I don’t remember a lot about this show, but one thing that stood out for me was the casting of some disabled actors as recurring parts. Michael was a big advocate for the disabled and for disabled actors in particular. As a disabled person it was nice to see some representation.
Several of the writers for the show were disabled, years before the ADA. The episode "Aloha" tackles disability and AIDS in a way that was pretty revolutionary in 1988.
I specifically remember a Little House on the Prairie (an earlier Landon series) that featured a deaf girl and at one point switched to her viewpoint. Everyone else gathered around a wooden box in the front room, laughing and smiling while she sits on the steps in total silence (the audio was cut for the audience, too). Her whole existence was separate from other people. The family figured out she was deaf and some joined her in learning sign language. She is a witness to some emergency, and while her own family have dismissed her as dumb, the other kids are able to take her distress seriously and read her signs to get help where it was needed. This may have actually been The Waltons, but still a positive representation of disability during the late 70s television set in a time period where ableism often was how people survived (pioneer and mountain living during the Great Depression). Definitely LHOTP was when one of the daughters needs glasses and she goes from excitement of finally joining everyone else in seeing well to dealing with the prejudice of her classmates of being damaged and inferior wife material.
I also loved this episode with the blind girl and the young man who hid from society because of this huge birthmark on his face, who then was devastated when she told him she would be able to see soon, because he thought she then wouldn't love him anymore. If I'm remembering correctly, this was also one featuring the paraplegic lawyer who had several appearances.
I was in preschool from 1974-76, so 50 years ago. The preschool was run by the church my family attended, and my dad was even on the board of trustees for the preschool. My teachers didn't teach a bit of Christianity, and while the church was Congregationalist, but my classmates were Lutheran, Catholic, Jewish, Russian Orthodox and so on, as well as Congregationalist. The preschool was seen as a community good, for the community, run by one of the oldest churches in the community for the benefit of all of the residents. It is what America was at the time, when communities were communities and not multiple isolated cells of people who cannot stand difference within their cell. And it seemed to shift to the latter when the strain of evangelical Christianity that came to the forefront even as Landon was wrapping Little House on the Prairie and then making Highway to Heaven. And with their isolation in their megachurches, those folks seemed to decide that unless they didn't eliminate all other thought then they were losing God's Holy War. It's a message antithetical to the message in "The Silent Bell", and I think someone very much like Michael Landon would be appalled to see what's become of our discourse, and our loss of sense of community, in the last 30 years.
I grew up in a Congregational/United Church of Christ Church. It was then and is even more now a liberal, tolerant denomination. It allowed members to think for themselves to the point that I am no longer a believer.
I have a similar feeling about the Catholic elementary school I attended in the 80s. Yes, we had to go to Mass on Thursdays and had a religion class, unlike the public school kids, but many parents felt it was the best school in that small town. It was also expensive (even more expensive if you didn't belong to the Church), so we didn't have many non-Catholic classmates, but we had a few.
I'm the child of very conservative evangelicals, but my 1972 preschool was in a *UU church* and markedly similar to yours! It really was a different time at that time. My dad was teaching math at a small, experimental (secular) public high school that offered a roundtable discussion format. There really was this palpable communal spirit of cooperation in my environment that strongly imprinted on me (apart from the separatist dogma I was learning at my parents' conservative church) and helped me become the black-sheep bleeding-heart "commie" agnostic of the family. Ha.
That sounds a lot like the United Church of Canada, too. Four generations of my family (myself included) grew up in the United Church, and even though I'm a member of TST these days, I'm happy with the moral and ethical grounding that my family was grounded in. It was the first church in our country to allow gay clergy and gay marriage, and when I was growing up in a small town, our ministers were a Black man from Uganda and a woman, which was revolutionary in our area. I might not like Christianity much anymore, but I'm okay with that kind of open, progressive approach.
@thing_under_the_stairs At one point during my years of attending my childhood church, we had a Buddhist priest (monk?) and a Catholic priest speak during a regular church service. As part of my Sunday School class, I attended a Friday evening service at a Jewish synagogue. I was surprised to see one on my school's regular substitute teachers participate in the service. That's how much thought I gave to who was a "Christian" and who wasn't when I was growing up. I did know that there were more conservative Christian churches in my community and couldn't understand why those churches were so different from mine. Still can't figure that out.
My wife was talking about "Touched By an Angel", and she mentioned that it was basically the same as "Highway to Heaven", and I said, "Which was basically the same as 'The Incredible Hulk'". A dude wandering the land, meeting and helping new people each week, and convincing the bad guys of the error of their ways via glowing-Michael-Landon/green-Lou-Ferigno. Pretty much the same show.
@@marcraygun6290 🤣🤣🤣I took off in 2001 and never went home. The first couple of years I often had that 'every stop I make, I make a new friend, can't stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again' song in my head.
So was the original Macgyver and even Walker Texas Ranger. I watch these old shows from my childhood frequently… anti-racism messages, environmental concerns and Mac hated guns. But when we were growing up, no one was calling it Woke… it was clear who the good guys were and who the bad guys were…. Nowadays, people are trying to pass the villains off as heroes.
A few years back the right had a talking point about returning to Mayberry. I don’t think too many of them actually watched the Andy Griffith Show because that shows views on guns, feminism, activism, unions, actual personal responsibility and very secular point of view they would consider it toxic to their message. The Andy Griffith Show is one of the most “woke” shows of its time, and I love it
The introduction of the character of Andy Taylor, in an episode of _The Danny Thomas Show,_ titled “Danny meets Andy Griffith,” was also very class-conscious, and devoted a significant part of the script to pointing out how the legal system should work _equitably_ for rich and poor alike, and how that’s not always the same as ‘equally.’
I recently watched an episode where Andy is bested in a shooting competition by a woman he's dating, and when he realizes his attitude toward her and her shooting ability has been condescending, he good-naturedly apologizes to her. In fact, Sheriff Taylor pretty much always apologized to the people around him, whenever he realized he was in the wrong--something I expect many current conservatives would see as a weakness. To be honest, a lot of the male characters in those 50s/60s TV shows are way more progressive than I think many people remember.
The conservative ideal of the past is always delusional thinking and _never_ matches reality; they merely project what they want onto an imaginary past Golden Age and claim that we have fallen from it.
My mother (literally militant Christian) was a fan of "Highway to Heaven". So much so that she bought a VCR so she could watch it even if she wasn't home when it was broadcast. I was married and, as we were living close enough to be expected at Sunday dinner, I was employed to set up the recording. Also changing the clock on the TV and VCR twice every year my responsibility 😊 The only thing my father ever asked me to record was the funeral of Princess Diana. Being Scottish, that speaks volumes about how Diana was seen by the world 🌎 beyond Westminster. Tioraidh an-drasta 🏴
Had to always fix the clock after power outages too. I hated it when I did everything right to set the vcr to record something only to come home and find out there'd been a power outage.
I'm curious, what is the meaning of this gaelic phrase? The translators I tried didn't return anything intelligible and I couldn't find any results by searching for the term itself. Is it an anarchist slogan?
I hink most Scots (not all) are no fan of the UK Royal familly (which would incude Diana), so this supprises my, I'm English and a Replulican (support the UK transfer to a replublic and change from a "Subject" to be "Citizen", hate the Royal's, there should be no hereditary rules in the 21th Centry
@@daviddowsett1658 Glasgow Celtic fans: "If you hate the Royal Family, clap yer hands!" Glasgow Celtic fans: {clap clap} Glasgow Celtic fans: "If you hate the f'ing Tories, clap yer hands!" 90% of UK population: *{CLAP! CLAP!}*
I used to watch Highway to Heaven with my grandmother. When she passed many years later I discovered that she was an atheist. I was devastated that she had never shared this with me (also an atheist and the youngest of the family). During the pandemic I found this show on streaming and realized that it was the *message* (and quality) she liked and wanted to share with me. ❤
I remember watching this show with my best friend when we were growing up. His mother was Hindi, his father was an Atheist, and by then we were already leaning in that direction ourselves. To this day, when we talk about what's happened to the country, he'll bring up the version of god in Highway to Heaven. We wonder what happened to him - because despite ourselves, despite the cheese and the melodrama, that was one of the few versions of god we wished we could believe in.
That version is what took me so long to leave god belief behind. I was a Roman Catholic, so leaving the religion that sold indulgences wasn't that hard, but leaving the comfort of a warm fuzzy helper was HARD.
@@yippieskippy2971 I feel you. Even as a functional atheist, there are moments where I wish I could believe there was this absolute force for good working gently in the background. Heh, I still have a softspot for the genuinely kind and compassionate "boy scout" protagonists that some people find corny and cheesy. Ultimately, I concluded one of the dangers of that notion is if you believe in it, you are less likely to actually WORK towards that world. I think, sadly, a lot of us assumed that the "better angels" of peoples nature would win out, and the bigots and sociopaths took advantage of that assumption, slowly building a base over almost half a century. Nonetheless, that kind of unifying concept of good is one of the more lovely human inventions. One we took for granted. Now I miss that side of the conservative people I grew up with.
@@jasonschneider7224 it would be unwise to rely upon a being that may not exist. However there are forces for good working in the background - people do it all the time. You can too.
