Everything is seasonal. The trick is knowing when the seasons change, and then gracefully accepting that fact. Unfortunately, the producers for the hit show 7th Heaven are either looking at the show through a different set of lenses than I am or they are just holding out hope that they can recapture the magic that has made the show so popular for the last eleven years.
At the end of last season, the WB network decided that 7th Heaven had indeed runs its course. They brought the show in for a landing, and it was time to do so. Plot lines were a little thin. Characters were acting out of character, or becoming caricatures of themselves (Annie and Lucy primarily). And oddly, the show had a “forced” feel to it.
Then the WB and UPN joined forces earlier this year under the CBS and Warner Brothers banner to form the new CW network, and they decided to bring 7th Heaven back. I watched the first episode on the CW on Monday night and unfortunately, everything that was wrong with the show in recent years is still present. And it might even be magnified.
In the espisode on Monday, Lucy, who is an associate pastor in her dad’s church (leaving the theology of such a thing aside), got up in front of the congregation and blamed her husband, and her entire family, for her miscarriage. I love the fact that the show was willing to deal with the very real pain of such an event, but I just can’t see anybody getting up in front of a large group of people and saying such a thing—especially if the people she is speaking about are present. A person might think it, or write about it, or tell a best friend about it, but to go as far as she did seemed odd and unnatural.
In tha same episode, one character, who became a Christian during the Christmas episode last season, is already studying to become a minister. Huh? The Camden household is always in disarray. Annie is always freaking out about something. They’ve taken the “life is hard” theme too far. They never give viewers a chance to catch our breath or to celebrate with them. And that’s kind of sad, because this show used be one of the best shows on television.
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