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fandomhigh_ooc2010-01-24 11:33 am
joan-notjane.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2010-01-24 11:33 am
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Fandom Spotlight: Joan of Arcadia
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?
The entire premise of Joan of Arcadia is summed up in the Joan Osborne song "One of Us". Which also happens to be the show's theme song. Funny how that works. But, yes. The show revolves around a teenage girl named Joan who lives in Arcadia, Maryland, and begins getting visits from God who tells her to perform various tasks. He tells her that He is making good on her promise to do anything He wanted if her brother, Kevin, survived the car accident that made him a paraplegic.
There are vague spoilers for the entire series under the cut.
The Characters
Joan Girardi (portrayed by Amber Tamblyn): Joan is the titular character of the show. She is the middle child of the Girardi family. At the beginning of the show, she is shown to be friends with the popular kids at her school, but she quickly falls out of favor with them for a variety of reasons and befriends the 'sub-defectives'. She is resistant to God's interference in her life and frequently questions Him about why he is asking her to do certain things. Her constant changing interests and activities (things she is doing on God's instruction) give her the appearance of being flaky since she can't/won't explain to people why she is doing those things.
Will Girardi (portrayed by Joe Mantegna): Will is Joan's father and initially the Chief of Police in Arcadia, MD. He's a good cop and an honest man who eventually brings to light serious corruption in Arcadia's government. When the police department is restructured, he declines a leadership position and returns to detective work. He is also a good father (a rarity on television) and cares a great deal about his family.
Helen Girardi (portrayed by Mary Steenburgen): Helen is Joan's mother and Will's wife. She works as a secretary at the school Joan and Luke attend but ends up becoming an art teacher. She also goes through a spiritual journey through the course of the series, returning to the Catholic faith.
Kevin Girardi (portrayed by Jason Ritter): Kevin is the eldest Girardi child. About a year prior to the pilot, he was in a car accident that rendered him paraplegic. His friend, Andy, was driving drunk and refused to give Kevin the keys. One of the ongoing plot threads through the series is Kevin learning how to live his life now that he's in a wheelchair, with him obtaining employment, dating and finding hobbies he can enjoy. Prior to his accident, he was the alpha male jock type.
Luke Girardi (portrayed by Michael Welch): Luke is the youngest Girardi child. He often feels forgotten in the midst of Kevin's issues and Joan's antics. He's uber-intelligent, a science geek, who hangs out on the fringes of the crowd in school.
Adam Rove (portrayed by Chris Marquette): Adam is one of Joan's best friends and her on-again/off-again boyfriend/love interest. He's an exceptionally talented artist who calls Joan "Jane" and talks kind of like a stereotypical surfer dude.
Grace Polk (portrayed by Becky Wahlstrom): Grace is Joan's other best friend and has been friends with Adam since they were little. She also ends up becoming Luke's girlfriend. She's tough and doesn't buy in to the high school girly-girl subculture (leading the popular kids to assume she's a lesbian *rolls eyes*).
God (portrayed by a whole bunch of people): God appears to Joan in a variety of guises, giving her tasks to complete that are seemingly random or trouble-making, but always end up having positive results.
Why You Should Watch
It's a fun show that is definitely not your typical teen melodrama. It's the kind of show that makes you think while it entertains. And despite having God as a central character, it is not overly preachy. It deals with a number of sensitive topics including alcoholism, suicide, death, and school violence.
The characters are well written and have hidden depths that are revealed over the course of the show.
And, lest you think it's all doom and gloom and srs bznz, there are a lot of comic moments - like Joan ending up on crutches from doing laundry.
Where Can I Find It?
You can watch all of the episodes on Surf the Channel. It also appears that most of the episodes are available on YouTube.
SyFy occasionally runs marathons (because apparently God = science fiction?)
It's also available on DVD on Netflix and Amazon.
Fun Stuff
Theme Song
Joan's First Meeting with God (yes, it's Cute Boy God)
Joan's Cheerleading Moments
Science Fair (with Joan and Adam's first kiss)
Queen of the Zombies (school play)
Joan's Sprained Ankle (yeah, I've linked this before but it amuses me)
Joan and God talking about Free Will (recognize that God? :D)
Joan completing one of God's tasks (this is a heavy scene involving school violence)
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?
