Greg Nelson and Jenny Gardner
Encyclopedia
Greg Nelson and Jenny Gardner are fictional character
s and a supercouple
from the American
soap opera
All My Children
.
Greg was portrayed by Laurence Lau
, and Jenny was portrayed by actress Kim Delaney
.
They were best friends to fellow supercouple Jesse Hubbard and Angie Baxter.
had characters Greg and Jenny meet in 1981, after having Jenny move to the fictional town of Pine Valley
with her mother, Opal Gardner (then portrayed by Dorothy Lyman
), they applied four obstacles to the couple's love story:
Jenny eventually finds out that her father, Ray Gardner (Gil Rodgers), who she thought was dead, is in fact in prison for rape
. Liza finds out about this, and threatens to tell Greg unless Jenny withdraws herself from his life. Jenny runs away to New York City
, followed by her friend Jesse Hubbard (Darnell Williams
), who has been falsely accused of attempted rape by Liza, who hates him for his friendship with Jenny. Jesse saves Jenny from being forced into making a pornographic movie
, and the two stand up for each other against the odds in the big city. Their summer in New York is considered one of the greatest storylines in the history of All My Children. Trying to forget Jenny, Greg begins to date Amanda (Amanda Bearse
), Liza's longtime best friend who occasionally participated in Liza's scheming but is generally a much kinder person. Amanda realizes Greg is still in love with Jenny and discovers her current whereabouts which Liza persuades her to keep a secret from him. Ultimately, Amanda cannot play Lizaesque games and tells Greg where he can find Jenny. Jenny and Greg are reunited, as are Jesse and his love, Angie Baxter (Debbi Morgan
).
Greg suffers a fall in 1983 and is paralyzed from the waist down. He wants the best for Jenny, so he breaks up with her romantically and encourages her to go to New York and pursue modeling. Jenny goes to the big city and eventually is engaged to another model, Tony Barclay (Brent Barrett
), even though she still loves Greg.
When Greg regains the use of his legs in 1984, he goes to see Jenny so that he can salvage what they had together. They reconcile and Jenny breaks her engagement to Tony. Shortly thereafter, Greg and Jenny are married. Tony is angry that Greg has come back into Jenny's life, so he plots to kill him.
Tad Martin
(Michael E. Knight
), Jenny's biological brother, schedules a day of fun for Greg and Jenny at Willow Lake, just outside of town. Tony wires Greg's jet ski
to explode, but at the last minute, Jenny gets on the jet ski
instead and she ends up being the victim. She dies at Pine Valley Hospital at the age of 20, with Greg at her side.
A few weeks later, Greg thinks that he saw Jenny again, but it turns out to be a girl named Sheila (played by Cynthia Sullivan) who was hired by Jenny's former modeling agent Olga Svenson as a publicity stunt. Greg became involved with Sheila, but the audience balked at their quick and contrived romance in the wake of Jenny's untimely death. In a late December 1984 scene (the last appearance of Sheila), Greg and Sheila were shown having sex beneath a thermal blanket on the floor of Sheila's apartment. In a rather graphic scene for daytime, Greg was shown thrusting back and forth on top of Sheila, and then began moaning, "Jenny, Jenny," while the camera panned to Sheila's shocked face. Sheila's landlord Myrtle Fargate later told Greg that Sheila had left town because she realized he never loved her; he was only trying to use her to repress his grief over losing Jenny.
Two years later in 1986, Greg leaves Pine Valley for Washington, and in 1994, Jenny returns as a ghost (seemingly accompanied by the ghost of a deceased Jesse), to help Tad escape the twister, in which the Martin house is destroyed. Tad does indeed escape. The ghosts subsequently return to Heaven
.
However, it is revealed in early 2008 that Jesse did not die, but rather that he was kidnapped and that his abductors faked his death. After Jesse returns to Pine Valley and is revealed to be alive, he and his former wife, Angie, plan an extravagant wedding (since their marriage was dissolved when Jesse was declared dead). One of the invited wedding guests is Greg. Before the wedding (on May 20, 2008), they visit Jenny's grave and remember the good times spent with her. While alone, and with tears in his eyes, Greg says that he never stopped loving her. He places a single red rose at her tombstone and walks away with his friends. Greg later gets shot at the wedding but survives.
Greg appeared on Hayley Vaughan Santos' documentary about Pine Valley on January 5, 2010 and spoke of his love for Jenny.
