One day, she was sign ing her name to homework assignments and attendance notices as a senior at Palm Harbor University High School. The next, she was dealing with crowd of ravenous fans begging for a signature to sell on eBay or put in a scrapbook.

And Crystal Hunt has Guiding Light to thank it all.

Now working on the ABC soap One Life to Live, Hunt got her start as a teen actress playing unhinged rich girl Lizzie Spaulding on CBS' classic daytime drama. When I called the Clearwater native Thursday to tell her the show's last episode after 72 years was today, she didn't know; but she was feeling a little bit of sadness at seeing her old showcase go down -- kinda like watching bulldozers take down your old high school.

"I went from being in high school six periods a day to being in New york on a TV show with fans standing outside the studio," she said. "For me, it was a huge part of my life...it's like a piece of history is coming to an end."

I pulled together a quick story for today's newspaper on Guiding Light's demise; the end of TV's longest-running drama. A look at yesterday's episode showed all the reasons why its going away; cheap production style, cost-cutting that forced cutbacks in locations and talent; storylines that feel tired and dated.

Last episode airs at 3 p.m. today -- there's still time to catch one last shot of TV history and say goodbye toa grizzled veteran whose time has come.