Jonathan Smith (Michael Landon) is an angel on probation sent back to Earth by “The Boss,” God, to complete missions with the goal of earning his angel wings. His mission is to help people through various struggles, spreading the message of love and peace on Earth. Accompanied by his friend Mark Gordon (Victor French), the two are an inseparable team as they help the down and out.
Season 4 of “Highway to Heaven” continues its theme of addressing serious life issues, ranging from healing sickness to healing broken family relationships. There are some lighter moments in this season, notably the Halloween episode “I Was a Middle-Aged Werewolf,” which is a spoof of Michael Landon’s breakout role in the movie “I Was a Teenage Werewolf.” This program, which originally aired in the 1980s, proves that while trends change and generations age, the challenges we face in life rarely do. While the storyline is based on an angel sent by God, the message of the series does not so much encourage the audience toward faith as it encourages the audience toward Judeo-Christian values. Jonathan and Mark live out the Christian principle of putting others first without showing favoritism. The angel and his friend reach out to the socially rejected, making those often considered the least as their highest priority. Though it is not recommended to trust this series for theological direction, the series upholds moral values and, for this reason, “Highway to Heaven, Season 4” is awarded the Dove “Family-Approved” Seal for ages 12 and older. Episode 1: “Man’s Best Friend, Part 1”—Jonathan and Mark work at a dog shelter and connect an orphaned little boy with more than just a puppy to love. Episode 2: “Man’s Best Friend, Part 2”—Jonathan and Mark discover that the little boy’s new puppy has a little girl who wants her puppy back. Episode 3: “Fight for Your Life”—A boxer must decide between right and wrong in a fight that could mean his brother’s life. Episode 4: “The People Next Door”—Jonathan and Mark are real estate agents who help a Hispanic doctor swallow his pride and accept his true identity. Episode 5: “I Was a Middle-Aged Werewolf”—Jonathan helps a little brother deal with his older sister in this Halloween episode spoofing Landon’s breakout role in “I Was a Teenage Werewolf.” Episode 6: “Playing for Keeps”—Jonathan and Mark help reconcile a strained relationship between two actors who are father and son. Episode 7: “Amazing Man”—When Mark’s old police friend is killed in the line of duty, he and Jonathan step in to comfort the grieving family with a little help from Amazing Man. Episode 8: “All the Colors of the Heart”—Jonathan and Mark take jobs at a summer camp for blind children where a young man losing his sight must reckon with his new reality. Episode 9: “Why Punish the Children?”—As teachers at a women’s prison, Jonathan and Mark fight for the family visitation rights of the incarcerated women. Episode 10: “A Dream of Wild Horses”—A woman struggling to keep her late husband’s ranch in business while caring for her son and aging father is in need of more than just a couple of ranch hands to give her a miracle. Episode 11: “I’m with the ‘In’ Crowd”—Jonathan and Mark are narcotics officers assisting an undercover officer posing as a student to figure out who the high school campus drug dealer is. Episode 12: “With Love, the Claus”—Santa Claus is taken to court just days before Christmas and calls on an angel to represent him. Episode 13: “A Mother’s Love”—Mark acts as a bum and Jonathan takes a job as a teacher to intervene in the lives of four young brothers who choose life on the street over separation after their mother’s untimely death. Episode 14: “Country Doctor”—A selfless and tired country doctor is assisted by Jonathan and Mark to get the retirement he deserves from the community he has faithfully served. Episode 15: “Time in a Bottle”—Jonathan and Mark befriend a homeless man who has given up on society to reclaim his purpose and get back his life. Episode 16: “Back to Oakland”—Jonathan and Mark visit Mark’s old police station in Oakland, only to discover his former partner has become a corrupt and racist officer. Episode 17: “We Have Forever, Part 1”—When Jonathan’s earthly wife Jane passes away, Jonathan gives up on his job as an angel because God will not allow him to return to heaven to be with her. Episode 18: “We Have Forever, Part 2”—In Jonathan’s rebellion and grief, he falls in love with a woman who becomes the angel he needs. Episode 19: “The Correspondent”—A journalist who lives to cover the tragedies of war abroad to avoid his personal war at home is confronted by Jonathan. Episode 20: “Aloha”—Jonathan and Mark taste a little bit of paradise as they play cupid in the lives of two aging Hawaiian singers who have allowed pride and fear to come between their chance at romance. Episode 21: “A Dolphin for Lee, Part 1”—Jonathan and Mark are social workers who assist Lee, a teenager dying of cancer, to receive the expensive bone marrow transplant she needs to save her life. Episode 22: “A Dolphin for Lee, Part 2”—After helping Lee receive the medical treatment she needs, Jonathan and Mark go a step further to make her dream of saving the dolphins come true. Episode 23: “Heaven Nose, Mister Smith”—When heaven’s assignment software glitches, Jonathan is sent to stop another probationary angel from completing a not so heavenly assignment of his own. Episode 24: “The Whole Nine Yards”—Mark is a peewee football coach on Jonathan’s assignment to assist a little girl who wants to play ball with the boys.