:John from Cincinnati
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image = JFC Promo.jpg
| genre = Drama
Magical realism
| caption =
| location = Imperial Beach, California
| runtime = 47-57 minutes
| creator = {{plainlist|
}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
- Bruce Greenwood
- Rebecca De Mornay
- Austin Nichols
- Ed O'Neill
- Luke Perry
- Keala Kennelly
- Luis Guzmán
- Willie Garson
- Matt Winston
- Garret Dillahunt
- Brian Van Holt
- Jim Beaver
- Greyson Fletcher
- Dayton Callie
- Paula Malcomson
- Emily Rose
- Mark-Paul Gosselaar
- Jennifer Grey
}}
| opentheme = "Johnny Appleseed" by The Mescaleros
| country = United States
| language = English
| network = HBO
| company = HBO Enterprises
| first_aired = {{Start date|2007|6|10}}
| last_aired = {{End date|2007|8|12}}
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 10
| related =
}}
John from Cincinnati is an American drama television series, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California. It aired on HBO from June 10 to August 12, 2007.
Overview
John from Cincinnati is the result of a collaborative effort between writer/producer David Milch and author Kem Nunn, whose novels have been termed "surf noir".(November 12, 2004) [http://www.bookbuffet.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/news.article/type/home/article_ID/72129F44-D567-41D5-957F2C3E558E277B/index.cfm Author Interview: Kem Nunn] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820093219/http://www.bookbuffet.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/news.article/type/home/article_ID/72129F44-D567-41D5-957F2C3E558E277B/index.cfm |date=2008-08-20 }}, Bookbuffet.com. Retrieved November 16, 2006. The program, which combines elements of drama and magic realism, deals with a strange, young man of mysterious origin and his effect on a dysfunctional family of professional surfers and their community.{{Cite web |last=Harvilla |first=Rob |date=2018-08-29 |title=Revisiting the Strange, Occasionally Sublime 'John From Cincinnati' |url=https://www.theringer.com/tv/2018/8/29/17795462/revisiting-john-from-cincinnati |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=The Ringer |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Stanley |first=Alessandra |date=2007-06-08 |title=Something's Up, and It's Not the Surf |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/arts/television/08john.html |access-date=2023-06-16 |issn=0362-4331}}
The series includes surfing sequences by surfers such as Brock Little, Keala Kennelly, Dan Malloy, John-John Florence, Shane Beschen, and Herbie Fletcher.(Myers, Nathan) [http://surfingthemag.com/news/surfing-pulse/on-the-set-john-from-cincinnati/ On The Set: John from Cincinnati] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115014558/https://www.surfer.com/surfing-magazine-archive/ |date=2020-11-15 }}, SurfingMagazine.com. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
The series' theme song is "Johnny Appleseed," performed by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros. A diverse soundtrack includes "Tic" by Kava Kava and songs from TV on the Radio, Muse, Buddy Guy, Kasabian, and the Yardbirds.
Cast and characters
class="wikitable sortable" | ||
Actor || Role || Description | ||
---|---|---|
Bruce Greenwood | Mitch Yost | An aging and proud professional surfer who co-owns a surf shop with his wife. Their marriage is tumultuous, primarily due to Mitch's self-indulgent behavior and Cissy's overbearing personality. Mitch has come to believe that surfing should be an end unto itself, and that judged competitive events have tainted the sport. |
Rebecca De Mornay | Cissy Yost | Mitch's stubborn wife and co-owner of the surf shop. It is revealed that when her son Butchie was an adolescent, and she was under the influence of LSD, Cissy caught him masturbating and proceeded to show him "how to do that." Her regret and self-recrimination over this event had a serious impact on her emotions. |
Brian Van Holt | Mitch "Butchie" Yost II | Mitch's heroin-addicted son and professional surfer, whose painful adolescence has rendered him emasculated and incapable of shouldering great responsibility. Became a professional surfer after signing with Linc Stark then revolutionized the sport by popularizing aerials in surfing. |
Austin Nichols | John Monad | A mysterious person, seemingly mentally disabled, who often repeats what he has already heard or what people are thinking, and can manifest requested objects through his pockets. He appears to be able to perform astral projection. During the projection, John is able to converse naturally, without resorting to only repeating words already spoken by others. His last name refers to the Greek word monas, a term the Pythagoreans linked to God as the original "one" from whom all else flows, a clue to a secret divinity or primal "oneness". |
Ed O'Neill | Bill Jacks | An obsessive retired police officer and friend of the Yosts who tends to babble and talk to himself, and constantly tries to fill the hole that Butchie has made in Shaun's life. His house is filled with caged birds, with whom he converses. |
Luke Perry | Linc Stark | A surf talent scout, manager and agent. Owner of Stinkweed surf products. Recently bought out by his financial backers. |
Luis Guzmán | Ramon Gaviota | Manager and caretaker of the Snug Harbor Motel. |
Matt Winston | Barry Cunningham | A mentally unstable man who recently won the Mega Millions lottery and bought the local Snug Harbor Motel; went to grade school with Butchie. He experienced sexual abuse by Mr. Rollins in room 24 of the motel as a child and originally purchased it with the intent to tear it down. Was bullied in high school, specifically by Butchie Yost. A blow to the head caused him to develop epileptic seizures during which he has visions that guide his decisions. |
Willie Garson | Meyer Dickstein | Lawyer and huge surf fan who hangs around the Snug Harbor Motel, and who arranged the sale of the hotel to the new owner, Barry Cunningham. |
Jennifer Grey | Daphne | Meyer Dickstein's fiancée. |
Greyson Fletcher | Shaun Yost | 14-year-old son of Butchie Yost and Tina Blake; surf prodigy. Tina gave Shaun to his grandparents, Cissy and Mitch Yost, to raise the day he was born. |
