Dusty and Stenbeck Back. Coincidence?

As the World Turns' Grayson McCouch is scheduled to return to the soap in late September, and reportedly not in the form of a ghost. The character was killed off this past year when the actor chose to leave. In August, Anthony Herrera will be back as James Stenbeck, who has been languishing in prison, but as many longtime fans know, has been rescurrected from the dead about as often as Stefano DiMera (Days of Our Lives' resident villain played by Joseph Mascolo). So has Dusty been kept prisoner in a Stenbeck dungeon all this time? Stay tuned to find out.

CORRECTION: I previously had the months mixed up. Grayson is scheduled to first air Sept. 24, and Anthony will be back on Aug. 27.

Lead Actor Leaves Oakdale

Grayson McCouch (Dusty) shocked fans by not renewing his contract with As the World Turns. We know the actor took a brief leave of absence last pilot season. (The gamble almost paid off -- he was cast in a series, but it was not picked up.)

Reportedly the soap asked him to take a paycut, but the actor balked and chose to leave instead.

Tune in the week of January 14th to learn Dusty's fate.

My suggestion to "ATWT?" See if you can lure Mark Collier back as Mike or Paul Leyden as Simon -- or both.