7th Heaven reboot in the works

[dragonflies]

[Bright Eyes]

Ew.

[AbcNbc247]

Well, Catherine Hicks did say once that the only way she'd agree to a reboot is if started with Eric's funeral.

I used to love this show when I was little but I watch it now and all I do is roll my eyes. The writing was so heavy handed and honestly, the Camdens were a bunch of pretentious, judgmental snobs 

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[Soaplovers]

The only Camden kid I liked was Mary... and I don't know if Jessica Biel would want to go back to playing that character or not.

[janea4old]

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/7th-heaven-reboot-cbs-studios-jessica-biel-1236401017/

Sources say that the new show would focus on a diverse family, and that none of the original cast members would appear. 

Anthony Sparks will serve as executive producer and showrunner on the reboot. 

Jessica Biel, who starred in the original series, is executive producing under her Iron Ocean banner along with Michelle Purple. 

DeVon Franklin will executive produce via Franklin Entertainment and his overall deal with CBS Studios.

Sparks was previously the showrunner on the critically-acclaimed OWN series “Queen Sugar.” He also worked as an executive producer on “Bel-Air” at Peacock and the Mike Tyson biographical series “Mike” at Hulu. His other TV writing credits include “The Blacklist” and “The District.”

Franklin is best known for producing faith based films like “Miracles from Heaven” and “Heaven Is for Real.” He previously held positions at Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment as well as MGM and Sony’s Colombia Pictures. In his time as a studio exec, he worked with Smith on films like “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Hancock,” and “Seven Pounds.” His other credits include the animated Biblical film “The Star” as well as “Flamin’ Hot” and the BET+ original series “Kingdom Business.”

Edited 17 hours ago by janea4old

[BetterForgotten]

+1

[DRW50]

So basically this is the new Party of Five and Charmed reboots?

[Vee]

Did the Party of Five reboot even actually air?

[Soaplovers]

Charmed and Party of Five didn't do too good with the diverse concept...  I doubt 7th Heaven will either.

Perhaps maybe do a diverse show about a female minister and her husband and call it something other than 7th Heaven.  I know it's going out on a limb to actually come up with something different and to title it differently.

[DRW50]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_of_Five_(2020_TV_series)

[janea4old]

The wikipedia article doesn't explain much.

I watched the Party of Five reboot, it was on Freeform in 2020.  It was five years ago, but I'll tell you what I remember:


In the original Party of Five series , the parents died, and the five sibling orphans worked together to raise themselves with the older ones looking out for the younger, while managing the family restaurant.  The oldest child is an adult who wants to have fun but ends up assuming the responsibility.  The teens go through teen stuff, and as they age they consider college or potential careers. The youngest is a baby/toddler they struggle to raise.
The siblings hire a nanny who is a major character.

In the 2020 reboot: The family were Mexican, the parents were undocumented, and the oldest child is an adult who could stay in the US because of DACA.  In the reboot, instead of the parents dying -- in the first episode the parents were arrested by ICE and sent back to Mexico.   The five children were left in the U.S. to raise themselves with the older ones looking out for the younger, while managing the family restaurant.  The oldest child wants to have fun but ends up assuming the responsibility.  The teens go through teen stuff and the older ones explore careers.  The youngest is a baby that they struggle to raise.

But the big differences here:
In the reboot: the children were able to have periodic phonecalls with their parents in Mexico, which were very emotional.  The children hire an attorney to try to get their parents returned to the U.S.   The child daughter feels sad without her parents. The dad phones them to check on the management of the restaurant.  The middle and younger children crave talking to the mom on the phone and  one child sometimes avoid the calls due to the high emotion.
I think a few of the children eventually got to take the bus to Mexico to visit their parents.
In the reboot: The viewers see how the parents are coping with the strain in Mexico:  the mom works as a nanny in Mexico and the dad gets odd jobs there -- they almost divorce, and the mom admits she never wanted to live in the USA to begin with, and now wants to stay in Mexico, so she doesn't want the legal battle to return to USA.  The next-youngest child missed the parents very much.  In the season one finale, it was decided that the youngest two would remain in Mexico and live with their parents.  The older children remained in the USA and were following their dreams.  Season One finished airing just as the COVID epidemic began and everything shut down. The show was not renewed for Season Two.  

That's all I remember.  It was good but very different from the original.

Edit to add:
Amazing how the world has changed in five years.  The reboot was filmed in 2019 during the first Tr*mp presidency, and aired in 2020.  The immigration situation was tense then, and that was explored in the series.  But it seems carefree in comparison to the real world today in 2025.

Edit to add more thoughts.  I have no idea what would have happened in future seasons, since the five siblings were no longer a "party of five" at the end of Season One.   Supposedly the cancellation wasn't even announced until after the Season One finale aired.  But the season one finale was 90 minutes and wrapped up some lose ends, so maybe the producers anticipated a cancellation, and did that just in case?
Perhaps if there had been future seasons, the younger children would age and then return to the USA and the five would reunite? I don't know.

Edited 3 hours ago by janea4old

[Paul Raven]

I am so over these reboots that on the one hand, want to trade off the nostalgia for the original and then change everything anyway.

So those who liked the original will most likely be disappointed in the changes and it doesn't mean anything to newer viewers who have no connection. Maybe if they do have some knowledge of the original they will be turned off, thinking that it's some irrelevant old person's show.

Anyone who watched and liked 7th Heaven would be way out of the desired demo by now.

[te.]

I have a new storyline for the "diverse" 7th Heaven reboot!

The WASP family has a foster child called Gilberta. She's an AA kid whose mother is addicted to crack marijuana! The devil's seed! Either way, she's been integrated into this WASP family and shock/horror, Marijuana Mommy comes back! What will happen?

Well, I will tell you - first it seems like Marijuana Mommy has her [!@#$%^&*] together and she gets her kid back! The WASPs are sad. Then it turns out that Marijuana Mommy is still on the dope and selling tricks talking to strange men on the corner! Plus, foster child (Gilberta) talks about how much she loves the WASPs. The episode ends in tears with Gilberta back with the WASPs!

Also, Marijuana Mommy goes away, acknowledging how much better parents the WASPs are. The end.

Why haven't The Great American Family hired me yet? I can feel the audience will watch this and cry a lot of tears.

[janea4old]

The three producers for the potential 7th Heaven reboot seem to bring different aspects:

Anthony Sparks brings his experience showrunning Queen Sugar and as one of the Bel-Air producers -- that is major.

DeVon Franklin has experience producing faith-based films.

(Sparks and Franklin are both Black.)

Jessica Biel brings her familiar name but as a producer and not as an actor here -- and her producing partner Michelle Purple. So perhaps she's there to bring in the money and the attention, and with some experience producing.

Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple coproduced these shows:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sinner_(TV_series)
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruel_Summer_(TV_series)
 

Edited 3 hours ago by janea4old

[te.]

Let's be real - no one  is interested in a "diverse" reboot. It's a WASP show through and through. Just do it cheaply on a budget and put it on Great American Family.