Goodbye, Joan

Those of you who have read this blog for any length of time know my feelings about Joan of Arcadia--my favourite television show of the past two years.
CBS has cancelled it.
It started out with gangbuster ratings and was nominated for an Emmy after its first season just one year ago. That first season contained quite possibly the most riveting hour of television drama I have ever seen, the episode called Night Without Stars. And every episode made me laugh, made me cry, made me think.
For whatever reason, the second season started off with lacklustre ratings and fell like a stone from there. Granted, the writers were unusually prone to braincramps--plotlines would start up and vanish four episodes later without a trace--but Joan at its worst was still eminently watchable. And I'm not ashamed to admit I bawled my eyes out after Friday Night, the episode in which they killed off a major character I was growing to like and respect.
At the end of the second season, great and terrible things were afoot as Joan and her friends were set to face off against real evil for the first time in the show's run. I was very curious to see how that story arc would have been handled. Now I will never know. Thanks a ton, CBS.

I never agreed with the Friday night timeslot. It should have been a Sunday evening show. It's too bad CBS saw fit to cancel it before at least trying it somewhere else.

At this point, there's little I can do but suggest you rent Season One on DVD (Season Two is slated for November release.) I plan on writing CBS, for what little good it'll do. I guess I can hope against hope that another network picks it up--hey, it happened with Buffy--but I'm not optimistic.

Thanks, Amber Tamblyn and ensemble, for a smart, well-acted show that dared to explore serious issues without descending into preachery even once. You will be sorely missed.