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Michael Logan Rates Daytime's Big Returns
Debbi Morgan by Steve Fenn/ABCOver the past couple of months, many daytime greats have returned to the suds — some in old roles, some in new ones. So how are these prodigal kids doing? Michael Logan shares his take.
Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams (All My Children)
It's been worth a gazillion plot contrivances to see Angie back with her "dead" Jesse after 20 long years. Oh, how we've longed for her blazing soul and Earth Mother passion! How much we've missed his sass and cool and cut-to-the-chase honesty! And aren't they still incomprehensibly beautiful together? Watching these legends reunite in that terrific train-station scene made me realize how starved we soap fans are for true, epic love. Clearly, you can go home again.
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Tamara Braun (Days of our Lives)
She was the best and most electrifying of the four gals who have played Carly on General Hospital — save your irate letters, you can't change my mind! Now she's opened up a big can o' whoop-ass on Salem as Ava, a bodacious banana with a jones for Patch (Stephen Nichols). Braun is an elegant, campy, scary smash. She can stalk me anytime!
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Drake Hogestyn (Days of our Lives)
Who knew? This actor was often criticized for his robotic performance as white-knight hero John Black, but his character has returned from the grave as a hilariously snarky programmed killer with no emotional innards ("I love you," says his saintly wife, Marlena. "Good to know," snaps nuJohn). Weird idea, but guess what? Hogestyn is now robo-tastic!
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
Rebecca Budig (All My Children)
Can she sue for promo overkill? ABC's shameless "real Greenlee" blitz set Budig up for a fall, and the show did her no favors by bringing her back in a snoozy story that had her character incapacitated by a toxic root. But Budig will triumph! It's taken weeks, but the loopy, ballsy, hot-to-trot Greens we love is slowly coming round.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
Sarah Brown (General Hospital)
The original Carly is back, only this time she's playing Claudia Zacchara, a dark, bitchy barfly and wannabe mob boss. It's a totally brill idea, so how come we're so damn bored? Somehow there's just no fun or funk to Brown's work. Given her superstar status — and those three Daytime Emmys — this is not just a disappointment. It's a shock.
RATING: 2 out of 5 stars
Tom Pelphrey (Guiding Light)
What the hell? I'm this guy's biggest fan, but his recent quickie comeback left me wishing he'd stayed away. Where was the Jonathan we knew — the town pariah who was all rage, tears and exploding testosterone? Instead, we got Mr. Mom. Writers! Something's wrong when an actor this fierce is easily upstaged by a freaky little kid from The Omen.
RATING: 2 out of 5 stars
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