History Series / JoanOfArcadia

* BombThrowingAnarchists: Luke goes to a meeting of these types, looking for Grace. A SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} ensues when he realizes that literally every girl there looks exactly like Grace. And then they burn his shoes (they were made by underage Central American sweatshop workers, after all).

* ForgottenFallenFriend: It really doesn't take many of the characters that long to completely get over [[spoiler: Judith's death]]. Friedman gets about one scene in an episode afterwards being sad for a moment, but besides that after about three episodes it just gets watered down into another generic subplot for the police to solve.

* LiteralMinded: One of the more annoying parts of the show, especially in season 2, was that Joan ''never'' seemed to catch on that God spoke in metaphors a lot of the time, and would frequently declare she was done with her current assignment the second she finished the letter of her instructions.

Lasting two seasons, this MagicRealism {{Dramedy}} tells the trials of Joan, who meets and talks to Capital-G {{God}} (in the form of various avatars, most of them enjoyable to watch) and receives tasks, which she carries out grudgingly, usually only discovering the point of the request at the end (if at all).

* HippieTeacher: It turns out that a secretary who's highest education was being an art school dropout is qualified to teach high school students.

* GodlySidestep: The creators made this rule, actually listing things God couldn't say with regards to unversal truths and religion.

** One episode that stands out in particular would be where God is the school's musical director. He has a girl who had the lead singing role whose family was coming in from across the country to watch her perform get DemotedToExtra in the play, and shoving Joan into the lead for no explainable reason besides showing her that she is good at singing. The girl and her family isn't touched on at all.

* ShaggyDogStory: The season two episode "Rise and fall of Joan Girardi". By the end of the episode nothing really was accomplished or changed at all. Which they then point out.

* StrawVulcan: In one episode, Joan defeated the best Chess player in the school, despite not knowing how to play Chess well. The reason given was that you can't use order to defeat chaos. In reality, using chaos against a computer chess player is always a losing proposition, and practically all chess players beyond the novice level would recognize a threatened mate in one move.

* UnnaturallyBlueLighting: ''Every'' scene in the police station. Not just the police station. Every time Will is shown doing anything on the job whatsoever, it turns gritty and blue. Considering how bright and yellow every other scene is, it's always very noticeable.
** Especially during one scene where Helen walks through the station wearing a bright red coat. It stands out so much that it feels like you're watching the girl from ''Film/SchindlersList''.

* FreakyFashionMildMind: Goth God

* TheBGrade: Oddly enough in one episode everyone ''but'' Joan was worried for her future because of her grades. She got all B's last semester and failed ''one'' test, and immediately she is told that any chances of getting into a four year college would be almost impossible.

* FakeGuestStar: Becky Wahlstrom (Grace) and Christopher Marquette (Adam) have guest starring credit on every season one episode they appear in - which is ''every season one episode'' (except the pilot, the only episode of either season they don't appear in). Cue official promotion to regular in season two.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: God can sometimes shift into this, mostly because (she always refuses to explain why (s)he wants Joan to do what (s)he wants her to do, and often the task results in someone getting hurt.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: It seems virtually ''everyone'' who works in a job with authority in this town besides Joan's dad is a conniving Jerkass.
** If they aren't this, then they're a CorruptCorporateExecutive
* OmniscientMoralityLicense: Well, it ''is'' God giving the orders.

* RealSongThemeTune: "One of Us" by Joan Osborne.

* RunningGag: Joan yelling embarassing things as God walks away.

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Luke, Friedman and Glynis

* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: Adam didn't tend to call Joan by her name much.
** He does it once they've broken up, and when he starts calling her "Jane" again, it means they've reconciled.

* SpiritAdvisor: Others ''could'' see God; (s)he just rarely addressed them.

* StuntCasting: Both Haylie and Hilary Duff.
* TheOtherDarrin: Subverted with second season Sammy, who is best friends with first season Sammy and takes over the store while first season Sammy takes care of his mentally ill wife. Also averts the OneSteveLimit.

