Vanessa Marcil Returned to General Hospital as Brenda and other Big Soap Moments from September 4

In 1989, Hunter Tylo made her Days of Our Lives debut as Marina Toscano, the previously unknown, presumed-dead first wife of Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols), whose arrival invalidated supercouple Steve and Kayla's 1988 wedding. Marina was deeply unpopular with the audience, who resented her third-party interference in Steve and Kayla's bliss. The character was killed off in April 1990, but Tylo wasn't on the job market very long — she was quickly snapped up to play Dr. Taylor Hayes on Bold and Beautiful.

In 2002, Vanessa Marcil (pictured with Maurice Benard, Sonny Corinthos) returned to General Hospital as Brenda Barrett, who had been presumed dead since 1998. The popular character was reintroduced alongside Luis Alcazar, the menacing arms dealer who, per the storyline, had rescued her from the water after she was driven off a cliff by her mother, Veronica, who did not survive.

In 2013, Paul (Doug Davidson) and Christine (Lauralee Bell) remarried on Young and Restless during the memorial service for the beloved Katherine Chancellor. The ceremony was performed by the groom's brother, Father Todd, who was played by Corbin Bernsen, the real-life son of the late Jeanne Cooper (ex-Katherine). Paul and Christine had previously said, "I do" in 1996.

In 2018 on Young and Restless, Lily Winters (Christel Khalil, with Christian J. LeBlanc as Michael Baldwin) was sentenced to 12 months in prison for causing the car accident that claimed the life of Hilary Curtis Hamilton, her brother's late wife, as well as the death of Hilary and Devon's unborn child. Lily faced up to a 20-year sentence, but at the 11th hour, Devon interceded on Lily's behalf, pleading for leniency from the judge. Lily then said poignant goodbyes to her loved ones as she prepared to begin her sentence.

In 2024, Emma Samms returned to General Hospital as Holly Sutton. The veteran star was part of the storyline that introduced the villain played by Carlo Rota, Jenz Sidwell, as well as reintroduced Jonathan Jackson's Lucky Spencer to the canvas. Her first line of dialogue was to Sidwell ("Hello, Darling"), who, at the time, was holding Lucky hostage. The actress told Soap Opera Digest how delighted she was to intersect with Jackson. "I never worked with him as a child, weirdly,” Samms noted of the Daytime Emmy-winner, who was 11 when he started on the show. “Our paths had never crossed. We did not know each other at all. But I had heard really good things about him — not just professionally, but personally, as well. So I was looking forward to working with him. I don’t know what he had heard about me, or what he must have thought. It was an unknown for both of us, really.” She praised, "He’s just delightful, as well as being a very good actor. It took about 24 hours for us to realize that the reason why our work style was very similar is that we’ve been trained by Tony [ex-Luke]. And that’s been our thing that has bonded us, is our mutual love and admiration for Tony Geary.”