Joan of Arcadia

Joan of Arcadia was an American television fantasy/family drama which aired on Fridays, 8-9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS from 2003 until 2005.

The show was a favorite with the critics and won the prestigious Humanitas Prize, the People's Choice Award, as well as being one of the few television shows to be nominated for an Emmy Award in the first season, for Best Dramatic Series. The title is a word-play on Joan of Arc. The "Arcadia" of the title is the fictional city of Arcadia, Maryland.

Joan of Arcadia is about a girl, Joan Girardi (played by The Ring's Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God in the form of various people such as small children, teenage boys, elderly ladies, transients, passersby, etc. Joan is asked by God to perform tasks that often appear to be trivial or contrary, but the end result of which is always positive towards a larger situation.

An example is when Joan is ordered to take a reclusive bully to the school dance. While both her mother and the school principal object, Joan follows through wiht God's task. However, at the dance it's revealed the bully has a bottle of alcohol with him, and when the principal finds out, he is expelled. Joan later finds out from God that while this turn of events seems rather bleak, it was the lesser of two evils: in an alternate timeline where he went alone to the dance, he got drunk and shot over a dozen students and teachers with a handgun he had also taken, before turning the gun on himself.

The opening credits roll with the song "One Of Us" by Joan Osborne, a number one single in the United States off her 1995 album Relish:

What if God was one of us?

Just a slob like one of us

Just a stranger on the bus

Trying to make his way home

This was not the original version of the song. It was re-recorded by Osborne (with a noticeably less rough quality) specifically for this television show. To fit the lyrics of the song, Joan first meets God as a teenage boy riding to school on the bus with her (although they don't actually speak to each other at the time).

It starred actors Joe Mantegna and Mary Steenburgen as Joan's parents, Jason Ritter (son of the late John Ritter) as her paraplegic older brother, and Michael Welch as her younger brother.

While the show was one of the highest rated new shows of the 2003-2004 TV season, its ratings declined in its sophomore year in spite of continued critical acclaim. The show was cancelled by CBS on May 18, 2005. Only two episodes from the second season were repeated by CBS: "No Future" and "The Rise and Fall of Joan Girardi." The network pulled any remaining reruns from its schedule.

Several online fan sites were created in response, in an effort to have the show reinstated. While in its first season it had a wide variety of fans demographically, its controversial cancellation, along with other similar moves in the media, such as cancellations of Third Watch, American Dreams, and Judging Amy, produced an outcry from many older Americans who feel that their entertainment tastes and demands are being completely ignored. Many fans believe that the network meddled with the show in the second season in an attempt to attract younger viewers, but only succeeded in alienating some of its audience. They also question the decision to air it on Friday evenings when the desired demographic segment is smaller than on other nights. Despite their efforts, Ghost Whisperer took over the show's Friday time slot in September 2005.

Major cast

Amber Tamblyn as Joan Girardi
Joe Mantegna as Will Girardi - Joan's father
Mary Steenburgen as Helen Girardi - Joan's mother
Jason Ritter as Kevin Girardi - Joan's older brother, partially paralyzed in a car accident
Michael Welch as Luke Girardi - Joan's younger brother
Chris Marquette as Adam Rove - Joan's (now seemingly ex-)boyfriend
Becky Wahlstrom as Grace Polk - Joan's friend, Luke's girlfriend

Minor cast

Aaron Himelstein as Friedman - Luke's best friend
Mageina Tovah as Glynis Figliola - Luke's friend
Sprague Grayden as Judith Montgomery - Joan's friend, died after several episodes.
Elaine Hendrix as Ms. Lischak - Chemistry and Physics teacher
Patrick Fabian as Gavin Price - Assistant Principal, Arcadia High School
Annie Potts as Lucy Preston - Lieutenant, Arcadia Police Dept.
Derek Morgan as Roy Roebuck - Arcadia Police Dept.
Russ Tamblyn (Amber's father) as one of many who have played an incarnation of 'God' (commonly referred as Dog Walker God)
Kris Lemche as one of many who have played an incarnation of 'God' (commonly referred as Cute Guy God)
Wentworth Miller as Ryan Hunter - a young, charming millionaire who also talks to God, but with his own sinister agenda. Introduced at the end of Season Two and planned to be a major character throughout the third season.
David Burke as Fr. Ken Mallory - Helen's friend and pastor of a nearby church.

Crew

Barbara Hall as Executive Producer
Jim Hayman as Executive Producer
Stephen Nathan as Executive Producer
Hart Hanson as Consulting Producer
Peter Schindler as Co-Executive Producer
Randy Anderson as Co-Executive Producer

Trivia

In a 2002 episode of The Twilight Zone, Amber Tamblyn (as "Jenna") is sent to a place called "Arcadia" as a punishment for being a nonconformist.
Sets used in production have now been taken apart. ^*
Scenes of Arcadia's skyline and other outdoor scenes were actually the city of Wilmington, Delaware.
After CBS announced the show's cancellation, an effort to keep the show going, both online and through mail, was started. However, it was unsuccessful.

DVD Releases

DVD Name	Realease Date	Episode #
The First Season	May 10, 2005	23
The Second Season	September, 2006	22

International

In France, the show was shown on TF1.
In Italy, the show is shown on Italia1.
In Hungary, the show is shown on RTL Klub.
In Mexico, the show was shown on Sony Entertainment Television.

External links

Save Joan of Arcadia Website
Italian Site
"A Plea to the Television Gods" - Joan Fans Try to Keep the Faith (Failure Magazine, May 2005)
Fan Site and Forum
Another fan site
Watching Joan of Arcadia Study Guide
A Season 3 Fan Fiction Project
Another Season 3 Fan Fiction Project