The nine-season CBS hit was the closest thing to therapy via television. Touched by an Angel ushered in a genre of sappy, feel-good television that brought the heavenly to Earth. Monica and Tess were the show’s two terrestrial angels who guide the sheep who are keen to go astray. With their infinite wisdom, they provide a gentle push in the right direction. While the show never actually reveals its vision of heaven, viewers are left with a mental image of the morality and love from above, which helps to offset the intense subject matter from suicide to racism. The frequent lights illuminating halos above Monica and Tess helped too.
Top 10 On-Screen Depictions of Heaven
To mark our cover this week, "Rethinking Heaven," TIME takes a look at the various ways the afterlife has been depicted on television and in movies