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

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:

Postmarital Sex | Child's Point Of View | Christian | Dynamic | Disturbing

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 20 wins & 55 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Sept. 2	1:00 PM	HALMRK	Surprise!	#5.10
Tue. Sept. 2	2:00 PM	HALMRK	Home	#5.11

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 / ... (157 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:

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

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

CBS Paramount Network Television

Trivia:

When the role of Martin Brewer (Tyler Hoechlin), the son of an U.S. soldier originally went out to be cast in May 2003 for the next season the character's original name was Joe. He was also supposed to be a bad kid who would create a lot of trouble for Ruthie Camden (Mackenzie Rosman) and the rest of her family. Although, once actor Tyler Hoechlin was cast in the role they changed the name of the character as well as the personality of the character to fit more into the family fold.

Quotes:

Ruthie: You two better not make a lot of noise and wreck my date.
Simon: It's not a date, it's a play date. You're eight. I'm going on a date.
Annie: It's not a date, you're twelve. It's a birthday dinner.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Treasure Hunters: Founding Fathers (#1.7)" (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.