Highway to Heaven
| Highway to Heaven | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre |
Fantasy Family drama |
| Directed by |
Michael Landon Victor French Dan Gordon |
| Starring | Michael Landon Victor French |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 111 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Michael Landon |
| Producer(s) | Kent McCray |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Michael Landon Productions |
| Distributor | CBS Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 19, 1984 – August 4, 1989 |
Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The series aired for five seasons, running a total of 111 episodes. It was shot entirely in California. The series starred Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, and Victor French—Landon's co-star from Little House on the Prairie—as Mark Gordon.
Jonathan Smith (Landon) is an angel who has been stripped of his wings and is now "on probation", sent to Earth. He meets and pairs up with his human partner and friend, Mark Gordon (French). Jonathan and Mark are given assignments by "The Boss" (God), where they are required to use their humanity to help various troubled souls overcome their problems. These problems include families dealing with sick loved ones; "all-around losers" who are encouraged to find their self-worth; people coping with loss of family such as war widows; parsons who are struggling to lead their flocks; greedy businessmen being encouraged to use their wealth for good; activists who were exploiting problems, such as civil rights, for their own personal gain; local politicians being shown the true meaning of leadership, small time crooks or organized crime members being warned about their future, discouraging prejudice in regard to people of different races, socioeconomic backgrounds, and disabilities.
Each episode typically begins with Jonathan and Mark arriving in a new city and assuming the identities of business employees or civil service workers. Due to Jonathan's angelic nature, the two are able to adopt positions such as police officers, medical personnel, teachers, social workers, or other skilled employees without any check of their background or verification of their employment history. This allows for a variety of identities and scenarios into which the two find themselves inserted. Both Jonathan and Mark faced the same difficulties as people on Earth trying to rectify these problems, and had no special abilities except for the Boss' tutorial. However, in seldom situations, The Boss would help the protagonists with "The Stuff", which was often at times of extreme duress or a reward for making excellent progress on the mission.
The episodes did have a range from extremely serious issues to some that were more in line with ordinary problems, such as peer pressure. Nor did every episode point out that one individual or group was "always wrong" or "always right". While there were episodes about bosses being convinced to be leaders or use their money wisely, there was also one episode that dealt with put-upon employees of one firm whose grievances are continually ignored and they wish to resort to any means neccesary, and Mark and Jonathan must convince them such action would produce nothing but disaster.
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