Today’s TV (and streaming) landscape is full of niche offerings and not-safe-for-kids shows, but through the history of television — and not necessarily even that long ago — there has been a strong tradition of feel-good shows that create a safe space for families to watch together and teach kids and teens how to deal with the challenges of growing up in a positive, responsible way.
One such show is 7th Heaven, which premiered on The WB in 1996 and ran for a whopping 11 seasons. Airing alongside the network’s sexier teen offerings like Dawson’s Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 7th Heaven was decidedly more PG and centered on the everyday problems of Rev. Eric Camden (Stephen Collins); his wife, Annie (Catherine Hicks); and their large brood of children.
The pilot episode alone dealt with oldest son Matt (Barry Watson) smoking, daughter Mary (Jessica Biel) wanting to be kissed, Lucy (Beverley Mitchell) anticipating her first period and Simon (David Gallagher) asking God for a dog. Meanwhile, Annie’s mother reveals that she has a terminal illness. But despite their problems, large and small, each family member had a place to go for love and support (as is hinted in the theme song): home.
On the rewatch podcast Catching Up With the Camdens, Gallagher noted that the show is something the cast can still be proud of all these years later, saying, “being that family show on a network that wanted to be cool and sexy, you know, I think now coming full circle, it’s nice to look back on it and feel like we did something positive on TV.”
In honor of 7th Heaven’s 30th anniversary this year (it premiered on Aug. 26, 1996), THR checked up on the Camden family to find out how what they’ve been up to in the years since we last saw them together.
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Stephen Collins as Rev. Eric Camden
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty Images Collins was already known for movies like Star Trek (1979) and The First Wives Club (1996) before he stepped into the shoes of the squeaky-clean reverend and father of the Camden family. During the show’s run, he appeared in several other projects, including the Diane Keaton/Mandy Moore film Because I Said So (2007).
After 7th Heaven ended, he appeared in one-off parts on shows from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to Law & Order: SVU and The Office. He also had multi-episode runs on Private Practice and Devious Maids and in 2010-11 was a regular on the short-lived series No Ordinary Family, which starred Michael Chiklis. He later played Dr. Gene Porter in NBC’s Revolution.
In 2014, Collins admitted to sexual misconduct with three underage girls between 1973 and 1994. He was not prosecuted but was dropped from his agency and hasn’t worked in film or TV since.
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Catherine Hicks as Annie Camden
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty Images Hicks, who played the Camden family matriarch, also had a notable acting career even before she joined the WB show. An Emmy nominee for playing the title role in the TV movie Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980), Hicks appeared opposite Jack Lemmon on Broadway and had film credits ranging from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) to a starring role in Child’s Play (1988).
During the run of 7th Heaven, she appeared opposite Mark Harmon in the time-traveling TV movie For All Time (2000). Afterward, she starred in the short-lived series Pushed (2009) and had parts in films including Jerry (2009), starring Doug Jones; thriller Split Second (2009); and Dorfman in Love (2011), along with a spate holiday TV movies. Her most recent credit was as the voice of a fairy in the Adult Swim animated series JJ Villard’s Fairy Tales, with a cast that also included the likes of Linda Blair, Finn Wolfhard and Warwick Davis. The actress, who has one daughter with husband Kevin Yagher, retired from acting in 2023.
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Jessica Biel as Mary
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty Images Of all the child actors on 7th Heaven, Biel — who played oldest sister Mary (though she’s actually slightly younger than Beverley Mitchell) — is perhaps the one who most successfully transitioned to A-list star (and producer, to boot). While the series that first shot her to fame was still on the air, Biel starred in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2003, followed by roles in 2004’s Blade: Trinity and 2005’s Elizabethtown. The Illusionist (2006), in which she starred opposite Edward Norton, was another highlight of that era.
In subsequent years, she appeared in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007), The A-Team (2010) and Total Recall (2012), just to name a few. More recently, she was Emmy-nominated for starring in the first season of USA Network’s anthology series The Sinner, which she also executive produced for all four seasons. She was also a star-producer of Hulu’s true-crime miniseries Candy, playing a Texas housewife accused of ax-murdering her neighbor. And in 2025, she starred alongside Elizabeth Banks in The Better Sister, a limited series from Amazon in which the husband of Biel’s character — who’s also the ex-husband of Banks’ character — is murdered.
She’ll next be seen in Apple TV’s October 2026 release Matchbox, based on the toy car brand, with John Cena. Biel has been married to Justin Timberlake since 2012, and the couple has two children.
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Barry Watson as Matt
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty Images Playing eldest son Matt, Watson got his acting start on Days of Our Lives in 1990. He was in his early 20s when he was cast as a high schooler on 7th Heaven. During the sixth season, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, which forced him to reduce his role in the show, but he returned for all except the final season.
