Generations Wiki

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Generations Wiki is an encyclopedia about everything related to the short-lived soap opera, Generations. The wiki format allows anyone to create or edit any aticle, so we can all work together to create a comprehensive database for fans of the short-lived soap opera.

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This half-hour serial was promoted as television's first fully integrated daytime soap. It focused on the relationship between two Chicago families: the Whitmores and the Marshalls. Their association began several decades ago when Vivian Potter (Lynn Hamilton) was housekeeper and nanny for Rebecca Whitmore (Patricia Crowley, later played by Dorothy Lyman) and her three children: Laura, Stephanie (nicknamed Sam) (Kelly Sutherland), and J.D. (Gerald Pendergast). Vivian's young daughter, Ruth (Joan Pringle) lived with her in the Whitmore mansion.

When Ruth grew up, she married Henry Marshall (Taurean Blacque, later played by James Reynolds), who owned and operated five moderately successful ice cream parlors. With Ruth's urging, Henry enlisted the help of business mogul Martin Jackson (Rick Fitts), who marketed Marshall's ice cream nationwide. The move proved so successful that Ruth was able to buy the Whitmore mansion. Ruth and Henry had three children, Chantal (Sharon Brown, later played by Debbi Morgan), a lawyer, Jacquelyn Marshall Rhymes, a homemaker and mother, and Adam (Kristoff St. John), a junior executive with the Hale Hotel chain. Living with the Marshalls was Ruth's mother, Vivian.

Like Ruth Marshall, Rebecca Whitmore (Patricia Crowley, later played by Dorothy Lyman) also had a challenging past to overcome. Unknown to Rebecca, her ex-husband Peter (Ron Harper) stole her inheritance. Determined to move forward with her life, a middle-aged Rebecca enrolled in law school and succeeded in becoming one of the nation's leading attorneys. When the serial premiered, her daughter Laura was married to advertising executive Trevor McCallum (Andrew Masset). Realizing that Trevor was cheating on her, Laura ended the marriage. They had an adult daughter, Monique (Nancy Sorel).

Although Rebecca was saddened by the break-up of her oldest daughter's marriage, she was happy to see her granddaughter, Monique, marry photographer Jason Craig. Soon after their marriage, Jason inherited a multimillion dollar fortune, making him a murder target. Rebecca's youngest daughter, Sam, accepted a position as model and spokesperson for the upscale Hale Hotel chain. Sam's boss, the dastardly Jordan Hale, expressed an interest in Sam that went beyond business. Police detective Kyle Masters was also wildly attracted to Sam.

Doreen Jackson (Jonelle Allen), a recovering drug addict, was married to Martin Jackson. Following a brief fling with Adam Marshall, Doreen found herself pregnant. Before their daughter, Danielle, was born, the relationship died. Doreen next took up with her doctor, Daniel Reubens (Richard Roundtree). He resurfaced in Chicago in 1990 with his daughter, Maya Reubens (Vivica A. Fox) after falsely being accused of a crime he didn't commit.

GEN was ranked last in the ratings for it's entire run, and NBC ended it just short of it's 2 year anniversary. After 22 months, and 470 episodes, the final episode was scheduled to air on January 25, 1991. However, the last episode, was not shown on NBC due to coverage of the Persian Gulf War. GEN found another life in syndication on the BET network, where the reruns of the soap ran until 1993. The last episode was finally seen on BET.