Frankie

Casualties of budget cuts at Days of Our Lives continue to mount as Billy Warlock (Frankie) and Brody Hutzler (Patrick) have now been given their walking papers. The news was not too surprising about Warlock. Despite being a daytime veteran with considerable talent, when it was announced that Melissa Reeves, who plays his onscreen wife, Jennifer, was leaving the show, many wondered about the job security of her co-stars, Warlock and Matthew Ashford (Jack). Ashford and Reeves are being written off together, and now it seems Warlock will follow. As for Hutzler, Bo and Hope fans can breathe a sigh of relief now that Patrick is out of the picture.

Warlock does have some good news to report about his personal life - He and fellow Days actress, Julie Pinson, who plays Billie, recently tied the knot in Las Vegas. The couple had been engaged back in 1999 when they were both on General Hospital and Port Charles at the same time, but called off their engagement. When they found themselves on Days together, they got reacquainted, started dating again and are now newlyweds.

Days has recast the role of Shawn Brady with Brandon Beemer after popular actor Jason Cook announced he was leaving. Beemer is best known as Seth, a former recurring character on General Hospital. He also recently starred in the film Material Girls, with sisters Haylie and Hilary Duff, and played Lucas on the MTV series Undressed. Beemer makes his Days debut on September 28.

Murder mystery

In other casting news, Drucilla (Victoria Rowell) may not have to compete with Carmen for her husband Neil's affections much longer. Marisa Ramirez, who plays the ambitious Carmen Mesta on The Young and the Restless, has been let go. There is no word on how the character will leave Genoa City. Could a murder mystery be on the horizon?

Over in Llanview, Heather Tom is reportedly departing One Life to Live, the soap she has called home since leaving her Emmy-winning role of Victoria Newman on Y&R three years ago. Tom will likely be written out with co-star Dan Gauthier (Kevin) in November, as there has been no announcement of either character being recast. So does this mean that Y&R will take this opportunity to lure Tom back as Victoria? Let's hope not, for Amelia Heinle's sake (the current Victoria Newman), but Tom has a vocal fan base that I'm sure isn't going unnoticed.

Michael Easton fans can cheer now that the actor has decided to stay with OLTL. He has reached a deal with the show and will not be leaving, as had been widely speculated when his contract was up for renewal in August. Easton thanks his fans on his official website, www.michael-easton.com: "Thank you for standing by me, thick and thin, without you this is meaningless. I won't ever forget."

Congratulations to Alex Charak for winning a 13-week contract role on As the World Turns. Charak competed against 18 other young actors and actresses on the CBS.com reality show InTurn. You may recognise Charak as a victim of the Oakdale slasher, but he has been resuscitated and will now take on the form of a new character named Elwood starting September 26.