JOAN OF ARCADIA

'''Joan of Arcadia''' is an American television fantasy/family drama, which aired on Fridays, 8-9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS from September 262003 until April 222005. It is currently in syndication with episodes airing in high definition on HDNet.
On initial release, the show was a favorite with 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 portmanteau of Joan of Arc and the fictional city of Arcadia, Maryland.

Contents

Premise

Cast & characters

Major cast

Minor cast

Incarnations of God

Crew

Trivia

Episodes

Season 1: 2003-2004

Season 2: 2004-2005

DVD Releases

International

Premise

''Joan of Arcadia'' is about a teenage girl, Joan Girardi (played by Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God in the form of various people such as small children, teenage boys, elderly ladies, transients, passers by, 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 asked to take a reclusive bully to the school dance. While both her mother and the assistant principal object, Joan follows through with God's task. At the dance, it is revealed the bully has a bottle of alcohol with him but Joan convinces him not to open it. Despite this the assistant principal later reaches into his jacket and, finding the alcohol, expels him. 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 he shot over a dozen students and teachers with a handgun, before turning the gun on himself.
In other episodes, the effects of Joan's actions are not as obvious.
The opening credits roll with the song "One of Us" by Joan Osborne, a hit 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'' (repeated)
This was not the original version of the song. It was re-recorded by Osborne (with a noticeably less rough quality) specifically for the 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 as her paraplegic older brother, and Michael Welch as her younger brother.
While ''Joan of Arcadia'' was one of the highest rated new shows of the 2003-2004 TV season, its ratings declined in the second season, 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. Near the end of the second season, a menacing character was introduced to the series, an amoral "tempter", seemingly destined to cause a significant amount of conflict in the show's characters. The show's cancellation left that premise unexplored.
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 Americans who feel that their entertainment tastes and demands were 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. Fans 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.

Cast & characters

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 friend/boyfriend''

★ Becky Wahlstrom as Grace Polk - ''Joan's friend''

Minor cast

★ Aaron Himelstein as Friedman - ''Luke's best friend''

★ Mageina Tovah as Glynis Figliola - ''Luke's friend and one-time girlfriend''

★ Sprague Grayden as Judith Montgomery - ''Joan's friend from the mental institution.''

★ Mark Totty as Detective Carlisle - ''Will Girardi's junk food addicted partner on the Arcadia Police Department.''

★ 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 Department''

★ Derek Morgan as Roy Roebuck - ''Arcadia Police Department''

★ Wentworth Miller as Ryan Hunter - a young, charming dot com millionaire who also talks to God, but with his own sinister agenda. Introduced at the end of Season Two in the episode ''Common Thread'' it was planned for him to be a recurring character in the third season.

★ David Burke as Fr. Ken Mallory - Helen's friend and pastor of a nearby church.

★ Constance Zimmer as Sister Lilly Watters, a former nun who helps advise Helen Girardi, also Kevin's girlfriend.

Incarnations of God

★ Juliette Goglia - (commonly referred to as Little Girl God)

★ Kathryn Joosten - (commonly referred to as Mrs. Landinggod after Joosten's recurring role on The West Wing as Delores Landingham)

★ Russ Tamblyn (actress Amber Tamblyn's father) - (commonly referred to as Dog Walker God)

★ Kris Lemche - (commonly referred to as Cute Guy God)

★ Jeffrey Licon - (commonly referred to as Goth God)

★ Keaton Tyndall - (commonly referred to as Twin Girl God)

★ Kylie Tyndall - (commonly referred to as Twin Girl God)

Crew

★ Barbara Hall, Executive Producer

★ Jim Hayman, Executive Producer

★ Stephen Nathan, Executive Producer

★ Hart Hanson, Consulting Producer

★ Peter Schindler, Co-Executive Producer

★ Randy Anderson, 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.

★ Scenes of Arcadia's skyline and other outdoor scenes were actually the city of Wilmington, Delaware. Arcadia itself is set in Maryland, although it does not appear to be an exact cognate of Arcadia, Maryland.

★ The actors playing Joan's parents, Joe Mantegna and Mary Steenburgen, coincidentally have the same names as the earthly parents of Jesus Christ.

★ Props, such as pieces of Adam's artwork and Joan's signature messenger bag, and costume pieces belonging to Amber Tamblyn and other cast members were sold on eBay after the show's cancellation.

