Janet Mason met Ed Bauer in her hometown of Tarrywood. A sweet, somewhat sheltered, young woman, Janet soon began an affair with Ed, despite the fact that he was a married man who deserted his wife. Though Janet resolved to keep the affair a secret from her overprotective parents, what she didn't know was that her mother, Ellen had discovered the truth about the affair. Not knowing what to do or think, Ellen did keep it a secret, but it was at this point, unbeknownst to anyone, that Ellen turned to drinking. Meanwhile, Ed decided to move back to Springfield after discovering that his father, Bill, had supposedly died in a plane crash. Janet followed him and soon got a job as a secretary to one of Ed's colleagues at Cedars, Dr. Paul Fletcher. To try to salvage his career, Ed tried to make a new go of his marriage to Leslie, and this did help him get the suspension lifted. However, Ed still could not resist Janet's charms and continued his affair with her. Watching all of this from the sidelines was Janet's mom, Ellen, who could only consult with her daughter on the phone that perhaps it was time for her to break off things with the still married Ed. Janet quit her job with Dr. Paul Fletcher and, for a while, was on an intensive job hunt. Back at Cedars, Ed performed a successful surgical procedure, which won him back his permanent position. Just as Ed was ready to divorce Leslie, Janet finally grew tired of being strung along and dumped him. Meanwhile, to Ed's horror, Leslie informed Ed about her pregnancy and months later Frederick Bauer was born.

Meanwhile, Janet got herself a job as a secretary to Kenneth Norris who found himself attracted to her. It was at this time, that Janet's father, Grove, discovered that Ed and Janet had had an affair! Grove came to Cedars to confront Ed and during their heated meeting, Grove had a heart attack! In the meantime, Ken himself found himself falling in love with Janet, and although she didn't quite feel the same way, Janet let herself be seduced by Ken. Then, one rainy night, Roger Thorpe came by Janet's apartment and tried to force himself on her. Janet held off Roger's advances, but Roger got Janet's lipstick on his shirt collar. As Roger was leaving Janet's apartment, Ken's sister, Holly, was coming to see Janet and misconstrued the whole episode. In love with Roger and believing that he and Janet just had sex, Holly bolted from the apartment building and ran into Ken. Holly told her brother that she'd seen Roger and Janet kissing. Ken was livid and beat up Roger right there on the spot! Afterwards, Janet discovered that she was pregnant and Ken married her for the sake of the baby.

Meanwhile a very insecure, Ken started developing jealous streaks when Ed began spending time with Janet to help in her pregnancy. His jealousy continued to grow despite the fact that Ed was dating Holly, who had ended up at Cedars after the accident and told everyone and anyone about Janet's "affair" with Roger. By 1973, Ed was so taken with Holly that he went to Las Vegas with her. In Vegas, Holly accidentally ordered alcohol and Ed ended up going on a bender and marrying Holly. . When Ed and Holly returned to Springfield, much of the town was flabbergasted about the new marriage. Soon, both Holly and Ken having developing jealous streaks when Ed started spending more time with Janet trying to help wean her mom, Ellen, from the bottle. Barbara, Holly and Ken's mom, told both of her children, in no uncertain terms, to "grow-up!" Unfortunately, Ken was riddled with insecurity over Janet and Ed's friendship until, finally, Ken moved out. Though the pair tried to reconcile after the birth of their daughter, Emily, Ken's jealousy got the best of him and he even ended up resenting the time Janet spent with their won baby! Finally, in 1974, a disgusted Janet was on the verge of leaving Ken so he agreed to seek therapy with Dr. Bertrand Mandel. When Janet learned that Ken had stopped seeing the doctor, she left. Consumed with rage over his crumbling marriage, Ken spotted Janet in an embrace with Ed and erroneously believed the two were having an affair. Consumed with anger and jealousy, Ken fantasized about murdering Ed. Not long after Ken was involved in a car accident with Janet and was left temporarily blind. Angrier than ever, Ken kept his returning eyesight a secret and decided to make his fantasy a reality. And so, buying a gun, Ken set out to murder his imagined rival. Fortunately for Ed, Ken's aim was lousy and he only grazed his hand. The greater damage was done to Ken, who slipped into a catatonic state after the shooting and was sent to a mental hospital. In shock, Janet decided to leave Springfield and start a new life with Emily in California.