Joan of Arcadia? More Like Jaye of Niagara!
As everyone knows, Joan of Arcadia was a CBS show about Joan Girardi, a teenage girl living the Maryland town of Arcadia who begins seeing God everywhere and receiving little "missions" from Him/Her. Although God is never revealed to be an alien from outer space, the show was inexplicably rerun on SciFi this summer, which let me finally give it a
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And I really adored the second season though yes, it was definitely more dark than the first. Sprague Grayden! (Whom you know as the cute schoolteacher from Jericho.) I once wrote a Joan/Judith with Joan/God undertones ficlet.
So my favourite characters: Helen Girardi, Judith Montegomery, Grace Polk, Joan Girardi, and Luke Girardi.
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I know! First a teacher, then a student. Except she did it the other way around. I thought she was a little annoying at first, but she grew on me.
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Sigh. I'm still mad about where it ended, just when things were really getting interesting. But I still want to do a rewatch. Maybe I'll start that over the holidays.
Oh, one last thing. Did you notice all the fun random props carried in the background at the school? Seriously, it's hilarious.
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Surprise!
I wasn't sure how I would feel about how God was portrayed, but as you say they were very respectful and I don't recall ever having any issues in that respect.
I think it helped that they made God so down-to-earth and relatable.
And I'm pretty sure I cried during nearly every S1 episode. So you are certainly not alone in feeling emotional.
Yeah, I think I had a near-tears moment for almost every episode in S1 too. After the first few, after I really got into it.
I'm still mad about where it ended, just when things were really getting interesting.
I think it may have turned into a slightly different show with a different focus, but maybe they could have done that story while still remaining focused on the family and friends.
Did you notice all the fun random props carried in the background at the school? Seriously, it's hilarious.
Like what? I'm not sure.
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I think they could have made it work. But we'll never know.
Like what? I'm not sure.
It's been awhile since I've watched any of it, so I can't give too many examples. But there will be someone carrying, like, a giant flower. Or an ear of corn. Totally off the wall, random things. Nearly any scene in the hallways at school, you can find something. I think it must have just been the prop department having fun.
And I forgot to say in my original comment that while I had my issues with S2, there were still some pretty great episodes. I LOVE the zombie musical episode, for example. And the episode where Judith dies is one of my favorites.
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We can be together if I could only eat your braaaaaaain!
And the episode where Judith dies is one of my favorites.
Oh, juggling metaphors.
I think I did notice some random stuff in the hallways at times.
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Except for the last two episodes, when the show introduced a new character that signaled a promising and interesting new direction right before it was canceled.
Who did it introduce? I wanna knooooow. I'm always fascinated by the direction shows would have gone in had they not been axed. I read descriptions of that stuff even for shows i've never watched or only watched a very little bit of. So many stories that never got to be told! But which are probably more interesting in overall concept than they would have been in execution!
There's a certain pervasive CBSness about it that kept it from being a great show
I totally get that. CBS has a very distinct quality of, uh, cheesy crappiness. (WHAT IS UP, GHOST WHISPERER.)
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Right?!?!
Who did it introduce? I wanna knooooow. I'm always fascinated by the direction shows would have gone in had they not been axed.
Wentworth Miller shows up as this Lex Luthor-esque character who can also see/talk to God, except he thinks God sucks and takes on Joan as an adversary, wheedling his way into the lives of Will, Adam, and Helen. And wind blows melodramatically whenever he leaves! And God is all, "The last two years have only been preparation for your biggest challenge!"
CBS has a very distinct quality of, uh, cheesy crappiness.
It's weird!
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You make me wonder, though - I never felt Jaye and Joan were much alike, but maybe Jaye was actually an incredibly emotional, slightly whiny teenager and just grew progressively snarky later on?
(And actually, I'm mostly answering to duel your icon.)
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Heh. I think my expectations for Joan were very low in the snark department, so I was pleasantly surprised that she was just as annoyed as Jaye at being fate's bitch.
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