As Austin Nichols’ titular manboy (pictured) kept blabbing on the premiere of John From Cincinnati last night, "Some things I know, and some things I don’t." And one thing I know is that people are either going to love or hate HBO’s new supernatural surfing series from co-creator David Milch (NYPD Blue, Deadwood). Indeed, editor at large Ken Tucker gave the show an A- in EW’s most recent issue, while I found myself rooting for a shark attack to wipe out its entire lot of characters before the episode’s end. (The better to force HBO to bring back Valerie Cherish, I suppose, and maybe for some genius studio exec to greenlight Rebecca De Mornay in Hand That Rocks the Cradle II.)
The thing is, I’m not one of those TV viewers who always need to know exactly where a series is taking them. I may be the last blogger alive who’s perfectly happy with the number of concrete answers he’s gotten during three seasons of Lost. But to me, the premiere of John From Cincinnati was intentionally obtuse and unrelentingly unpleasant, and the characters’ motivations seemed more a product of writers trying way too hard to be "edgy" than any kind of genuine desire to tell a story.
Some of the questions I couldn’t get past: Why would Mitch (BruceGreenwood) assume his sudden ability to levitate (ugh) meant he had abrain tumor? Wouldn’t Shaun’s guardian grandparents have given at leastmomentary pause before letting him surf with his exceedingly skanky dad(Brian Van Holt), who’d just admitted to shooting up drugs earlier inthe day? Were the writers seriously aiming for wacky comic hijinksduring that scene where the suicidal gay man recalled how he’d beenviolated with a broom handle as a sixth grader? Is there a teenageralive who’d make fast friends with a creepy, blank-facedtwentysomething who appears out of nowhere, is befuddled by basicactivities like shaking hands or shutting car doors, and startsparroting everyone else’s conversations?
Maybe I’m just not patient enough to appreciate what Milch & Co. are offering, or maybe John From Cincinnatiis the perfect storm of pretentious storytelling, faux-shockingdialogue, and hammy overacting (I’ve got my eyes on you, Ed O’Neill!).Let the debate begin in the comments section below!
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Ugh. I didn’t think I’d make it through the whole hour. And I’m disappointed in myself that I did.
Loved the show, it hooked me pretty much instantly. Im intrigued as to where its heade, is John God
The suicidal gay guy was not in there for laughs. I think everyone and everything has a point that will be revealed. I hated pretty much the first 75% of it and then I realized this is probably going somewhere.
Plus, I don’t think there are any characters that we are supposed to like or root for, just yet. Because of Deadwood, I’m giving Milch a lot of rope.
It is nice to Luis Guzman getting work.(though his stomach was huge!)
Watched the show, but it was confusing and not initially interesting. It may take a while to warm up, but hopefully not as long as The Comeback, which didn’t get good until the last 3 or 4 eps.
It’s time for Michael Slezak to get back in the game.
You know, I hated the first episode of Deadwood. Just hated it. It seemed pointless, with barely a shell of a plot and completely unlikeable characters. I kept watching it, though, because my husband loved it, and the rest of the first season was excellent. However, what worries me is how midway through the second season, it became a show just about horrible people doing horrible things to each other (I’m looking at you, Powers Booth), and I completely stopped watching. So I’m still very tentative on this show.
Brutal show…painfully trying to hard. the lawyer? the over-acting addict? the non-sequiter gun in the air – laughing? the kid surfer who has the so-cal hair, but can’t deliver a line if his surfwax depended on it? Angry Grandma at costco? I know a few things…contrived.
Slezak, you’re right, bring back The Comeback! I thought the Flight of the Concords sucked! Looks like it’s going to be only Entourage which gets my attention.
I watched JOHN FROM CINCINNATI with my sister & she intitially looked at me going, THIS IS TERRIBLE. I had no clue the show was even premiering after the Sopranos finale since I’ve watched very little TV while I’ve been gone the past 2 weeks, but I decided to give this debut a whirl. I was presently surprised by the cast, including Brian Van Holt, who I think is one of the SEXIEST most under-used actors in all of Hollywood. His drug addicted surfer wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, nor was the unlikelihood of Ed O’Neill’s retired captain? sergeant? of the Imperial Beach community being such close friends with a legendary surfing family, whose former super-star son is not only a druggie mess, but actually even forbidden to step foot in Huntington Beach! I am willing to give this show a veiew more chances, but the writers need to decide where this is going. In the preview for next week’s episode, someone is heard mentioning that the motel is haunted? And really SATC’s Stamford as a surfer???
No interest at all.
Ed, don’t leave Curb Your Enthusiasm off that list.
I actually thought Ed O’Neill was probably the best part of the whole show. Butchy seemed way over acted and I kept wishing that he was being played by Peter Krause…not sure why! The actor I guess just looks alot like him. Liked the Mitch character but couldn’t really get the Demornay. Have of it, I was trying to figure out what was going on. At this point, I don’t feel any kind of emotion or connection with the John character. Teen kid seemed realisticly non-emotional. It was great to see the guy who played Carrie’s gay best friend on SATC.
