New York ? Even when he’s standing in a supermarket or drug store, forced to wait by an indifferent clerk, “7th Heaven” actor Stephen Collins never forgets that he’s also the Rev. Eric Camden.

He feels his blood boil. He’s about to explode with impatience, but he sees the other customers around him. Eric wouldn’t throttle some rude teenager, would he?

“There’s a different kind of light that shines on it because I’m supposed to be an icon of patience and humility,” he said. “It probably does proscribe my behavior in a certain way. It would make a better headline if I make a nuisance of myself in public.”

So he blends in with the crowd, sort of the way “7th Heaven,” which debuted in August 1996, has in the TV landscape. Even its milestones are reached quietly: The WB just aired its 200th episode this fall, eclipsing “The Waltons” and “Little House on the Prairie” as television’s longest-running family drama.

Collins is the patriarch of the Camden clan, a family of five children that expanded to seven with the birth of twins in 1999. His job as a minister puts him on a higher moral plane, but on “7th Heaven,” he’s a dad first.

Growing up in the suburbs north of New York City, Collins was a fan of programs such as “Leave it to Beaver,” “Father Knows Best” and “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet.”

“I would walk to school, and it would really look like a lot of those shows,” he said. “Those shows were like reality television to me. In a million years, I never thought I would play some sort of iconic image of fatherhood. I’m tremendously grateful for it.”

Actor Stephen Collins, who stars as the Rev. Eric Camden in the long-running WB family drama series 7th

He makes an excellent father figure, said Melissa Caldwell, chief researcher for the Parents Television Council.

“He’s not the dumb one in the household,” she said. “He’s communicative, he’s responsible, he’s involved in his kids’ lives. He’s a great role model.”

She suspects many TV executives don’t understand the show’s appeal.

‘There’s a certain mythology that prevails in Hollywood that kids are only interested in risky or edgy stuff,” she said, “and I don’t think that’s always the case.”

Although family shows can be considered bland, “7th Heaven” (7 p.m. Mondays) has recently dealt with son Simon’s loss of virginity, and a subtext for this season is the consequences of teenage sex.

Teenage girls were the first to discover “7th Heaven” a decade ago, Collins said. Many got their parents hooked on watching, too, which is why the series has consistently ranked as the WB’s most popular. Of the 20 most-watched shows in the WB’s history, 19 were “7th Heaven” episodes (topped by the twins’ birth).

Yet the series often seems like an afterthought at the WB, obsessed through the years with being hip and trendy.

The cast remembers a few years ago being told it was being considered for an Entertainment Weekly cover photo to illustrate the WB’s success. But Sarah Michelle Gellar of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” got the cover, “Dawson’s Creek” got much of the article’s attention and “7th Heaven” was barely mentioned, Collins said.

“We’ve always kind of gotten short shrift,” he said. “We were never really the WB’s brand.”