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Joan of Arcadia - The First Season |  | Directors: Alan Myerson, David Petrarca, Elodie Keene, Gloria Muzio, Helen Shaver
Actors: Amber Tamblyn, Joe Mantegna, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Ritter, Michael Welch
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.98
Buy New: $22.99
as of 3/10/2010 18:31 PST details
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Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  150 reviews
Sales Rank: 3640
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 6
Running Time: 1028 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.5 x 1
MPN: PARD886264D
ISBN: 1415708762
UPC: 097368862647
EAN: 9781415708767
ASIN: B0007TKHKC
Theatrical Release Date: September 25, 2003
Release Date: May 10, 2005
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
A high-school girl is approached by strangers claiming to be God with assignments for her to complete.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 20-MAR-2007
Media Type: DVD
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
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 150
 Heartfelt and ntertaining January 30, 2010
P. Harris (Oldest Town in Texas)
This series, Joan of Arcadia, is a pleasure to watch. It has a wonderful touch of normalcy amid the idea that God speaks aloud (and in person/s) to Joan. The family relationships are realistic and help make the interactions very believable. The idea that God can be any one of us is a constant reminder that we must treat our fellow man as fellow men.
God is Witty! January 14, 2010
TVenthusiast
Intelligant, witty, interesting, simply a great show. Joan of Arcadia follows the life of Joan, a simple, average, American teenager. Her brother is handicapped, her father is a despised Police Chief, and her mother is just trying to hold the family together. But, when Joan begins to receives visits from God, it turns out she is the one begining to hold the family together. People begin to think Joan is simply insane and menatlly unstable. But she knows better. She knows that God is really talking to her. And knowing that is pretty hard when your family never prayed to God, and never went to Church. The mix of emotion, wit, mystery, and wisdom make Joan of Arcaida one of the best shows I've ever seen and one of the best purchases I've ever made.
An All-time Top Ten TV Show December 17, 2009
L. Wilson (KC, MO USA)
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 August 14, 2009
Daniel Raphael
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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? June 1, 2009
Anita M Way
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 150
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