The entire premise of Joan of Arcadia is summed up in the Joan Osborne song "One of Us". Which also happens to be the show's theme song. Funny how that works. But, yes. The show revolves around a teenage girl named Joan who lives in Arcadia, Maryland, and begins getting visits from God who tells her to perform various tasks. He tells her that He is making good on her promise to do anything He wanted if her brother, Kevin, survived the car accident that made him a paraplegic.
There are vague spoilers for the entire series under the cut.
The Characters
Joan Girardi (portrayed by Amber Tamblyn): Joan is the titular character of the show. She is the middle child of the Girardi family. At the beginning of the show, she is shown to be friends with the popular kids at her school, but she quickly falls out of favor with them for a variety of reasons and befriends the 'sub-defectives'. She is resistant to God's interference in her life and frequently questions Him about why he is asking her to do certain things. Her constant changing interests and activities (things she is doing on God's instruction) give her the appearance of being flaky since she can't/won't explain to people why she is doing those things.
Will Girardi (portrayed by Joe Mantegna): Will is Joan's father and initially the Chief of Police in Arcadia, MD. He's a good cop and an honest man who eventually brings to light serious corruption in Arcadia's government. When the police department is restructured, he declines a leadership position and returns to detective work. He is also a good father (a rarity on television) and cares a great deal about his family.
Helen Girardi (portrayed by Mary Steenburgen): Helen is Joan's mother and Will's wife. She works as a secretary at the school Joan and Luke attend but ends up becoming an art teacher. She also goes through a spiritual journey through the course of the series, returning to the Catholic faith.
Kevin Girardi (portrayed by Jason Ritter): Kevin is the eldest Girardi child. About a year prior to the pilot, he was in a car accident that rendered him paraplegic. His friend, Andy, was driving drunk and refused to give Kevin the keys. One of the ongoing plot threads through the series is Kevin learning how to live his life now that he's in a wheelchair, with him obtaining employment, dating and finding hobbies he can enjoy. Prior to his accident, he was the alpha male jock type.
Luke Girardi (portrayed by Michael Welch): Luke is the youngest Girardi child. He often feels forgotten in the midst of Kevin's issues and Joan's antics. He's uber-intelligent, a science geek, who hangs out on the fringes of the crowd in school.
Adam Rove (portrayed by Chris Marquette): Adam is one of Joan's best friends and her on-again/off-again boyfriend/love interest. He's an exceptionally talented artist who calls Joan "Jane" and talks kind of like a stereotypical surfer dude.
Grace Polk (portrayed by Becky Wahlstrom): Grace is Joan's other best friend and has been friends with Adam since they were little. She also ends up becoming Luke's girlfriend. She's tough and doesn't buy in to the high school girly-girl subculture (leading the popular kids to assume she's a lesbian *rolls eyes*).
God (portrayed by a whole bunch of people): God appears to Joan in a variety of guises, giving her tasks to complete that are seemingly random or trouble-making, but always end up having positive results.
Why You Should Watch
It's a fun show that is definitely not your typical teen melodrama. It's the kind of show that makes you think while it entertains. And despite having God as a central character, it is not overly preachy. It deals with a number of sensitive topics including alcoholism, suicide, death, and school violence.
The characters are well written and have hidden depths that are revealed over the course of the show.
And, lest you think it's all doom and gloom and srs bznz, there are a lot of comic moments - like Joan ending up on crutches from doing laundry.
Where Can I Find It?
You can watch all of the episodes on Surf the Channel. It also appears that most of the episodes are available on YouTube.
SyFy occasionally runs marathons (because apparently God = science fiction?)
It's also available on DVD on Netflix and Amazon.
Fun Stuff
Theme Song
Joan's First Meeting with God (yes, it's Cute Boy God)
Joan's Cheerleading Moments
Science Fair (with Joan and Adam's first kiss)
Queen of the Zombies (school play)
Joan's Sprained Ankle (yeah, I've linked this before but it amuses me)
Joan and God talking about Free Will (recognize that God? :D)
Joan completing one of God's tasks (this is a heavy scene involving school violence)