"7th Heaven" (1996) TV series 1996-2007

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Creator:

Brenda Hampton

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

Release Date:

26 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Tagline:

You can relate...

Plot:

This weekly television series follows the Camden family as the minister father and stay-at-home mother deal with the drama of having seven children, ranging from toddlers to adults with families of their own. The friends, neighbors, and love interests of the various members of the family weigh heavily on the plot of the series, which seeks to address a real-life issue with each episode.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Minister | Faith | Melodrama | Parenthood

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 20 wins & 55 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 9	9:00 AM	WGNAMER	A Cry for Help	#7.10
Tue. Nov. 10	9:00 AM	WGNAMER	Sunday	#7.11

Cast

Happy	...	Happy (243 episodes, 1996-2007)
Beverley Mitchell	...	Lucy Camden / ... (242 episodes, 1996-2007)
Stephen Collins	...	Rev. Eric Camden / ... (241 episodes, 1996-2007)
Catherine Hicks	...	Annie Camden / ... (240 episodes, 1996-2007)
Mackenzie Rosman	...	Ruthie Camden (237 episodes, 1996-2007)
David Gallagher	...	Simon Camden (219 episodes, 1996-2006)
Barry Watson	...	Matt Camden (196 episodes, 1996-2006)
Jessica Biel	...	Mary Camden / ... (139 episodes, 1996-2006)
Lorenzo Brino	...	Sam Camden / ... (137 episodes, 1999-2007)
Nikolas Brino	...	David Camden (136 episodes, 1999-2007)
George Stults	...	Kevin Kinkirk / ... (114 episodes, 2002-2007)

Also Known As:

7th Heaven: Beginnings (USA) (rerun title)
Seventh Heaven

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG (season 3) | Canada:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

First Christian Church of North Hollywood - 4390 Colfax Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Spelling Television

Trivia:

During the fourth and fifth season of the series there was much controversy over co-star Jessica Biel's (Mary Camden) unhappiness over the show and her character Mary. She attempted to leave the show by getting fired when she posed for Gear Magazine to upset producers and network executives to let her out of her contract - which she'd later regret, as she admitted in later interviews and was now contented with the series.

Quotes:

Eric: A mother feeding her child is the most beautiful picture in the world.
Annie: Do you have any idea how much this hurts?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#22.91)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

7th Heaven

Heavy-Handed but Entertaining

If you read through the comments already posted (and there are many), you'll see that most people are very strongly polarized... people either love this show or hate it.

I, for one, am somewhere in the middle of the road about it.

It is heavy-handed. It takes an 'issue of the week', and involves each member of the family in some aspect of that issue... fidelity, drug use, abstinence from sex before marriage... then wraps everything up in a nice neat package before the end of the episode.

The way the issues are dealt with are both shallow and heavy-handed. You never have any doubt in your mind what issue the writers are bringing up this week; you never have any doubt what they thing the "right" thing to do is.

At the same time...

We're looking inside of a family that seems to genuinely care about each other. There's a father who's involved with his children, siblings who look after each other, and a mother who obviously loves her children... and her husband, even after seven children.

Yes, Matt needs a punch in the nose. Mary could stand a valium perscription. Lucy needs a little more maturity. And so on. But...

But I keep watching this show, episode after episode.

And I'm not entirely sure why.