"I believe in God, I believe in family, I believe in truth between people, I believe in the power of love, I believe that we really are created in God’s image, that there is God in all of us." --Michael Landon
I believe in something but if god is really here why would he look like humans? Eoew! Ive always thought why would a god look like a human…..have humans lose all,their razors and nair and electrolysis and soap and u get what we really are, hairy, smelly unattractive apes that are in the,process of evolving….!😂
As someone who grew up in a Christian school and had a chaplain whom was incredibly open minded about different faiths and ethical values, he had copies of Richard Dawkins books on his shelves. I was kind of shocked when I left that school how intolerant people where.
True. And for as many times as I've heard the old canard that you couldn't make Blazing Saddles today because everyone's too offended by everything, I've never actually seen anyone younger rant about how offended they were by the movie. The vast majority of actual complaints about the movie's 'offensiveness' were at the time of its release, and came from older generations, who didn't appreciate its crudeness and vulgarity, and thought it was disrespectful to the Western genre. Which, back in their day, was a great sin. But by the 70s, Blazing Saddles was a gleeful nail in the coffin of the Western's box office dominance. The real reason you couldn't make Blazing Saddles today is because Westerns ain't shit anymore, so what would be the point? That horse has been dead for 50 years. Half of what makes Blazing Saddles a great send-up is that it was made at the right time.
@@jamesoblivion This is correct. You can't make blazing saddles today because it destroyed the white-washed western genre it was a satire of. Nothing in it is actually offensive and the jokes still mostly play today and when you watch it on TV they all exist.
"You couldn't make blazing saddles back than either." - Mel Brooks And he's not kidding Warner Brothers kept trying to pull the plug on the film to the point Richard Pryor put his own money on the line twice for production and to pay for distribution of the film.
I still remember a line where he responds to someone saying dogs are man's best friend with "you'd think Man's best friend would be Man." I don't remember much of the show, but that has sat with me for over 30 years.
Only watched the show a few times, but Michael Landon was also the show runner for Little House on the Prarie, which was also woke as hell. As a young Jewish kid, I remember the anti-antisemitism episode in particular. The term "show runner" wasn't a thing yet, but he starred in, wrote, directed, and executive produced both shows after getting some chops from writing and directing some episodes of Bonanza.
@@DeathBYDesign666 Yep. I'm old. We watched the show as it aired. I even remember the short-lived series "Hell Town" that ran in the spot after it for about half a season (mostly because my Dad collectively referred to both shows as "Highway to Helltown")
I remember both loving this show as a kid and hearing my (right wing evangelical) parents endlessly excoriate Michael Landon for being an atheist and the show for being anti Christian. It's a shame we were already in the extremist backlash by the time this show aired, because it really was a good show
My wife runs a Jewish pre-school. The other day, a Chinese family asked if it was OK to enroll their non-Jewish child. My wife said "Of course it is, I'm Catholic." They teach Jewish traditions and holidays in the school, but they don't indoctrinate the children. You don't have to be Jewish. And, as is required by law, they are an equal opportunity employer. Neither my wife and nor her former co-director are Jewish, but they both have a lot of experience providing Jewish education and just really good quality education period.
@tobe1207 There's a flip side to that. The religion is deeply xenophobic. Like any religion, since most people are nice, most Jews ignore those aspects and will, for example, literally refuse to mix fabrics instead of the metaphor of refusing to mix with other peoples. But like most religions, the fundamentalists are pretty terrible and it leads to things like the genocide in Gaza right now. In practice, it's no better or worse than any other religion, most people are good, fundamentalists are bad. But each religion has its own flavor of what the fundamentalists do and say and that's the flavor in Judaism.
There's a hoidy toidy Catholic high school in the Southeast that was founded and run by a Jesuit priest who preached welcoming all and a high quality education. After the priest retired, the rich donor parents took over and religious bullying became rampant, the library suddenly had no books, and the drama department went downhill big time.
I remember this show. I grew up a big Michael Landon fan. I grew up on reruns of Bonanza, watched all the Little House of the Prairie shows and then Highway to Heaven. It was shortly after the show ended that Michael Landon died. I did cry. But the one thing about the two characters on Little House and Highway that he played was they both fought for what was fair and what was right. That has stuck with me and I can still remember episodes of both shows that helped with my formation as a person who tries to fight for what is fair and what is right. Thanks for the nice memory, Steve.
I did not like Bonanza, I would leave the room as soon as I heard that theme music. I don't the cook Hop Sing was treated with respect, it would probably be seen as racist today.
I would describe this show as The Littlest Hobo, but with an angel instead of a dog. "There's a voice that keeps on calling me..." There, I just got the theme song stuck in many people's heads. Ha ha ha ha ha!
I believe that if people like Michael Landon and Fred Rogers were around today, they wouldn't be Republican. The Republican party has gone so much further to the right in recent decades. I read that Michael Landon insisted on hiring disabled actors and writers on Highway to Heaven, because he wanted to give them the opportunity to tell their own stories, and he believed disabled people deserved to see themselves represented in the media. That was 40 years ago, yet many people still haven't learned that lesson and consider disability representation to be "woke nonsense".
@@asmith8692 I hate it when the Republicans say "We ended slavery." No, Abe Lincoln and his contemporaries ended slavery. What did THEY (the modern Republicans) do?
Random thought- even back then it seemed pretty wild to me that two adult men with no permanent address could get jobs at a school and work directly with kids. I know that was the magic of the premise at work, but it did lead to some pretty insanely reckless decisions.
I think that's where Touched by an Angel might have an advantage cause all the regulars were angels so it's a bit easier to believe their paperwork could be miracled and not leave a really weird paper trail that the human buddy here might. Also the fact that Michael Landon's character was a deceased human IIRC, where Touched by an Angel had angels as a seperate class of being.
Oh yeah, and I was browsing a Readers Digest someone left for all to read at work on lunch break if they wanted to. The Dalai Lama was featured and was asked, "Whats the best religion?" The Dalai Lama replied "The purpose of all religions is to educate people on how to be better humans". So the Lama was saying imo, stop using religion for hate. Its there for you to read and examine yourself so you can become a kinder human being.
If you were to tell them that, they would vehemently deny it with deflection by arguing that they always have. Personally, the only times I’ve seen them act caring is amongst their tribe at church. Other times, they’ll selectively do so in public when called on the spot. Otherwise, they spend more time being terminally online writing d**kish stuff to stick it to other people about their political beliefs or just try to harass other users on occasion. I guess that’s the old “if you’re not with us you’re against us” logic at work or just being a playin bad person.
Total bullshit. Christians give more to charity than any other demographic. What MAGA opposes is taking from one person to give to another because it's good to care and love. What MAGA opposes is being forced to support what Christians find immoral. And don't tell me that discriminating between moral and immoral isn't Christian.
We used to watch this show in the late 80s/early 90s as a family. It was a lovely show, gentle, kind and inclusive. I rewatched a few episodes last year, and pleasantly surprised how good it was. Johnathan and Mark were what Christians are supposed to strive to be: Kind, compassionate and inclusive. Not narrow-minded and intolerant. I'm also atheist.
Except they were not. While Mark's character was a none practicing Christian, Johnathan's backstory had him being Jewish when he was alive. As an angle he was beyond religion, taking on the role of a priest, minister, or rabbi when needed in different episodes.
I have some acquaintances on the right who insist All in the Family was taken off the air because it was too racist. And I'm like, Nooo, it was anti-racist satire, was very popular and ran for many seasons, and had spin-offs. And they will not listen to me at all. They weren't even there at the time, like I was, and they didn't watch it. But somewhere along the line, this story has been told that it was too racist and taken off the air for it, and people just believe it. The kinds of misinformation people have these days blows my mind. It wasn't even that long ago, and it's gotten twisted.
I have heard several conservative acquaintances declare that we need Archie Bunker back on TV because he "Told it like it is.". They thought that those shows were supporting them. Like how some of them thought the Colbert Report was genuine.
I am a 45 year old Atheist who grew up watching this show. Even though I never believed in the cult stuff, I always understood and learned from the moral lessons.
One thing I liked about Highway to Heaven was that while there was a God, as shown by some magic that Jonathan did throughout the series, it never favored any one religion.
it was also wonderful that as an 'angel' there was sort of a rule book (on and off again though it was because sometimes 'the stuff' was needed to move the story forward) and Jonathan would never use 'the stuff' egregiously ... if the show were made today ive no doubt it would star Misha Collins as the 'fallen angel' but because 'reasons' he would use his angelic powers and influence at least 3 times an episode -- thus totally missing the entire point
He may have been a Republican but he did an episode that showed the consequences of climate change. He seemed to genuinely care about people, animals and this planet.
Being a Republican in those years (and even now) was different than what one currently see as typically Republican. Nowadays the term Trumpist could be more appropriate.
The majority of Republicans of the 70s and 80s were basically a different party than they became post-George Bush Jr. ( and by that I just mean the date, not commenting on Bush Jr himself )
@@MurderMostFowlYeah I was born in 79 and I remember political disagreements back in the day. They were civil for the most part, they may of become heated but didn't devolve into shouting matches. Back then families and neighbors didn't see each other as enemies because of political disagreements.
