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7th Heaven (TV series) facts for kids

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7th Heaven
7thHeaven-logo.png
Genre
Created by Brenda Hampton
Starring
Theme music composer Johnny Rivers, Jack Tempchin and Steve Plunkett
Composer(s) Dan Foliart
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 11
No. of episodes 243 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • Brenda Hampton
  • Aaron Spelling
  • E. Duke Vincent (both; seasons 1–10)
  • Chris Olsen
  • Jeff Olsen (both; season 11)
Camera setup Film; Single-camera
Running time 44 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor
  • Paramount Domestic Television
  • CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network
Picture format NTSC
Audio format Stereo
Original release August 26, 1996 (1996-08-26) – May 13, 2007 (2007-05-13)

7th Heaven is an American family drama television series created and produced by Brenda Hampton that centers on the Camden family and their lives in the fictional town of Glenoak, California. The series debuted on August 26, 1996, on The WB, where it aired for ten seasons, making it the longest running series in the history of the network. Following the shutdown of The WB and its merger with UPN to form The CW, the series aired on the new network on September 25, 2006, for its eleventh and final season, airing its final episode on May 13, 2007. 7th Heaven was the last series to be produced by Spelling Television (later produced by CBS Paramount Network Television for the eleventh and final season) before it was shut down and became an in-name-only unit of CBS Television Studios.

Premise

7th Heaven original cast
7th Heaven cast (season 6)

The series follows the Reverend Eric Camden—a Protestant minister living in the fictional town of Glenoak, California—as well as Eric's wife Annie and their seven children. Except for Lucy, the children are all named after key biblical figures. Originally, there are five children (making it a family of seven). The twins are born in season three, in the episode "In Praise of Women". Four of the children, Matt, Mary, Lucy, and Simon, at different times, move away from home during the show's run. Simon goes to college, Mary goes to live with her grandparents and Matt marries and pursues his career as a doctor, far away from the family. Despite these three being absent from the Camden home, the house is always full. When Lucy marries, they move into the garage apartment. Their daughter is born while they are there. Later, they move into a home next door. Ruthie leaves for a short while in the final season to go to Scotland. The Camdens offer shelter to various house guests at different points in the show.

Main cast and characters

  • Stephen Collins as Eric Camden
  • Catherine Hicks as Annie Camden
  • Barry Watson as Matt Camden (seasons 1–6 and 9; recurring 7–8, special guest 10)
  • David Gallagher as Simon Camden (seasons 1–7 and 9–10; recurring season 8)
  • Jessica Biel as Mary Camden (seasons 1–6; recurring season 7, special guest 8 and 10)
  • Beverley Mitchell as Lucy Camden
  • Mackenzie Rosman as Ruthie Camden
  • Happy the Dog as herself
  • Chaz Lamar Shepherd as John Hamilton (seasons 4–5; recurring in seasons 1–3)
  • Maureen Flannigan as Shana Sullivan (season 4; recurring in season 3)
  • Adam LaVorgna as Robbie Palmer (seasons 5–7; recurring in season 4)
  • Nikolas Brino as Sam Camden (seasons 6–11; uncredited in seasons 3–4, featured in season 5)
  • Lorenzo Brino as David Camden (seasons 6–11; uncredited in seasons 3–4, featured in season 5)
  • Geoff Stults as Ben Kinkirk (season 7; recurring in seasons 6 and 8–11)
  • George Stults as Kevin Kinkirk (seasons 7–11; recurring in season 6)
  • Ashlee Simpson as Cecilia Smith (seasons 7–8)
  • Rachel Blanchard as Roxanne Richardson (seasons 7–8)
  • Jeremy London as Chandler Hampton (seasons 7–8)
  • Scotty Leavenworth as Peter Petrowski (season 8; recurring in season 7)
  • Tyler Hoechlin as Martin Brewer (seasons 8–11)
  • Sarah Thompson as Rosanna "Rose" Taylor (season 10; recurring in season 9)
  • Haylie Duff as Sandy Jameson (seasons 10–11)
  • Megan Henning as Meredith Davies (season 10)

Episodes

Availability

Syndication

CBS Media Ventures handles the domestic and international distribution of the series. Season one episodes were retitled 7th Heaven Beginnings. Although the series did not receive a rating other than TV-G throughout its 11-season run, reruns on some cable/satellite channels have been given either a TV-PG or TV-14 rating (depending on the subject matter).

In the United States, the show began airing reruns in off-network syndication on September 25, 2000, but ceased to air in syndication in September 2002, while the series was still in first-run broadcast on The WB and later on The CW. The show then aired on the ABC Family channel from the fall of 2002 until 2008. Then, it was announced on April 1, 2010, that ABC Family had re-obtained the rights to the series, and would begin airing it at 11 a.m. (ET/PT) on weekdays beginning April 12, 2010. However, after one week, ABC Family abruptly pulled the show and replaced it with a third daily airing of Gilmore Girls.

It started airing on "superstation" WGN America on September 8, 2008, though it had previously aired on from 2000 to 2008 during its initial off-network syndication run. Incidentally, the series aired in first-run form on WGN from the show's 1996 debut on The WB until 1999, when WGN ceased to carry WB network programming on its national feed (7th Heaven, along with Sister, Sister, The Parent 'Hood and The Wayans Bros. are the only WB series to air in both first-run broadcast and off-network syndication on WGN America). Since September 2010, 7th Heaven no longer airs on WGN America.

The series also began airing on Hallmark Channel around the same time as when WGN America began to carry reruns of the series again. Hallmark Channel airings of the series, however, truncated the opening credit sequence removing the majority of the theme song except for the first stanza and the last few seconds of the theme. Both channels removed it in 2010.

In the United States, all eleven seasons of 7th Heaven are available to stream on Hulu and Paramount+.

In the United Kingdom, it aired on Sky One on a weekly basis as a part of its primetime slots at 8pm.

In Australia, 7th Heaven was originally broadcast on Network Ten. Reruns of the series have been aired weekdays on satellite channel FOX8 and Network Ten's digital channel Eleven.

It is on RTE (Radio Telefis Eireann) in Ireland.

Home media

CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment) has released 7th Heaven on DVD. They have released all 11 seasons in Region 1. In region 2, seasons 1-7 have been released while in region 4 the first 6 seasons have been released on DVD.

On August 22, 2017, it was announced that the complete series would be released on DVD for November 14.

Title Episode # Year Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4 (Australia) Discs
1 22 1996–1997 September 14, 2004 September 4, 2006 September 7, 2006 September 7, 2006 6
2 22 1997–1998 February 8, 2005 March 11, 2008 March 24, 2008 January 10, 2008 6
3 22 1998–1999 November 28, 2006 May 27, 2008 May 8, 2008 June 5, 2008 6
4 22 1999–2000 March 27, 2007 August 8, 2008 November 13, 2008 November 6, 2008 6
5 22 2000–2001 December 4, 2007 March 11, 2009 March 26, 2009 July 2, 2009 6
6 22 2001–2002 June 10, 2008 September 30, 2009 2009 December 24, 2009 6
7 22 2002–2003 November 11, 2008 January 26, 2011 November 19, 2009 TBA 5
8 23 2003–2004 March 3, 2009 TBA TBA TBA 5
9 22 2004–2005 November 17, 2009 TBA TBA TBA 5
10 22 2005–2006 March 23, 2010 TBA TBA TBA 5
11 22 2006–2007 November 23, 2010 TBA TBA TBA 5
The Complete Series 243 1996–2007 November 14, 2017 TBA TBA TBA 61

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: 7th Heaven (serie de televisión) para niños

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