Lynda Hirsch on Soaps

"General Hospital's" Ingo Rademacher (Jax) married his fiancee, Ehiku, Oct. 3. The couple, who have a son, Peanut, said "I do" in Hawaii. Just before the couple made it official, Rademacher sang a love song for his bride to be while she was standing on a balcony at the Point Dume cliffs.

Having taped what he says will be his last scene for "Young and Restless," Eric Braeden (Victor) continues to be furious about the way in which the show tried to redo his contract in the middle of his cycle. The Daytime Emmy Award winner says he has never heard of such a thing and finds it sneaky. As we reported last week, the "you can't leave us, but we can ask you to leave anytime we want to" clause has been around in contracts for soap performers since the beginning of soaps. In fact, at one point, acting unions tried to ban the clause. That never worked because actors and agents wanted to take their chances that they would be too important to have the clause evoked. As with any contract, the devil is in the details. Soaps justify the clause because story lines can and do change in a nanosecond. Braeden appears to have taped his last scene on September 29th. He and Nikki will be taking that around-the-world trip. Does that mean Melody Thomas Scott, who plays Nikki, is also gone for good? Doubtful. The character will be off the canvas for a while but is slated to return. For those who wonder why Victor was not killed off when Patty shot him, it is in line with the thinking of "Y&R's" executive producer, Paul Rauch. Rauch does not like to kill off characters; he likes to put them "in the bank." Rauch once told me, "You never know when you might want to have a character return.

Unless killing a character is going to provide a major story line, I like to be able to be to bring back characters without bringing them back from the dead." There is the fear that the write-off of Victor will destroy "Y&R." A well-crafted soap can survive the loss of any character. It seemed doubtful that "Days of Our Lives" could work without John and Marlena. Not only did it work, but the show's ratings went higher.

There is speculation that "Y&R" is looking for a name to play their new corporate tyrant. Here are a few suggestions: Drake Hogestyn (John, "Days"). Hogestyn was great when he played the manipulative John Black. A Martinez (Ray, "One Life to Live") is another great idea. It would be great to have a high-powered Latino in Genoa City. The show has had major Latino story lines before — why not have one in a powerful position?

It appears that "All My Children's" Kendall has not killed anyone. We know she did not kill Stuart. Now it appears she was not responsible for Greenlee's death in that motorcycle accident. Who was? No one. Greenlee isn't dead. Rebecca Budig, who played Greenlee, is slated to return to "AMC." The actress, who moved to Los Angeles, will be seen on the show even before the show moves to L.A. in December. So, the big question: Who knew Greenlee was alive? David and nurse Grace are givens. Who else knows? Maybe Aidan — just a guess. Before Aidan exits in November, the character will most likely be blamed for everything. Heck, maybe he held Bobby Martin captive in the attic all these years.

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.

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