Back from the dead - The good, the bad, & the ugly

[beebs]

Something just occurred to me recently during all this Marlena, Kayla, and Kate "dying" nonsense on DAYS that, really BFTD has absolutely run amok in the past few years, particuarly at DAYS, where literally no death sticks thanks to Rolf's zombie shot. So, I went on here to find a thread about it, but was surprised to not see anything specific (at least in recent years, so apologies if I'm rehashing something I've forgotten about!)

I put to you: what were some of the best, and worst back from the dead stories on soaps for you?

Additionally, if anyone has any records of what some of the earliest known stories of a previously-established character coming back from the dead, I'd love to know more. I assume this was more common on radio, where recasts could be more easily camouflaged from the audience sans visual. It just struck me that, particularly in the 60s and 70s, soaps seemed loath to have characters return from the dead, even when that death happened off-screen. It's largely from the 80s onward, what with stars seeking their fortune in prime time, and coming back to daytime if that attempt goes belly up.

[victoria foxton]

Even as a 12-year-old kid i knew Marlena would return down the line. I remember getting goose bumps. During the Jarlena reunion scenes at the docks. Marlena looked great for a dead woman. Even though she had been wearing the same outfit for weeks. But most importantly Jarlena still had it.

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[AbcNbc247]

I do think one of the best was Will’s return in 2017. They actually did a good job filling in the plot holes and tying it to Rolf was a good nod to the shows history. However, it’s been done so much on Days since then that now, pretty much all of them have been lousy. 

One of the worst was the whole Salem Stalker/Melaswen reveal. I do think it would have been better if that had all been the original plan for the storyline though. 

As for the history of BFTD, I know on AW, Ted was their first BFTD character in 1979, but I imagine that another soap had done it before they did. 

[Paul Raven]

Yes BFTD was used sparingly throughout the 50's, 60's and 70's as soaps were less'star' focused in those days.

Once the 80's hit and soaps gained more popularity and focused on younger characters , those actors were more inclined to leave, less likely to be recast. Days went heavily on supercouples and really got the ball rolling, first with Roman, then Marlena, Hope, Steve etc

One of the first where a character died onscreen and then returned years later was Paul Raven on Love of Life.He was Vanessa's first husband, presumed dead in a plane crash and returned over a decade later with a new identity.

[titan1978]

The absolute worst for me in recent memory was Frank Smith for about a week on GH.  Even Tony Geary said something to the effect of he was old back in the 70’s.  It defied logic and was pointless. Ron does this too much.

One of the best was Hope’s return on DAYS. We had lots of good story surrounding that one- Maison Blanche, Gina (before the Princess and double nonsense), the puzzle box.  It really played all the beats, especially with Alice, and Shawn Douglas.  And at the time you really were rooting for Billie too.  Then Peter returned.  It was great.

[Darn]

I wonder which character has returned from the dead the most.

I love when someone will return from the dead and once that plot has been resolved it's never mentioned again. Someone else on the show could die in the exact same manner (car crash, plane crash, drowning, etc.) and it's never said "Well, so-and-so died the same way and they came back!". Every death is treated like an absolute certainty. It's very funny.

[Vee]

It has to be either Stefano or Jack on DAYS.

[te.]

Oh wow - the original actor was born in 1917, then the first recast in 1934 and then the third 1948. That's some de-SORAsing for a character that ultimately didn't seem to be on the show to begin with (about a year).

[titan1978]

I also have to commend Jesse’s return on AMC.  Those reunion scenes were fantastic, and then he and Angie really anchored AMC for me in those last years and with the online show.  I also thought John’s return from the dead and without his memories during Ed Scott’s DAYS run was pretty good.  It gave them something new to play with both John and Marlena.

Jack on DAYS really has had way too many deaths/resurrections.

There have been so many stupid ones.  Amish Reva. Melaswan. Brenda’s presumed death on GH (even though her return was fabulous, the death was stupid).

Bonus points for wanting to keep the recast and the original- Todd/Victor on OLTL (which I enjoyed), Jason/Drew on GH (not so much), and the overly complicated OG- Roman/John on DAYS.

[Vee]

The actual storyline was pretty lame, but Angie and Jesse's return itself was so good that I didn't care.

Same with the Two Todds that has a handful of good scenes and some excellent performances strung along an absolutely nonsensical and hilarious story. Howarth, KDP, Florencia Lozano, Erika, etc. all sell it and make it work (while TSJ is out to lunch) and it was so satisfying after what had become of Todd since the rapemance.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Vee

[dragonflies]

The thing that kills me about Jesse's return is Pratt said he found it "boring" I'm like "uh dumbass YOU wrote that" lol 

[Vee]

He didn't, actually. It was Brown and Esensten, who used Darnell and Debbi heavily on Loving and The City (along with Agnes apparently having a hand in the return too).

Edited January 27, 2023 by Vee

[BetterForgotten]

Looking past the actual goofy aspects of his return, the best I saw in my soap viewing was Roger Thorpe's on GL, which drove story for years and impacted a variety of characters on a show that had drastically changed since his previous stint. 

[dragonflies]

I mixed it up, I think was Jesse's "2nd family" story he wrote he said was boring lol

[Paul Raven]

AW brought back Steve Frame their first BFTD.

It was a bust because it was a different actor playing against a different actress (Alice) in a story that downplayed the original romance Steve/Alice in favor of Steve/Rachel that alienated Mac/Rachel fans.

And the whole thing played out in a completely different canvas to the original.