Soap News: Lindsay Hartley out at DAYS! Brenda’s movie-star boyfriend cast on GH – Plus: What if Greenlee met Jason and more!

— Days of our Lives has let go Lindsay Hartley (Theresa…I mean, Arianna Hernandez). The former Passions beauty, who assumed the role last August, is expected to appear well into the fall. Granted I was never really a Passions fan, I really liked having Lindsay on DAYS and I think this will be a loss to the show. They could have continued the Nicole vs. Arianna rivalry and they could have paired Arianna with EJ instead of Brady (aka Ethan and Theresa round two).

— Soap Opera Digest is also reporting that Ty Treadway (ex-Colin/Troy, OLTL) will appear as Dr. Jason Walters. The actor and former Soap Talk host will begin taping in August and will appear for several episodes in the fall.

— Billy Warlock (Anthony, ATWT; ex-Frankie, DAYS; ex-A.J., GH) will takeover the role of Ross on One Life to Live in the coming months. Warlock replaces Michael Lowry who last appeared as Ross in January.

— One Life to Live actress Tika Sumpter (Layla) has decided not to renew her contract with the soap but will appear on a recurring capacity.

— Mary Beth Evans returns to As the World Turns this week as Sierra but also look out for to return to Days of our Lives in September as Kayla.

— Brad Lowe has been cast as Murphy Sinclair on General Hospital. The actor will play a movie star, who just happens to be dating Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo’s Brenda. Rowe’s first episode airs on August 13th, while Brenda is back on the 11th.

— Those hoping for another showdown between Brenda and Skye are out of luck as Robin Christopher makes her last appearance on GH next week (July 29th). Hopefully, ABC will come to their senses and bring Skye Chandler back to All My Children.

— Now that Ronan’s been revealed as Nina’s long-lost son, you can expect Jeff Branson to stick around The Young and the Restless a little longer than originally planned. The show has extended his contract through November.

— CBS has announced that a talk show will replace As the World Turns this fall. The series was created by Sara Gilbert (Roseanne) and is expected to “examine topical events and contemporary issues through the eyes of mother.” Gilbert will be joined by Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and Marissa Jaret Winokur. The talk show is expected to launch in October while ATWT airs its final episode on September 17th.

— While there aren’t any details on ATWT’s final episode, executive producer Christopher Goutman did tell TV Guide about the tribute they have filmed for Helen Wagner (Nancy). In the episode scheduled to air on August 30th, Casey and Alison are about to announce their engagement and want Nancy to know first while Chris is about to tell his family that he’s suffering from a potentially lethal heart condition. Bob will discover that Nancy has passed away when he goes to her apartment to pick her up for a family function. The following episode will pick up after the funeral ceremony and focus on the characters trying to come up with a special way to honor the matriarch.

— Daytime Confidential recently revealed that ABC has approached the Writers Guild of America (WGA) asking them for a special waiver which allows them to disregard the current guarantees that are promised to writers as part of their contracts. Long story short, ABC wants to cut about 20 scripted episodes a year from all three of their soaps (All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital) in order to cut costs. Classic episodes would replace the new episodes on those days. On August 10th, the network is planning on pre-empting its entire soap lineup to air classic episodes of General Hospital that feature Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo’s Brenda in anticipation for her big return the following day.

— Check out ABC daytime’s first ‘What If’ episode where All My Children’s Greenlee meets General Hospital’s Jason.