* GenreSavvy: Subverted. Joan knew perfectly well that she was supposed to learn some kind of valuable lesson every week, but her attempts to predict what it was supposed to be, and so get out of the hassle of actually having to learn it, never turned out that well.

* {{Badass}}: Will.

* DeadpanSnarker: Both Joan and God.

* HollywoodNerd: Luke

** Especially during one scene where Helen walks through the station wearing a bright red coat. It stands out so much that it feels like you're watching the girl from ''{{Schindlers List}}''.

----

* RealitySubtext: Creator/AmberTamblyn, the actress who plays Joan, is an agnostic.

* RomanticFalseLead: Iris. Glynis

'''Joan:''' [[DeadpanSnarker I thought that was vodka]].

Although Joan's interactions with God were the center of each episode, the lives of her family and friends continued [[TwoLinesNoWaiting in the background]], making for a mixed genre show; Will would [[CrimeAndPunishmentSeries bust criminals]], the various students would [[TeenDrama deal with classes and romance]], and Kevin would [[VerySpecialEpisode try to deal with his disability]]. Surprisingly well-balanced, nonetheless, mostly because the subplots did a good job relating to the main thematically. When you're God, you can do that.

The show's second season suffered from massive amounts of {{Executive Meddling}} to make it more marketable to teens. Among the bigger issues were that Joan's missions from God were no longer about making the world around her a better place, but simply to learn a lesson about herself (derided by fans as "God is Joan's life coach"), the casting of both Duff sisters (albeit in separate episodes - [[Music/HilaryDuff Hilary]] in one, Haylie in three), and Adam cheating on Joan shortly after they finally started dating to introduce cheap teen melodrama at the expense of one of the most popular characters. Unfortunately, all this did was anger the fans the show already had, and it didn't survive to a third season.

* [[AuthorAvatar Producer Avatar]]: Helen.

* [[YouWatchTooMuchX You Watch Too Many Movies]]: Said by Rocky when he visits Joan as a ghost after she tells him to go into the light.

The show's second season suffered from massive amounts of {{Executive Meddling}} to make it more marketable to teens. Among the bigger issues were that Joan's missions from God were no longer about making the world around her a better place, but simply to learn a lesson about herself (derided by fans as "God is Joan's life coach"), the casting of both Duff sisters (albeit in separate episodes - [[HilaryDuff Hilary]] in one, Haylie in three), and Adam cheating on Joan shortly after they finally started dating to introduce cheap teen melodrama at the expense of one of the most popular characters. Unfortunately, all this did was anger the fans the show already had, and it didn't survive to a third season.

* HeadphonesEqualsIsolation: Joan wears the headphones when she's alone during the pilot. When she takes them off at the end, it shows she's willing to listen to God.

* HeadphoneEqualsIsolation: Joan wears the headphones when she's alone during the pilot. When she takes them off at the end, it shows she's willing to listen to God.

** Aaron Himelstein (Friedman) appeared in 33 of the series' 45 episodes, more than any other guest star. In the second season alone, he appeared in 20 out of 22 episodes. If the series had gotten a third season, he'd probably have become a regular character. They might even have revealed his first name!

* FigureItOutYourself

The show's second season suffered from massive amounts of {{Executive Meddling}} to make it more marketable to teens. Among the bigger issues were that Joan's missions from God were no longer about making the world around her a better place, but simply to learn a lesson about herself (derided by fans as "God is Joan's life coach"), the casting of both Duff sisters (albeit in separate episodes), and Adam cheating on Joan shortly after they finally started dating to introduce cheap teen melodrama at the expense of one of the most popular characters. Unfortunately, all this did was anger the fans the show already had, and it didn't survive to a third season.

* ForgottenFallenFriend: It really doesn't take many of the characters that long to completely get over [[spoiler: Judith's death.]] Friedman gets about one scene in an episode afterwards being sad for a moment, but besides that after about three episodes it just gets watered down into another generic subplot for the police to solve.

* SecondSeasonDownfall

'''Joan:''' I thought that was vodka.