1989 would have been right at the time when my mom decided to homeschool me. I remember suggesting that we watched this show, and she was against it, now I know why 😢
I see this dynamic every time conservatives bring up Blazing Saddles as one of the reasons "they don't get offended." I love to point out to them that, if that movie came out today, they'd be crying on the internet about how it is DEI: The Movie. Hell, Gene Wilder directed one of the most famous lines of the movie at white rural conservatives. “You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know-morons.”
Yes, BLAZING SADDLES *in 1974* presents racism as overtly bad and racists as overtly evil or just plain idiots. Today's BLAZING SADDLES would also likely feature Jinx Monsoon as the new sheriff/schoolteacher.
The show is even free to watch officially on UA-cam (all 5 seasons) the ad thing between the video window and the comments does take you to it, but click the "ways to watch" dropdown and make sure "free" is selected so you're not having to sign up for some unnecessary trial.
right wing weirdos: "this Jesus guy seems pretty woke, are we sure about him? is he Mexican?" "can we focus on the old testament please? tired of this woke shit"
Michael Landon was one of my mom's favorite actors, and we both loved this show. I still remember it fondly, even though I've been an atheist for many years now. I specifically remember an episode about a young girl who was overweight tutoring a jock she was into, and his girlfriend inviting her to a party and humiliating her. Being pudgy myself, this one really hit me and has stayed with me for forty years. This really was a great show.
it does seem that all those shows with all those messages still didn't stop things, but maybe did slow them down, and i hope give a "blue print" of what could be.
Beautiful video. I miss the 80s. It really goes to show that the current divisions in our society, while reflecting, ancient points of view and enmities, Are actually quite new and recent in their current forms. So sad.
Excellent. Thank you. I enjoyed Highway to Heaven, but unfortunately at the time I was a workaholic and missed many episodes. It's good to know that I can watch them again now. It's also good that even now there are some Christian (and other) churches that value diversity and are inclusive of everyone of any faith, gender, orientation, etc.
The only thing about the show I remember was a scene that was rare for the series in that there was explicit violence in the form of a group of murderers that Jonathan, for once, went angel of wrath on. He did the "no-selling being shot" trope, tossing people around the room and catching a punch so hard it broke the guy's wrist.
That was one of my favorite episodes, because it showed what he COULD have done at any time, but always tried to choose a path where people changed their own minds. It was also a reminder that God and Jesus in the Bible occasionally went whoop-ass on the incorrigible. 😆
I just saw that episode! Season 1, Episode 14, Plane Death. I believe the group in question was a gang of drug smugglers, their leader was the murderer. He shot a cop friend of Mark Gordon's because he found cocaine in a crashed model plane being used to smuggle it.
My mother would get annoyed at me for watching the show, she would call me a hypocrite for watching it because i am an atheist. She hasnt spoken to me since my early 20's. She sent me a text once to tell me to apologise to her before she would attend her own mothers funeral, i refused to do so, nothing to apologise for, she refused to attend the funeral, i think she needed to learn a lot more from the show than i did. It was a wonderful show and i loved how they included a part of the show into a film called Almost an Angel starring Paul Hogan. Loved that film as well. Glad you did a review of this show.
I am always shocked when warm, helpful, open-minded, and woke individuals I meet turn out to be Christians! Like, stunned, blank faced surprise. Because I went to high-school in the Bible Belt, and Christians broke three of my Queer friend's ribs, Christians fought to get our drama club disbanded for performing a play about the Holocaust, Christians were my bullies. My abusive narcissistic grandma was Christian. So, I am ALWAYS surprised to find out my supportive, kind, diversity loving and art enjoying friends are Christians. Because I'm 44 years old and STILL not prepared for Christians who ACTUALLY ACT LIKE CHRIST.
I was a jaded teen growing up in the Bible-belt when this show aired. May parents loved it. I hated it at the time because it embodied everything the Christians around me pretended to believe, but very clearly did not practice. It was what I wished Christianity was, but was a reminder of what it wasn't.
This entire television series resonates today, because it discussed things that matter. I am a serving as a Deacon at the First Parish Congregational Church here in Derry, New Hampshire. Our church is VERY WOKE, and a pillar of the Community. We are "OPEN & AFFIRMING" and accept "EVERYBODY". I am physically and developmentally disabled. Cerebral Palsy and Autism. Unfortunately, our church is a "target" for those who are filled to overflowing with hate. The same with the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration here in Derry which is also VERY WOKE and "OPEN & AFFIRMING". As a person, Actor Michael Landon, was himself extremely WOKE. It also showed 2 decades before when he starred on BONANZA with Canadian Actor, Lorne Greene, who by today's standards was also quite WOKE in real life.
Episcopalian here. I’m afraid Christian traditions like ours have been largely erased from the public consciousness when it comes to politics and understanding of what Christianity looks like. There’s no concept that inclusion and progressive values are championed by many faithful people. I put a lot of blame on the Mainline’s inability to change over the years. However, Progressive religious people get erased from media as a matter of course. Or their faith is repressed as a reason for their progressive values. Christian movements and theology championed progressive causes. It’s normative in Christian thought to think about expanding rights and respecting humanity. However that doesn’t fit a narrative that supports conservatism. And frankly secular progressives sometimes don’t know what to do with it.
Not all Christians theology or thought - obviously. But a lot of it. Just thinking out loud about examples - Quakers, some Church Fathers, and obviously Jesus, really pushed radical ideas for their times. Evangelicals and many American Christians portray a flat, hollow understanding of Christian thought and tradition, and sadly secular society seems to assume their right. I mean google the Public Universal Friend or read Tolstoy’s Christian Anarchy book The Kingdom of Heaven is Within you. Those things count just as much (and id argue more!) than what places like Liberty University represent.
I liked that show. It never really felt preachy, even though it was religious. This reminds me of the DS9 episode that introduced Vedek Winn, only better. I went and looked up Michael Landon s background and Wikipedia wasn't specific but he seemed pretty non-denominational as an adult.
The book I read about Michael Landon's life when I was a teenager said that his dad was Jewish and his mom was Catholic. He wasn't raised in a happy home, unfortunately.
I'm a muslim in a muslim-majority country (like ~40%, not the supermajority), and this episode of this show basically encapsulates my entire view of things. Education, dialogue, and respect is where we lead to good, not sectarianism and hatred.
My mom always had this show, and Little House on the Prairie, on repeat in my home. It’s nice to see it examined, I haven’t seen anyone talk about it in a long time.
I am German and was an exchange student to an American high school in 1999. All ethnicities were equally accepted and represented among groups of friends. In that time, for a short period of time, from my personal experience it truly didn't matter what color of skin or religious belief you had: the only thing that mattered was your character ( and among teenagers your taste in music). I feel it's a big tragedy that nowadays we have a greater division between the ethnic groups than 26 years ago.
When I was at school, we had religious studies. The Teacher who taught us was way ahead of his time and was open to talking about non Christian material, like Jewish, Islam and Buddhism... It opened my eyes to understanding others and not to be ignorant to the cause of others👍
Thank you for your views on H2H. My father was Victor French and played Mark Gordon. I was his photo-double and stand-in. I loved the Values presented in H2H. You are right that the haters would explode if they tried to make it today. This makes me sad. Micheal Landon was a brilliant man and he knew what families needed and wanted to see. I am also happy that it is still is on reruns.
Loved your father as both an actor and director. I actually think the French directed episodes were my favorites. Not to take away from Landon, but your father had a subtle hand I appreciate.
@@victorfrench6181 To be honest, I think he was a better director than an actor. I do know if it was type casting or not, but all his characters just seemed to be one of three archetypes. The gruff bad guy, the guff good guy, and the gruff bad guy who was secretly a good guy. Both on H2H and Little House the episodes he directed always stood out. Especially the post series movies for Little House. I was surprised to find out he also directed my favorite episode of the second season of Buck Rogers. the second season of that show was a mess, not nearly as good as the first season, but Satyr was as good or better than any of the first season episodes. I didn't know your father directed it until I came across an essay by Glenn Larson of talking about his favorite episodes, and he mentioned Satyr. Apparently he wanted your dad to direct some episodes for some of his other shows but the timing never worked out. In the essay Larson commented it was shame that he spent so much time in front of the camera, because he was so good behind it.
This is one of my granny's favorite shows. Whenever I 'd come to visit her the TV would always have this show on as well as In The Heat of The Night. My mom and I would take her out to lunch but she'd always want to get home in time to watch one of her favorite shows. BTW, did any of you have grandparents who kept the TV on a lot but kept it muted most of the time? Or is it just my grandparents? I really want to know.😅😂
People can criticize the '80s a lot, and rightfully so, but a hell of a lot of '80s television was very progressive. I was rewatching the whole Quantum Leap series recently (on physical media so I could enjoy the real theme song) and that show was woke AF. I love it.
@ShinmaWa1 Oh yeah, you always knew there were going to be some heavy topics in an episode if the opening ad tagline was, "On a very special episode..."
