John from Cincinnati: Credits Where Credit is Due

The show John from Cincinnati loses itself and insists upon itself in the same breath. In an interview, the show creator tells us it is about ideas and hopes and it is about surfing.

So here we have it. Another filmmaker personally enamored with surfing.

Let me tell you something, directors: nobody likes surfing except surfers. And even they would rather be doing it than watching it. Trying to invoke or impart mystical, timeless importance to the sport does not a television show make.

The pilot was so all over the place, it was almost unwatchable. What's with the kid who can't act... I mean, can't act, AT ALL? Why is Rebecca DeMornay behaving like that, especially when she supposedly CAN act? She sounds like a sunburn if a sunburn could talk.

I already removed this show from future DVR recordings. What else is on?

@Sheila: Apparently Milch originally conceived the idea about a family in New York, but HBO suggested pairing him with a surfing project it had in the works. That might explain the feeling of the surfing plot being forcibly imposed on a pre-existing set of ideas. Then again, Milch originally conceived Deadwood as a show about Roman cops at the time of Nero.

Regardless, James...Sheila's right...that kid CAN'T ACT! I did give it 15 minutes or so...until the bad acting and boring script drove me down the channels. Deadwood it ain't.

Now, if John had strung up someone and hanged him like they did in Deadwood's first show, or done anything else of interest for that matter, I might have struck around.

About the kid that can't act: It's probably because he's not an actor. However, he is a real-life surfing prodigy, and a member of surfing's real "first-family" that must have inspired the Yosts. Check out this ESPN Magazine story from 2002: http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no21fletcher.html

I'm on the east coast, where surfing pretty much consists of walking around the beach in a wetsuit, carrying your board and trying to pick up chicks. But I've always been fascinated by real surfers; there's something primal about going back to the birthplace of life and harnessing the power of the waves.

The Deadwood comparisons are inevitable, but I keep reminding myself that this is a completely different show -- as different as Deadwood was from NYPD Blue. Also, I've been reading about JFC for about a year, whereas I had no preconceived notions about Deadwood. Two episodes in (Ep 2 is on OnDemand already), I'm afraid I'd rather hear David Milch talk about the show instead of actually watching it. Then again, Luis Guzman rules. I'm in for this season, at least.

I'm in, too. I kinda went in blind with this show... all I had seen were a few magazine ads in EW... and while it is quite unusual, I'm willing to follow Milch to see where the show ends up. And yep, James, the credits were cool, too. Overall I have to say I was very impressed.

Impressed that Milch has the clout to get something like this made, but more impressed that HBO will show it. It's rather comforting to know that no matter how the whole thing turns out, it won't be pulled from the schedule in a week, as is the fate of so many shows on network TV, what with their directors of programming on such short leashes. Then again, this show would never, ever enter a TV via signals from a broadcast tower, would it?

A show about behind-the-scenes at the United Nations, indeed.

I have to love a show where I actually like a heroin-addicted bum. I have watched both episodes twice, and I think Greyson Fletcher (Shaunie) is WONDERFUL. He may not be acting, but he is exactly what I would expect from a 13 year old kid in his wacky circumstances. I am already wildly in love with this series...It has a 6 Feet Under feel. And Sheila...with such a visceral hatred of the sport of surfing, I'm surprised you would even check it out. I'm pretty sure Milch didn't have your demographic in mind with this one...You are a librarian, right?

Keep it up HBO, you might be on to something with this one...

They have to get rid of that Shaun kid. The dialog that he says makes it seem like he's "supposed" to be a little surfer dude but the way it comes out of his mouth makes his seem mildly retarded.

I want to know what song and group is playing at the end of the show. It is an odd show but it is funny at times.

I' with Sharon on this one, who is playing during the credits?

That's Muse playing on the end credits. It's their cover of 'Feeling Good.'

Oh, not the 3rd episode, im sorry i meant the second one. Do you know what song that is?

I think the Shaun character is right on. It's understated just as I'd prefer other child actor's roles to be. I'm sick of the over the top "look at me. I'm smarter than the adults," acting of most modern adolescent actors. The show is not about Shaun. It's about relationships and forgiveness of life's mistakes.

I think the show is impressively brillant. The acting of each character is right on with who they're portraying. I wish they would show one episode after another. Keep watching it's going to end up great.

Last night episode just turned me off,with the inappropriate use of the Nword.

why do the actors have to read the script just like they did on Deadwood? And again with inserting the f-word 62 times in the first episode, just like he did on deadwood.... boring and shows his lack of writing skills...