1984

Fully recovered from his paralysis, Greg Nelson believed he had lost Jenny forever–until the day he found the letter from Jenny his mother had hidden. Greg was barely able to contain himself as he read the letter and realized she still loved him. He wasted no time going to Jenny, who was to marry Tony that same day. Greg raced to the church, hoping and praying he could stop the ceremony in time. The heads of the stunned wedding guests spun toward the rear of the church, where Greg Nelson stood wild-eyed in the doorway, calling Jenny’s name. He charged up the aisle and punched out Tony, demanding to speak with the bride. Greg told a startled Jenny that his mother, Amanda and Tony had kept Jenny’s letter from him. When he finally read it, he knew that Jenny still loved him. Greg wanted her to know he felt the same way. He had never stopped loving Jenny.

View Complete Summary for "All My Children" 1984

With this incredible misunderstanding out in the open, Jenny and Greg could finally be together. To the strains of their special song, Irving Berlin’s “Always,” Jenny and Greg married on Valentine’s Day 1984, and began to plan on having a baby. Then Tony came to Pine Valley, determined to win Jenny back. He began an obsessive quest. When Tony confided in his sister, she urged him to give up the fight. She didn’t know that Tony plotted to kill Greg during the summer while he and Jenny and Tad were enjoying a midday retreat at a nearby lake. Tony hooked a bomb to the engine of the jet ski Greg had been eager to ride. Tragedy struck when Jenny decided to ride the jet ski first. She was mortally injured in the explosion, and within hours she was gone.

A shattered Greg thought he was hallucinating when he saw a woman who looked almost exactly like Jenny hanging around his wife’s grave. Everyone in town was haunted by this Jenny look-a-like named Sheila. Greg would eventually ask her to marry him. But Myrtle persuaded Sheila to leave town. She knew Greg was still in love with his dead wife, Jenny.

Meanwhile, Erica was happily in love and engaged to Mike Roy until a new man arrived on the scene who would have a profound impact upon her life.

With a fierce determination to leave behind memories of his poverty in West Virginia, Adam Chandler came to Pine Valley in the fall of 1984 and became instantly obsessed by the beautiful and alluring Erica Kane. Adam was producer of the forthcoming movie Raising Kane, based on Erica’s autobiography, which she had written with Mike. According to Erica, she was the only person who could play “Erica Kane.” She saw a chance to become a Hollywood legend at last. But first she had to land the role. Mike cautioned Erica that she was a model, not an actress. An insulted Erica argued that as a model she was always acting, creating images. Adam Chandler would be performing cinematic murder if he assigned this role to any other actress.

With steely confidence, Erica finagled a screen test. Flying to Hollywood, she played herself in a dramatization of the moment she had killed Kent Bogard. Unimpressed, Adam hired another actress, Danielle, to play Erica Kane. Erica drugged Danielle’s coffee during the shooting so she might take over the role herself . Adam finally gave in and cast Erica in the lead.

Meanwhile, Adam secretly plotted to become Erica Kane’s husband. To do so, he had to get Mike Roy out of the picture. Knowing Mike enjoyed writing and that his special interest was Tibet, Adam arranged to have him sent there on a book-writing assignment. When Mike and Erica argued about his leaving, Adam was delighted. With his competition gone, Adam charged full throttle to claim his prize. Adam saw to it that Erica never knew he was behind Mike’s departure. On an angry rebound, Erica married Adam and moved into the Chandler mansion–where strange things were beginning to happen.

Ellen’s granddaughter, Bonnie McFadden, began to talk about her imaginary friend, Willy, whom she met at the Chandler estate. A worried Ellen started dating Adam’s nephew Ross in an effort to uncover what was going on within the walls of the Chandler estate. Meanwhile, Erica began hearing eerie noises coming from the west wing. Adam was keeping a closely guarded secret. When Erica learned the truth, she was horrified. Adam had an identical twin brother named Stuart. He was Adam’s mirror image, but it was clear something wasn’t right about Stuart.

One day, Stuart escaped the west wing and joined a tour of the neighboring Cortlandt manor. Wielding a knife at Palmer, Stuart publicly declared Palmer’s true identity.

