Series Description
The Highway To Heaven TV show was a 60 minute family drama series on NBC about a new angel named Jonathan Smith who was on "probation". His probationary assignment was to help people by helping them see that things like love for your fellow man, charity, and forgiveness were better models for a happy life than are hate, greed, and bitterness. He got help from ex-cop Mark Gordon who was Jonathan's first success. They drifted from place to place carrying out the heavenly missions as instructed by "The Boss", an entity that only spoke to Jonathon.
Highway To Heaven Cast
Michael Landon .... Jonathan Smith
Victor French .... Mark Gordon
Highway To Heaven Trivia
Michael Landon wrote and directed a large percentage of the scripts himself as did Victor French (to a lesser degree).
The first two episodes, "Highway to Heaven - Parts 1 and 2", originally aired as a pilot movie. Then they were re-edited so that each of the two episodes could stand on their own as seperate episodes for syndication.
Highway to Heaven received seven Emmy nominations but never brought home a win. Four of those nominations were thanks to cimematographer, "Ted Voigtlander". When you include the others series he worked on, he received a whopping fourteen nominations and turned two of them into wins! Both of the wins were for "Little House on the Prairie". Some of his other nominations include ones for episodes of "Bonanza", "Ben Casey", and "The Wild Wild West".
Michael Landon's first acting role was in the 1956 film, "These Wilder Years" starring James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Pidgeon. He wasn't listed in the credits because it was just a bit part but if you don't blink, you can see the 19-year-old Landon in the scene in the pool hall.
Highway to Heaven was a great venue for Michael Landon. It's hard to find anyone who knew him that has anything but praise for him and most emphasize that he was a kind, caring, gentle man. Most of the Highway to Heaven episodes also emphasized the idea that being that type of person is what results in the best life. One episode stands out for a totally different reason. In episode #79, Michael pokes fun at the film that gave him his first big break. That was, of course, the 1957 movie, "I Was a Teenage Werewolf". Episode #79 of Highway to Heaven was titled, "I Was a Middle Aged Werewolf".
Michael Landon is the only actor to have three TV shows run consecutively for 5 years or more each. They were: "Bonanza (1959-1973)", "Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983)" and "Highway to Heaven (1984-1989)".
While Victor French is not typically listed as a cast member on "Little House on the Prairie", he did appear on 36 episodes in the role of "Isaiah Edwards". Victor died in 1989 from lung cancer, not long after filming the final episode of Highway to Heaven. While his death may have contributed to the demise of Highway to Heaven, it wasn't necessarily the only contributing factor.
Victor French wasn't the only old pal from a previous series who worked with Michael Landon on Highway to Heaven. Lorne Greene from Bonanza appeared in episode #33 titled, "The Smile in the Third Row".
Episodes List With Original Air Dates
Season 1
- Highway to Heaven - Part 1 (9/19/1984)
- Highway to Heaven - Part 2 (9/19/1984)
- To Touch the Moon (9/26/1984)
- The Return of the Masked Rider (10/3/1984)
- Song of the Wild West (10/17/1984)
- One Fresh Batch of Lemonade - Part 1 (10/24/1984)
- One Fresh Batch of Lemonade - Part 2 (10/31/1984)
- A Divine Madness (11/7/1984)
