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These are the miracles on Joan—incremental, unspectacular. A determined skeptic would attribute these miracles to mundane sources like heeding reason rather than fear. But these also are the types of miracles that sustain many Christians on our demanding journeys through a fallen world. We would be foolish and greedy to insist on consistently more dramatic evidences of God's care for us.

Barbara Hall, executive producer of Joan, is a veteran TV writer for such highly praised programs as Chicago Hope, Moonlighting, and Northern Exposure. After being raped and left to die during a trip to New Orleans, Hall embarked on a spiritual quest that led her to become Catholic. She has brought a spiritual awareness to Judging Amy, another show on which she served as executive producer.

Joan of Arcadia is not a source of systematic theology, of course, even at a popular level. Its starting proposition of imagining God in various guises will be entirely too troubling to people who consider it an indulgence in graven images. But as an effort to move spiritual TV shows beyond tear-jerking resolutions and angels who deliver lengthy speeches, it works. May Barbara Hall live long and remain prolific.

Douglas LeBlanc is a founding editor of GetReligion.org.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today.Click for reprint information.

Our television section has more Christianity Today articles about God on TV including:

Jesus and Paul: Looking at a Journalistic Approach to Christianity's Beginnings | A full review of ABC's Jesus and Paul: The Word and the Witness (April 06, 2004)

Peter Jennings Goes Back to the Bible | The ABC news anchor talks about Monday's three-hour special, Jesus and Paul: The Word and the Witness. (April 02, 2004)

Amish in the City: Reality TV Goes too Far? | The author of The Amish: Why They Enchant Us discusses why a television show about Amish teens is inherently flawed, and why we're drawn to their 18th-century ways. (Jan. 21, 2004)

Christian Survivors Playing a Non-Christian Game | A former winner of the CBS reality show talks about the faith that led her to the game and how Christian ethics intersects with outwitting, outlasting, and outplaying the competition. (May 14, 2003)

Whose Reality TV? | Tune in this week to Frederick Wiseman's PBS documentary, Domestic Violence, to see some real survivors. (March 17, 2003)

Would a Christian Bachelorette Be Different? | A panel of Christian singles discusses the proliferation of reality dating shows and the turn from seeking one-night stands to seeking spouses. (Feb. 19, 2003)

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April 2004, Vol. 48, No. 4