This happoned to the preschool my mother taught at when a new pastor was hired at the church that hosted and rented to the space to her preschool for 30 years. Eventually they were thrown out but found a great new home that wasn’t to far away from the old church. This church was happy to have a preschool again renting the unused spaces they had. Never the same but in the end it worked out thankfully
As a Christian, these are the kinds of Christian stories that I want to see. We have a responsibility to unmask the hateful grifters who want to use religion as a tool to oppress and divide and enrich themselves. Everyone should have freedom of and freedom from religion. Humans are (like you said) incredibly diverse and that should be seen as a strength instead of an obstacle
I love that you put out this message! We have a HUGE DVD collection of movies and TV shows, including Highway To Heaven! There is a definite plus to the "old" stuff. ❤💙
My mum used to love this show, I would groan and watch along.Now and then I would catch a worthwhile message from the show, my mum just liked watching something that had a little hope, it also made me love A’s caps for life. 22 years without her and this made me tear up instantly. Thanks Steve.
I love that you covered this. I mean, it helps that we are roughly the same age and probably grew up watching the same things on our 2-4 available channels. Love your vids. (humming the H2H theme)
I grew up watching Highway to heaven. Over a 30+ year difference I got to see how the reactions of conservatives changed from when I watched these shows with my dad and then when grandpa watched them with my daughter. He would react to different scenes VERY differently. He went from almost unconditional support of Michael's characters to uncomfortable or vocally disagreeing. A lot changed. I blame a large part of it on bad men taking places of leadership and influential places in the church and using their positions to influence people for the change. Not enough good people like in "The Bell" stood up to oppose them. Their messages spread, through radio. Books, and all other media until it became the norm. My dad was a good man, he taught me to do good for the sake of doing good and not so you can boast about it. To be honorable even when noone else would know. My dad became lost over time. I'm lucky he came back even for a few years before he died when he stopped listening to church media. I'm sad for the years where the good man I knew was gone.
I think we were lucky ones. My late husband had started coming back the year before he was diagnosed with fast fatal cancer. He had become a Fox guy.😣 As he spent more time actually living WITH us, instead of in the hate filled tv "news", he came back, conversations were had, relations were mended and we had a good last year.
@yippieskippy2971 I think you may be right. With my dad it was pulmonary fibrosis. It's a shame that it took terminal illnesses to bring them back to us.
Steve. I want your take on Northern Exposure. I loved that show. Loved Highway to Heaven as well. Made me cry on numerous occasions. Waaaaay better than Touched by an Angel. imho
I was so into Northern Exposure back in the day! Janine Turner is a Christian libertarian trump supporter, last I checked, so it might be interesting for Steve to take a dive into that. She said she thinks you can't get work in Hollywood if you don't "toe the line" and say you're a leftist.
Thank you for this. I was a toddler when this show was on the air. I'm so glad to learn of it now. I'll be asking my dad about his recollection of it. I really like the wide range you have with your content. As a TNG trekkie by birth... I humble myself before thy vast knowledge of what seems like... everything, lol. ❤😅
I always thought Highway To Heaven was really a modern era continuation of Little House On The Prairie, especially since Victor French had also appeared as a regular cast member on Little House On The Prairie. Most of what was on Little House On The Prairie had little to do with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, but instead were episodic morality plays about right and wrong.
I don't remember this show, and I have a very Christian mother. But after this essay, I can see exactly why we didn't watch it. She's the sort of Christian who would be outraged by the religious diversity at the school. If there were too many episodes with messages like that... the show would not be on our watch list.
Oh, man, I remember ths episode. There was a scene from another episode that's lived rent-free in my head since the evening I saw it. A woman is struggling with an unexpected pregnancy and ultimately decides to keep the baby. When asked, "I thought you were pro-choice?" she replies, "I am. And I just made a choice."
That point at 7:30 is what cracked the ice on my faith. I was brought up to believe that my group was incredibly lucky to be blessed with the truth of who god is and what he wants. Everyone else had it wrong. So many of us have moved on in a less pluralistic way than this show resolved it
Interesting note about the show: It doesn't have a proper finale. They shot 13 episodes of season five. It as at that point with a writers strike in progress that those shows would be the final season. The final episodes were aired in a bit of a haphazard manner. The finale new episode, a Christmas themed show, aired in August of 1989. Unfortunately, Victor French, "Mark Gordon", died in June of 89. Michael Landon died in 1991. This made a having a proper send off episode or tv movie impossible.
Oh, I didn't know the original title. In Germany it is called "an angel on earth". I loved this show very much that time. I made a little rewatch some months ago, special fun with discovering actors in their early years.
When I was a kid, I watched this with my family, and I still watch it on dvd. My favorite guest star was Eddie Albert: he played Senator Fritz "Corky" McCorkindale.
Great episode sir. Also it was funny to me that you basically almost quoted Babylon 5 with the reflection in a mirror bit. A huge B5 fan, and I might give this show a shot. Take care.
That series taught me more about being a good person than Catholic school ever did. I pretty much already was an Atheist back then, but I still loved watching those two change the world one fragile and yet strong heart after the other. And yes ... back then there was no outcry, because the messages delivered were pretty universally considered "common sense" ... ❤
Sir, I would encourage you to listen to the podcast Behind the Bastards and very specifically to the Rush Limbaugh episodes. This might help explain what happened to the American Discourse. Also, I don't remember any specific episodes but I remember really liking this show when it was airing, though it wasn't a must-watch for me. Perhaps it helped inform my development, and that's one of the things that art like this is for. I'm definitely not of the Christian faith, but I appreciate the aspirations that apparently too many folks choose to ignore.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I don’t remember a lot about this show, but one thing that stood out for me was the casting of some disabled actors as recurring parts. Michael was a big advocate for the disabled and for disabled actors in particular.
As a disabled person it was nice to see some representation.
Several of the writers for the show were disabled, years before the ADA. The episode "Aloha" tackles disability and AIDS in a way that was pretty revolutionary in 1988.
I did not know this, many thanks.
Like James Troesh as Scott.
I specifically remember a Little House on the Prairie (an earlier Landon series) that featured a deaf girl and at one point switched to her viewpoint. Everyone else gathered around a wooden box in the front room, laughing and smiling while she sits on the steps in total silence (the audio was cut for the audience, too). Her whole existence was separate from other people.
The family figured out she was deaf and some joined her in learning sign language. She is a witness to some emergency, and while her own family have dismissed her as dumb, the other kids are able to take her distress seriously and read her signs to get help where it was needed.
This may have actually been The Waltons, but still a positive representation of disability during the late 70s television set in a time period where ableism often was how people survived (pioneer and mountain living during the Great Depression).
Definitely LHOTP was when one of the daughters needs glasses and she goes from excitement of finally joining everyone else in seeing well to dealing with the prejudice of her classmates of being damaged and inferior wife material.
I also loved this episode with the blind girl and the young man who hid from society because of this huge birthmark on his face, who then was devastated when she told him she would be able to see soon, because he thought she then wouldn't love him anymore. If I'm remembering correctly, this was also one featuring the paraplegic lawyer who had several appearances.
I was in preschool from 1974-76, so 50 years ago. The preschool was run by the church my family attended, and my dad was even on the board of trustees for the preschool. My teachers didn't teach a bit of Christianity, and while the church was Congregationalist, but my classmates were Lutheran, Catholic, Jewish, Russian Orthodox and so on, as well as Congregationalist. The preschool was seen as a community good, for the community, run by one of the oldest churches in the community for the benefit of all of the residents. It is what America was at the time, when communities were communities and not multiple isolated cells of people who cannot stand difference within their cell. And it seemed to shift to the latter when the strain of evangelical Christianity that came to the forefront even as Landon was wrapping Little House on the Prairie and then making Highway to Heaven. And with their isolation in their megachurches, those folks seemed to decide that unless they didn't eliminate all other thought then they were losing God's Holy War. It's a message antithetical to the message in "The Silent Bell", and I think someone very much like Michael Landon would be appalled to see what's become of our discourse, and our loss of sense of community, in the last 30 years.
I grew up in a Congregational/United Church of Christ Church. It was then and is even more now a liberal, tolerant denomination. It allowed members to think for themselves to the point that I am no longer a believer.
I have a similar feeling about the Catholic elementary school I attended in the 80s. Yes, we had to go to Mass on Thursdays and had a religion class, unlike the public school kids, but many parents felt it was the best school in that small town. It was also expensive (even more expensive if you didn't belong to the Church), so we didn't have many non-Catholic classmates, but we had a few.
I'm the child of very conservative evangelicals, but my 1972 preschool was in a *UU church* and markedly similar to yours! It really was a different time at that time. My dad was teaching math at a small, experimental (secular) public high school that offered a roundtable discussion format. There really was this palpable communal spirit of cooperation in my environment that strongly imprinted on me (apart from the separatist dogma I was learning at my parents' conservative church) and helped me become the black-sheep bleeding-heart "commie" agnostic of the family. Ha.
That sounds a lot like the United Church of Canada, too. Four generations of my family (myself included) grew up in the United Church, and even though I'm a member of TST these days, I'm happy with the moral and ethical grounding that my family was grounded in. It was the first church in our country to allow gay clergy and gay marriage, and when I was growing up in a small town, our ministers were a Black man from Uganda and a woman, which was revolutionary in our area. I might not like Christianity much anymore, but I'm okay with that kind of open, progressive approach.