Palmer Cortlandt was born Pete Cooney, the Chandlers’ lifelong enemy. Decades earlier, Pete had gotten their sister Lottie pregnant back in their hometown of Pigeon Hollow, West Virginia. Before Pete knew Lottie was pregnant, he was sent off to war. Lottie thought that he had deserted her and suffering from a broken heart, she took her own life. She left behind Pete’s legacy: a son, Ross Chandler. To this day, the Chandlers had carried a vendetta against Pete Cooney, the man who rose above his humble beginnings and changed his name to Palmer Cortlandt.

Cliff Warner’s troubles continued after his divorce from Nina when his wild, flame-haired sister Linda came to town with her low-life boyfriend, Chris. When Chris was shot in a robbery, Linda desperately tried to convince her brother to remove the bullet but not report the crime. Cliff knew he would be in breach of ethics, but he gave in to the desperation in his sister’s eyes. That proved to be a disastrous mistake for young Doctor Warner. When the authorities discovered he had aided and abetted the criminals, Cliff’s medical license was suspended. Without his beloved medical career to keep him occupied, Cliff floundered. He held a variety of non-medical jobs before starting work as a medical consultant for a local TV station. Liza Colby, who worked at the same station, grew very close to Cliff.

Meanwhile, Nina became mesmerized by the phony healing abilities of a con artist from Locust Street named Zach Grayson. Donna recognized Zach from her days on the street and didn’t trust him. But Liza’s mother. Marion Colby, did and began an affair with Zach.

Cleared of kidnapping their own child, Jesse and Angie Hubbard settled into married life with their infant son, Frankie. Jesse soon found that supporting a family was more difficult than he had imagined. Along with Greg and Jenny, the Hubbards had jointly decided to buy a restaurant/club called The Steam Pit. Jesse went to a loan shark named Murray for his part of the purchase money. Murray tormented Jesse for payment of the loan, and eventually he took over The Steam Pit. Later it was destroyed by an explosion.

Palmer took a major hit when the IRS froze his assets and charged him with income tax evasion. Palmer's financial woes were not his fault. He had been foiled from the grave by Lars Bogard. Lars had paid Cortlandt Electronics VP Lois Klingensmith to spy on Palmer and to fix his books. Now Lars was dead, Lois was missing and Palmer was penniless. Palmer had to shut down Cortlandt Electronics. He was forced to take a menial job as front man for Adam Chandler, who wanted to build a controversial gambling mall in Pine Valley. Brooke English thwarted Adam’s “get-even-richer” plans when she spearheaded a grassroots movement that eventually passed a referendum outlawing gambling in Pine Valley.

A pregnant Brooke left Tom after he and Erica had gotten drunk and slept together the night before Erica married Adam. Tom tried to prove Brooke was an unfit mother before she even had the baby. Meanwhile, Brooke and Mark had grown close. Mark was with her the night she gave birth to her and Tom’s daughter, Laura.

Tad was being secretly paid by Edna, Dottie’s mother, to take Dottie out, only Dottie really fell for him. Phoebe had taken under her wing a young college student named Hillary, who was Langley’s daughter by a former wife. Tad fell in love with Hillary and rejected Dottie. To hang onto him, Dottie threw away her birth control pills and got pregnant. She tried to force Tad to marry her, but he was in love with Hillary. When Hillary learned of Dottie’s pregnancy, she encouraged Tad to do the right thing, although Tad only wanted Hillary. Tad did marry Dottie, who proceeded to miscarry, a fact she kept from Tad. Meanwhile, Tad’s friend, Bob Georgia, fell in love with Hillary.

By now, Palmer had regained his fortune when the Cortlandt Electronics corporate VP, Lois Klingensmith, was apprehended. With Lois behind bars, the government unfroze Palmer’s assets. Ellen and Ross got married at Cortlandt Manor. Ross’s hateful former wife Cynthia Preston attended the wedding and at Palmer’s invitation, moved into Cortlandt Manor with her son, Andrew.

To test his wife Erica’s affections, Adam faked his own death. Erica realized she was still in love with Mike Roy, and after Adam’s “death,” got re-engaged to him. When Adam showed up alive, Erica was furious. Adam told her that if she wanted a divorce, she must choose between his fortune and her love for Mike. She chose Mike.

Source: All My Children: The Complete Family Scrapbook


1984 Episodes / Clips: