Joan de Arcadia

first off: yay CBS for actually making a good show!! I mean, what, are we in our 10th season of JAG?

this show reminds me of My So-Called Life. and that's nothing to sneeze at. it's certainly not _as_ good, but it has the same feel with its realistic characters (and not just the main characters, but the supporting ones, too). it seems like kids who are teenagers now would relate to this show like kids of my generation related to MSCL in the 90s. I think the writers need to make the parents a little more accessible, but the way they show the many facets of the younger characters, especially Joan and her brothers, is really impressive.

the x-factor: Joan hangs out with God. I'm not a religious person, and if there are supposed to be religious overtones in this show, I'm not feeling them. It's almost like God is the trusty alien sidekick or something like that. It's cool, because even though I personally don't believe in God, I certainly have friends who do, and who knows? They might talk to God, too. It's nice that a TV show can address religion, which is such a part of so many people's lives, in a non-preachy way.

the show, however, isn't about religion. it's about a middle-class white suburban family and their personal struggles. I feel like the show could go up or down from here. there have been some really unique and interesting story lines (Joan's tame relationship with the "stoner"/artist Adam, the questioning of Grace's sexuality, the art-teacher mother's rediscovering of the art she created after being raped) and even the story lines that seem more boring and uninspired seem to be coming around (the condescending-macho chief of police dad being demoted, the wheelchair-bound former-star-athlete older brother regaining his confidence and returning to "player" status, despite his disabilities)

I think the show's sometimes-slow pace is a testament to how long it might last. I hope it stays around for a while, at least, even if I do have to keep staying in for a while on Friday nights :)

After Buffy the Vampire Slayer was canceled, I was also on the outs with every other show I had previously watched, and had almost nothing left. There was a great big void in my TV watching schedule, and it was filled with this show. If I had only heard the description for Joan of Arcadia, I know that I would never have watched it. Let's face it, the premise alone sounds pretty lame. Fortunately, I saw a commercial for the show one day while flipping through the channels, but was still skeptical. The commercial was on again and again, incessantly telling me to watch this show, and finally I decided to give in and watch the show, even though I probably wouldn't like it. The pilot episode was good, and the episodes that followed were good as well. The Girardis are a realistic portrayal of a family, not too perfect yet not overly exaggerated either. The kids are funny and intelligent, from the snippy Joan to the dorky Luke to the sarcastic Kevin, and the parents actually seem to love each other and their kids. Joan's friends, Grace and Adam, are another highlight. Grace is great as the rebellious girl without a cause and I liked her instantly, even though I did think she was a boy. Adam, on the other hand, took me a little more time. I recognized him from when he huffed paint on 7th Heaven, which did not exactly endear me to him. By the end of the very first episode he was in, however, I fell in love with his character. What is unique about this show is that the main character talks to God, who appears in various forms and assigns Joan tasks. The tasks always have unexpected results, and there is always a message in what Joan has to do, a message that is thankfully not beat into the audience with a sledgehammer, but is subtle and genuine. This is a moving show that deals with human experience quite well. Without a doubt this is the best new show this year.

I was given a box set of Joan of Arcadia(season 1) to watch by my roommate. I remember hearing about the show but didn't think much of it, other than it being interesting. I left it on a shelf and never watched it due to lack of time. He kept asking me if I had watched it and finally I did, the night before New Years Eve (2005). I watched the pilot and was amazed. I then came home on New Years morning and continued watching the rest of disc 1, then disc 2. I ended with the episode titled "Death bringeth not whatever" I think thats what its called. By the time I finished watching this episode and heard the ending song(I think the musical director's choice of music is excellent by the way), I cried for at least 15 minutes, and by then it was 9:00 am. I've been a serious Christian since the age of 12(now I'm in my early 30's) and never have I seen a show with such depth, insight and truth as this show has. I've not yet seen season 2 but I tell you that I feel as if I've learned much more about God and how he truly relates to man from this show than my 19 years of being a Christian. This show confirms the things it took me 19 years to start to understand about God's character and how he relates to man, as well as how we should relate to each other. I'm sorry it was canceled but I'm not surprised. Anything that promotes truth, morality, and spiritual insight and positive change is often persecuted or looked down upon in this "New World Order". Our society or many that have authority in it would much rather promote the opposite of such things. I've also studied enough ornithology, anthropology, biology, zoology, archeology, geology, ancient, medieval, modern history, music and languages, and have had enough metaphysical experiences to confirm my personal spiritual beliefs. I'm not your regular Christian. Anyway, people I tell you that this world and this play that we call "Life" is an unreal reality and we're all actors in it and this show is one of the few that dared to reveal this. In the words of Maximus (Russel Crowe's character in Gladiator), "What we do in this life will echo through eternity" and in eternity I believe that many of us will look back and remember Barbara Hall and this show that changed our lives for the better called Joan of Arcadia.