@thing_under_the_stairs At one point during my years of attending my childhood church, we had a Buddhist priest (monk?) and a Catholic priest speak during a regular church service. As part of my Sunday School class, I attended a Friday evening service at a Jewish synagogue. I was surprised to see one on my school's regular substitute teachers participate in the service. That's how much thought I gave to who was a "Christian" and who wasn't when I was growing up. I did know that there were more conservative Christian churches in my community and couldn't understand why those churches were so different from mine. Still can't figure that out.
My wife was talking about "Touched By an Angel", and she mentioned that it was basically the same as "Highway to Heaven", and I said, "Which was basically the same as 'The Incredible Hulk'".
A dude wandering the land, meeting and helping new people each week, and convincing the bad guys of the error of their ways via glowing-Michael-Landon/green-Lou-Ferigno.
Pretty much the same show.
Same similarity with "Quantum Leap"
Also a bunch of other permutations.
The Fugitive, Quantum Leap, even The Littlest Hobo...
Damn you@@ShaunWGibsonI was about to say littlest Hobo...well maybe tomorrow
@@marcraygun6290 🤣🤣🤣I took off in 2001 and never went home. The first couple of years I often had that 'every stop I make, I make a new friend, can't stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again' song in my head.
So was the original Macgyver and even Walker Texas Ranger. I watch these old shows from my childhood frequently… anti-racism messages, environmental concerns and Mac hated guns. But when we were growing up, no one was calling it Woke… it was clear who the good guys were and who the bad guys were…. Nowadays, people are trying to pass the villains off as heroes.
Mac loved making bombs though, That always amused me. Very cool character though.
I thought MacGyver wasn't real, I mean his stunts, and abilities. I didn't notice any messages.
Been watching MacGuyver on H&I on TV I love that show.
It was propaganda!
It's about, context.
A few years back the right had a talking point about returning to Mayberry. I don’t think too many of them actually watched the Andy Griffith Show because that shows views on guns, feminism, activism, unions, actual personal responsibility and very secular point of view they would consider it toxic to their message. The Andy Griffith Show is one of the most “woke” shows of its time, and I love it
"I wouldn't want someone to fear a gun but respect me as a person."
The introduction of the character of Andy Taylor, in an episode of _The Danny Thomas Show,_ titled “Danny meets Andy Griffith,” was also very class-conscious, and devoted a significant part of the script to pointing out how the legal system should work _equitably_ for rich and poor alike, and how that’s not always the same as ‘equally.’
I recently watched an episode where Andy is bested in a shooting competition by a woman he's dating, and when he realizes his attitude toward her and her shooting ability has been condescending, he good-naturedly apologizes to her. In fact, Sheriff Taylor pretty much always apologized to the people around him, whenever he realized he was in the wrong--something I expect many current conservatives would see as a weakness. To be honest, a lot of the male characters in those 50s/60s TV shows are way more progressive than I think many people remember.
"Barney, no. We're going to act like responsible adults, not an ACAB meme"
^literally once an episode
The conservative ideal of the past is always delusional thinking and _never_ matches reality; they merely project what they want onto an imaginary past Golden Age and claim that we have fallen from it.
My mother (literally militant Christian) was a fan of "Highway to Heaven". So much so that she bought a VCR so she could watch it even if she wasn't home when it was broadcast.
I was married and, as we were living close enough to be expected at Sunday dinner, I was employed to set up the recording. Also changing the clock on the TV and VCR twice every year my responsibility 😊
The only thing my father ever asked me to record was the funeral of Princess Diana. Being Scottish, that speaks volumes about how Diana was seen by the world 🌎 beyond Westminster.
Tioraidh an-drasta 🏴
Had to always fix the clock after power outages too.
I hated it when I did everything right to set the vcr to record something only to come home and find out there'd been a power outage.
I'm curious, what is the meaning of this gaelic phrase? The translators I tried didn't return anything intelligible and I couldn't find any results by searching for the term itself. Is it an anarchist slogan?
@@__-vb3ht It's pronounced "Cheery and Rasta." It's "Cheerio," "Goodbye for now."
I hink most Scots (not all) are no fan of the UK Royal familly (which would incude Diana), so this supprises my, I'm English and a Replulican (support the UK transfer to a replublic and change from a "Subject" to be "Citizen", hate the Royal's, there should be no hereditary rules in the 21th Centry
@@daviddowsett1658 Glasgow Celtic fans: "If you hate the Royal Family, clap yer hands!"
Glasgow Celtic fans: {clap clap}
Glasgow Celtic fans: "If you hate the f'ing Tories, clap yer hands!"
90% of UK population: *{CLAP! CLAP!}*
I used to watch Highway to Heaven with my grandmother. When she passed many years later I discovered that she was an atheist. I was devastated that she had never shared this with me (also an atheist and the youngest of the family). During the pandemic I found this show on streaming and realized that it was the *message* (and quality) she liked and wanted to share with me. ❤
I remember watching this show with my best friend when we were growing up. His mother was Hindi, his father was an Atheist, and by then we were already leaning in that direction ourselves. To this day, when we talk about what's happened to the country, he'll bring up the version of god in Highway to Heaven. We wonder what happened to him - because despite ourselves, despite the cheese and the melodrama, that was one of the few versions of god we wished we could believe in.
That version is what took me so long to leave god belief behind. I was a Roman Catholic, so leaving the religion that sold indulgences wasn't that hard, but leaving the comfort of a warm fuzzy helper was HARD.
@@yippieskippy2971 I feel you. Even as a functional atheist, there are moments where I wish I could believe there was this absolute force for good working gently in the background. Heh, I still have a softspot for the genuinely kind and compassionate "boy scout" protagonists that some people find corny and cheesy.
Ultimately, I concluded one of the dangers of that notion is if you believe in it, you are less likely to actually WORK towards that world. I think, sadly, a lot of us assumed that the "better angels" of peoples nature would win out, and the bigots and sociopaths took advantage of that assumption, slowly building a base over almost half a century.
Nonetheless, that kind of unifying concept of good is one of the more lovely human inventions. One we took for granted. Now I miss that side of the conservative people I grew up with.
@@yippieskippy2971 I can relate to your experience. Thank you for posting this.
@@jasonschneider7224 it would be unwise to rely upon a being that may not exist. However there are forces for good working in the background - people do it all the time. You can too.
"I believe in God, I believe in family, I believe in truth between people, I believe in the power of love, I believe that we really are created in God’s image, that there is God in all of us." --Michael Landon
Beautiful quote, Landon was a truly decent man
I believe in something but if god is really here why would he look like humans? Eoew! Ive always thought why would a god look like a human…..have humans lose all,their razors and nair and electrolysis and soap and u get what we really are, hairy, smelly unattractive apes that are in the,process of evolving….!😂
As someone who grew up in a Christian school and had a chaplain whom was incredibly open minded about different faiths and ethical values, he had copies of Richard Dawkins books on his shelves. I was kind of shocked when I left that school how intolerant people where.
They say you couldn't make "Blazing Saddles" today when in reality you couldn't make this show today anymore.
Love Mel Brooks
True. And for as many times as I've heard the old canard that you couldn't make Blazing Saddles today because everyone's too offended by everything, I've never actually seen anyone younger rant about how offended they were by the movie. The vast majority of actual complaints about the movie's 'offensiveness' were at the time of its release, and came from older generations, who didn't appreciate its crudeness and vulgarity, and thought it was disrespectful to the Western genre. Which, back in their day, was a great sin.
But by the 70s, Blazing Saddles was a gleeful nail in the coffin of the Western's box office dominance. The real reason you couldn't make Blazing Saddles today is because Westerns ain't shit anymore, so what would be the point? That horse has been dead for 50 years. Half of what makes Blazing Saddles a great send-up is that it was made at the right time.
@@jamesoblivion
This is correct. You can't make blazing saddles today because it destroyed the white-washed western genre it was a satire of.
Nothing in it is actually offensive and the jokes still mostly play today and when you watch it on TV they all exist.
"You couldn't make blazing saddles back than either." - Mel Brooks
And he's not kidding Warner Brothers kept trying to pull the plug on the film to the point Richard Pryor put his own money on the line twice for production and to pay for distribution of the film.
Let's be honest, this is mostly repeated by people who believe that the humor in BS lay in the liberal use of the n-word.
I still remember a line where he responds to someone saying dogs are man's best friend with "you'd think Man's best friend would be Man." I don't remember much of the show, but that has sat with me for over 30 years.
Only watched the show a few times, but Michael Landon was also the show runner for Little House on the Prarie, which was also woke as hell. As a young Jewish kid, I remember the anti-antisemitism episode in particular.
The term "show runner" wasn't a thing yet, but he starred in, wrote, directed, and executive produced both shows after getting some chops from writing and directing some episodes of Bonanza.
My brother loves that show and still talks about it (he has Down Syndrome). Poor dude was so sad when Michael Landon died.
Damn how long has it been now? Didn't he die in the early 90s?
@@DeathBYDesign666 Jon-Erik Hexum died in 1984 and I'm still not over it.
@@DoloresLehmann That was such a sad shock. Having said that, I'm still not over the news of the death of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake 😭
@@DeathBYDesign666 Yep. I'm old. We watched the show as it aired. I even remember the short-lived series "Hell Town" that ran in the spot after it for about half a season (mostly because my Dad collectively referred to both shows as "Highway to Helltown")
Michael Landon was a national treasure.