In August 2011, it was highly rumored that Jenny was David Hayward's final mysterious patient as part of OPRHUS revealed to be alive due to the fact that Laurence Lau
agree to reprise his role for two months on All My Children
slated for July 2011 until September 23, 2011. However, he decided to cancel, and Kim Delaney
agreed to return to reprise the role as Jenny for a one month contract guest starring role. However, the brief storyline was cancelled in August 2011 during the show's final two weeks of taping. The decision was to have Stuart Chandler
revealed to be alive instead.
summarized the impact of Agnes Nixon
's Greg and Jenny love story:
The museum cites Nixon as "queen" of contemporary soap opera and notes that she is best known and most honored for introducing social issues into soap operas.
Greg and Jenny are considered to be one of the couple's that made up the core stories of All My Children for a few years. Columnist Lisa L. from TV Fan Online published an article about what makes supercouples, and used Greg and Jenny as a prime example. Soap Opera Digest
took notice to the pairing back in the 1980s and still credits them today as one of soap opera's greatest love stories.
Actress Kim Delaney's decision to exit the show All My Children at the height of her popularity affected fans. Delaney's character was given what is considered "daytime drama's highest honor" when her character was killed off so that no other actress could be cast in the role.
Penn State
School of Theatre commented on the Greg and Jenny story when mentioning actor Laurence Lau. The university stated, "Over the years Lau has appeared in guest starring roles in prime time
television series, including Law & Order
, Frasier
, Diagnosis Murder
, Brimstone
, Martial Law
, and a recurring role on the hit series JAG
. Lau has also had long-term contract roles on the daytime series One Life to Live
, Another World
, and All My Children, where he will always be remembered as one half of All My Children's most beloved high school super couple Greg and Jenny."
In 2008, About.com
noted the "lasting memory" of the couple:
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s and a supercouple
Supercouple
A supercouple or super couple is a popular or financially wealthy pairing that intrigues and fascinates the public in an intense or even obsessive fashion...
from the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
.
Greg was portrayed by Laurence Lau
Laurence Lau
Laurence Henry Lau is an American soap opera actor. He was born in Long Beach, California.One of his first roles was on the comedy/drama Eight Is Enough...
, and Jenny was portrayed by actress Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney is an American actress best known for her starring role as Detective Diane Russell on the ABC drama television series, NYPD Blue. Early in her career, she played the role of Jenny Gardner in the hugely popular ABC daytime television drama, All My Children...
.
They were best friends to fellow supercouple Jesse Hubbard and Angie Baxter.
Writing
When the writers of All My ChildrenAll My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
had characters Greg and Jenny meet in 1981, after having Jenny move to the fictional town of Pine Valley
Pine Valley, Pennsylvania
Pine Valley, Pennsylvania is the fictional setting for the long-running American soap opera All My Children. It is a small suburb of Philadelphia...
with her mother, Opal Gardner (then portrayed by Dorothy Lyman
Dorothy Lyman
Dorothy Lyman is an American television actress, director and producer. She is most commonly known for her work as architect Gwen Parrish Frame in Another World and in All My Children as Opal Sue Gardner, and on the syndicated sitcom Mama's Family, as Naomi Harper.Lyman was born in Minneapolis,...
), they applied four obstacles to the couple's love story:
- Age (Jenny is younger than Greg. In 1981, Greg is a senior in high school while Jenny is only fifteen)
- Economic backgrounds (they come from different economic backgrounds; Jenny is working-class while Greg comes from a rich family in Pine Valley)
- Ex-girlfriend (Greg's ex-girlfriend, Liza ColbyLiza ColbyLiza Colby is a fictional character on the American soap opera All My Children who has been played by actress Jamie Luner from April 2009 until September 2011. She was previously played by actress Marcy Walker from 1981-1984 and then again from 1995-2005, although the role was also briefly...
, refuses to allow Greg and Jenny to be happy together and schemes to displace Jenny at all costs) - Parents (Greg's mother, Enid Nelson, is a snob who thinks that Jenny is not good enough for her son)
Storyline
Greg and Jenny build slowly on their romance due to the four obstacles. In 1982, Liza almost succeeds in winning Greg back, but Jenny returns from vacation and his infatuation with Jenny grows even stronger. Liza rigs the Miss Junior Pine Valley contest so that she will win instead of Jenny; this does not deter Greg, who eventually tells Jenny that he loves her and wants to marry her.Jenny eventually finds out that her father, Ray Gardner (Gil Rodgers), who she thought was dead, is in fact in prison for rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
. Liza finds out about this, and threatens to tell Greg unless Jenny withdraws herself from his life. Jenny runs away to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, followed by her friend Jesse Hubbard (Darnell Williams
Darnell Williams
Darnell Williams is a British-born soap opera actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jesse Hubbard on the ABC soap opera All My Children, a role which has earned him two Daytime Emmy Awards.-Biography:...
