Timothy "T.J." Werner's introduction to Springfield came in 1974. An orphan, he was suspected to be the son of Ann Jeffers, the secretary of Mike Bauer. While T.J. did not turn out not to be Ann's son, he would find a home with the Werner's, a wonderful middle aged couple who both worked at Cedar's Hospital. After Joe Werner's death in 1976, T.J. was sent to boarding school and he saw his mother on weekends and holidays.

Tim returned to Springfield, in 1980, after getting into some trouble at Lincoln Prep School. Though he was found innocent, he decided to enroll in Springfield High School where he met Morgan Richards and Trudy Wilson. Although Trudy was deeply attracted to Tim, his focus was on the alluring Morgan. As Trudy continued to pine after Tim, Tim learned that Morgan had feelings for his best friend Kelly Nelson. However, unbeknownst to everyone, Tim had come to town with a very serious drinking problem. Soon, his problems got the best of him and he was arrested for drunken driving. Then one night, Morgan unexpectedly ran away Chicago where she got into trouble working for an unsavory man named Duke Lafferty. After an extensive search, Morgan was located in Chicago at Duke's club. Though Morgan was defiant, at first, when a few of the patrons started to getting rough with her and her mom, Morgan decided that perhaps it was best to go home. Unfortunately, the two patrons who roughed up both Morgan and Jennifer started threatening Mike, Kelly and Tim and started to pick a fight with them. Soon after, Mike contacted the Chicago Police Department and they came and finally closed down Duke's "club" since it was, in reality, a prostitution ring.

Later, back in Springfield, Tim saw Morgan and Kelly together at Laurel Falls and realized that they had feelings for each other. Although he tried to conquer his problems, with the help of Dr. Ed Bauer, Morgan's "friend", Nola Reardon, used his condition to keep Morgan and Kelly apart by encouraging his drinking and prodding him into fights with Kelly. Then In February 1981, Duke Lafferty, wanting revenge on Morgan and Mike for ruining his life, escaped from prison and headed to Springfield where he (after a failed attempt on Mike's life) headed for the Reardon Boarding House and fled with Morgan. Duke took Morgan to an abandoned farmhouse where, for several days, he held her hostage and threaten to kill her. Fortunately, for Morgan, Bea and Nola told the authorities what happened and were able to point them in the direction where she saw Duke flee with Morgan. Eventually, Mike Bauer, Lt. Wyatt, Kelly and Tim reached the farmhouse just as Duke was about to rape Morgan. Following this, Morgan was even more in love with Kelly, yet she still couldn't show it because she was still seeing Tim.

Soon after, things finally came to a head with Tim's drinking problem the night of his senior prom. Although he had intended to stay sober, his friend, Kirk Winters, taunted him with his flask and Tim gave in. Later that night, drunk and angry, Tim forced Morgan to admit that she loved Kelly. When she did, Tim lost control and the car crashed into a tree! Tim was basically okay, but Morgan remained in a coma for several weeks, Tim, for those several weeks, was beside himself with guilt. Sara finally told him that she had enough of his drinking and, with the help of Dr. Ed Bauer and Trudy, they held a small intervention. At that point, Tim was given an ultimatum--check himself into a clinic to get help or he'd be cut out of Sara's life. Not long after, Morgan came out of her coma and she and Kelly, ultimately, declared their love for each other. Tim seemed to have lost everything, however, when Trudy told him that she'd wait for him, Tim finally checked himself into a rehab clinic and got the help he really needed. When Tim was finally released, in the late fall of 1981, he seemed to be on the road to recovery. At this time, Trudy was starting a career as a registered nurse, with the help of Hillary Bauer. Tim and Trudy finally started dating and, eventually, got engaged in early 1982. Tim then went off to school himself. Later, Trudy told Tim that she was moving to California with her father who was offered a job there. Trudy told Tim that she loved him, but when she asked if he felt the same about her, he admitted that he didn't. At the end of 1982, Tim decided to move to Oregon with Sara and her new husband, Adam Thorpe, when Sara was offered a job there.