Lynda Hirsch On Soaps: Gossip

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LYNDA HIRSCH ON SOAPS -- GOSSIP

"Days of Our Lives" is going back to the good old days this fall. The NBC soap will bring back a trio of its characters that were mainstays in the early and mid 1990s.

Crystal Chappell, who played Carly Manning, is headed to town in October. For recent viewers and those who do not remember Carly, here is a bit of her past. The big part includes an affair with and eventual marriage to Bo Brady. At one point, she was Frankie Brady's birth sister. With so many writers and producers since then, who knows if this relationship will be mentioned? Especially since Billy Warlock, who played Frankie, was brought back a few years ago and then written out.

Carly was first brought into the Salem scene by Justin Kiriakis. (Wally Kurth, who played Justin, is set to reprise that role.) In a typical soap opera coincidence, Carly was stunned when she came to town and saw her boarding school chum Jennifer Horton and Jennifer's cousin Bo Brady. Bo had rescued her when she and her boyfriend Lawrence Alamain were having a heated argument. Bo had no recollection of Carly. As with most women, his lack of remembering made her furious. The beginnings of an "I hate you; now I love you" relationship was afoot. With Bo thinking his wife, Hope, was dead, he and Carly hooked up. Eventually, Carly hooked up with the man who turned out to be Bo's birth father, Victor. She did this to save Bo's life. Carly was relieved of one marital task: Victor was paralyzed so they did not have sex.

A story line that is so bizarre followed.

It is even too bizarre for me to relate. (You know how bizarre I am.) Fast forward: Bo and Carly wed. When that marriage ended, Carly and her old flame Lawrence left town together. Also set to return is Lawrence, played by Michael Sabatino. Sabatino and Chappell are married in real life. The duo met and married while working on "Days."

Lawrence is a very mercurial character. He has gone from pure evil to romantic hero. At one point, he was said to be raised by wolves with his brother, John Black. (Please let them not re-visit this plot.) The couple spent years looking for their son, Nick. The real villain in the piece was Lawrence's Aunt Vivian. Thanks to Vivian, Carly thought the son she had given birth to was dead. In truth, Vivian had raised the boy, "Nikki," as her own. When Carly realized who Nikki was, Vivian started a master plan to get rid of Carly.

Carly, a respected doctor, was seeing her patients die in droves. Vivian was injecting them with cleaning fluid. For a time, everyone thought a demented Carly was doing the dirty deed. (Every pun intended.) In the end, it was revealed that really demented Vivian was the culprit. Vivian was sent to a mental hospital.

Guess what? Vivian, played by Louise Sorel, is also returning this fall. This means the axis of evil that is Stefano, Victor and Vivian is about to create lots of problems in Salem.