Beverley Mitchell, Barry Watson and Catherine Hicks appeared together at 90s Con earlier this year, where they reflected on the actors’ chemistry.
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Bottom left: Beverley Mitchell, Jessica Biel, Mackenzie Rosman and David Gallagher; Top: Barry Watson
Beverley Mitchell, Barry Watson and their mum Catherine Hicks feel grateful for each other – and for each other 7. heaven family members – almost 30 years after the series started.
“I always think back to the pilot episode where we were all kind of forced to have instant chemistry,” Watson tells PEOPLE during an interview during an appearance at 90s Con in Connecticut earlier this year. “And somehow it coincided, somehow it happened.”
The 243-episode series followed the Camden family of seven children, led by Reverend Eric Camden and his wife, housewife Annie (Hicks). This 1996 pilot aired 27 years ago on the WB television network.
Watson, 50, played Camden’s eldest son, Matt Camden, while Mitchell, 43, was his sister Lucy Camden in the drama for all 11 seasons until its finale in 2007.
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“The pilot episode, I think, was probably pretty special. And then it was already in every episode – everything was somehow intertwined. It’s one long episode,” Watson says during a September interview.
Hicks, 73, similarly appreciates the immediate bond of the group.
“It’s so exciting when you do the show, you do the pilot, and then you realize, ‘Oh my god, I think this is it,’” Hicks tells PEOPLE.
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Catherine Hicks (left) and Beverley Mitchell in 1999
Mitchell says, “I think we were pretty lucky. We’re a show where we all got along, we all liked each other, we all respected each other. There was no competition between any of us. It was a very comfortable set for the guest stars , which will come.”
And the series has attracted some notable guest appearances throughout its run.
“We had amazing guest stars,” says Hicks. “Like the movie stars of the 40s, 50s, 60s, the stars of today. Pat Boone, Phyllis Diller, Richard Lewis.”
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Bottom left: Mackenzie Rosman, Catherine Hicks and Beverley Mitchell; Top left: Barry Watson and David Gallagher
Watson also reveals that the series has reached the next generation – his own children.
“My 16-year-old son Felix decided to watch every season and he did it in a few weeks. He kept looking! And then my oldest son, no, he thought it was a bit cheesy,” says Watson.