Afterward, Watson starred in ABC’s What About Brian, from Bad Robot. That series followed him as a 30-something finding his way as the only bachelor left in his friend group and ran for two seasons. He was also a regular on Samantha Who?, with co-stars Christina Applegate, Jean Smart, Jennifer Esposito and Melissa McCarthy. He appeared in a handful of episodes each of Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie and Masters of Sex, and later starred in Date My Dad, which ran for one season on Up TV in 2017.
More recently, he played Lachlan Murdoch in the 2019 Showtime miniseries The Loudest Voice and appeared in the TV movie Highway to Heaven (2021), based on the series of the same name, as well as the CW series Naomi, which ran for only one season.
He’s also dabbled in directing, helming two episodes of 7th Heaven and an episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. He recently joined efforts to adapt the short Bad Survivor, about a cancer survivor, for television as an executive producer. Watson is also an ambassador for Teen Cancer America.
He is married to actress Natasha Gregson Wagner, with whom he has one daughter. He also has two children from a previous marriage.
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Beverley Mitchell as Lucy
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty Images Mitchell started acting before the age of 10, and by the time 7th Heaven finished its run, she had already segued into film, starring in Saw II (2005) as Laura, one of the Jigsaw Killer’s victims. In the years that followed, she starred in the horror film The Lost Episode (2012) and had a run on ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which was created by 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton. Outside of acting, Mitchell recorded a country album in 2006.
More recently, she co-starred with Jodie Sweetin and Christine Lakin in Hollywood Darlings, a Pop TV series in which they played versions of themselves, followed by holiday TV movies Hometown Christmas, Rock and Roll Christmas and Candy Cane Christmas. She also appeared in the 2021 thriller Uploaded and comedy thriller Blood Pageant.
The actress, who attended Loyola Marymount University while she was still on 7th Heaven, co-hosts the rewatch podcast Catching Up With the Camdens alongside Mackenzie Rosman and David Gallagher. She has three children with her husband, Michael Cameron.
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David Gallagher as Simon
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty Images A child actor and model from 18 months of age, Gallagher had a notable early credit in the talking-dog movie Look Who’s Talking Now, starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, and reunited with Travolta in Phenomenon (1996). On 7th Heaven, he won fans as Simon, the middle Camden child recognizable for his blond mop of hair. (These days, however, he sports a shaved head and beard.)
He left the show in 2003 to attend college and graduated with a degree in film and television studies from USC in 2007, though he did return part time during some of the later seasons. To deal with his absence from the series, Simon also went off to film school.
Gallagher has voiced the character Riku in numerous Kingdom Hearts films and video games. In 2007, he starred in The Picture of Dorian Gray, a modern take on the Oscar Wilde tale. He went on to appear on TV shows including CSI: Miami, Bones, Numb3rs, Smallville and The Vampire Diaries. He also had a minor part in J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 (2011), with his most recent TV credit in a 2020 episode of S.W.A.T.
Gallagher has two daughters and co-hosts Catching Up With the Camdens with Beverley Mitchell and Mackenzie Rosman.
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Mackenzie Rosman as Ruthie
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty Images Mackenzie Rosman started acting in commercials at the age of 4. In her role as Ruthie, the baby of the Camden family until the twins came along, viewers got the chance to see the young actress grow up. In the years that followed, Rossman continued to get roles, including in Proud American (2008), a drama about white supremacy; supernatural horror film Fading of the Cries (2008); and another horror film, The Tomb (2009), starring Wes Bentley.
After that, she appeared in four episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager and in 2013 was in another trio of horror films, including a starring role in vampire thriller Nightcomer. Outside of acting, she is an avid equestrian and supports the nonprofit CureFinders in honor of her stepsister, who lived with cystic fibrosis and appeared in an episode of 7th Heaven before her death in 2008.
Rosman now has a daughter and lives in Maryland. She co-hosts the Catching Up With the Camdens podcast.
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Lorenzo and Nikolas Brino as Sam and David
Image Credit: Spelling Prod./Courtesy Everett Collection Lorenzo and Nikolas Brino played the youngest Camdens, twins Sam and David. In real life, they’re not actually twins — they’re two of four quadruplets. In fact, their brother Zachary and sister Myrinda each made over a dozen appearances on the show when they were infants. None of the siblings continued acting after the show, except for Zachary, who appeared in two episodes of What About Brian, which — in a full-circle moment — starred Barry Watson. Lorenzo died in 2020 at age 21, in a car accident in Yucaipa, California.