Dang, having grown up on Star Trek, Quantum Leap, and Highway to Heaven, my current political beliefs make a lot more sense.
You just gave me a nirvana moment. Thx for that. 🤙🖖
Sprinkle in some little house on the prairie, smurfs, and anything Jim Henson did(fraggles). You have a complete picture of my political views.
@@thomassmolinski5733 yep, absolutely!
you're right! This makes so much sense now.
But how did some people manage to ignore or completely misinterpret the lessons?
As an Atheist, if Steve talks positively about a Christian TV show, I sit up, shut up, and listen.
Ditto....
Still a Christian, but ditto.
Anyone can stand up for decency, and it's always good to have these reminders
As you and everyone else should. 😊
I remember both loving this show as a kid and hearing my (right wing evangelical) parents endlessly excoriate Michael Landon for being an atheist and the show for being anti Christian. It's a shame we were already in the extremist backlash by the time this show aired, because it really was a good show
My wife runs a Jewish pre-school. The other day, a Chinese family asked if it was OK to enroll their non-Jewish child. My wife said "Of course it is, I'm Catholic."
They teach Jewish traditions and holidays in the school, but they don't indoctrinate the children. You don't have to be Jewish. And, as is required by law, they are an equal opportunity employer. Neither my wife and nor her former co-director are Jewish, but they both have a lot of experience providing Jewish education and just really good quality education period.
@tobe1207 There's a flip side to that. The religion is deeply xenophobic. Like any religion, since most people are nice, most Jews ignore those aspects and will, for example, literally refuse to mix fabrics instead of the metaphor of refusing to mix with other peoples. But like most religions, the fundamentalists are pretty terrible and it leads to things like the genocide in Gaza right now. In practice, it's no better or worse than any other religion, most people are good, fundamentalists are bad. But each religion has its own flavor of what the fundamentalists do and say and that's the flavor in Judaism.
There's a hoidy toidy Catholic high school in the Southeast that was founded and run by a Jesuit priest who preached welcoming all and a high quality education. After the priest retired, the rich donor parents took over and religious bullying became rampant, the library suddenly had no books, and the drama department went downhill big time.
I believe you. It’s counter to Catholic beliefs ❤
HERE,HERE!! What ever happened to love thy neighbor? The truths I was raised on still stand,there is goodness in your fellow man.✌🏼
I remember this show. I grew up a big Michael Landon fan. I grew up on reruns of Bonanza, watched all the Little House of the Prairie shows and then Highway to Heaven. It was shortly after the show ended that Michael Landon died. I did cry. But the one thing about the two characters on Little House and Highway that he played was they both fought for what was fair and what was right. That has stuck with me and I can still remember episodes of both shows that helped with my formation as a person who tries to fight for what is fair and what is right. Thanks for the nice memory, Steve.
I did not like Bonanza, I would leave the room as soon as I heard that theme music. I don't the cook Hop Sing was treated with respect, it would probably be seen as racist today.
I would describe this show as The Littlest Hobo, but with an angel instead of a dog.
"There's a voice that keeps on calling me..."
There, I just got the theme song stuck in many people's heads. Ha ha ha ha ha!
Great Canadian show littlest Hobo a blast from my childhood ❤❤
"down the road ,that's where I want to be"
I love this comment so much! Well said!
Damn, as a kid I badly wanted that dog to 'settle down'.
I could actually hear Terry Bush when I saw this. Lol
I believe that if people like Michael Landon and Fred Rogers were around today, they wouldn't be Republican. The Republican party has gone so much further to the right in recent decades. I read that Michael Landon insisted on hiring disabled actors and writers on Highway to Heaven, because he wanted to give them the opportunity to tell their own stories, and he believed disabled people deserved to see themselves represented in the media. That was 40 years ago, yet many people still haven't learned that lesson and consider disability representation to be "woke nonsense".
I think it's time we stop referring to Republicans as leaning to the "right" - I think of it more as leaning to the "wrong."
"Heirarchy" is the soul of the right.
"Egalitarianism" of the left.
All else flows from this.
If we're being honest, most modern day, Republicans just believe the exact same things or very close to the things the democrats believed in the 90s.
Same would go for Abe Lincoln and Martin Luther King.
@@asmith8692 I hate it when the Republicans say "We ended slavery." No, Abe Lincoln and his contemporaries ended slavery. What did THEY (the modern Republicans) do?
Wow...... that was so perfect, so poignant. I am in awe. This video should be shared everywhere.
Random thought- even back then it seemed pretty wild to me that two adult men with no permanent address could get jobs at a school and work directly with kids. I know that was the magic of the premise at work, but it did lead to some pretty insanely reckless decisions.
I think that's where Touched by an Angel might have an advantage cause all the regulars were angels so it's a bit easier to believe their paperwork could be miracled and not leave a really weird paper trail that the human buddy here might.
Also the fact that Michael Landon's character was a deceased human IIRC, where Touched by an Angel had angels as a seperate class of being.
Oh yeah, and I was browsing a Readers Digest someone left for all to read at work on lunch break if they wanted to. The Dalai Lama was featured and was asked, "Whats the best religion?" The Dalai Lama replied "The purpose of all religions is to educate people on how to be better humans". So the Lama was saying imo, stop using religion for hate. Its there for you to read and examine yourself so you can become a kinder human being.
Great post here, and so true!
Dalai Lama is an educated, wise man.
This is the side of Christianity that MAGA doesn’t embrace. Giving, caring, love, charity.
The Jesus bit.
Amen
That's cause MAGA Christianity, but you can't tell that to Evangelicals.
If you were to tell them that, they would vehemently deny it with deflection by arguing that they always have.
Personally, the only times I’ve seen them act caring is amongst their tribe at church. Other times, they’ll selectively do so in public when called on the spot.
Otherwise, they spend more time being terminally online writing d**kish stuff to stick it to other people about their political beliefs or just try to harass other users on occasion.
I guess that’s the old “if you’re not with us you’re against us” logic at work or just being a playin bad person.
Total bullshit. Christians give more to charity than any other demographic.
What MAGA opposes is taking from one person to give to another because it's good to care and love.
What MAGA opposes is being forced to support what Christians find immoral. And don't tell me that discriminating between moral and immoral isn't Christian.
We used to watch this show in the late 80s/early 90s as a family. It was a lovely show, gentle, kind and inclusive. I rewatched a few episodes last year, and pleasantly surprised how good it was.
Johnathan and Mark were what Christians are supposed to strive to be: Kind, compassionate and inclusive. Not narrow-minded and intolerant.
I'm also atheist.
Except they were not. While Mark's character was a none practicing Christian, Johnathan's backstory had him being Jewish when he was alive. As an angle he was beyond religion, taking on the role of a priest, minister, or rabbi when needed in different episodes.
@@brettmajeske3525 Oh, right, I didn't know that. Thanks for the trivia!
I used to watch Highway to Heaven with my Grandma when I was a kid. It was a fantastic show! Thank you for the reminder!
That and Little House on the Prairie.
Same for me. I still remember some of the episodes 30+ years later.
Yeah, this was not radical in 1989. We've slid a long way.
I can imagine the OUTRAGE on the right if All in the Family or Maude were televised today. Norman Lear was an amazing human being.
@mattbaume made some great videos essays about Lear and his shows. I highly recommend watching.
I have some acquaintances on the right who insist All in the Family was taken off the air because it was too racist. And I'm like, Nooo, it was anti-racist satire, was very popular and ran for many seasons, and had spin-offs. And they will not listen to me at all. They weren't even there at the time, like I was, and they didn't watch it. But somewhere along the line, this story has been told that it was too racist and taken off the air for it, and people just believe it. The kinds of misinformation people have these days blows my mind. It wasn't even that long ago, and it's gotten twisted.
Imagine the outrage if Blazing Saddles was made today. It would be considered woke AF.
Yes, I’m very aware of it being Blazing Saddles.
I have heard several conservative acquaintances declare that we need Archie Bunker back on TV because he "Told it like it is.". They thought that those shows were supporting them. Like how some of them thought the Colbert Report was genuine.
Exactly. And he portrayed a horrible little man.
I am a 45 year old Atheist who grew up watching this show. Even though I never believed in the cult stuff, I always understood and learned from the moral lessons.
One thing I liked about Highway to Heaven was that while there was a God, as shown by some magic that Jonathan did throughout the series, it never favored any one religion.
it was also wonderful that as an 'angel' there was sort of a rule book (on and off again though it was because sometimes 'the stuff' was needed to move the story forward) and Jonathan would never use 'the stuff' egregiously ... if the show were made today ive no doubt it would star Misha Collins as the 'fallen angel' but because 'reasons' he would use his angelic powers and influence at least 3 times an episode -- thus totally missing the entire point
Landon was a Jew who was married to a Christian and had a Mormon best friend.
I am agnostic and loved that show, its sad how far christians in the US have strayed from the teachings of Christ.
He may have been a Republican but he did an episode that showed the consequences of climate change. He seemed to genuinely care about people, animals and this planet.
Being a Republican in those years (and even now) was different than what one currently see as typically Republican. Nowadays the term Trumpist could be more appropriate.
Republicans weren't always groveling slaves to the biggest daddy in the room.
