He is back, and the devil — Mardevil, that is — made him do it. This week, Greg Vaughan (Eric Brady) returns to "Days of Our Lives" and he brings his collar with him. Marlena has been overtaken by the devil. Her devilish acts have destroyed many lives in Salem. The only way to stop her is an exorcism. Who better to do it than her son? In a nonsense move, he presses her to return to her loved ones. Sadly, Mardevil has destroyed many a life. She has destroyed Lucas, Lani and Abe, among others. Q Vaughan, who won a Outstanding Supporting Actor Daytime Emmy for his work, is glad to back. This return does not appear to be one-and-done. Since his exit several years back, he admits there were many characters on the canvas. He was pleased with having new kids in the sandbox. He is even happier to reconnect with those he worked with before, working with a crew he has worked with for years.

He is especially thrilled to be paired with Arianna Zucker (Nicole). As every "Days" viewer knows, this on-and-off couple is riveting. Yes, they break up, make up and of course do it in reverse. How long will Vaughan be on the show this time? No one is saying how long. There are story arcs that will involve Eric. Eric is back to see what happened while he was gone. According to Vaughan, lots has happened to the folks in Salem, and a lot has happened to Eric. As for working with Zurcher, they always have each other's backs. They do not need to rehearse. They hit the stage and they have it. He also wants to mix it up with Paul Telfer (Xander). Vaughan has been up to a lot in his life. He did some work on the OWN series "Queen Sugar" as a policeman and a love interest. Off screen, he and Angie Harmon ("Law and Order" and "Rizzoli and Isles") made beautiful music together with his three sons and her three daughters. It appears the couple's romantic strings broke. Neither is saying anything but since August, they have been posting individual tweets, which says a lot.

A friend of Michael E. Knight's (Tad, "All My Children" and Martin, "General Hospital") knew he was missing acting. His friend told the multi- Emmy award-winner he should contact Frank Valenti, the show's executive producer. Valenti, also the show's head writer, said he could give him a few days. That was months ago, The character and the actor are still around. The character is Laura's half-brother, a more sleazy lawyer than Scott, and now Lucy Coe's holiday bed mate. He looks great in the Santa gear. Him having scenes with Valentin is a blast.

Knight is terrific in real life. Everyone has their favorite moment with him; I have at least two. We were at a summer soap event. It was really 110 F in the shade — and there was no shade. The cutoff time for the event was 4 p.m. Every other actor scattered like they were looking for a free meal. Not Knight. Several hundred fans were in line. It took several hours but he stayed until he did a meet-and-greet with everyone. My own story: He was scheduled to talk to the press on Zoom, before Zoom was Zoom. He noticed my name and recalled our other meetings. He called the public relations department and said he would like to talk to me before the chat. He said we go way back and wanted to catch up on old times. Who does this? A mensch. Look it up in a Yiddish dictionary and you will see a photo of Knight. Half the time you interview someone, they reveal they are Jack the Ripper. Pass them in the hall a minute later and they have no idea who you are, nor do they care.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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