Jonathan Jackson Returned to General Hospital as Lucky and Other Big Soap Moments From August 23

In 1962, As The World Turns’s Jeff Baker (Mark Rydell) died following a car accident, widowing Penny Hughes Baker (Rosemary Prinz). The character's demise, scripted because Rydell was eager to pursue outside career opportunities (he went on to become a successful director, earning an Academy Award nomination for Outstanding Director for On Golden Pond), set off a firestorm of fan outcry, leading TV Guide to refer to Jeff's death as "the automobile accident that shook the nation."

In 2010, Days of Our Lives's Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) interrupted Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) and EJ DiMera's (James Scott) wedding to bust EJ for orchestrating Sydney’s kidnapping. He arrived just as a judge was about to declare them husband and wife.

In 2016 on Bold and Beautiful, Ridge (Thorsten Kaye, r.) reacted badly to Eric's (John McCook) decision to invite Quinn (Rena Sofer) to move in with him and railed at Eric for his bad judgment. Snapped Eric, "Quinn is here because I want her to be. Now, this is my life. You don't get to say anything about it." Ridge couldn't let it go, telling his dad, "Quinn ruins lives. That is a fact, not an opinion." Eventually, Ridge left, and Quinn gave Eric the opportunity to back out of his offer. Eric wouldn't hear of it, and when she told him she didn't want to leave, he announced, "Then you're gonna stay right here." Just then, the portrait of Eric's late wife, Stephanie, that hung above the mantel came crashing to the ground.

In 2018, John Black (Drake Hogestyn) and Marlena Evans’s (Deidre Hall) fifth Days of Our Lives wedding, which was being presided over by the couple's dear friend, Abe Carver (James Reynolds), was interrupted by Marlena's daughter Sami Brady — and by a bullet striking the bride! But before things went so horribly awry, the duo exchanged heartfelt vows, with Marlena telling her groom, "You are my life. You are my love. You are my commandant."  She added, "I vow to you today to be with you on this crazy adventure called love, for every day until I die." John told Marlena, "It just hit me again how lucky I am to have you in my life. It’s taken us too long to get back here and that’s been bothering me. I hope you know that you’re always on my mind and my heart is always here with you. No matter how far away I am, the place I want to be is right here by your side."

In 2024 on General Hospital, Jonathan Jackson returned to his five-time Daytime Emmy-winning role of Lucky Spencer, which he originated in 1993. After exiting the show in 1999, Jackson returned from 2009-11 and briefly in 2015. In the storyline, Lucky had been taken hostage in Africa, and his loved ones back home were desperate to find him — in no small part because his comatose sister, Lulu, was in need of a liver transplant that they hoped Lucky could provide. Speaking to Soap Opera Digest about his comeback, Jackson noted that the opportunity to reteam with Genie Francis (Laura), his on-screen mother, was one he cherished. "Getting to work with Genie again has been absolutely amazing,” he declared. “Just seeing her again was wonderful. It was such a joy. The idea and the thought of getting to work with Genie again was a huge part of the inspiration and the drive to come back to the show. When I was here in 2010, she wasn’t on the show. And I’d had such a great time working with Tony [Geary, ex-Luke] again, and I always felt like, ‘Man, I wish Genie was here. I would love to get to work with her at this stage in my life.’ And, yes, I did get to work with her very, very briefly when I was here for a couple of episodes [in 2015] when Tony was leaving, but it just wasn’t really enough. And it’s been almost a decade since then!” Citing the challenges of commuting from his home in Nashville, the actor exited the show again in 2025.