

51 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Roman/John both couldn't always be the hero nor could they both be Stefano's greatest enemy.

I'm now imagining a go for broke story arc where Roman and John team up on a couple of missions over a period of a couple of years and in the process exorcise all the demons that have come from having their lives taken from them, as well as resolve their differences. But where would that leave Stefano in the aftermath? Or Marlena?

26 minutes ago, Franko said:

I'm now imagining a go for broke story arc where Roman and John team up on a couple of missions over a period of a couple of years and in the process exorcise all the demons that have come from having their lives taken from them, as well as resolve their differences. But where would that leave Stefano in the aftermath? Or Marlena?

I assume the writing was always on the wall for John/Marlena as endgame.  I would kill to see a real conversation between Roman and John about how each felt about the identity switch more in depth.  A conversation that wasn't entirely focused on Marlena, whom the writers seem to focus on only and the kids sometimes.  Roman has to have intense feeling about basically coming in 2nd best in a competition for his own identity and John clearly has resentment about losing his entire life before 1985 for a revenge plot.  Then losing it again 5 years later.  I think Stefano would die and come back and die and come back as always.

 

In the interest of the thread,  I remember liking Jax's return in 2000/2001?  I liked his whole non-Sonny stuff with the Cassadines and bringing Kristina Sr. into the mix.  It wasn't splashy but it was at least something different for Jax that was intriguing for a minute.

Edited January 4, 20214 yr by carolineg