Courtney Claire Gripling is the most popular eighth grade girl at Lucky Jr. High on As Told by Ginger. While not extremely book-smart, Courtney is not a typical ditzy blonde: she takes an advanced language class that Macie also attends and is very curious about the world around her, particularly the world outside the millionaire lifestyle her family maintains. She is also knowledgeable in fashion and in the complex code of conduct necessary to become and stay popular in middle school, though it is shown throughout the series that even Courtney can sometimes fail at this. She can be mean and shallow, judging people by their clothing (once even forgiving Ginger's avoidance of her because of a particularly well chosen outfit Ginger wore to school) and being insensitive to those who are less popular, but she can also be a caring and attentive friend. Courtney is very naive because of her sheltered upbringing, being puzzled as to how a vacuum cleaner works, what happens at regular summer camps, and sometimes even as to how genuine care and acceptance are like. This leads her to attach quickly to those who demonstrate an honest affection towards her. Courtney took a liking to Ginger early on in the series, wanting to see how Ginger would survive if put in an all-popular kids setting. To her surprise, Ginger could manage, and the two became real friends, and it is towards Ginger that Courtney's sincere affections are often directed. She notably drove to Ginger's home to thank her for stopping her lice infection from becoming public knowledge, traveled to Avalanche Arts to convince her to return, and alerted Ginger to a plan to separate her from boyfriend Darren, even though a few of her own close friends were part of the scheme.
However, even Ginger receives the occasional "Courtney-ism", considering that Courtney has a whole group of friends to manage. Closest of those friends to Courtney is her right-hand woman, Miranda, who strongly dislikes Ginger. Courtney's group seems to approve of her leader status. In "No Hope for Courtney", a girl named Hope takes on Courtney's position, leaving Courtney in a social slump. In the end, Courtney reclaims her position as leader and Hope becomes one of her many followers.
In "Mommie Nearest", Courtney's mother has to stay in the hospital after she gets an infection from a face lift. Courtney then spends more time with Ginger's mother, Lois, as a temporary replacement. It results in Courtney staying a few nights in Ginger's home. Ginger quickly becomes jealous of the natural mother-daughter relationship Courtney and Lois have. In "Fair to Cloudy", Ginger invited Darren to the county fair without consulting her normal companions, Dodie and Macie. Dodie then retaliates by inviting Courtney. At the fair, Courtney, as Ginger put it, "has to try everything", as she is intrigued that such a lifestyle exists.
Courtney's main love interest throughout the show is Darren's older brother, Will, though the latter is usually either oblivious or uninterested. Courtney's reasons for attending a public school are left unexplained. Her younger brother, Blake, also attends a public school. It could be possible their father enrolled them in public schools to avoid them being spoiled - without any success. Courtney sometimes refers to Macie as "Stacey" or "Kacey" and Dodie as "Potie." The girls in Courtney's inner circle (not all at once) have included Ginger, Miranda, Mipsy, Missy, Mindy, Traci, Stacey, Kacie, Donna, Diva, Dinah, Heather, Lonnie, and Hope. These members change: they have been added and dropped over the course of the series (with the exceptions of Miranda, Mipsy and Ginger).
Due to Courtney's unusual obsession and admiration for Ginger, many fans have believed that she actually has romantic feelings for Ginger. This was supposed to be a reality and there would've been an episode about the two coming to terms with it, but Nickelodeon executives vetoed against it, since they didn't want to spread any controversy.
Gallery[]
