Well. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this show. From the description, my prediction was:

ABC: Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (formerly The Gospel of Kevin) – It has a Touched By An Angel feel, and there’s a demographic out there that might like it, but not enough to save it, and not at 10:00 at night – CANCELLED;

And that is probably still my prediction. I fully expected though that I would watch it, hate it, like Jason Ritter as the star, and move on.

So I watched it, wanted to fast forward a LOT, and liked Jason Ritter most of the episode. Except I’m not quite ready to move on. Because I’ve seen this show before.

It was called Joan of Arcadia and Amber Tamblyn starred, ran for two seasons back in 2003-2005. Cute, eminently watchable. A little like Oh God, without the actual God in this version.

So the basic premise is that Kevin tried to kill himself, didn’t take, came home to stay for a few days with his twin sister and his niece about 18 months after her husband died. They’re not that close but he has nowhere else to go. Then, the night he arrives, 36 meteors hit the earth all in the same day. He touches one, gets chosen to be one of the 36 Righteous that brings hope to the planet. And he also gets a guardian angel, err, warrior of God, who will guide and train him.

Most of the episode is about him stumbling around, trying to avoid his destiny, and generally mucking up the relationships with his sister, niece and an old love interest. In the end, he makes some progress, it’s all good. Despite the fact that he’s the only one who can see his trainer warrior, so he looks like a kook talking to himself.

Jason’s great, and always watchable. JoAnna Garcia Swisher plays the twin sister, although you could be forgiven if at first you think she looks like Amy Adams. Pretty good, but a bit one-dimensional so far. Relative newcomer Chloe East plays the daughter, and she’s quite good. And Kimberly Hebert Gregory plays the trainer, Yvette, but she is all over the map with her character.

I’ll likely give it a try for a few more episodes, although I don’t expect it to make it to season 2.