Beginning September 21, WB Network viewers will receive a double dose of 7th Heaven. On Monday nights, the network will air new episodes of the faith- and family-friendly drama, now in its third season. On Sundays, WB will repeat episodes from the first season, which aired before the program found an ardent audience.
7th Heaven features a functional and fun-loving family headed by Eric Camden, the minister of a non-descript Protestant church (CT, Nov. 17, 1997, p. 74). Stay-at-home mom Annie is equally adept at repairing the home and raising the couple’s five children, who range in age from seven to eighteen.
“The show has a very loyal following because there isn’t anything like it on TV,” says WB spokesperson Brad Turell. “This show is a response to the conservative Christians who are out there saying, ‘Family values, family values, family values.’ ” With ABC canceling both Soul Man, about an Episcopal rector who is a single father, and Nothing Sacred, a controversial program about an iconoclastic Catholic priest, Eric Camden is prime time’s reigning reverend.
With a surge in the ratings last spring—which led the network to the unprecedented decision to show reruns in prime time—7th Heaven is WB’s second most-popular show after Dawson’s Creek, a risque teen drama.
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