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Touched by an Angel was an American drama television series created by John Masius and Martha Williamson that ran on CBS for nine seasons, from September 21st, 1994 to April 27th, 2003, and aired in many countries all around the world. Its premise was based heavily on non-denominational Christian concepts. During its run, it was one of the highest rated shows on CBS and acquired a substantial fan base. Since 1998, due to the show's popularity, the show was also featured in reruns in syndication and on ION Television (formerly i: Independent Television and PAX TV) and Hallmark Channel.
PlotThe show usually revolves around a person or group of people that stumble upon a crossroad in their lives, like a big problem or a tough decision. Then angels enter the scene, bringing messages directly from God and helping people in their problems. Monica, the main angel character, is always learning how to assist humans in their needs and questions.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The series finale shows Monica, who is up for promotion, defending Zack, an innocent drifter accused of blowing up a school full of children. The prosecutor is actually the Devil, played by David Ogden Stiers. Despite Monica's best efforts, Zack is convicted. Visiting him in the prison, Monica offers herself to be his guardian angel for the rest of his life, protecting him from the dangers of the federal prison. Later the citizens find out the truth: it was the prosecutor who blew up the school and framed Zack. Monica makes the citizens see that there's still hope to rebuild the life in the town and helps them to free themselves of the anger.
CastRegular Cast and Character DescriptionsMonica (Roma Downey): Monica is the main character of the show. Sweet and tender, she was promoted from the Search and Rescue department to become a caseworker, to help people, delivering them a message of hope from God. She also has a weakness for coffee, especially mocha lattes. Downey's natural accent is Irish. She was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. Tess (Della Reese): Tess is the second protagonist of the show. She also happened to be Monica's angelic supervisor. Sometimes tough but always compassionate, she would eventually brighten everyone's spirits by singing with her melodic voice. A car and a dog were both given to her, both of which she values dearly. She is very frank and honest about the truth, and usually tells people what they have to hear, not what they want to hear. Andrew (John Dye, 1996-2003, seasons 2-9): Andrew became an all-episode character in the third season. He is an Angel of Death, that is, one of the angels that takes people who die to their eternal fate, heaven or hell. Andrew was also a full caseworker until he failed to convert Abraham Lincoln's killers. He still helps the other angels in their casework. He hates being stereotyped as a Grim Reaper. Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli, 2001-2003, seasons 8-9): Gloria is an inexperienced angel, because she was created by God during one of Monica's assignments (in the seventh season). But she's highly intelligent and constantly learns new things, like human strength and weakness. She's good with technology, as well. Although initially shy, she adds a lot of humor to the show. Occasional Cast
The show featured different guest actors in every single episode. MusicAs the show's resident songbird, Della Reese performed the theme song to Touched By An Angel, "Walk With You."
A full-length version of "Walk With You," recorded with the Verity All-Stars, was included on the show's soundtrack album, which was released in November 1998 and went platinum. The album came out on the heels of the episode Psalm 151, broadcast November 15, 1998, which starred Wynonna Judd as the mother of a terminally ill boy and featured a guest performance by Celine Dion of "Love Can Move Mountains" (the boy's best friend, played by Mika Boorem, was a huge fan of Dion's and even nicknamed herself Celine). Dion recorded a new version of "Love Can Move Mountains" (originally a #36 Pop hit in 1993 from her self-titled sophomore English album) with gospel group God's Property for the soundtrack. The song Wynonna's character performed at the end of the episode, "Testify To Love," was also featured on the soundtrack album, as was Wynonna's cover of Whitney Houston's "You Were Loved" (from Houston's movie The Preacher's Wife). "Testify To Love" was also a Contemporary Christian radio hit for the group Avalon. The soundtrack album was comprised of other songs featured on the show that season, including tracks by Shawn Colvin, Bob Dylan, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Amy Grant, and Jaci Velasquez. One other track from the album, "Somebody's Out There Watching," was a moderate country hit for The Kinleys, and Amanda Marshall's "Believe In You" was a hit on Canadian adult contemporary radio. ReactionsThere has been a lot of talk about the show, both praising and criticizing the premise. Some people have classified it as 'the best inspirational series' ever, and it actually did build a large fan base. Christians especially had the show in high account, as it shared many biblical elements. Christians as well, however, noticed a few questionable elements. The most prominent of these is the lack of Jesus Christ, who is mentioned extremely rarely, and there has been complaining about 'people dying and going to heaven without Christ'. However, His words (as recorded by the 'Bible') get quoted many times, and the show doesn't specifically say dying people aren't converted to Christianity. In fact, it leaves space for interpretation. The episodes that are more 'Christian' in this sense are the Christmas specials and the ones from the last season, especially the series finale. The executive producer also cites in the show's official website that she promised never to mention Jesus Christ until the end to reach a wider Christian audience.[citation needed]; in the series finale, God [1] finally makes an appearance. Contrary to many spiritually-oriented shows, many themes have been directed with an orthodox Biblical approach, for instance: hell, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, racism, creationism and intelligent design, among others. There has also been a bit of doubt about the portrayal of the angels. They are shown sometimes in a very human-like way; they make mistakes and are always learning, and there are times like when Monica sings terribly and gets drunk. However, it has also been noted that, although these is not the exact representation of angels as according to the Bible, a show with perfect characters would be very boring to watch, because of the absence of conflict and emotions. Therefore the writers took some creative liberties to portray the angelic messengers. Trivia
DVD ReleasesParamount Home Entertainment has released the first 4 seasons of Touched by an Angel on DVD for the very first time. Seasons 3 & 4 have been split into 2 volumes with Season 4, Vol 1 being released on March, 27 2007.
Special Guest Stars
See also
References
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