Highway to Heaven is now on Nickelodeon. This was a 1980s show somewhat akin to Touched By An Angel, but with Michael Landon and without the obligatory scene in which the guest star realize (by the glow around them) they are talking to an angel. Anyway, it's pretty good at times, even if you do not believe in angels. One nice thing about the show, aside from some good guest stars (last night Helen Hunt was on ... she had quite a few roles before Mad About You) was that Landon decided that his friend from Little House on the Prairie, Victor French, should be his co-star.
This was not a popular choice of some corporate types, since he is not exactly photogenic or anything. Think of a Jack Klugman type with a beard. Still, it added believability to have the angel's earthly assistant being some ordinary schlub, one who wasn't even that religious, if somewhat influenced to assist because he saw the angel's "stuff." The two have since died, though Landon's son recently directed two movies adapted from books by Jannette Oke, who wrote a series of historical fiction with some religious overtones. So, the family work's continues on.
Yesterday's episode was a two-parter and suggests its general approach. Landon and his friend goes to work for a rich man whose ne-er-do-well son secretly loves the daughter of the family's horse trainer, though he is engaged to marry someone else more appropriately of his station. They elope, though earlier the daughter (Helen Hunt) faints and has to go to the doctor (played by the storekeeper from Little House on the Prairie, which was a less skilled position, but he had to deal with a harridan wife).
This bit of somewhat heavyhanded foreshadowing is followed by a nearly obligatory scene when the rich father storms into the trainer's house to oppose the marriage just when the doctor had told him that the daughter has cancer (cue treacly theme). A scene that is touching as it is amusing, since the plot machinations are just a wee bit too much fully in gear. Anyway, the daughter decides to push for an annulment, since she doesn't think the son can handle her dying. And, then we learn that she is pregnant, so she decides to not take chemotherapy so that somehow she would live on. The two, of course, do eventually marry, and the father-in-law relents.
This is how it ends, but no indication is shown that she will miraculously be cured or anything. The show tends to be honest in that respect as well as having the overall populist view shown in this episode. For instance, another one respects a paralytic who decides that it is okay for him to marry, even given his condition. The general philosophy being that life is not always fair, but one's faith will help you along, as long as you believe in it and work with what you have. And, more times than one might hope, something special does happen. It's an uplifting message that has enough truth in it that the show is worthwhile overall.
And, it might help when those look at some tragedy and wonder "why?" I myself would just add that we must remember we are but one of many, horrible things came before us, and will come after us. So, I think it a bit presumptuous to blame God for such things when it happens to us, as if only now are they really bad. Believe or disbelieve, but not on those grounds.
A last thought on the episode. A controversial aspect is the abortion question, since the daughter decided not to have one, even though her doctor and father felt that she should. [And, just mentioning the word on a family show in the mid-80s was not a trivial thing.] And, I fully support her choice, since it was the right one for her. In fact, if I was in her shoes, I too might have done the same thing -- luckily, however, this probably will not be tested. Nonetheless, the point is that it was her choice, a moral and health related one that should not be made by anyone else. She should think about all those involved, since in some fashion their interests matter too, but the final decision is hers.
And, it was, though given her age (about twenty, but things probably would be the same if she was fifteen) and condition, some cultures might decide that the doctor or her father should make the decision for her. Many religious believers can tell you that free will can lead to unpopular decisions, some quite controversial. We take it away at our peril, though perhaps the writers might be upset at how I'm using their story. See also, Catholics For Free Choice.