Bob Guza

Actor Tyler Christopher is leaving 'General Hospital.'

The star, who has played Nikolas Cassadine on and off since 1996, is moving on to another Disney project, the ABC Family series, 'The Lying Game.'

On Friday, Tyler was given the news that he was being let go, but the network would not immediately comment about the story. SoapCentral was able to confirm the exit from source.

Christopher's departure overlaps Rebecca Herbst being retained on the show. Their on-screen coupling, Nikolas and Liz, produced a son, Aiden, and Liz is on the verge of learning that he's not Nikolas's biological son after all.

That means 'GH' has a perfect way to write the Nikolas character off the show. He can leave Port Charles when he learns the bitter truth.

Christopher won't be off air any time soon, however. Nikolas remains in story lines through most of April.

One of ongoing gags in the soap biz is the mythical return of Vanessa Marcil to General Hospital. I say it's mythical because for six years now, a certain magazine regular writes about Vanessa's return and it never actually happens. But now, there may be some truth to the rumor. ABC has contacted Vanessa Marcil about returning to General Hospital to reprise the character of Brenda Barrett. Maybe as soon as this spring.

For a change of pace, the news is coming directly from the show. GH headwriter Bob Guza has said that talks are underway with Vanessa. He has also always maintained that Brenda's one of his favorite characters and he'd love to have her back on the show.

Death on a daytime soap is kind of like death in science fiction: it may be the real thing, but then again, maybe not. Fans of One Life to Live were recently stunned by the death of Nash Brennan. His was truly a case of sudden death. One minute he was a vital part of the scene, negotiating to keep the land for his vineyard, the next he was taking a swing at Jared, falling through a skylight and fatally injured.

The chances that Nash's death is not the real thing seems remote. He was shown on his deathbed in the hospital, saying goodbye to his wife Jessica, making a heart with his finger to show her that he'll always love her. It was sad and poignant and final. At least, I think it was final. You can't always be sure on soaps, as I said.
%Gallery-25314%