- Catch a Falling Star (11/14/1984)
- Help Wanted: Angel (11/21/1984)
- Dust Child (11/28/1984)
- Hotel of Dreams (12/12/1984)
- Another Song for Christmas (12/19/1984)
- Plane Death (1/9/1985)
- One Winged Angels (1/16/1985)
- Going Home, Going Home (1/23/1985)
- As Difficult as ABC (1/30/1985)
- A Child of God (2/6/1985)
- A Match Made in Heaven (2/20/1985)
- The Banker and the Bum (2/27/1985)
- The Brightest Star (3/6/1985)
- An Investment in Caring (3/13/1985)
- The Right Thing (3/27/1985)
- Thoroughbreds - Part 1 (5/1/1985)
- Thoroughbreds - Part 2 (5/8/1985)
Season 2
- A Song for Jason - Part 1 (9/18/1985)
- A Song for Jason - Part 2 (9/25/1985)
- Bless the Boys in Blue (10/2/1985)
- Cindy (10/23/1985)
- The Devil and Jonathan Smith (10/30/1985)
- Birds of a Feather (11/6/1985)
- Popcorn, Peanuts and CrackerJacks (11/13/1985)
- The Smile in the Third Row (11/20/1985)
- The Secret (11/27/1985)
- The Monster - Part 1 (12/4/1985)
- The Monster - Part 2 (12/11/1985)
- The Good Doctor (12/18/1985)
- Alone (1/8/1986)
- Close Encounters of the Heavenly Kind (1/15/1986)
- Change of Life (1/29/1986)
- Keep Smiling (2/5/1986)
- The Last Assignment (2/12/1986)
- To Bind the Wounds (2/19/1986)
- Heaven on Earth (2/26/1986)
- Summit (3/5/1986)
- The Torch (3/12/1986)
- Sail Away (4/2/1986)
- Children's Children (4/30/1986)
- Friends (5/7/1986)
Season 3
- A Special Love - Part 1 (9/24/1986)
- A Special Love - Part 2 (10/1/1986)
- For the Love of Larry (10/8/1986)
- Another Kind of War, Another Kind of Peace (10/15/1986)
- That's Our Dad (10/29/1986)
- Love at Second Sight (11/5/1986)
- Love and Marriage - Part 1 (11/12/1986)
- Love and Marriage - Part 2 (orig. one 90 min ep) (11/12/1986)
- Code Name: FREAK (11/19/1986)
- Man to Man (11/26/1986)
- Jonathan Smith Goes to Washington (12/3/1986)
- Oh Lucky Man (12/10/1986)
- Basinger's New York (12/17/1986)
- All That Glitters (1/7/1987)
- Wally (1/14/1987)
- A Song of Songs (1/21/1987)
- A Night to Remember (1/28/1987)
- A Mother and a Daughter (2/4/1987)
- Normal People (2/11/1987)
- The Hero (2/18/1987)
- Parents' Day (2/25/1987)
- A Father's Faith (3/4/1987)
- Heavy Date (3/18/1987)
- Ghost Rider (4/1/1987)
- The Gift of Life (5/6/1987)
Season 4
- Man's Best Friend - Part 1 (9/16/1987)
- Man's Best Friend - Part 2 (9/23/1987)
- Fight for Your Life (9/30/1987)
- The People Next Door (10/21/1987)
- I Was a Middle Aged Werewolf (10/28/1987)
- Playing For Keeps (11/4/1987)
- Amazing Man (11/11/1987)
- All the Colors of the Heart (11/18/1987)
- Why Punish the Children? (11/25/1987)
- A Dream of Wild Horses (12/2/1987)
- In With the 'In' Crowd (12/9/1987)
- With Love, the Claus (12/23/1987)
- A Mother's Love (1/6/1988)
- Country Doctor (1/13/1988)
- Time in a Bottle (1/20/1988)
- Back to Oakland (2/3/1988)
- We Have Forever - Part 1 (2/10/1988)
- We Have Forever - Part 2 (2/17/1988)
- The Correspondent (2/24/1988)
- Aloha (3/2/1988)
- A Dolphin Song For Lee - Part 1 (3/16/1988)
- A Dolphin Song For Lee - Part 2 (3/23/1988)
- Heaven Nose, Mister Smith (3/30/1988)
- The Whole Nine Yards (4/27/1988)
Season 5
- Whose Trash Is It Anyway? (10/12/1988)
- Hello and Farewell - Part 1 (12/7/1988)
- Hello and Farewell - Part 2 (12/7/1988)
- The Silent Bell (3/21/1989)
- The Reunion (6/2/1989)
- The Source (6/9/1989)
- The Squeaky Wheel (6/16/1989)
- Goodbye, Mr. Zelinka (6/23/1989)
- Choices (6/30/1989)
- Summer Camp (7/14/1989)
- The Inner Limits (7/21/1989)
- It's a Dog's Life (7/28/1989)
- Merry Christmas from Grandpa (8/4/1989)
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