Michael Landon's Popular '80s Fantasy Drama Series Is Streaming For Free
Although "Bonanza," aka one of the best western TV shows of all time, and "Little House on the Prairie" may be two of the late Michael Landon's most notable projects, his '80s fantasy drama, "Highway to Heaven" (1984-1989) was also very popular. The NBC series starred Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel on probation, who was sent to Earth to spread hope and joy to humans. Landon's "Little House" co-star, Victor French, costarred as Mark Gordon, an ex-cop who helped him fulfill his missions on Earth across 111 episodes.
Despite never cracking the Top 10, "Highway to Heaven" was a ratings success. According to the Los Angeles Times, it steadily held a "respectable share" of the highly coveted viewership. Landon believed its popularity was tied to its emotionally dense stories. "You're going to laugh or cry, one or the other — you're not just going to watch a car chase," Landon told the publication in 1988. "I do the kind of shows that I like to sit down and watch with my family."
If you want to relive the nostalgia or just introduce yourself to one of Landon's final roles, "Highway to Heaven" is streaming for free on Tubi and Pluto.
There's a Highway to Heaven reboot on the way
"Highway to Heaven" concluded in 1989, two years before Michael Landon died prematurely from pancreatic cancer, but just like many of the projects he put his stamp on, it's continued to be relevant across generations. Months before the 2026 "Little House on the Prairie" reboot debuted on Netflix, Fox ordered a reboot of Landon's beloved "Highway to Heaven."
According to Deadline, the new "Highway to Heaven" is being spearheaded by writer-producer Jason Katims, who's taken up the showrunner mantle on the "contemporary reimagining." Katims expressed his excitement about the reboot in a statement. "I'm excited by the challenge of putting a contemporary lens on this classic tale," Katims revealed. "The idea of telling a very grounded, human story about an angel feels immediately emotional to me — and fun." Elaborating on the show's premise, he continued, "I love going outside my comfort zone to tell a tale about someone trying to do better as an angel than he did as a man."
News of the "Highway to Heaven" reboot arrived a few years after Jill Scott and Barry Watson starred in a Lifetime movie version of the Landon-created series.