★ Grace's trademark leather jacket was brought in by actress Becky Wahlstrom from her own teenage years.

Episodes

Season 1: 2003-2004

#	Title
1	Pilot
2	The Fire and the Wood
3	Touch Move
4	The Boat
5	Just Say No
6	Bringeth It On
7	Death Be Not Whatever
8	The Devil Made Me Do It
9	St. Joan
10	Drive, He Said
11	The Uncertainty Principle
12	Jump
13	Recreation
14	State of Grace
15	Night Without Stars
16	Double Dutch
17	No Bad Guy
18	Requiem for a Third Grade Ashtray
19	Do The Math
20	Anonymous
21	Vanity, Thy Name Is Human
22	The Gift
23	Silence

Season 2: 2004-2005

#	Title
1	Only Connect
2	Out of Sight
3	Back to the Garden
4	The Cat
5	The Election
6	Wealth of Nations
7	P.O.V.
8	Friday Night
9	No Future
10	The Book of Questions
11	Dive
12	Game Theory
13	Queen of the Zombies
14	The Rise and Fall of Joan Girardi
15	Romancing the Joan
16	Independence Day
17	Shadows and Light
18	Secret Service
19	Trial and Error
20	Spring Cleaning
21	Common Thread
22	Something Wicked This Way Comes

DVD Releases

Cover Art	Season	Discs	Release Date	Episode #	Additional Information
	1	6	May 102005	23	Deleted Scenes, Audio commentaries by the Filmmakers and Cast Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes: The Creation of Joan of Arcadia and Joan of Arcadia - A Look at Season One God Gallery
	2	6	November 282006	22	Audio Commentaries on selected episodes A Look at Season 2 featurette The Making of Queen of the Zombies A Tour of Joan's High School Common Thread Table Read

International

★ In Argentina, the show was shown on Sony Entertainment Television

★ In Australia, the show is currently shown on Channel 9 on Sunday afternoon, check local guides for times.

★ In Austria, the show was shown on ORF 1.

★ In Belgium, the show was shown on La Une and La Deux.

★ In Bulgaria, the show was shown on Nova Television and BTV

★ In Brazil, the show was shown on Sony Entertainment Television

★ In Canada, the show was shown on CTV.

★ In Chile, the show is shown on Chilevisión.

★ In Croatia, the show was shown on RTL Televizija.

★ In Ecuador, the show is shown on Teleamazonas.

★ In Finland, the show was shown on Nelonen (TV4), the Finnish title was "Joanin Salaisuus" (meaning "Joan's Secret")

★ In France, the show was shown on TF1.

★ In Germany, the show was shown on Pro7. The German title was "Die himmlische Joan" (meaning "Heavenly Joan"). Only Season 1 has aired so far.

★ In Hungary, the show is shown on RTL Klub. The Hugarian title was "Isteni sugallat" (meaning "Divine inspiration").

★ In Indonesia, the show was on Global TV (Indonesia).

★ In Ireland, the show was shown on RTÉ Two.

★ In Israel, the show was shown on Channel 3.

★ In Italy, the show is shown on Italia1.

★ In Mexico, the show is shown on Cadenatres.

★ In Netherlands, the show was shown on RTL 4.

★ In New Zealand, Season 2 began recently and screens on TV3, Saturdays at 2:00pm

★ In Norway, the show is shown on TV3 Saturdays 11:10 am and on ZTV on Sundays 9:00pm.

★ In Perú, the first season is shown on Frecuencia Latina at 2:00am.

★ In the Philippines, the show was shown on ETC Entertainment Central and on QTV-11 (the show was taken off the air on the latter channel due to low ratings, but the show was a modest success on the former.)

★ In Poland, the show is shown on Polsat.

★ In Romania, the show is broadcast on Pro Cinema

★ In Russia, the show is shown on STS.

★ In much of Latin America, the show is shown in Sony Entertainment Television.

★ In Singapore, the show was shown on Channel 5.

★ In Slovakia, the show is shown on TV Markíza.

★ In Spain, the show was shown on Canal+ Spain.

★ In South Africa, the show was shown on SABC 3.

★ In South Korea, the show is shown on Christian Broadcasting System.

★ In Sweden, the show was shown on TV3.

★ In Thailand, the show was shown on True Series.

★ In the United Kingdom, the show was broadcast on LIVING.