This week has been a bad one for singer, actor, and author, Stephen Collins…
Anyone who reads my blogs or follows me on Facebook knows that Stephen Collins gets under my skin. I watched him play Reverend Eric Camden on 7th Heaven for years. It’s not because I enjoyed his acting, either. It’s mainly because he was so irritating that watching him was kind of like watching a train wreck. I found his character so uptight, pompous, and sanctimonious that it was unreal. I enjoy snarking on him, too. I even went as far as to review his two albums on Epinions.com, before it went defunct. I wasn’t surprised that I hated his first album, Stephen Collins. I was surprised that I kind of liked his second release, The Hits of Rick Nelson, on which he and the 7th Band covered the hits of Rick Nelson. It’s not that I like Stephen Collins’ music that much; it’s just that in my opinion, he did a better job the second time around.
Stephen Collins sings “Sandy”, a track from his first, self-titled album.
I have also read and reviewed Stephen Collins’ works as an author. To be frank, his books showed a different side of the man who played Revered Camden. Indeed, they gave me a clue that offscreen, Collins is definitely not like his character on 7th Heaven. Still, I was pretty shocked when I read and heard about the allegations that he molested young girls, one as young as 11 years old. The fallout in the wake of this news has been pretty intense. Indeed, 7th Heaven reruns have been pulled from the network, UpTV, though you can still see them on Amazon Prime. Collins was fired from his most recent project, Ted 2 and resigned his position on the board of the Screen Actors Guild. His scenes have also been pulled from an upcoming episode of Scandal.
Now, it seems that Collins’ is being punished before he’s formally been proven guilty of committing a crime. On the other hand, there is an audio tape floating around of him explicitly confessing to molesting girls years ago. And there has been a formal complaint made about him by one of the young women in question. It’s very hard to reconcile the accusations being made against Collins and compare them to his image on 7th Heaven, which holds the distinction of being the longest running family drama in television history.
I don’t deny that Collins has appeal. He must, given how successful 7th Heaven was and his many successful forays into movies, television, music, and even popular literature. I’ve always found him very annoying, yet something about him still draws me like a moth to a flame. And this latest scandal, I have to admit, makes for some juicy reading… especially since I have been torturing myself with 7th Heaven reruns for the past few weeks. Yes, I was watching even before this big news about his apparently scandalous behavior broke. I generally have a lot of empathy for men who divorce, but that tape that is circulating sure does make Collins look guilty. And I am not one of Collins’ fans.
Stephen Collins sings “Travelin’ Man”, a hit by Rick Nelson.
Anyway, I don’t admire child molesters, but I do have some hope for and faith in the American judicial system. Hopefully, the whole truth will come out soon… or at least in a way that resolves this bit of drama. In the meantime, though Stephen Collins’ acting pursuits may soon become rare, you can still buy his albums on Amazon. Incidentally, both Stephen Collins and The Hits of Rick Nelson were produced by Gold Label Records, a company owned by squeaky clean Christian singer Pat Boone. Wonder what he thinks of all this hoopla…
