“Wonderfalls,” a hilarious new Fox hourlong debuting early next year (Confidentially? It’s the season’s best new show.), centers around a fabulous young woman who betters the lives of those around her by obeying the mysterious instructions of a seemingly omniscient force that appears to her in various guises.
Guess what CBS’ “Joan of Arcadia” is about!
There are differences. Joan’s guide identifies Itself as God Almighty. Jaye, the heroine of “Wonderfalls,” pointedly asks if she’s being ordered about by God or Satan, but receives no reply.
“Arcadia” lead Amber Tamblyn (daughter of “Twin Peaks” vet Russ Tamblyn!) may look 16, but actually turned 20 last May. But remember: imagining her naked is pervy and wrong, because she looks 16. Are we clear?
TV Guide says:
There are differences. Joan’s guide identifies Itself as God Almighty. Jaye, the heroine of “Wonderfalls,” pointedly asks if she’s being ordered about by God or Satan, but receives no reply.
“Arcadia” lead Amber Tamblyn (daughter of “Twin Peaks” vet Russ Tamblyn!) may look 16, but actually turned 20 last May. But remember: imagining her naked is pervy and wrong, because she looks 16. Are we clear?
TV Guide says:
TV Guide says:
… the season’s most unexpected and unusual delight, an offbeat family drama laced with irreverent whimsy and genuine wonder.
The Hollywood Reporter says:
It's not easy to carve out a role on a TV show for God. If he fixes all the problems (or dispatches his angels to do the fixing), there's a risk that the show becomes treacly and preachy. On the other hand, if God is around but doesn't take much of an interest in things, you've managed to alienate just about everyone but atheists, typically not the target demo sought by advertisers. Finding that balance is tricky, but it's a trick creator (no pun intended) Barbara Hall manages quite nicely in "Joan of Arcadia." … The premiere lays out the premise but, intriguingly, raises more questions than it answers. … Fresh-faced Tamblyn is perfectly cast as Joan …
Variety says:
… a mixed bag both creatively and conceptually. … executive producer Hall (who wrote the pilot) manages to deftly and intelligently explore the always delicate area of religion without being cloying or preachy. … the decision to incorporate a police franchise into the program is simply annoying … Tamblyn (the daughter of actor Russ Tamblyn) provides the series a likable anchor, managing to convey just the right amount of bewilderment and emotion, and Mantegna and Mary Steenburgen are quietly effective as her parents. …
USA Today gives it three and a half stars (out of four) and says:
if you're looking to spend an hour with some sappy, feel-good, Touched by an Angel divine do-gooder, look elsewhere. Joan does more than merely insist that God can walk among us; it asks you to consider what would happen if he did. …The thought and care Hall has put into her premise carries over to the casting. Every choice is near ideal … under Joan's godly trappings lurks a first-rate family drama, a genre in short supply. Indeed, the often painfully realistic treatment of the familial anguish that swirls around Kevin (Ritter), who lost the use of his legs in an auto accident, is one of the show's greatest achievements. Somewhat less successfully, Joan also incorporates a cop show, thanks to Mantegna's job as the new chief of police. … Let some other freshman show be the year's most popular. By getting the divine right, Joan lays claim to being the year's best.
The Los Angeles Times says:
… the real miracle here is how deftly the show avoids the soggy clichés of redemption so many of its forerunners have embraced. … though it takes a certain hubris to write dialogue for God, at least He gets the laughs … The show's one substantial flaw is the time it spends on Mantegna's character Will Girardi's job — these "realistic" scenes, which constitute almost a parallel series within the series, are standard cop melodrama. Less convincing, ironically, than Joan's confabs with the Almighty, they play as interruptions in, not additions to, the real drama, which happens within and around the family.
8 p.m. Friday. CBS.