The majority of Republicans of the 70s and 80s were basically a different party than they became post-George Bush Jr. ( and by that I just mean the date, not commenting on Bush Jr himself )
Back then, the gop included liberals just as the dems included conservatives. And even conservatives cared about the environment.
@@MurderMostFowlYeah I was born in 79 and I remember political disagreements back in the day. They were civil for the most part, they may of become heated but didn't devolve into shouting matches. Back then families and neighbors didn't see each other as enemies because of political disagreements.
Thanks!
1989 would have been right at the time when my mom decided to homeschool me. I remember suggesting that we watched this show, and she was against it, now I know why 😢
I see this dynamic every time conservatives bring up Blazing Saddles as one of the reasons "they don't get offended." I love to point out to them that, if that movie came out today, they'd be crying on the internet about how it is DEI: The Movie. Hell, Gene Wilder directed one of the most famous lines of the movie at white rural conservatives. “You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know-morons.”
Yes, BLAZING SADDLES *in 1974* presents racism as overtly bad and racists as overtly evil or just plain idiots. Today's BLAZING SADDLES would also likely feature Jinx Monsoon as the new sheriff/schoolteacher.
@@ThePlayTyperGuy tbf, Jinx Monsoon would rock in either of those roles.
Gene wilder didn’t direct that scene, Mel Brooks who directed Blazing Saddles directed that scene
@ that was supposed to be delivered. I'm severely dyslexic, so I didn't catch my spellcheck hating me again.
I would compare highway to heaven with quantum leap. That is the closest thing I can think off.
That would be an amazing crossover episode.
The show is even free to watch officially on UA-cam (all 5 seasons) the ad thing between the video window and the comments does take you to it, but click the "ways to watch" dropdown and make sure "free" is selected so you're not having to sign up for some unnecessary trial.
right wing weirdos: "this Jesus guy seems pretty woke, are we sure about him? is he Mexican?" "can we focus on the old testament please? tired of this woke shit"
"Is he Mexican?"
"Worse, he's Jewish!"
"Aw heck naw!"
Of course, the Old Testament is pretty woke too. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is from Leviticus 19:9-18.
@@sanchellewellyn3478 Not to mention that stuff about taking care of foreigners "for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt."
The O.T is full of Messiah rubbish.
I feel like I've just been hugged for 23 minutes and 1 second. Thanks, Steve.
Michael Landon was one of my mom's favorite actors, and we both loved this show. I still remember it fondly, even though I've been an atheist for many years now. I specifically remember an episode about a young girl who was overweight tutoring a jock she was into, and his girlfriend inviting her to a party and humiliating her. Being pudgy myself, this one really hit me and has stayed with me for forty years. This really was a great show.
So much has changed over the last forty years, and for the worse.
it does seem that all those shows with all those messages still didn't stop things, but maybe did slow them down, and i hope give a "blue print" of what could be.
Beautiful video. I miss the 80s. It really goes to show that the current divisions in our society, while reflecting, ancient points of view and enmities, Are actually quite new and recent in their current forms. So sad.
I can't believe how subversive this show seems today. I love it!!!!
Excellent. Thank you. I enjoyed Highway to Heaven, but unfortunately at the time I was a workaholic and missed many episodes. It's good to know that I can watch them again now. It's also good that even now there are some Christian (and other) churches that value diversity and are inclusive of everyone of any faith, gender, orientation, etc.
The only thing about the show I remember was a scene that was rare for the series in that there was explicit violence in the form of a group of murderers that Jonathan, for once, went angel of wrath on. He did the "no-selling being shot" trope, tossing people around the room and catching a punch so hard it broke the guy's wrist.
That was one of my favorite episodes, because it showed what he COULD have done at any time, but always tried to choose a path where people changed their own minds. It was also a reminder that God and Jesus in the Bible occasionally went whoop-ass on the incorrigible. 😆
I just saw that episode! Season 1, Episode 14, Plane Death. I believe the group in question was a gang of drug smugglers, their leader was the murderer. He shot a cop friend of Mark Gordon's because he found cocaine in a crashed model plane being used to smuggle it.
this was such a beautiful show!!!!! and yes way ahead of its time!!! so so good!!!
My mother would get annoyed at me for watching the show, she would call me a hypocrite for watching it because i am an atheist. She hasnt spoken to me since my early 20's. She sent me a text once to tell me to apologise to her before she would attend her own mothers funeral, i refused to do so, nothing to apologise for, she refused to attend the funeral, i think she needed to learn a lot more from the show than i did. It was a wonderful show and i loved how they included a part of the show into a film called Almost an Angel starring Paul Hogan. Loved that film as well. Glad you did a review of this show.
Just watched the episode and it was a good one, thanks Steve.
I actually met a person who identified as a Christian who acted like one. Fancy that.
I've met several. Unfortunately, even as a Christian myself, they are rarer than they should be.
I am always shocked when warm, helpful, open-minded, and woke individuals I meet turn out to be Christians! Like, stunned, blank faced surprise. Because I went to high-school in the Bible Belt, and Christians broke three of my Queer friend's ribs, Christians fought to get our drama club disbanded for performing a play about the Holocaust, Christians were my bullies. My abusive narcissistic grandma was Christian. So, I am ALWAYS surprised to find out my supportive, kind, diversity loving and art enjoying friends are Christians. Because I'm 44 years old and STILL not prepared for Christians who ACTUALLY ACT LIKE CHRIST.
I know quite a few. Unironically, I'd say I'm pretty blessed about that.
Good for you. Every Christian I have met had been a complete and utter shit.
I was a jaded teen growing up in the Bible-belt when this show aired. May parents loved it. I hated it at the time because it embodied everything the Christians around me pretended to believe, but very clearly did not practice. It was what I wished Christianity was, but was a reminder of what it wasn't.
This entire television series resonates today, because it discussed things that matter.
I am a serving as a Deacon at the First Parish Congregational Church here in Derry, New Hampshire.
Our church is VERY WOKE, and a pillar of the Community.
We are "OPEN & AFFIRMING" and accept "EVERYBODY".
I am physically and developmentally disabled.
Cerebral Palsy and Autism.
Unfortunately, our church is a "target" for those who are filled to overflowing with hate.
The same with the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration here in Derry which is also VERY WOKE and "OPEN & AFFIRMING".
As a person, Actor Michael Landon, was himself extremely WOKE.
It also showed 2 decades before when he starred on BONANZA with Canadian Actor, Lorne Greene, who by today's standards was also quite WOKE in real life.
Episcopalian here. I’m afraid Christian traditions like ours have been largely erased from the public consciousness when it comes to politics and understanding of what Christianity looks like. There’s no concept that inclusion and progressive values are championed by many faithful people. I put a lot of blame on the Mainline’s inability to change over the years. However, Progressive religious people get erased from media as a matter of course. Or their faith is repressed as a reason for their progressive values. Christian movements and theology championed progressive causes. It’s normative in Christian thought to think about expanding rights and respecting humanity. However that doesn’t fit a narrative that supports conservatism. And frankly secular progressives sometimes don’t know what to do with it.
Not all Christians theology or thought - obviously. But a lot of it. Just thinking out loud about examples - Quakers, some Church Fathers, and obviously Jesus, really pushed radical ideas for their times. Evangelicals and many American Christians portray a flat, hollow understanding of Christian thought and tradition, and sadly secular society seems to assume their right. I mean google the Public Universal Friend or read Tolstoy’s Christian Anarchy book The Kingdom of Heaven is Within you. Those things count just as much (and id argue more!) than what places like Liberty University represent.
I liked that show. It never really felt preachy, even though it was religious.
This reminds me of the DS9 episode that introduced Vedek Winn, only better.
I went and looked up Michael Landon s background and Wikipedia wasn't specific but he seemed pretty non-denominational as an adult.
He was raised Jewish, married a Christian, but never really converted. He claimed to be spiritual rather than religious.
The book I read about Michael Landon's life when I was a teenager said that his dad was Jewish and his mom was Catholic. He wasn't raised in a happy home, unfortunately.
I love you Steve. All of your videos are bangers. I hope you are well.
My mom had a huge crush on Michael Landon; we always watched Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven back-to-back every night
Steve, man, I remember this show as a little kid, and this kind of hit home.
"Professional Angry People"
I laughed a bit too hard at that. 🤣🤣🤣
I'm a muslim in a muslim-majority country (like ~40%, not the supermajority), and this episode of this show basically encapsulates my entire view of things.
Education, dialogue, and respect is where we lead to good, not sectarianism and hatred.
And we loved it!
My mom always had this show, and Little House on the Prairie, on repeat in my home. It’s nice to see it examined, I haven’t seen anyone talk about it in a long time.
I am German and was an exchange student to an American high school in 1999. All ethnicities were equally accepted and represented among groups of friends. In that time, for a short period of time, from my personal experience it truly didn't matter what color of skin or religious belief you had: the only thing that mattered was your character ( and among teenagers your taste in music). I feel it's a big tragedy that nowadays we have a greater division between the ethnic groups than 26 years ago.
Backlash. Those that profit from our division got motivated by the acceptance of what they could not profit from.
When I was at school, we had religious studies. The Teacher who taught us was way ahead of his time and was open to talking about non Christian material, like Jewish, Islam and Buddhism...
