 Larson was demoted from contract to recurring status from June 14, 2006 to December 2, 2009, before returning to contract status effective December 10, 2009.In the beginning, Opal was only supposed to remain on "All My Children" for about six weeks but, when the show's executives saw Dorothy Lyman's electric portrayal of the character, the writers kept her on and wrote for her more and more.The producers of the show disagreed with the way Lyman portrayed Opal