), who has been falsely accused of attempted rape by Liza, who hates him for his friendship with Jenny. Jesse saves Jenny from being forced into making a pornographic movie
Pornographic movie
Pornographic films are motion pictures with the purpose of promoting sexual arousal in the viewer, often featuring depictions of sexual activity. They are sold and rented out on DVD, shown through Internet and special channels and pay-per-view on cable and satellite, and in adult...
, and the two stand up for each other against the odds in the big city. Their summer in New York is considered one of the greatest storylines in the history of All My Children. Trying to forget Jenny, Greg begins to date Amanda (Amanda Bearse
Amanda Bearse
Amanda Bearse is an American actress, director and comedienne best known for her role as wacky neighbor Marcy D'Arcy on Married.....
), Liza's longtime best friend who occasionally participated in Liza's scheming but is generally a much kinder person. Amanda realizes Greg is still in love with Jenny and discovers her current whereabouts which Liza persuades her to keep a secret from him. Ultimately, Amanda cannot play Lizaesque games and tells Greg where he can find Jenny. Jenny and Greg are reunited, as are Jesse and his love, Angie Baxter (Debbi Morgan
Debbi Morgan
Deborah "Debbi" Morgan is an American film and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Dr. Angie Hubbard on the ABC soap opera All My Children, and for her role as The Seer in the fourth and fifth seasons of Charmed.Morgan joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as...
).
Greg suffers a fall in 1983 and is paralyzed from the waist down. He wants the best for Jenny, so he breaks up with her romantically and encourages her to go to New York and pursue modeling. Jenny goes to the big city and eventually is engaged to another model, Tony Barclay (Brent Barrett
Brent Barrett
Brent Barrett is an American actor and tenor who is mostly known for his work within American theatre. Barrett has performed in musicals and in concerts with theatres, symphony orchestras, opera houses, and concert halls internationally...
), even though she still loves Greg.
When Greg regains the use of his legs in 1984, he goes to see Jenny so that he can salvage what they had together. They reconcile and Jenny breaks her engagement to Tony. Shortly thereafter, Greg and Jenny are married. Tony is angry that Greg has come back into Jenny's life, so he plots to kill him.
Tad Martin
Tad Martin
Thaddeus James "Tad" Martin is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children. Tad is portrayed by actor Michael E. Knight. Knight has portrayed the role on and off from 1982 until the series finale in 2011. Tad represents the good on the show All My Children, often butting...
(Michael E. Knight
Michael E. Knight
- Biography :Knight is best known for playing Tad Martin on the soap opera All My Children. His first stint on the show ran from 1982–1986. He returned from 1988–1990, and again from 1992 until the series finale in 2011...
), Jenny's biological brother, schedules a day of fun for Greg and Jenny at Willow Lake, just outside of town. Tony wires Greg's jet ski
Jet ski
Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The name is sometimes mistakenly used by those unfamiliar with the personal watercraft industry to refer to any type of personal watercraft; however, the name is a valid trademark registered with the...
to explode, but at the last minute, Jenny gets on the jet ski
Jet ski
Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The name is sometimes mistakenly used by those unfamiliar with the personal watercraft industry to refer to any type of personal watercraft; however, the name is a valid trademark registered with the...
instead and she ends up being the victim. She dies at Pine Valley Hospital at the age of 20, with Greg at her side.
A few weeks later, Greg thinks that he saw Jenny again, but it turns out to be a girl named Sheila (played by Cynthia Sullivan) who was hired by Jenny's former modeling agent Olga Svenson as a publicity stunt. Greg became involved with Sheila, but the audience balked at their quick and contrived romance in the wake of Jenny's untimely death. In a late December 1984 scene (the last appearance of Sheila), Greg and Sheila were shown having sex beneath a thermal blanket on the floor of Sheila's apartment. In a rather graphic scene for daytime, Greg was shown thrusting back and forth on top of Sheila, and then began moaning, "Jenny, Jenny," while the camera panned to Sheila's shocked face. Sheila's landlord Myrtle Fargate later told Greg that Sheila had left town because she realized he never loved her; he was only trying to use her to repress his grief over losing Jenny.
