California Dreams ran from 1992 to 1996 as part of NBC's "Teen NBC" (T-NBC) line-up on Saturday mornings. The show was created by  Peter Engle, and Franc Bario, and centered around the coming of age exploits of the Garrison family (which Heidi played the eldest sister Jennifer "Jenny") teens and their friends who comprised a garage band named "The California Dreams".

The show originally premiered as a standard sitcom centering around the Garrison family and various aspects of growing up in the 1990s. However, after low ratings forced a re-tooling, the show then shifted from the Garrison family to exclusively center around the band of teens.

As a result, Jenny Garrision and her brother Matt (Brent Gore) were forced to take a leave of absence as the show introduced new characters in an effort to coincide with the new focus of the show. Jenny's character was accepted to a music conservatory in Rome, and Matt Garrison (along with the rest of the family) moved away when the father got work elsewhere.

The character of Jenny Garrison was strong willed and musically talented. This was Heidi's first major part after taking an absence from professional acting to study in Europe with an acting coach (see biography) right out of high school. Jenny Garrison allowed Lenhart to showcase her vocal abilities and acting abilities on a weekly basis and gave her unparalleled exposure.

California Dreams in now in syndication and can be seen in over 120 countries world wide.