I watched ten minutes of this last night, and got that far only because of my own insistence to keep watching. The other 6 people in my living room kept asking me to change the channel as they all described the show as “unwatchable”.
That Luke Perry’s in the show lost it a star immediately, and I was only going to give the show one star. Let’s hope Big Love and Entourage have good seasons to make up for “Married with Children on the beach”.
This show was the worse piece of crap I’ve seen in a very long time. I watched in amazement at how they produced an hour of television seemingly without a plot or any reasonable dialogue. It was so jumbled and made no sense. I still have no idea what the show is about, and I didn’t even realize which one was John until about 45 minutes in. What’s his deal? Is he mentally retarded? What’s with that guy levitating? Is he a superhero? Why is Al Bundy obsessed with birds? If this is HBO’s answer to the end of the Sopranos, then they may as well give up now.
I was still confused over the last minute of the Sopranos so I didn’t really pay attention to this show. I watched the last 20 minutes and found not one likable character, except for the title character.
Thank goodness you and your snark posse didn’t like the show. Now you can move on to The Simple Life and leave us Milch fans alone with our new show.
I love how a lot of people are complaining about all the questions that the episode brought up. IT WAS THE FIRST EPISODE! There aren’t supposed to be any answers, just introductions. Like any HBO show, you have to give it at least 5 episodes before deciding whether to stick with it or not. Personally, I loved the episode. It has enough quirky characters in it that will keep me engaged in what’s going on.
I was fine with the open questions, the quirkiness of the plot, and the unseemly characters. But wow, that is a shrill bunch of actors.
Doug, I completely agree. I think it has potential and I thought there were some funny lines addded to the mix. HBO always creates different shows then your typical network, I think that’s what keeps me intrigued.
Wow, can’t believe people are writing it off based on just one episode. Every worthwhile show I’ve ever watched has had a rough start, as it takes a while to introduce all the new characters and themes. I’ll give it a couple of episodes, at least. If you want to be spoonfed bland uniform crap, you’re probably better to stick with Criminal Minds or one of the million other suckfests out there.
Hey everybody, let’s have a contest to see who can say “F—” the most times! John, you can’t play.
I’m giving it another week, but this seems like a real tough show to get into. Liked the idea of John being able to pull anything someone wanted out of his pockets, but so far everyone’s tough to get to know.
With all the (*&$^#(* cursing it made me long for the days of Deadwood. I don’t want to hear all those F-bombs and C*&#(suckers unless they drop from the lips of the master – Ian McShane.
ZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ I can throw out my Ambian now.
You’re not the only one Mr. Slezak — I too think Lost has given us just the right amount of answers. If the haters had it their way, the show would be terrible.
I hated Shakespeare when I read it, too. It was all so confusing. Once my English teacher cleared up what was being said I was finally able to appreciate it.
Deadwood frustrated me likewise, but having watched it for three years I understand the style now.
This is a show that makes a lot more sense the second time you watch it.
I’m surprised so many hated it.. I must’ve been in a good mood because I was laughing out loud a lot… the quirks seemed so perfectly funny. So many interesting characters…
Here’s my crackpot theory:
John is the prophet John from the book of Revelations, sent to the future to witness the end of the world. That would explain the sudden miracles of floating and bringing birds back to life (even though he wasn’t around when the bird came back to life). And the whole “end is near” bit. But why would he want to witness the end times along with this washed-up surfer family. Hmmm….
Now that I’ve typed it out, I think my theory is totally stupid….
The Milch connection will get me through at least three episodes. The premeire was sorta boring, but maybe I wasn’t giving it the attention it deserved because I was still bumfuzzled by “The Sopranos”. Anyway, HBO has already put the second episode out there On Demand, and it’s better than the first. Don’t give up too soon. I don’t think it’ll be another “Deadwood”, but it could well be worth watching.
About the only thing that could keep me interested, is to See Rebecca De Mornay Get Naked. Other than that – this show is 1 hour of my life I will never get back.. Add to that the 81 minutes of Open Water – And I am thinking of staying away from Ocean related themes – I guess Waterworld ranks up there too….
Nyce- I hear you on Open Water. And I saw that in the theater. I hate myself for that.
I watched this show just to see Dylan McKay say “wipeout!”
Disappointing.
I liked it. I was interested in the characters and had fun watching it. I look forward to the next episode eagerly. I like it when a show doesn’t give you all the answers, right off. It is a bit risky to do it that way, but the payoff is so much more enjoyable. I watched the series finale of the Sopranos, I haven’t watch a single episode in 5 years and I wasn’t lost. I got in the middle of Deadwood, ended up watching 8 or 9 straight episodes on ONDemand to get caught up. I prefer the kind of shows where the story and characters change over time and build on themselves. I can’t guarantee this show will do that, but Hill Street Blues did and Deadwood did for it’s brief time. I am willing to give this show that chance. Besides, it was quirky, different and a little dark around the edges. All things I like in my entertainment.
Overall, liked it. The beginning was rough, too many F bombs – lame acting. Later, I found myself laughing at stuff John would say… I think this has potential and I plan to stick around to see if it gets better.