In early 2023, millennial comedian Rob Anderson was working on his book when he needed a break. He settled on streaming an episode of “7th Heaven,” a show he hadn’t seen since childhood, with a friend.
The plot made his jaw drop: Teenager Mary Camden (played by Jessica Biel), steals a glass from a diner as part of a basketball team hazing ritual. When her father, who is a reverend, finds the glass at home, Mary’s older brother Matt takes the rap and agrees to return it to the diner and apologize. But the diner manager presses charges against Matt, and a court case ensues. Eventually, Mary comes clean, and a bevy of local teens show up in court with their various stolen diner items in an act of mass repentance.
“I looked at my friend and said, ‘This is absolutely insane,’” Anderson recalled in an interview. “‘There is just no …