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.

Leyden and Collier leaving Oakdale

Pilot season usually begins in January, and we often lose some of our best soap stars around this time so they can try their luck in primetime. Last year Mark Collier (Mike, ATWT) and Grayson McCouch (Dusty, ATWT) both left their soaps temporarily to audition for several pilots (TV shows that aim for a spot on the fall schedule) but came back to their soap roles when they didn't have any luck. This year, Collier is leaving "ATWT" permanently, when his contract is up in December, to give pilot season another try. Paul Leyden (Simon) is also leaving -- he just signed a 6-month contract, and it's up in December. Leyden actually landed a primetime gig a couple years back on the Heather Locklear airport drama "LAX" but, alas, it was canceled.

So now that the soap's two biggest hunks are leaving at the end of the year, where does that leave Katie (Terri Colombino)? With Austin Peck, most likely. Peck has won of the role of Brad Snyder and will debut early next year. This is just speculation, but I'm thinking he'll be a love interest for Katie (poor Henry, no blondes seem to appreciate him), and thus fufill the show's hunk deficit in the process.

I wish Collier and Leyden luck in L.A., but if Hollywood doesn't come calling, let's hope they return to Oakdale. Katie is at her most entertaining when she's conflicted about love.