People Magazine, April 25 1999

Rev'd Up

TV Guide, September 11 1982

Calming Influence

TVGuide.com, September 15 2004

7th Heaven Casting Shakeups

By Lauren Kane

7th Heaven just started its 9th season, which will include lots of surprises for its loyal fans — some good, some bad. For starters, troubled actor Jeremy London won't be returning to the WB family drama, nor will Ashlee Simpson or Rachel Blanchard. However, original cast members Barry Watson and David Gallagher are back as the prodigal Camden sons, Matt and Simon.

"We're focusing on our core family again," says creator/executive producer Brenda Hampton. "As the show gets older, you want to give people as much as you can of the thing that they watched it for. And in this case, it's the Camden family."

Watson and Gallagher both return for 11 episodes, so we'll have the opportunity to see the boys dealing with some more adult situations. In fact, Simon "will be the first Camden to have sex outside of marriage." Pretty risqué for the son of a preacher man!

The big story this season will revolve around Tyler Hoechlin, who joined the cast last season as Martin, a teen who's living with the Camdens while his father serves in Iraq. "We want to address people who don't have a family," Hampton says. "So one of the big pushes this year will be to talk about if you've ever thought about adoption, if you can open your home and your heart to a child, please do so."

In addition to welcoming Martin into the family, Lucy (Beverley Mitchell) and Kevin (George Stults) are preparing for the birth of their first child. "He's cool and calm and collected before the baby and she's a little nuts. And then they trade off." By the way, Hampton says Lucy's taking over as associate pastor from Chandler (London), who has "moved on."

Speaking of which, don't look for sexpot Jessica Biel to return to her roots as eldest Camden daughter Mary. "She's a very busy young woman with all her film commitments," Hampton laments. "We don't always have the people we need." Not to worry, we'd say it's a pretty full house as is.

Source: TVGuide.com

7th Heaven' sons return to tackle sex and parenthood

By Kate O'Hare

A lot of his fans may still not be old enough to drive, but 19-year-old David Gallagher is now a proud USC Trojan and eager to have Simon Camden, his character on The WB's family drama "7th Heaven," grow up as well. And it looks like he's getting his wish, as the show moves into its ninth season beginning on Monday, Sept. 13.

"Simon is the first Camden to have premarital sex," Gallagher says, talking while shaving in the makeup trailer in preparation for a kissing scene with actress Rheagan Wallace, who plays new girlfriend Georgia. "Simon is a stud all of a sudden."

"It's amazing when you think about it," Collins says, taking a break between scenes on the garden wall in the outdoor set of the Camden back yard. "The three oldest kids all got married without having premarital sex that we know about. You could think that maybe Matt had, but you don't really know. We never addressed it.

"I must say, it doesn't seem so earth-shaking to me. What's great about it is how we try, probably very unsuccessfully, to deal with it, in that way that people think they can control things. As a hands-on parent, you do the best you can. You lose a lot of battles, and I think they're going to lose this one. But I love it, because it's real."

Gallagher eagerly agrees. "It's up to me to be the bad boy. I love it. It's the most interesting work. I talked to the writers. They have a lot of funny character stuff that they want to do with that, how the family reacts, how everyone freaks out and makes a big deal of it.

"In the end, Simon decides, 'This is great, I respect everyone's opinion, but I really like having sex, so I'm just going to keep doing that.' When Brenda (series creator Brenda Hampton) told me that, I said, 'Good for you, Brenda, and good for me. That's brilliant.' I was waiting for her to say that everyone talks me out of it. I was like, 'No, that's no fun.'"

As an issue-based family drama, "7th Heaven" has tackled topics ranging from the personal to societal, and Collins feels this is just another step on that path.

"He's in college," Collins says, "so while it's earth-shaking in the world of '7th Heaven,' I can't imagine too many parents of 18- or 19-year-old kids that aren't thinking about this or dealing with this in some way, shape or form.

"So, for those more easily shocked or more conservative families watching, from what I've seen so far, it's handled really well. Listen, they've got seven kids. They can't really expect every one of them to grow up precisely the way they were proscribed -- a preacher's kid especially."

Absent for much of last season, Gallagher has juggled his schedule of classes at USC to work Mondays on "7th Heaven." Also back in the fold for 11 episodes is Watson, who was absent from the show a couple of seasons ago while he successfully battled Hodgkin's disease. During his recovery, Hampton brought him onto the writing staff, and he penned an episode for the show.

Now looking and feeling fine, Watson is happy to be home. "The core family's back now," he says, "which a lot of the audience wants to see."

Although Matt's marriage seemed in trouble last year, Watson has hope for this season. "There were some dodgy bits last season, but I think everything's going to work out. A young couple that gets married on their way to medical school -- that's a tough thing. I'm sure there are going to be some issues, but they seem like they're solid people."

Asked if Biel might reappear at some point as Mary, Watson says, "I don't know. I was in Canada working when she was in Canada working, and we were talking about it. I have a feeling she may come back, for at least one episode. It'll be fun. Bev and I left her a message last week about it, while we were doing a scene."

Mary's character has already had a baby, and now Lucy is following suit, expecting a child with her new husband, police officer Kevin Kinkirk (George Stults). Lucy, who is also studying to be a minister, has always been a little high-strung, and according to Stults, that hasn't changed -- more or less.

"It's hard to believe," he says, "but in this episode, she's always crazy, but now she's pregnant, so she's been acting normal, which throws everyone off, especially her husband. He's like, 'What's going on here?' That, of course, only lasts for a brief time, then she's back, crazy as always."

With kids having sex, kids having babies and kids just growing up, Collins feels that "7th Heaven" -- The WB's most watched show for several seasons now -- still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

"I think Brenda is inspired by the shape of the show this year," he says, "and having Barry and David back. This premiere script is as fun as any script we've ever done. Brenda seems to get that this show is about telling the story of this family in real time."

Speaking of which, Collins recalls shooting a scene in which the overburdened Lucy asserts she can juggle marriage, impending motherhood and taking over as assistant pastor at her father's church.

Los Angles Family, June 2000

On Cloud 9

By Ayn Nix