Joan of Arcadia - The Second Season
by Steve Gomer
from Paramount
Millions of people speak to God. What if God spoke back? Life just got a hell of a lot more confusing for teenage Joan Girardi who already deals with feeling out of place in her family : her police chief father her somewhat overbearing mother her geeky younger brother and former football star older brother now paralyzed. They'd never believe her if she told them that God is talking to her. Does Joan have a higher purpose on earth or are these strange conversations just in her head?Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368889644 Manufacturer No: 888964
For two years, CBS's Joan of Arcadia managed the neat trick of warming the heart, while keeping the gag reflex at bay. And for a family drama based around faith--and the lack thereof--preachiness was always in short supply. At the end of the first season, Joan (Amber Tamblyn) decides it's all in her head: God isn't really speaking to her. Over the summer, she attends a camp for troubled kids, and now she makes lamps. Her boyfriend, Adam (Christopher Marquette), is as confused as ever; he was just starting to believe her. While Joan questions God's existence, her mother, Helen (Mary Steenburgen), plans a return to the Catholic Church. To that end, she starts meeting with chain-smoking former nun Lilly (Constance Zimmer, Boston Legal) to help with her confirmation. Joan's father, Will (Joe Mantegna), older brother Kevin (Jason Ritter), and Helen must also contend with the lawsuit filed by the boy who caused Kevin's accident, while Joan's younger brother, Luke (Michael Welch), continues to see the surly Grace (Becky Wahlstrom) in secret.
New Arcadia arrivals include Will's controlling boss, Lucy (Annie Potts), Joan's "crazy camp" friend, Judith (Sprague Grayden), and enigmatic do-gooder Ryan (Wentworth Miller, Prison Break), who shares Joan's gift. Despite critical kudos and respectable ratings, Joan of Arcadia wasn't picked up for a third season, but its spirit lives on in such disparate shows as Medium, in which a woman communicates with the dead, and My Name Is Earl, in which a man goes around doing good deeds. This six-disc set features commentary by creator Barbara Hall, producer James Hayman, and writer Stephen Nathan. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Joan of Arcadia - The First Season
by Steve Gomer
from Paramount
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
After patriarch Will gets a job as the chief of police, the Girardi family moves to the small town of Arcadia from the big city. Middle child Joan isn't happy, and her family, consisting of science nerd Luke, paralyzed former jock Kevin, and their perpetually flustered mother Helen, isn't helping. Joan finds herself talking to God, in the form of random people who give her assignments to help the people around her. Joan keeps following God's assignments, never sure if she's really speaking to him, or just going crazy!
Sweet Temptation
by Ron Lagomarsino
from Direct Source Label
My Sister's Keeper
by Ron Lagomarsino
from Lions Gate
Running Mates
by Ron Lagomarsino
from Turner Home Ent
A triumphant candidate battles his conscience his party's power elite and the high-powered women in his life as he struggles to identify a suitable running mate.Running Time: 94 min.System Requirements:Running Time 90 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 053939834925
This made-for-television movie featuring Tom Selleck as the Democratic nominee for president is thin on plot but benefits from its sharp portrayals of the ambience surrounding its fictitious Democratic convention in Los Angeles. The story involves whom Selleck's Governor Pryce will pick as his running mate as well as the candidate's relationships with various women in his life, played by Nancy Travis, Teri Hatcher, Laura Linney, and Faye Dunaway. While the plot at times seems extraneous, the cascade of cynical jokes and one-liners about politics in America, no doubt derived from the experiences of former political operative Gerald Rafshoon, who coproduced the film, keep the momentum going. Real-life pundits from CNN pop up on TV talking about the fictional characters (the film was originally shown on one of Ted Turner's entertainment channels), and the scenes at the fictitious political convention look real enough to be taken from network news clips. The film delivers insightful glimpses of how politicians travel, interact with their fractious staffs (and families), and occasionally startle everyone by taking a moral stand. Perhaps the best of many throwaway lines in the film is delivered by Teri Hatcher, playing a shallow Hollywood fundraiser who needs to find a celebrity to sing the national anthem: "No, Madonna would not be nice, she's too old and she doesn't wear clothes." --Robert J. McNamara
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