Two years later in 1986, Greg leaves Pine Valley for Washington, and in 1994, Jenny returns as a ghost (seemingly accompanied by the ghost of a deceased Jesse), to help Tad escape the twister, in which the Martin house is destroyed. Tad does indeed escape. The ghosts subsequently return to Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
.
However, it is revealed in early 2008 that Jesse did not die, but rather that he was kidnapped and that his abductors faked his death. After Jesse returns to Pine Valley and is revealed to be alive, he and his former wife, Angie, plan an extravagant wedding (since their marriage was dissolved when Jesse was declared dead). One of the invited wedding guests is Greg. Before the wedding (on May 20, 2008), they visit Jenny's grave and remember the good times spent with her. While alone, and with tears in his eyes, Greg says that he never stopped loving her. He places a single red rose at her tombstone and walks away with his friends. Greg later gets shot at the wedding but survives.
Greg appeared on Hayley Vaughan Santos' documentary about Pine Valley on January 5, 2010 and spoke of his love for Jenny.
In August 2011, it was highly rumored that Jenny was David Hayward's final mysterious patient as part of OPRHUS revealed to be alive due to the fact that Laurence Lau
Laurence Lau
Laurence Henry Lau is an American soap opera actor. He was born in Long Beach, California.One of his first roles was on the comedy/drama Eight Is Enough...
agree to reprise his role for two months on All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
slated for July 2011 until September 23, 2011. However, he decided to cancel, and Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney
Kim Delaney is an American actress best known for her starring role as Detective Diane Russell on the ABC drama television series, NYPD Blue. Early in her career, she played the role of Jenny Gardner in the hugely popular ABC daytime television drama, All My Children...
agreed to return to reprise the role as Jenny for a one month contract guest starring role. However, the brief storyline was cancelled in August 2011 during the show's final two weeks of taping. The decision was to have Stuart Chandler
Stuart Chandler
Stuart Chandler was a fictional character on ABC's daytime drama All My Children. He was a member of the powerful and wealthy Chandler family. He was portrayed by David Canary from October 1984 to May 28, 2009 & September, 2011.- Identical opposite :...
revealed to be alive instead.
Reception and impact
The Museum of Broadcast CommunicationsMuseum of Broadcast Communications
The Museum of Broadcast Communications is an American museum that currently exists exclusively on the Internet and not in any physical capacity. Its stated mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain...
summarized the impact of Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon
Agnes Nixon is an American writer and producer. She attended Northwestern University where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and is best known as the creator of soap operas such as One Life to Live and All My Children...
's Greg and Jenny love story:
The museum cites Nixon as "queen" of contemporary soap opera and notes that she is best known and most honored for introducing social issues into soap operas.
Greg and Jenny are considered to be one of the couple's that made up the core stories of All My Children for a few years. Columnist Lisa L. from TV Fan Online published an article about what makes supercouples, and used Greg and Jenny as a prime example. Soap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest
Soap Opera Digest is a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It features onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional information...
took notice to the pairing back in the 1980s and still credits them today as one of soap opera's greatest love stories.
Actress Kim Delaney's decision to exit the show All My Children at the height of her popularity affected fans. Delaney's character was given what is considered "daytime drama's highest honor" when her character was killed off so that no other actress could be cast in the role.
Penn State
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
School of Theatre commented on the Greg and Jenny story when mentioning actor Laurence Lau. The university stated, "Over the years Lau has appeared in guest starring roles in prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
television series, including Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, Diagnosis Murder
Diagnosis Murder
Diagnosis: Murder is a mystery/medical/crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son, a homicide detective played by his real-life son Barry Van Dyke. The series began as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman...
, Brimstone
Brimstone
Brimstone is an alternative name for sulfur. It may also refer to:* Fire and brimstone, an idiomatic expression of signs of God's wrath in the Bible* Brimstone , a DC Comics character...
, Martial Law
Martial Law (TV series)
Martial Law was a TV crime drama that ran on CBS from 1998 to 2000, and was created by Carlton Cuse. The title character, Sammo Law, portrayed by Sammo Hung, was a Chinese law officer and martial arts expert who came to Los Angeles in search of a colleague and remains in the US.The show was a...
, and a recurring role on the hit series JAG
JAG (TV series)
JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...
. Lau has also had long-term contract roles on the daytime series One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
, Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
, and All My Children, where he will always be remembered as one half of All My Children's most beloved high school super couple Greg and Jenny."
In 2008, About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
noted the "lasting memory" of the couple: