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By Bill Keveney,USA TODAY
What if God were all of us? That's the feeling one gets watching CBS' Joan of Arcadia (Fridays, 8 p.m. ET/PT), which eschews the central-casting version of The Almighty — beard, booming voice — for a more inclusive approach.
God could be a cute teen boy. Perhaps an older white woman. Maybe a middle-aged black man. Or how about an adorable little girl? On Joan, a freshman drama and solid ratings performer that wins its time slot among all viewers, God appears in all these forms to Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn), a good but unfocused teen chosen, as Cute Boy God tells her, "to do some errands." "The fact is: God is different every time. It's one of the first things I thought of when I developed the show," says creator (of the series, not the universe) Barbara Hall.Hall, the show's writers and casting director Vicki Rosenberg try to imagine God in diverse human forms, varying in sex, age, race and class. God has appeared more than 30 times already, taking such forms as a TV anchorman, a homeless man, a plumber, a DMV clerk and a mime. ("Casting the mime was challenging," Rosenberg says.) Often, God's form is relevant to Joan's task, such as when the Naval Officer God asked her to build a boat. There's no hard-and-fast formula, but an episode's final God, or "third-act God" as Hall refers to the character, tends to be much more philosophical. Some Gods recur, including Cute Boy God and the 8-year-old sprite Little Girl God. Although there had been some early talk of "stunt casting" familiar faces as God, Rosenberg says, the show ultimately went with the every-person look. "It's pretty much the most interesting face, the people who are you or me," Rosenberg says. "It's people that other people can relate to without being afraid." Among the more memorable Gods Joan has encountered this season:
Cute Boy God Actor: Kris Lemche Challenges to Joan: To join chess club; to get involved in others' lives, even when it hurts; but first, above all, to believe he's God. Joan: "Let's see a miracle." God (pointing): "How about that?" Joan (unimpressed): "That's a tree." God: "Let's see you make one." Word of God: "I don't look like this. I don't look like anything you'd recognize. You can't see me. I don't sound like anything you'd recognize. You see, I'm beyond your experience. I took this form because it's something you're comfortable with. It makes sense to you and if I'm snippy with you, it's because you understand snippy. You get it?" Hall says: Cute Boy God was the first deity to reveal himself, so she wanted a character Joan would listen to — in this case, an attractive guy. "He tells her things that are difficult to hear."
Cafeteria Worker God Actor: Baadja-Lyne Odums Challenge to Joan: To get a job at a bookstore. Word of God: "Just do what I tell you and we won't have to discuss it. Couldn't be easier. Move on, now. You're holding up the line." To the next student: "What you need, Sugar?"Rosenberg says: "I love the turn that she did," switching gears from God confronting Joan to sweet-talking the next student in the cafeteria line.
Sweeper Driver God Actor: James Martin Kelly Challenge to Joan: That she should apply herself in school. "Stop squandering the potential I gave you. Have some pride." Joan: "Pride? What happened to humility?" God: "Humility is not actually humility unless you're good enough at something to be humble." Word of God: After Joan's dad turns off Anchorman God, Sweeper God says: "He shall spend eternity burning in hell. ... I'm kidding. There's no penalty for turning me off. Free will is one of my better innovations." Rosenberg says: "When you have four Gods in an episode, you want to be careful not to have anybody that resembles another" God.
Linesman God Actor: Robert Clendenin Challenge to Joan: Be a catalyst for change. That leads Joan to a stronger friendship with a schoolmate, which results in a car with hand controls for her paraplegic brother, Kevin (Jason Ritter). Word of God: Joan explains, and God interjects, "News flash, Joan. I don't need you to let me in on your thinking process. I'm omniscient." Rosenberg says: "His face is interesting. He's not average-looking."
Flight Attendant God Actor: Mia Cottet Challenge to Joan: Assist those who need help but don't ask for it. A forewarned Joan, meeting a desperate working mother, offers badly needed babysitting services. Word of God: "Work is a spiritual exercise: keeps things moving along, prevents stasis, builds character. Most of all, the point of working is to help." Hall says: The slightly kooky flight attendant is "a humorous God. The first-act God is almost always for humor."
Little Girl God Actor: Juliette Goglia Challenge to Joan: Spread your help around. Joan offers a supportive ear to her babysitting charge, who has a serious illness. Word of God: After Joan pleads to let her paraplegic brother Kevin (Jason Ritter) walk, God replies, "People ask me to do things. Big things, little things, millions of times every day. I put a lot of thought into the universe and came up with the rules. It sets a bad example if I break them. It shows favoritism. It's better when we abide by the rules." Rosenberg says: "The hardest Gods to cast are the child Gods. It has to be a child who has an old soul. With Juliette, it's the voice, the intelligence and the fact that she's not a commercial-saccharine kid."
Chess Master God Actor: John Marshall Jones Challenge to Joan: Do what's right for you and don't be bullied into wrong actions by others — meaning the high school social clique. Joan rejects the clique and supports her brother and friend. Word of God: "... Actions have consequences. It's a causal universe." Hall says: "He's definitely a third-act God. Very philosophical." |
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