CBS recently canceled this truly original and uplifting show because it had lost viewers, and the age of the typical viewer (according to the lovely Neilsen ratings system) was over 50 years old. So what does CBS do? Say that a show about ghosts would "skew younger" than one about talking to God. Shame, shame, on you CBS. You promised that the show would be moved to another time slot before you canceled it, and you canceled it after making Barbara Hall introduce a new character that would hopefully bring in more viewers, while leaving the exit point for the show all the more sloppy and unresolved.

Some other network needs to pick this show up now. It's been nominated for an Emmy, which it also might be again this year, and won the People's Choice Awards. It's got an estimated eight million viewers, which is pretty good considering it was up against Dateline and in a time slot when people are out and about (early evenings on Fridays, also not a time when a lot of the teenagers are home, so that also explains why the average age of the viewers was so high). It's really sad that a show which makes you think, feel, cry and laugh at the same time can be thrown away so easily, while all the reality TV junk and crime dramas that are all-too-similar are thriving. This show was the finest ever to grace TV, and I highly recommend it to anyone that is sick of the few choices left to watch on television anymore.

In a season filled with terrible reality shows and cookie cutter sitcoms, a small show from CBS made its way into the territory of classic television in the making. While I'll admit the show drew me with the charming previews and attractive main star; I was rather hesitant to watch this but stumbled upon a gem in television, one of the rare gems in television in a shallow and short attention span audience.

Joan is the middle child in a middle/low class family who begins getting messages from god through the various forms of people who come to her asking her to perform certain deeds.

While she's not always sure what god's intentions may be for her she always manages to perform the deed and learns something that affects her life.

Many religious themed shows have rarely ever been able to send out watchable storylines with the religious undertones without completely botching them. "Seventh Heaven" a recent hit show with religious themes fails in every aspect possible by preaching of love, family, etc. while coming off as cheesy, campy, and very sappy. While that show continues to run out of steam with its horrible storylines and characters, this one manages to push it to the side.

Somehow "Joan of Arcadia" is real and that is due to many winning aspects including the excellent cast of actors who give this show the kick it needs. The often under rated Joe Mantegna gives an excellent performance as the father and leader of the family who works as a police officer while being forced to confront his rapidly feigning power, Mary Steenburgen plays the mother who often rules the household in the father's absence with a soft voice but a hard fist, Jason Ritter son of the late John Ritter plays the paralyzed oldest brother who must confront his disability while adjusting to life as disabled, Michael Welch plays the brainy youngest child who must adjust to his families problems while living as an individual, and best of all Amber Tamblyn stars as the title character who is extremely likable and charming; Tamblyn is excellent as Joan who takes God's often vague directions in stride and a sarcastic and often witty one-liner.

It'd be easy to make the character of Joan whiny and self-absorbed but the excellent writers pull her character off well and make her a heroine for the female viewers and eye candy for the young male viewers.

The writing is what make this series a joy with its often gripping and heartbreaking storylines and refreshing wit; while the earlier episodes in the series were mired in sloppy continuity and lack of any true direction, it picked up thankfully and has managed to achieve its purpose with amazing plot twists and often heart breaking character development.

"Joan of Arcadia" preaches themes without becoming preachy and becomes natural in its story telling while the excellent actors get into character flawlessly. Each character is likable and each character is more realistic and involving than any bargain basement reality show, and by the numbers sitcom and manages to mark its territory into classic television.

What make this the quintessential drama is that despite its religious backdrop it never preaches to people and never tells people that one religion is true, it only shows a young distraught girl being led by god personally and comes of age.

This is surely a godsend.