It’s a wrap for “7th Heaven.”
The long-running drama, which debuted in 1996 on the WB Network and now airs on the CW, will have its series finale May 13 in its regular 8 p.m. slot. The hour-long episode, titled “And Away We Go,” will actually mark the second time the show was scheduled to have a series finale.
“Heaven’s” 10th-season finale aired on WB last May amid much fanfare about its being the series closer. It delivered its highest marks in more than two years with an episode that appeared to wrap up many loose ends in the show about a minister (Stephen Collins) and his sprawling family.
But the CW, which launched in September after the merger of WB and UPN, gave “Heaven” a last-minute renewal in May, announcing that the show would return in fall 2006 in its signature Monday 8 p.m. slot as part of the CW’s inaugural lineup. In October, the network switched its Sunday and Monday lineups, moving “Heaven” to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Season-to-date, the series is averaging 3.4 million total viewers and a 1.3 rating in the network’s target demo of adults 18-34.
“Heaven,” whose debut on Aug. 26, 1996, marked the first-ever Monday broadcast of the then-fledging WB Network, will bow out as the longest-running family drama on TV.