Highway to Heaven

Highway to Heaven (1) (1x1)

Air date: Sep 19, 1984

In this, the pilot movie for the series, we meet Jonathan Smith walking slowly down a lonely road toward an unknown destination. He flags down a passing truck and asks for a ride from the old man driving. The man refuses and drives on, only to have his truck engine blow before he gets more than a few yards down the road. Jonathan obligingly does a little quick mechanic work on the vehicle and tells him to have a nice day. The man hastily changes his mind and offers a ride. With this scene, the theme of the entire series is set into motion. Stangers help strangers, people do good for one another, the forgotten and lonely are given a new purpose in life, and the world becomes just a little bit better place. In this case, Jonathan's destination is a retirement home called Havencrest, where he takes on the recently vacated job of handyman. It seems no one wants the job because the home is on the verge of being sold out from under the residents, leaving most of them nowhere to go.