Lots of folks will be checking in and out of "General Hospital" in the next few months. After spending 38 years on and sometimes off "GH," Jane Elliot (Tracy) will not resign her contract when it is up this spring. The Emmy-award winning actress admits she will miss her behind-the-scene family, she thinks this is the perfect time to leave. Her two children are on their own and Elliot wants to travel and explore. Anyone who has worked with her comments on how smart, professional and in the moment she is, explaining that when you do a scene with her, she makes you your best. The first time I interviewed Jane, she was subletting the apartment of a well-known Broadway actress; it was Emmy time and she was in New York. She talked about how important acting was to her. She also talked about a myriad of things that were important to her in the world — folks in need, reading. The next time we talked, she was a mother. At the time, a lot of her actress' friends would bring their children to the set. "I will never do that. I do not want them to think they are better than other kids because of my job. More than that, a set is a workplace. I do not think you can have a child in the next room and not be focusing on them instead of the work." No word on how her character will be written out. She cannot be replaced. Like her good friends Tony Geary (Luke) and Susan Lucci (Erica, All My Children) no re-cast can work.

Kirsten Storms (Maxie on "GH" is taking some time off to deal with personal issues. Storms divorced from Brandon Barash (ex-Johnny) and someone filled in for several months. Last year, the actress took off for a bit when she was dealing with a stress-related skin condition. That time, Molly Burnett took over. No official word if there will be a replacement or if her character will be on the back burner. Ryan Peevey, who plays her husband, Nathan, has taken time off to film a movie. One set sider suggests that the characters will be talked about but not seen.

Nikolas Bechtel (Spencer) will be back at GH soon. The child actor is excellent. As for Spencer, he can be a brat. The Emma and Spencer childhood romance took up too much screen time. However, seeing Bechtel is a good thing. He will most likely share scenes with Genie Francis (Laura) who plays his grandmother. Francis, who started her acting career as a child, is great when working with young actors. She understands the good, the bad and the ugly of being a child actor.

When Sally Sussman took over as "Young and Restless" head writer, she promised to honor the show's history and its characters. She just brought back Scott Granger. Now she is bringing back Jack, Traci and Ashley's mother, Dena. It has been nine years since actress Marla Adams has been in Genoa City. In real life, Eileen Davidson (Ashley) is married to former top rated tennis pro Vincent Van Patton.

Sorry, "Days of Our Lives," but your return of Valerie is not being true to history. Part of the reason Valerie and her boyfriend could not find happiness was due to their biracial romance. Julie was especially unhappy with the match. She hated that her son David was involved with a black woman. At the time, David Gutherie, who played David said the couple could not even hold hands because of angry letters from fans. Thirty years have passed. Why don't the writers use this as a teaching moment, not just saying that David was a free spirit, who kept moving in and out of Val's life. Not true. Hopefully the new writers whose work should start airing in early fall will fix a lot of things like this on the show. Between the Orwell project, stolen artifacts and Abby and Gabi using belly dancing to get a contract for Chad, the show is a hot mess. Now it needs to prove how good it can be. Days has wonderful actors and characters — now it needs wonderful tales to tell.

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.