"Days of Our Lives" is killing off Abby, Jack and Jennifer's daughter who went from slut to sweetheart. Marci Miller, who plays the heroine, decided she wanted to stay at home with her infant. Miller replaced Kate Mansi, who wanted to look for other acting gigs.

Thus far, she was in a pilot for the CW and a movie with the Lawrence brothers. Since "Days" is taped several months in advance, Miller has already been out of Salem for a while. Abby's death will leave Chad a widower and single parent of their young children. Abby's demise is going to be gory.

I have been glued to the Johnny Depp defamation trial. He claims former wife Amber Heard falsely accused him of domestic violence. First of all, Johnny needs a stylist. Amber looks like an ice princess. The witnesses have been a trip. Two of them were more charismatic than the stars. It is like a train wreck. I know I should look away but I cannot. Soap writers need to look at this for plot pointers.

Hell has frozen over. I actually feel sorry for Kim Kardashian. Ellen DeGeneres tormented her with spiders. Kim is terrified of spiders, which Ellen knew. She was a guest on DeGeneres's about-to-end talk show. She begged her to stop. Ellen, being the Ellen I know, kept it up until Kim bolted from the set. I knew years ago Ellen was nasty and self-serving. Few people believed me. Told ya so.

Kathryn Hays, who played Kim on "As the World Turns" for over a quarter of a century, died recently at 88. The elegant actress was once married to Glenn Ford. She married and divorced two more times. She leaves a daughter and a grandchild. Julianne Moore, who played her daughter Frannie on the show, has often said that the cast and crew of the show was the reason her acting career was such a success. In an interview, she told that her days on the show taught her to always know your lines and to not be a diva. If you go into diva mode, no one wants to work with you. Everyone wants to work with her. Some big names in acting do not want to admit they ever did a soap. She brings it up.

Don Hastings, who played her husband Bob on the show, told Soap Central, "We were like brother and sisters. We only had one issue. She wanted to run lines. I wanted to nap."

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