45 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

Continuing on the Days momentum, as much as it pains me to say.. but another failed return was:

Jennifer in 2000 as played by Melissa Reeves.   After the way she quit suddenly in late 1995 at the height of the Jack/Peter/Jennifer story... there was excitement for a return by Jennifer.    Sadly, it was without Jack so the show had to find her another actor/love interest (I think his name was Colin).. and it didn't work so Matt Ashford was lured back in order to reunite Jack/Jennifer before writing them off again in 2005.

For whatever reason, JER seemed inspired to write for Jennifer when Melissa Reeves was playing her in the 90s.  She had chemistry with the actor playing Peter (On and Off screen as we came to find out) and even had good chemistry with Mark Valley as a recast Jack.... so I don't know who the writers were in the first half of the 2000s, but they seemed unsure of how to write Jennifer during that period.

 

Tom Langan was the writer that wrote Jen's return and then it went Brash/Cwickly to Higley to JER again.  JER didn't like Matt Ashford's Jack at all, but it did appear like he did want to write for Missy's Jennifer back in the 90's like you mentioned.

The initial Jen return was strange.  Bo found her and it seemed for a second they might go there with Jen/Bo lol.  Then Colin (and random Brady cousin) was brought in and he became evil.  I wonder if Missy had certain restrictions to her return because she obviously refused to acknowledge anything with Peter or that marriage.  It seemed like the writing and the show was treading very carefully on what Jen could or couldn't do and it was such a strange re-introduction that didn't matter at all in Jen's overall character history.  

25 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Tom Langan was the writer that wrote Jen's return and then it went Brash/Cwickly to Higley to JER again.  JER didn't like Matt Ashford's Jack at all, but it did appear like he did want to write for Missy's Jennifer back in the 90's like you mentioned.

The initial Jen return was strange.  Bo found her and it seemed for a second they might go there with Jen/Bo lol.  Then Colin (and random Brady cousin) was brought in and he became evil.  I wonder if Missy had certain restrictions to her return because she obviously refused to acknowledge anything with Peter or that marriage.  It seemed like the writing and the show was treading very carefully on what Jen could or couldn't do and it was such a strange re-introduction that didn't matter at all in Jen's overall character history.  

Jack and Jennifer was probably the one classic Days super couple that got stifled the most this century. 

The whole Africa affair thing, Jennifer and Colin, Jack pretending to be gay for Greta, and Jack purchasing a talk show for Jennifer wall over the top and strange as it was, but of course once JER came back Jack was killed off three years in a row. Then later died a 4th time which gave way to Jennifer & Daniel which still makes me 🤢 to this day.

I mean I am glad that Jack and Jennifer finally stabilized these days but it took wayyyy too long to recover from the chaos of the mid-00’s.

Oh and @carolineg and @dc11786 I agree with both of your assessments about the 2009-11 period of the show. I do think Sweeney, Zucker, Bjorn, Rogers, and Koslow deserve most if not all credit for carrying the show on their backs during that period but they never seem to get recognized for that era. 

I'm reaching waaaaaaaay back, but I remember being a teenager and being so excited that the Dobsons were coming back to write for Santa Barbara. I loved the show the most when it was a bit gothic and kooky with smart dialogue, but the year they came back sort of fell flat. Then, they were gone again!

Still, I would have been interested in seeing their take on AW which they were rumored to be taking the writing duties for at one point.

3 hours ago, 1974mdp said:

Still, I would have been interested in seeing their take on AW which they were rumored to be taking the writing duties for at one point.

That was one of Donna's go to references-have we ever had verification of that rumor?

On 9/19/2025 at 1:35 PM, titan1978 said:

Andrea Evans had to be the most requested and looked forward to return from ABC. And it was very hit and miss. Although her last return was better

Yes...I had heard so much about her and those beautiful green eyes and seen clips. And had friends that wanted her back for decades. And I still remember the gasp I let out with her reentrance...I loved her anyway I got her, but it really was hit and miss. And I was just happy in the end, my Princess Tina got her man. *swoons*

 

On 9/19/2025 at 1:35 PM, titan1978 said:

So many villain returns just don’t hold up. After the peak of Hello Barbara, James Stenbeck becomes a cartoon. And while watching Carlo Hesser lust after captive Christian Vega was perverse fun, it never really goes anywhere, and he really got cartoony. Olivia Jerome was originally calculating and psychotic, so she could be unpredictable, but she had so much intensity. Her return was not thrilling. Faison used to be quite scary, and while I didn’t hate the Faison in a Duke mask reveal because of Finola selling her repulsion so well, that should have been it for him. Because he became eccentric and silly.

I will give DAYS credit for Stefano though. His return in the early 90’s really drove a lot of story, cemented Peter, Kristin, Celeste and Lexie with great stuff to do. And while he went campy with the underground city and beyond, they wisely walked him back from the camp ledge in the 2000’s. One of the things Tomlin did well was establish another family around him and gave him back a more grounded persona.

I agree though I always have a soft spot for Faison because his reputation before I saw him (well as an adult and vaguely remember him as a kid) preceded him so well.

 

The same for Stefano...whom I knew of looooong before I saw him or even started to watch DAYS cuz I like the Phoenix trope in literature, media, etc. To experience him though...the gothic, the intellect, I think I had never seen a man on a show that was evil but so...cunning, but intelligent and passionate...as a kid, I never seen anything like that...probably why it was love at first sight with Stefan on GH as well. lol. But I disgress...I love his campy, but I like that Stefano did become more grounded, but for a while there never lost his menace. 

 

On 9/20/2025 at 1:33 PM, Soaplovers said:

Maria and Julia Santos returns were so disappointing and a waste of both actresses and their characters.

