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TV Review: Family gives tough love on tonight's '7th Heaven'
Monday, November 13, 2000 By Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV Editor
Snobs decry The WB's "7th Heaven" (8 tonight, WCWB) as white-bread, feel-good pabulum. When the show premiered in 1996, I was one of those snobs.
When: 8 tonight on The WB.
Starring: Stephen Collins, Catherine Hicks, Jessica Biel.
A year later, I gave "7th Heaven" another look and discovered it had more to offer: Teen-age characters with distinct personalities, caring parents who are involved in their children's lives and commendably high morals that are missing from most of what's on TV.
From that point on, I checked out of "Melrose Place" and scheduled a weekly visit to "7th Heaven," the best family show in prime time.
Sometimes problems on "7th Heaven" are resolved more easily than they are in real life, but other episodes conclude with less clear-cut solutions. Most importantly, consequences are always emphasized.
This fall's continuing story of recent high school graduate Mary Camden's descent into trouble certainly hasn't been an easy fix. In recent weeks, Mary (Jessica Biel), once the family's shining star (good athlete, decent student, beautiful), fell in with the wrong crowd, maxed out her credit card, became delinquent in her car payments, was fired from multiple jobs and got stopped for drunken driving. Last week, she took money from her toddler-age brothers.
Mary's parents, the Rev. Eric (Stephen Collins) and Annie Camden (Catherine Hicks), are at a loss. In last week's episode, the usually cuddlesome couple got into a shouting match over how to deal with their increasingly delinquent daughter.
"You help people every day," Annie told her minister husband, "and when it comes to our family and our kids, you don't know what to do."
In tonight's episode ("Bye"), written by series creator Brenda Hampton and co-executive producer Sue Tenney, Eric and Annie put up a united front.
"I'd rather have an angry kid than a dead kid," Eric says.
Ultimately, the whole family stages an intervention.
"You're my big sister, I looked up to you, I wanted to be like you, but I don't want to be like you anymore," Lucy (Beverly Mitchell) says. "I can only say that because I know that you don't want to be like you."
In some respects, last week's episode had more dramatic angst, as the Mary saga came to a head. Tonight's episode has lighter moments early on (absent-minded Annie keeps hanging up on friends and family), but it turns into a tearjerker at the end when the Camdens have to do what's in Mary's best interest, even though it's painful for everyone involved.
As fascinating as it's been to see good parents trying to deal with a good kid who gets off track, the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to this story line are equally intriguing.
Last winter, Biel appeared nearly naked in a men's magazine, casually dropping the f-word in the accompanying interview in hopes of ruining her virtuous minister's-daughter image. I can't begin to fathom how Biel misconstrued being known as a moral person as something negative, but that controversy probably sparked this plot development.
Actually, the "7th Heaven" characters began to mirror the actors who play them some time ago. When "7th Heaven" began, Lucy was boy-crazy and manic. Mary was the bright, good girl. Once the writers got to know the actors, it appeared to color the way the characters were written.
Lucy became more ambitious and responsible (Mitchell attends college while filming the series). Mary vandalized the school gym and got put on probation.
This summer, producers gave Biel permission to take time off to attend college (she leaves fictional "7th Heaven" town Glen Oak at the end of tonight's episode), with plans for her to guest star in upcoming episodes.
Parents often complain that there aren't enough TV shows fit for family consumption. As long as "7th Heaven" is on the air, there will be at least one.
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