As a fan of "Touched By an Angel", I never missed an episode of it's wonderful spin off series. This program was just as good as "Touched by Angel" and should have lasted more than three seasons. The premise was solid and endearing. A poor family making ends meet by traveling the country in a trailer to promote wholesome, moral values to each other and helping people they meet along the way. The ratings were actually, quite good for television at the time. In its first season they aired it on Tuesday nights where they were opposite "Rosanne" and "Mad About You" , big hits at the time which were just more depictions of the decaying moral compass of America. "Promised Lamd held its own finishing in the top 50 and was renewed for a second season. The big wigs at CBS, it seemed, were not supportive and moved it to Thursday Nights opposite the insipid and, again, morally decaying "Friends", then the number one show in America. "Promised Land did even better in its second season and finished the season at #35. CBS reluctantly renewed it for a third season but behind the scenes there was a plot being hatched by Les Moonves, President of CBS and the "powers that be". The third season started off well enough with Ratings finishing in the top twenty, building up from the previous season. Then, CBS put its nefarious plot into action. They retooled the show by eliminating its wonderful premise: A Christian Family on the road helping others. Their mission was destroyed as they had the family settle down in Denver and suddenly, the "Promised Land" we all knew and loved began to be known as the "LT" show, a character introduced as a gang member trying to reform. The next few episodes found Russell and the family living in a dilapidated house with Russell finding a job as a Police Officer and Claire as a Substitute Teacher. She home-schooled her kids while on the road, something ahead of its time as home-schooling has since become more commonplace. After the first few episodes in Denver, CBS put the final phase of their wretched plan into action by putting the show on what they called "Temporary Hiatus". This caused the ratings to fall because people, not in the know, thought it had been cancelled. It was off the air for several weeks, then returned with plots that centered on LT and the new characters added and Claire (Wendy Phillips), and the kids were practically ignored because they were focusing on the LT character. We hardly saw Nathaniel and Hattie (Celeste Holm) all but disappeared. Why did this happen. I happen to know a representative who worked on the show that Les Moonves said he didn't want a TV show about a family traveling around the country in a trailer. Was his solution any better??? He ruined the show by eliminating, as I said it's unique and inspiring premise. The show never regained ground in the ratings race after the hiatus in Season 3 because faithful viewers didn't know it was back on. Had the honchos at CBS not fooled with "Martha Williamson's" vision of a solid family show, promoting true moral standards and values, and had left the family traveling across America, the series would probably have lasted a few more seasons. The suicidal plotting by the network was a plan to sabotage the series and they succeeded. Still, the series ended the Season in 51st place in the reason, respectable enough but apparently not a high five for a 4th Season. I was one of many who was incensed at Moonves and CBS and wrote several letters, even before the show's official cancellation announcement. All for naught. The series ended with the "Promise" unfulfilled. The reason for cancellation? The demographics for shows based on promoting good Christian Values just weren't there. Ironically, "Touched by An Angel" was the most popular drama in America at the time. Needless to say, many "Promised Land" fans were deeply saddened because the show was unceremoniously cancelled because CBS planned it all along. But there is some good news, now, nearly 20 years after the series ended. VEI has released the entire series on DVD! You can buy it at Amazon, EBay, or the VEI website for a reasonable price of $39.99. I just received my set this morning and I can't wait to begin watching the show that was unfairly treated but die hard fans can now enjoy forever! Good always wins out in the end. Need I say that after"Touched by an Angel" was cancelled in 2002, again a plot hatched by CBS by moving it to Saturday Nights from Sunday Nights where it held its lofty 10 ten perch until the move. They did the same thing with "Murder, She Wrote" years earlier where that program was a mainstay for 11 years. After "Touched" left the air, I never watched CBS again. I no longer have cable but have DVD collections of many programs that take me back to a time whe TV was worth watching. I'm happy to say that "Promised Land" now is a mainstay at our house where it will forever live for generations to come!
Review of Promised Land
