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List Price: $39.98 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 3531
Released: May 10, 2005 |
| Our Price: $29.39 |
| Used Price: $27.49 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
After patriarch Will gets a job as the chief of police, the Girardi family moves to the small town of Arcadia from the big city. Middle child Joan isn't happy, and her family, consisting of science nerd Luke, paralyzed former jock Kevin, and their perpetually flustered mother Helen, isn't helping. Joan finds herself talking to God, in the form of random people who give her assignments to help the people around her. Joan keeps following God's assignments, never sure if she's really speaking to him, or just going crazy!
Description of Joan of Arcadia - The First Season:
Once in awhile a show comes along that breaks the mold. Most such programs fail, but Joan of Arcadia set out to do something new, beat the odds, and found an audience. Created by Barbara Hall (Judging Amy), it’s a unique hybrid of My So-Called Life, The Commish, and--well, something different. Unlike CBS predecessor Touched by an Angel, faith creates more questions than answers (and God even has a sense of humor).
Joan (Amber Tamblyn) is an ordinary 16-year-old. Father Will (Joe Mantegna) is the local Arcadia police chief, mother Helen (Mary Steenburgen) is a teacher/administrator, younger brother Luke (Michael Welch) is a fellow student, and older brother Kevin (Jason Ritter, son of John Ritter) is a high school graduate who was paralyzed the year before. He used to be popular and athletic. Now he watches TV and builds models. In the pilot, God speaks to Joan for the first time, as a cute boy, and asks her to get a job. Once she's convinced He's really God, she does. Her action inspires Kevin to get one, too, and his process of rejoining the world begins.
As in Joan Osborne’s theme song, "One of Us" (featured on two episodes), God will continue to appear to Joan in a variety of guises--even as a dog walker who looks like Russ Tamblyn (Amber's father). He’ll often ask her to do things that make her uncomfortable, but she'll always learn from the experience and some good will always come from it. Unfortunately, she isn't able to talk to anyone about this or they'd think she was crazy, not even friends Grace (Becky Hahlstrom) or Adam (Christopher Marquette). By the season finale, faith will be replaced by doubt, setting the scene for the second season, in which Joan’s faith will be restored. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Joan of Arcadia - The First Season Reviews:
An All-time Top Ten TV Show 
2009-12-17 - I watched this show when it originally aired in the mid 2000's. It was very good then and I was disappointed it was cancelled after just two seasons. The second season was better than the first. The show was getting better over time. After I recently watched the two seasons on DVD, I like the show even better. I consider Joan of Arcadia to be one of my all-time top ten television shows -- and that dates back to the 1960's.
I am very impressed with the acting skills of the main character, Amber Tamblyn. I am surprised she is not one of the big stars today.
What I really enjoyed about the season 2 DVD was the special feature of a script reading. First time I had ever seen that done. All people involved with a single episode sat around a huge table as the actors read their parts from the script. Occasionally, clips from the actual aired show were shown. Very interesting.
Better Than Most TV 
2009-08-14 - The theme of this TV series, which first aired 2003-4, is that a teenage girl, Joan, is approached by God. God appears in various human guises, male and female, and usually has instructions about what he wants Joan to do: take up piano lessons, build a boat, get a job, and so forth. God never explains why, although it's all part of "a perfect plan," which sometimes works out, and sometimes is later reviewed with a sort of folksy wisdom, like "you don't always get to see the outcome of your actions." The "assignments" get a bit tiresome after awhile, and occasionally there is overacting, but all in all, the cast does a good job of portraying stresses and strains of family life, personal foibles, and largely believable situations encompassing challenge and tragedy. Because the program is focused on their family (and Joan) there is way too much drama for one family to be going through, but it helps that the series also shows Joan at school and outside the home, and her father at his work as a Chief of Police, and later, as a detective. Her nerd brother and former-jock-now-paraplegic older brother, have significant roles. In addition to the matter of God, there is substantial portrayal of teen angst. I think there is too much use of tinkling piano and soft guitar every time there are tears (which is often), but this is a critique that does not touch the core of the presentation--it's just something that could have been less thickly laid on.
This program only lasted another year; there were many awards for its first year, but the drive for advertising revenue drove Joan of Arcadia to the drearily predictable "sexing up" and "violencing up" in the second year, in order to supposedly reach the target demographic--a typical TV wasteland outcome. In the year that it ran, I looked forward to it each week. Its portrayal of normal (mostly white, middle-class) people gave range to some human and humane expressions about the plight of gay kids raised by bigots, homeless children afraid of losing their parents, and other issues that are timely and painful. The serious core of the show did not preclude moments of humor, and there was enough tenderness to keep it from being too heavy.
I recommend this as an example of a better-than-average TV presentation...which was too good to last.
Joan's first season - what would you do if God chose you?
2009-06-01 - We will always have critics . . . I go by the old addage, "if you can't say something positive; don't say anything at all."
I was positively happy to have this show to watch. How would others of us react to situations in life? Who knows until you are confronted by one? A number of shows giving positive entertainment are welcome in our home.
Great show- in the beginning.
2009-05-20 - When it first began, Joan of Arcadia was an incredibly promising television show. The show was well cast, the concept itself was interesting (God- in many human forms- appearing to an ordinary girl, giving her various tasks that not only showed her how she affected the world around her, but also showed that if we have faith, God can work things out). The storylines were captivating, as well. And, speaking as someone who was a teenager when the show aired, the romantic tension between sweet Adam and oblivious Joan was just wonderful. Though the season ended very strangely (Lyme disease???), the show could have continued on for at least a few more seasons had the second season not been botched by the writers so much. If you're a fan of television and like watching different things, you may enjoy Joan of Arcadia. The first season certainly got enough positive attention from critics.
Joan of arcadia: the first season
2009-04-09 - Dear Sir or Madam,
Ordering this product was fast and easy. When I received the product, it was damaged. I believe the instructions were unclear and confusing on how to return the product for replacement. I returned the item, but gave the wrong information on the package. The staff was able and willing to correct my mistake, track down my down package and replace it. I appreciate all their efforts. I would respectfully suggest that they review their online procedure on returning future products and clear up any apparent problems with instructions on returns.
Thank you.
Melissa Glandon
