Joan of Arcadia (2003–2005)

Millions of people speak to God. What if God spoke back? Life just got a hell of a lot more confusing for teenage Joan Girardi, who already deals with feeling out of place in her family : ... See full summary »

Creator:

Barbara Hall

Stars:

Joe Mantegna, Mary Steenburgen, Amber Tamblyn

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Joe Mantegna	...	Will Girardi (45 episodes, 2003-2005)
Mary Steenburgen	...	Helen Girardi (45 episodes, 2003-2005)
Amber Tamblyn	...	Joan Girardi (45 episodes, 2003-2005)
Jason Ritter	...	Kevin Girardi (45 episodes, 2003-2005)
Michael Welch	...	Luke Girardi (45 episodes, 2003-2005)
Becky Wahlstrom	...	Grace Polk (44 episodes, 2003-2005)
Chris Marquette	...	Adam Rove (44 episodes, 2003-2005)
Aaron Himelstein	...	Friedman (33 episodes, 2003-2005)
Mageina Tovah	...	Glynis Figliola (23 episodes, 2003-2005)

Storyline

Millions of people speak to God. What if God spoke back? Life just got a hell of a lot more confusing for teenage Joan Girardi, who already deals with feeling out of place in her family : her police chief father, her somewhat overbearing mother, her geeky younger brother and former football star older brother, now paralyzed. They'd never believe her if she told them that God is talking to her. Does Joan have a higher purpose on earth, or are these strange conversations just in her head?

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Plot Keywords:

assignment | friendship | nerd | depiction of god | brother sister relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

CBS SCI-FI Channel

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die himmlische Joan

Filming Locations:

1816 1/2 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barbara Hall Productions, CBS Productions, Sony Pictures Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min 45 min (45 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The double windows at the top of the school staircase set, which are often visible in scenes taking place in the school's hallways, are double semi-circles on top and squared on the bottom - the traditional shape of the ten commandments.

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Quotes

Grace: [to Joan] Do you have multiple personality disorder? Is that what this is?

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Connections

Referenced in Greek: Isn't It Bro-mantic? (2009)

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Soundtracks

"One of Us"
Performed by Joan Osborne
(Title Song)

User Reviews

Shame on CBS

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.