Same. Especially Julia. Gave her a whole return promo (that I still can't find to this day) and then did nothing with her after her initial return arc only to kill her off right when she was about to get interesting in such a throwaway way, too. 

from another thread:

9 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

(I'll always contend that Rick Webber's return as an evil degenerate was the soap's worst retcon/reintroduction of a character ever, however.)

Yeah that was horrific.

IMO, the problem with Stefano DiMera was that DAYS wanted to take a perfectly sinister mobster and turn him into Blofeld from the James Bond movies.  Suddenly, Stefano, along the rest of the DiMera clan, possessed all this untold wealth (that contracted and expanded with each HW'ing regime change) and that also allowed them to control the known, free world through outlandish gadgetry and the like, even though their base of operations was some hamlet in the Midwest.  Once we're brainwashing former mercenaries into pretending to be small-town cops, we're admitting that character development is no longer an option.

Jennifer Horton as played by Missy had a unique personality as far as the super couples of the time. That’s why pairing her with Matt’s Jack worked so well. She was spunky, played feisty and inquisitive and competitive well. She also worked in family scenes with the other Hortons. When she came back, all of that was just gone. IIRC Beth Milstein during an interim period as HW was the last time Jennifer was actually in character. Her goodbye to Alice during that exit was so lovely.

I loved Carly and was really excited when she returned. Killing Lawrence and him being abusive towards her was a bonus, because I hated them reunting after he brutally sexually assaulted Jennifer.

None of them came out well- Carly, Bo, or Hope during that time. The only thing I remember clearly is her stabbing herself in the leg to take drugs, like her arm was possessed and she was trying to stop it with all her will. It was wildly over the top, but not in a fun way.

Where did I get the belief that Bo/Hope was Reilly’s favorite couple on DAYS? Did he say it in an interview once? I didn’t think they were sidelined. They gave them much better story than recast Jack and Jennifer got. Even when Billie came back, the writing made it clear that Bo/Hope was endgame.

23 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Where did I get the belief that Bo/Hope was Reilly’s favorite couple on DAYS? Did he say it in an interview once? I didn’t think they were sidelined. They gave them much better story than recast Jack and Jennifer got. Even when Billie came back, the writing made it clear that Bo/Hope was endgame.

Idk.  He may have said that once, but it's clear John/Marlena were his favorite.  Then Carrie/Austin.  I agree the Jack/Jen recast stuff was bad, but Hope/Bo were always a bit separated from the rest of the main stories, while Jack/Peter/Jen were still in it.  

For example Hope was being menaced by Jude St. Clair during Aremid while everyone else was working on getting John freed.  Then Bo/Hope were the side story while the rest of the cast was in Paris focused on finding Marlena and Will's kidnapping.  By 1997 the whole Billie/Bo marriage with a baby on the way had Hope going on island adventures with John. It's like Bo/Hope were there but not integrated well.

On 9/21/2025 at 6:51 AM, Vee said:

I was pissed when Peter Reckell came back as a kid lmao. RKK was the hottest thing on two legs at the time, and fiercely intelligent onscreen too. Suddenly I tune in one day and I'm like 'who is this hick?' I had no idea who he was.

I grew to like him of course, but it was a shock!

@Vee Jamey Giddens, who at least used to do stuff for Daytime Confidential, thought that Patch and Kayla's 2006 return to the Days canvas stunk big time.  Patch's casket had been switched at a 1990 funeral, had it not?

They waited way too long - if Patch had come back in the mid-90s tied to Hope’s return, it would’ve felt organic and so much more impactful than the dragged-out 2006 retcon. In ’94, Hope could’ve sworn she saw Patch during those missing years, planting clues, and then he returns 2–3 years later. Much tighter, more emotional payoff. 

17 hours ago, FlyRightOrchestraGuy said:

@Vee Jamey Giddens, who at least used to do stuff for Daytime Confidential, thought that Patch and Kayla's 2006 return to the Days canvas stunk big time.  Patch's casket had been switched at a 1990 funeral, had it not?

Steve's casket had been switched, so the audience always knew there was a high chance he was alive.

6 hours ago, asafi said:

They waited way too long - if Patch had come back in the mid-90s tied to Hope’s return, it would’ve felt organic and so much more impactful than the dragged-out 2006 retcon. In ’94, Hope could’ve sworn she saw Patch during those missing years, planting clues, and then he returns 2–3 years later. Much tighter, more emotional payoff. 

I agree that the show waited too long to re-introduce Patch/Kayla, but with them both on GH most of that time I am not sure what Days could have done.  By 2006 most of the audience wasn't even familiar with them.

I like your ideas though.

AW

Taylor Miller coming back to daytime after her success as Nina on AMC.

And taking on the role of Sally AW's most popular heroine at the time.

After a year Taylor was outta there and Sally was killed.

Maybe if Taylor had played a new role and not a recast it might have worked. But the odds were stacked against her.

Same for Sharon Gabet, who managed to garner a lot of praise despite EON's low rating and eventual cancellation.

But AW miscast her as Brittany and the writing was all over the place.

Again she was shortlived in the role.

FIZZLE.

Michelle Stafford's return as Phyllis replacing Gina T has been very hit or miss.  It's a case of the character outgrowing the actress vs the actress outgrowing the role.

Susan Walters as Diane... a vast improvement over that thing people rave about (Maura West)..but it doesn't seem as though her character has been properly used especially given the characters previous stints in the 80s, the 90s, and circa 2001 to 2004.

On 9/4/2025 at 12:33 PM, Khan said:

Lisa Brown and Michael Tylo's return to GL.  The minute I heard that Quint had cheated on Nola, I knew they were doomed.

Just now reading this thread and this made me tear up a little. Loved them on GL.