Alan Michael Spaulding, Alexandra Spaulding and Bess Lowell.

Early 1994's "Guiding Light" was superb in terms of casting and the fight over Spaulding. The Roger Thorpe take-over storyline was just being wrapped up, and Brandon Spaulding's former secretary, Bess Lowell (the fantastic Elizabeth Lawrence) had a large part in helping Alexandra get the company back. In return, she got a fancy sports car and a huge amount of money from Alexandra, and in her last episode, she said to them, "Like any good game show, I have parting gifts." Alexandra got a book which Bess told her contained all of Brandon's secrets. "The pages are blank", Alexandra said. "That's how it looked to me too", Bess replied to a bemused Alex. She then handed Alan Michael a cashier's check for $1,000,000 that Alexandra had given her. She told him that she believed that he had been done wrong, and that with this money, he could prove to everybody that he was strong enough to stand on his own.

The flirtatious Bess, a 70-something year old woman who had recovered from a stroke, looked Alan Michael straight in the eye and told him that if she had been born 50 years later, they would have made history, and a flicker of a spark flew between them as he looked on at her in awe. While Bess and Alan Michael weren't destined to become daytime's answer to Harold and Maude, the chemistry was obvious. Somebody must have noticed that spark because in the next couple of years, this stage and soap veteran (an Emmy nominee for "All My Children" where she played Palmer's mother-in-law/housekeeper Myra Murdock) appeared in a bunch of movies and probably would have continued had she not passed away in 2000. I would have loved to have seen her back on "AMC" for a visit when Marj Dusay (Alexandra) played Palmer's wife, Vanessa, and create some sparks as she gloated to Vanessa about Daisy and Palmer's love affair.

"Great theater makes you smile. Outstanding theater may make you weep."