It opened my eyes to understanding others and not to be ignorant to the cause of others👍
Shows like this, as well as musicals/movies like "Godspell" are what I like to lean on when it comes to Christianity being depicted.
Love this one! Great way to discuss this moment and how much has changed (think devolved). 👏❤
Thank you for your views on H2H. My father was Victor French and played Mark Gordon. I was his photo-double and stand-in. I loved the Values presented in H2H. You are right that the haters would explode if they tried to make it today. This makes me sad. Micheal Landon was a brilliant man and he knew what families needed and wanted to see. I am also happy that it is still is on reruns.
Loved your father as both an actor and director. I actually think the French directed episodes were my favorites. Not to take away from Landon, but your father had a subtle hand I appreciate.
@@brettmajeske3525tytyty. You give me hope. I am so happy that someone saw his directing talent
@@victorfrench6181 To be honest, I think he was a better director than an actor. I do know if it was type casting or not, but all his characters just seemed to be one of three archetypes. The gruff bad guy, the guff good guy, and the gruff bad guy who was secretly a good guy. Both on H2H and Little House the episodes he directed always stood out. Especially the post series movies for Little House. I was surprised to find out he also directed my favorite episode of the second season of Buck Rogers.
the second season of that show was a mess, not nearly as good as the first season, but Satyr was as good or better than any of the first season episodes. I didn't know your father directed it until I came across an essay by Glenn Larson of talking about his favorite episodes, and he mentioned Satyr. Apparently he wanted your dad to direct some episodes for some of his other shows but the timing never worked out. In the essay Larson commented it was shame that he spent so much time in front of the camera, because he was so good behind it.
This is one of my granny's favorite shows. Whenever I 'd come to visit her the TV would always have this show on as well as In The Heat of The Night. My mom and I would take her out to lunch but she'd always want to get home in time to watch one of her favorite shows.
BTW, did any of you have grandparents who kept the TV on a lot but kept it muted most of the time? Or is it just my grandparents? I really want to know.😅😂
People can criticize the '80s a lot, and rightfully so, but a hell of a lot of '80s television was very progressive. I was rewatching the whole Quantum Leap series recently (on physical media so I could enjoy the real theme song) and that show was woke AF. I love it.
Yeahup. If you were a child of the 80's, you can say it with me: On a Very Special "NameOfShow"...
@ShinmaWa1 Oh yeah, you always knew there were going to be some heavy topics in an episode if the opening ad tagline was, "On a very special episode..."
Wonderful video and points!
This happoned to the preschool my mother taught at when a new pastor was hired at the church that hosted and rented to the space to her preschool for 30 years. Eventually they were thrown out but found a great new home that wasn’t to far away from the old church. This church was happy to have a preschool again renting the unused spaces they had. Never the same but in the end it worked out thankfully
As a Christian, these are the kinds of Christian stories that I want to see. We have a responsibility to unmask the hateful grifters who want to use religion as a tool to oppress and divide and enrich themselves. Everyone should have freedom of and freedom from religion. Humans are (like you said) incredibly diverse and that should be seen as a strength instead of an obstacle
I love that you put out this message! We have a HUGE DVD collection of movies and TV shows, including Highway To Heaven! There is a definite plus to the "old" stuff. ❤💙
I look forward to watching more of your videos, this is a great take, thanks for sharing.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. - George Carlin
My mum used to love this show, I would groan and watch along.Now and then I would catch a worthwhile message from the show, my mum just liked watching something that had a little hope, it also made me love A’s caps for life.
22 years without her and this made me tear up instantly. Thanks Steve.
I love that you covered this. I mean, it helps that we are roughly the same age and probably grew up watching the same things on our 2-4 available channels. Love your vids. (humming the H2H theme)
I grew up watching Highway to heaven. Over a 30+ year difference I got to see how the reactions of conservatives changed from when I watched these shows with my dad and then when grandpa watched them with my daughter. He would react to different scenes VERY differently. He went from almost unconditional support of Michael's characters to uncomfortable or vocally disagreeing. A lot changed. I blame a large part of it on bad men taking places of leadership and influential places in the church and using their positions to influence people for the change. Not enough good people like in "The Bell" stood up to oppose them. Their messages spread, through radio. Books, and all other media until it became the norm.
My dad was a good man, he taught me to do good for the sake of doing good and not so you can boast about it. To be honorable even when noone else would know. My dad became lost over time. I'm lucky he came back even for a few years before he died when he stopped listening to church media. I'm sad for the years where the good man I knew was gone.
I think we were lucky ones. My late husband had started coming back the year before he was diagnosed with fast fatal cancer. He had become a Fox guy.😣 As he spent more time actually living WITH us, instead of in the hate filled tv "news", he came back, conversations were had, relations were mended and we had a good last year.
@yippieskippy2971 I think you may be right. With my dad it was pulmonary fibrosis. It's a shame that it took terminal illnesses to bring them back to us.
He's on a mission from God!
😎
@@susanscott8653 "Bring me four fried chickens and a Coke. And some dry white toast please."
Steve. I want your take on Northern Exposure. I loved that show.
Loved Highway to Heaven as well. Made me cry on numerous occasions. Waaaaay better than Touched by an Angel. imho
I was so into Northern Exposure back in the day! Janine Turner is a Christian libertarian trump supporter, last I checked, so it might be interesting for Steve to take a dive into that. She said she thinks you can't get work in Hollywood if you don't "toe the line" and say you're a leftist.
@sharimeline3077 I had no idea and I hope your comment catches Steve's interest. Sure caught mine! Thank you!
Thank you for this. I was a toddler when this show was on the air. I'm so glad to learn of it now. I'll be asking my dad about his recollection of it.
I really like the wide range you have with your content. As a TNG trekkie by birth... I humble myself before thy vast knowledge of what seems like... everything, lol. ❤😅
Thank you, Steve. 💜👌🏼
This is among your best videos on any subject. Bravo and thank you!
I always thought Highway To Heaven was really a modern era continuation of Little House On The Prairie, especially since Victor French had also appeared as a regular cast member on Little House On The Prairie. Most of what was on Little House On The Prairie had little to do with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, but instead were episodic morality plays about right and wrong.
I don't remember this show, and I have a very Christian mother. But after this essay, I can see exactly why we didn't watch it. She's the sort of Christian who would be outraged by the religious diversity at the school. If there were too many episodes with messages like that... the show would not be on our watch list.
R.I.P. David Lynch
January 20, 1946 - January 16, 2025
Really good commentary, Steve, thank you
Oh, man, I remember ths episode. There was a scene from another episode that's lived rent-free in my head since the evening I saw it. A woman is struggling with an unexpected pregnancy and ultimately decides to keep the baby. When asked, "I thought you were pro-choice?" she replies, "I am. And I just made a choice."
That point at 7:30 is what cracked the ice on my faith. I was brought up to believe that my group was incredibly lucky to be blessed with the truth of who god is and what he wants. Everyone else had it wrong. So many of us have moved on in a less pluralistic way than this show resolved it
Interesting note about the show: It doesn't have a proper finale. They shot 13 episodes of season five. It as at that point with a writers strike in progress that those shows would be the final season. The final episodes were aired in a bit of a haphazard manner. The finale new episode, a Christmas themed show, aired in August of 1989. Unfortunately, Victor French, "Mark Gordon", died in June of 89. Michael Landon died in 1991. This made a having a proper send off episode or tv movie impossible.
Loved this show! ❤❤
Oh, I didn't know the original title. In Germany it is called "an angel on earth". I loved this show very much that time. I made a little rewatch some months ago, special fun with discovering actors in their early years.
When I was a kid, I watched this with my family, and I still watch it on dvd. My favorite guest star was Eddie Albert: he played Senator Fritz "Corky" McCorkindale.
Thanks for the heads up on this episode. I might sit down and watch this with my dad... throw out the bait and see what he has to say about it...
Thank you for this. You evaluate it fairly, and I pray my fellows hear the message loud and clear.😢
Michael Landon was a good man. Humanity lost him too soon.
Great episode sir. Also it was funny to me that you basically almost quoted Babylon 5 with the reflection in a mirror bit. A huge B5 fan, and I might give this show a shot. Take care.
Highway to Heaven, Knight Rider, and The A Team were all the same show to this kid viewer.
Same. Magnum PI, too. Simply helping a different person, each week.
@MrPlannery My mom thought Tom Sellick was a hunk, but didn't like it when I watched Magnum P.I. because of the swearing.
OH. MY. GAWD!
The ending of this video got you the sub.
Well said. Well done. Keep it up.
That series taught me more about being a good person than Catholic school ever did. I pretty much already was an Atheist back then, but I still loved watching those two change the world one fragile and yet strong heart after the other. And yes ... back then there was no outcry, because the messages delivered were pretty universally considered "common sense" ... ❤
I loved this show as a teen and it touched me how Michael was such a wonderful person. I agree with all of your points. 👍
Sir, I would encourage you to listen to the podcast Behind the Bastards and very specifically to the Rush Limbaugh episodes. This might help explain what happened to the American Discourse.
Also, I don't remember any specific episodes but I remember really liking this show when it was airing, though it wasn't a must-watch for me. Perhaps it helped inform my development, and that's one of the things that art like this is for. I'm definitely not of the Christian faith, but I appreciate the aspirations that apparently too many folks choose to ignore.