7th Heaven

7th Heaven is an Emmy-nominated American drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on Monday August 26, 1996, on the WB Television Network, the first time that the WB aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from 1996-2007. The series finale was scheduled for May 8, 2006; however, the show was renewed by the CW Television Network when the intended final episode received high ratings. The 11th and final season premiered on Monday, September 25, 2006 and ended on May 13, 2007. In January 2008, 7th Heaven started airing in syndication on The Hallmark Channel and WGN America. 7th Heaven is the longest running series that has ever aired on The WB network, the longest running family drama in television history and the longest running show produced by Aaron Spelling. The show tells the story about a Protestant minister's family living in the fictional town of Glenoak, California.

The central characters are the Reverend Eric Camden (Stephen Collins), his wife Annie Camden (Catherine Hicks), and their seven children Matt (Barry Watson), Mary (Jessica Biel), Lucy (Beverley Mitchell), Simon (David Gallagher), Ruthie (Mackenzie Rosman) and the twins David (Lorenzo Brino) and Sam (Nikolas Brino). The Reverend Eric Camden is the senior minister of the Glenoak Community Church, whose Protestant denomination is typically never disclosed (with the exception of an episode that was narrated by Simon in Season 8; in a Season 11 episode in which Annie comments on how Protestants can't have a confession; in Season 6 episode 15 when Matt tells Sarah Glass that his father is Protestant).

In at least one episode, the Disciples of Christ denominational logo (St. Andrew cross and chalice) was displayed prominently on the front of the church's pulpit. Many of the church scenes were filmed at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of North Hollywood.[1] Although the logo display was likely unintentional, there appears to be nothing about the Camdens' brand of Christianity that would be negated if they were not a part of the Disciples of Christ. The reason for the display of the Chalice is most likely due to the rental agreement of the church. On the wall hanging left to the pulpit, the church's logo is present (blue logo with a cross/anchor symbol). The church (First Christian Church of North Hollywood), has noted that when the cast was on set, they often went into the church office to observe how church staff really act.

In an earlier online show guide from Warner Brothers Television, the back story for Eric Camden described him as being an Episcopal Priest leading, with his Bishop's permission, a non-denominational church. Some people find this interesting in light of Stephen Collins' real-life attendance at an Episcopal parish in the Pacific Palisades area.

The family originally consisted of five children (Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie), but in the third season, Annie gave birth to twins, Sam and David. Three of the children (Matt, Mary and Simon) moved away from home. Simon went to college, and Matt married and pursued his career as a doctor. Nevertheless, the house is always full; Lucy, her husband Kevin, and their daughter Savannah all live in a house behind the Camdens.

Each episode deals with a moral lesson or controversial theme that the family handles either directly or indirectly. Some range from the traumatic (e.g., Eric's sister came to visit and the children found out that she was an alcoholic) to the somewhat trivial (e.g., in one episode, every child acquired an addiction, with even Ruthie being addicted to gum). Beyond the moral lesson in each show, there are also longer-running story arcs. The first episode involved Lucy's (lack of) period. In the later seasons, Eric had to deal with his wife entering menopause and his daughter Ruthie needing a training bra.

The show is reliant on the very special episode concept, attempting to introduce contemporary social issues to lend greater emotional resonance to episodes. These episodes do in fact lead to high ratings for the show. The January 24, 2005 episode, which featured the birth of Lucy's daughter Savannah, garnered 7.99 million viewers—the highest WB rating since 2003. Another example included the would-be series finale, now simply known as the Season 10 finale, which scored 7.56 million viewers on May 8, 2006.