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Originally telecast September 15, 1996, the third-season opener of Touched by an Angel is actually the pilot episode for the spinoff series Promised Land, which debuted two days later on September 17. Down in the dumps because she has failed her most recent assignment, Heavenly caseworker Monica (Roma Downey) is referred to the even more desperate plight of laid-off factory worker Russell Greene (Gerald McRaney). Suffering one setback after another, Russell thinks he has hit rock bottom when a promised job in his home town of Chicory Creek fails to materialize. But with the help of Monica and her angelic supervisor Tess, Russell and his family find a new purpose in life when they begin travelling throughout the country bringing help and hope to those less fortunate than themselves. In addition to Gerald McRaney, this episode serves to introduce the entire cast of Promised Land, including Wendy Phillips as Russell's wife Claire, Celeste Holm as his grandmother Hattie, Austin O'Brien and Sarah Schaub as his children Joshua and Dinah, Eddie Karr as his nephew Nathaniel, and Ossie Davis as philosophical family friend Erasmus Jones.