After 33 years on "General Hospital," Leslie Charleson (Monica) has gone from contract to recurring character. Patsy Rahn was the first actress to play Monica. A year into the run, Rahn was replaced. Since then, Monica was one of the major "General Hospital" players. Charleson was an actress who never went to the producers and asked them, "When am I getting this story line? Why am I on the back burner?" The actress felt she needed to be on the show. Of course, she needed more as the story line dwindled, but she also knew going to the producers was not a way to get a bigger role.

The downsizing of Monica's role is upsetting to me. This means more room for mobsters and less room for stories centered on a family that has been paramount on "General Hospital" for more than 30 years. If recurring does to Monica as it did to the character of Bobbie (Jackie Zeman), then the next time we will see Monica is when we land on Venus. Even in times where Bobbie should have been central to a story line, there was always some reason the character could not be around.

"General Hospital's" ratings have been sinking lately. With every mobster they add, the ratings are subtracted.

Good news: Kim Zimmer, who spent 27 years on "Guiding Light" playing Reva, is heading to "One Life to Live" to reprise the role of Echo DiSavoy. Actually, this is the second character the multi-Emmy-award-winning actress played on "OLTL." More than 33 years ago, she played Bonnie, a terrorist. Five years after that, the character was played off. She then played Echo. Echo only stayed around for a few months. Everything worked out, as Zimmer was signed to play Reva, one of the most notorious soap opera characters.

Zimmer is thrilled she gets to stay in New York. She has a recurring role on "Young and the Restless" as the woman who was pretending to be Jill's mother. That was so short-term, the only thing I could remember is that she cracked chewing gum while talking. Then she was considered for a role on "Bold and Beautiful" and that did not pan out.

According to Zimmer, she thinks "OLTL" executive producer Frankie Valentini may have gotten the idea about reprising the role of Echo after a five-hour plane ride he shared with Zimmer. Zimmer, never a shrinking violet, had several story line ideas. Evidently, he liked one of them. A very savvy woman, she has a legion of fans that will be thrilled when she pops back up on the daytime scene in the next month.

Not all actors who tolled on "Guiding Light" and went to other soaps are on their new shows for the long haul. John Driscoll (Coop) signed onto "Y&R" a few months after "GL" was canceled. Driscoll, a fine actor, couldn't even make Chance interesting. It was clear that his character didn't have a chance when the story line that brought him to the show never panned out. In the story line, the Iraqi veteran comes to town to be with his mother, Nina. Nina learned that Chance's father, Phillip, who was thought to be dead for two decades — yes, soap opera fans — was in fact alive! There is a bigger kicker to this story because Phillip was not only alive, but in Australia.

But why would Phillip fake his own death? Turns out Phillip learned he was gay and felt his sexual orientation would be a disappointment to his loved ones. The fear of being shunned is not that off the mark. Remember, this was more than 20 years ago. Thom Bierdz, who played the young Phillip, is gay in real life. He said in many an interview that it was very hard playing a heartthrob on "Y&R." It was expected he act like a young Hollywood man about town. He knew if his homosexuality were revealed, he would be out of the job. Bierdz, who reprised the role, stayed on for several months before the character was written out.

You would think winning the Daytime Emmy would have job security. You would be wrong. Drew Bell, who won an Emmy from "Bold and Beautiful" as Thomas, has been replaced. This is akin to Nick Benedict when he appeared on "Y&R." Benedict, who played Philip Brent on "All My Children," was called into the producer's office. On the floor were several large bags of mail. The producer pointed to them and said, "Those are for you. We have so much fan mail." Benedict was smiling until the producers said, "We've decided to write out your character."

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