Actress and producer Jessica Biel wants the 7TH HEAVEN reboot to give families something they can watch together, even as it takes a more direct approach to the problems children face.
“I’m looking for what I can watch with my kids on television,” the actress said in a Collider Ladies Night interview with host Perri Nemiroff.
Biel knows the dilemma from both sides of the screen. She makes television, but much of it is not something she can share with her children. Her proposed return to the series that introduced audiences to Mary Camden comes with a practical question familiar to many parents. What can everyone watch together?
The answer, in her telling, involves family, community, faith and a less jaded outlook. She spoke broadly about people wanting faith represented on television, rather than identifying a particular denomination for the new show.
But she is not describing a retreat from difficult subjects. Biel said the reboot would explore technology-related problems, school, bullying, drugs and alcohol, with stories reaching from teenagers to younger children.
“We still want to keep the DNA of what it was, where you can sit down and watch with your families, but we’re not going to hold back, I think, as much as we did before,” Biel said while also acknowledging that the original series worked within more restrictions and carefully considered what its audience wanted.
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That balance is the heart of her pitch: keep the shared-viewing experience while discussing contemporary problems more directly. For parents who remember the Camdens, the familiar name alone will not answer how those subjects will play out on screen.
The original 7TH HEAVEN followed a Protestant minister, his wife and their children in fictional Glen Oak, California. Created by Brenda Hampton and produced by Aaron Spelling, it debuted in 1996 and ended in 2007 after 11 seasons, as Variety reported.
The show’s religious setting was part of its storytelling, not just background scenery. Paramount+’s fourth-season episode guide, for example, describes an episode in which the Rev. Camden encourages his congregation and family to trust in prayer; other stories involved school trouble, illness and strained family relationships.
The new project is not being presented as a Camden cast reunion. In May 2025, Variety said the reboot would focus on a diverse family, with none of the original cast appearing; it identified Anthony Sparks as showrunner and executive producer, alongside producers including Biel, Michelle Purple and DeVon Franklin.
That report placed the project in early development at CBS Studios, without a network or streaming service attached at the time. The newer interview offers Biel’s creative intentions, not a premiere date or a completed show for families to evaluate.
Biel’s priorities also extend behind the camera. Discussing her approach as a producer, she emphasized open communication with actors and crew and a protected environment for emotionally demanding work.
“It’s hard to give those kinds of performances,” she said. She connected that difficulty to performers not having the space they need to feel protected while being vulnerable.
For now, Biel is describing what she hopes to build: a family-centered series willing to tackle hard conversations without abandoning the possibility of watching together. How the reboot handles that promise will matter as much as the familiar title.
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