Best American TV Shows With a Religious or Spiritual Premise/Setting

By Raymond Lockley

While the U.S. is no longer necessarily a religious country, it is still populated by a spiritual people (albeit with very diverse views). One of the most comprehensive studies I've seen said that 92% of Americans believe in some form of God or "higher power". Because there is no large bloc of theological agreement, there has not been much of a viewing demographic that has supported a long-term, blockbuster spiritually-oriented TV program (the way some legal drama franchises have had), religion has been a central premise and/or setting of many television productions.

What I found I was most most interested in was compiling a list of shows that chose religion (broadly defined) as the dominant theme, which were produced for the purpose of entertaining their viewers--that is, not a talk show about religion (e.g. "The 700 Club") or a broadcasting of a religious service (e.g. "The Hour of Power"), though not necessarily fiction either. And to be clear, the spiritual component needs to be the primary premise, not just a show that often incorporates relgious themes or questions (as "The Simpsons" often does), or that just has as characters a pastor and a church-going family (like "Little House on the Prairie"). It should also go without saying that I did not review (or watch) any show which would be considered triumphalist or chauvinist with respect to religion (although some of them perhaps presume a Christian audience).

Criteria:   My list includes only American shows; and unfortunately, it includes only shows in English--a reflection of my own knowledge and cultural biases, not a reflection on the quality of shows done in languages other than English. Also, since I'm interested in shows which have had something of an impact on American culture or conversation, my list of the best shows includes only series which originally aired for more than one season (and thus no Christmas specials). [Unfortunately, that also means I'm leaving out the brilliant BBC hit, "The Vicar of Dibley".]

So without further prelude, here's my arbitrary list of the best American TV entertainment shows with a religious or spiritual premise:

  1. Joan of Arcadia, 2003-05
  2. Eli Stone, 2008-09
  3. Highway to Heaven, 1984-89
  4. The Good Place, 2016-20
  5. God Friended Me, 2018-20
  6. Touched by an Angel, 1994-2003
  7. Amen, 1986-91
  8. The Flying Nun, 1967-70
  9. Soul Man, 1997-98
  10. 7th Heaven, 1996-2007
  11. Father Murphy, 1981-83
  12. Father Dowling Mysteries, 1989-91
By the way, it's worth noting that the leading character in "Amen", Reverend Reuben Gregory, was played by Clifton Davis, who was in "real life" an actual church pastor. In fact, there are several well-known folks in television who are also ministers. Perhaps the best-known among them is Fred "Mister" Rogers.

Honorable mention

There have been many other shows in which religiosity may have been somewhat less central, where the quality just was not that good, or which were only on for one season. Here is an alphabetical list of a few others which fit the theme of the list, but didn't qualify for the list of the "best":

Honourable mention

Two of my favorite shows with a religious theme don't qualify because they are British, not American... but it's my list page; so here they are:

Dead people whisperers

Okay, I know talking to dead people doesn't necessarily have anything to do with religion. But the premise cracks me up, and so I had to mention these shows somewhere:

To index of lists