Editing Touched by an Angel (section)

==Production==
''Touched by an Angel'' was produced by [[CBS]] and Moon Water Productions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=http://www.touched.com/touched05/faqs.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912125744/http://www.touched.com/touched05/faqs.php |archive-date=September 12, 2012 |access-date=March 22, 2010 |work=Touched.com |publisher=[[CBS]]}}</ref> The network had wanted to do a series about angels after reading a story in ''[[Newsweek]]'' about how belief in angels was becoming popular.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Dolbee |first=Sandi |date=September 12, 2020 |title=The story of how 'Touched by an Angel' got its wings and became one of TV's biggest shows |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/tv/story/2020-09-12/the-story-of-how-touched-by-an-angel-became-one-of |access-date=June 21, 2022 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> Critic Harold Bloom, among others, noted a cultural awareness of angels around those years that began in 1990 with [[Sophy Burnham|Sophy Burnham's]] international bestseller ''A Book of Angels,'' and continued with [[Tony Kushner|Tony Kushner's]] 1993 play [[Angels in America]], among many other cultural touchstones.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bloom |first=Harold |author-link=Harold Bloom |date=2007 |title=Fallen Angels |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89z4lm9oZNUC |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |page=4 |isbn=9780300123487}}</ref>

Most episodes of the series were produced in [[Salt Lake City]], Utah. According to ''[[New York Times]]'' reviewer [[Caryn James]], [[John Masius]] created the first pilot episode for the series, but it was a darker, less hopeful story than the producers wanted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Strusiewicz |first=Cezary Jan |date=July 7, 2014 |title=Movies And TV Shows That Were Almost Crazy Dark |url=https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-family-movies-tv-shows-that-were-almost-insanely-dark |access-date=June 21, 2022 |website=Cracked.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="New York Times">{{cite news |last=James |first=Caryn |author-link=Caryn James |date=January 8, 1999 |title=Sure, Mom May Be Dead, But That Won't Stop Her |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E1DC103EF93BA35752C0A96F958260 |access-date=March 22, 2010}}</ref> It cost the studio $2 million to produce the episode.<ref name=":0" /> Masius wrote the show as a reflection of his spiritual anger at the time due to his two children being born disabled.<ref>{{cite web |last=Elber |first=Lynn |date=June 25, 2003 |title=Teenager turns reluctant grim reaper in Showtime's 'Dead Like Me' |url=http://onlineathens.com/stories/062603/ent_20030626022.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030815090155/https://www.onlineathens.com/stories/062603/ent_20030626022.shtml/ |archive-date=August 15, 2003 |access-date=February 21, 2013 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |via=[[Athens Banner-Herald]]}}</ref> [[Martha Williamson]] was approached to be the series executive producer in early 1994. She described the pilot she received as "upsetting" as it "portrayed angels as recycled dead people with power over life and death."<ref name=":0" /> She initially declined the position, but during a lunch with [[Andy Hill (basketball)|Andy Hill]], then President of CBS, she mentioned the show and suggested he find a producer who would create a show with "loving, joyful" angels that the audience would have to believe in.<ref name="Martha">{{cite web |last=Williamson |first=Martha |year=1996 |title=TV Is Touched by an Angel |url=http://touched.com/touched05/about.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204212125/http://touched.com/touched05/about.php |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |access-date=March 23, 2010 |work=[[Guideposts]], as reprinted at Touched.Net |publisher=CBS}}</ref>

Williamson stated that she could not stop thinking about the show after that meeting, and eventually called to ask if the position was still open. Though getting the position was no longer a sure thing, she passed up a more lucrative position directing a court drama and went in for an interview with CBS in June 1994. During her interview, she states she emphasized that she was a Christian and could only do a show that depicted angels in a way she felt was true to her view of angels and that was respectful towards God.<ref name=":0" /> She also indicated that the pilot should be redone from the beginning, keeping only the characters Monica and Tess, reworked. The studio agreed with her remarks and hired her.<ref name="Martha" /> Williamson herself wrote a new script for the pilot episode, while also working on hiring the remaining staff for the series, which was due to premiere in September. The pilot was filmed in Salt Lake City and the show was ready on schedule. The first episode aired on September 14, 1994.<ref name="Martha" />

===Theme song===
The show's theme song, "Walk with You", was sung by Della Reese with a gospel choir. An extended version appeared on the series soundtrack.

===Spin-off===
In 1996, ''[[Promised Land (1996 TV series)|Promised Land]]'' was launched as a spin-off series, following the Greene family whom Monica had met during one of her cases, as they travel the United States helping those in need.<ref name=":0" /> Four crossover episodes aired during ''Promised Land''{{'}}s three-season run.