Keala Kennelly | Kai | A young woman surfer who works at the Yosts' surf shop. She is friends with Shaun Yost, and usually surfs with him. Dated Butchie in high school. |
Jim Beaver | Vietnam Joe | A war veteran who helps people cross the Mexican border into the U.S. illegally. Grows and smokes marijuana. |
Garret Dillahunt | Dr. Michael Smith | The neurologist who treated Shaun after a surfing accident. Subsequently resigned to shield Shaun from undue scrutiny after Shaun's miracle recovery from a broken neck sustained while winning his first surf competition. |
Dayton Callie | Steady Freddie Lopez | A drug dealer from Hawaii with ties to the Yost family, particularly Butchie. |
Emily Rose | Cass | A filmmaker formerly employed by Linc Stark to seduce Mitch and break up Mitch and Cissy's marriage because, unlike Cissy, Mitch does not want Shaun to become a competition surfer, especially with Linc Stark, whom Mitch blames for Butchie's disastrous failings. |
Paul Ben-Victor | Palaka | An associate of Steady Freddie Lopez. |
Chandra West | Tina Blake | Shaun's mother. She now works as a pornographic actress and prostitute but wants to leave the business. |
Mark-Paul Gosselaar | Jake Ferris | Linc Stark's business partner. |
Matthew Maher | Dwayne | Harelipped maintainer of the Yost family web site. Usually works out of Jerri's coffee shop. |
Paula Malcomson | Jerri | Operates local coffee shop. |
Ratings and cancellation
The pilot for the series was shown directly after the highly anticipated series finale of The Sopranos, but it failed to sustain an audience. The Sopranos received an audience of 11.9 million people according to Nielsen ratings, but John from Cincinnati held onto only 3.4 million viewers. Subsequent episodes initially lost viewers, but ratings began to see a slow increase, and by the final episode viewership had reached over 3 million, more than some episodes of Deadwood.Nielsen Media News, 14 August 2007
One day after the season finale aired, HBO canceled the show.Uncredited, [http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/14/television.john.reut/index.html?iref=mpstoryview Say goodbye to "John from Cincinnati"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115014556/http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/14/television.john.reut/index.html?iref=mpstoryview |date=2020-11-15 }}; The Hollywood Reporter via CNN.com. Retrieved 2014-08-02.
Episodes
class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%;" |
style="background:#F98A2F" | No. in series ! style="background:#F98A2F" | Title ! style="background:#F98A2F" | Written by ! style="background:#F98A2F" | Directed by ! style="background:#F98A2F" | Original air date ! style="background:#F98A2F" | Production {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day One |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|6|10}} |Aux1=David Milch & Kem Nunn |Aux2=Mark Tinker |ProdCode=101 |EpisodeNumber = 1 |ShortSummary=A stranger called John arrives in a small shore-side town — Imperial Beach, California — near the Mexican border, where he befriends a legendary surfing family, the Yosts. Meanwhile, Mitch prohibits his grandson, Shaun, from attending a surfing competition, and Dickstein and Ramon meet the Snug Harbor Motel's new owner. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Two |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|6|17}} |Aux1=Kem Nunn |Aux2=Gregg Fienberg |ProdCode=102 |EpisodeNumber = 2 |ShortSummary= A drug dealer surfaces on Imperial Beach looking for Butchie. Linc expresses interest in sponsoring Shaun in his next competition. Barry decides not to raze the Snug Harbor Motel after a vision tells him not to. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Two Continued |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|6|24}} |Aux1= Ted Mann |Aux2=Mark Tinker |ProdCode=103 |EpisodeNumber = 3 |ShortSummary= Dr. Smith is brought to a revelation that something miraculous occurred in Shaun's hospital room in order to revive him. Kai brings John back to her home to determine whether he is telling the truth. Cass turns out to be a source of comfort for Mitch, who is completely oblivious to her affiliation with Linc. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Three |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|7|1}} |Aux1= Regina Corrado |Aux2=John McNaughton |ProdCode=104 |EpisodeNumber = 4 |ShortSummary= Some thugs rough up John; Kai connects with Butchie; Dr. Smith gets a new patient; Shaun's mother arrives in Imperial Beach. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Four |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|7|8}} |Aux1= Steve Hawk |Aux2=Ed Bianchi |ProdCode=105 |EpisodeNumber = 5 |ShortSummary= Zippy issues Bill an unusual mandate; Shaun's porn-star mother lets the Yosts know she's back. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Five |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|7|15}} |Aux1= Alix Lambert |Aux2=Tom Vaughan |ProdCode=106 |EpisodeNumber = 6 |ShortSummary= John tries to help Cissy and Bill confront events that occurred in the past. Meanwhile, Butchie attempts to organize a reunion between his son Shaun and biological mother Tina. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Six |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|7|22}} |Aux1= Nichole Beattie |Aux2=Jeremy Podeswa |ProdCode=107 |EpisodeNumber = 7 |ShortSummary= Linc's Stinkweed reign is challenged; Dwayne eyes Shaun's online future; Dr. Smith tends to Palaka. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Seven |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|7|29}} |Aux1= Abby Gewanter |Aux2=Jesse Bochco |ProdCode=108 |EpisodeNumber = 8 |ShortSummary= The citizens of Imperial Beach fear for Shaun's safety after John gives them an ominous message. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Eight |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|8|5}} |Aux1= Wayne Loren Wilson |Aux2=Adam Davidson |ProdCode=109 |EpisodeNumber = 9 |ShortSummary= Shaun goes missing, and it is posited that John may be a robot. |LineColor=F98A2F }} {{Episode list |Title=His Visit, Day Nine |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2007|8|12}} |Aux1= Zack Whedon |Aux2=Dan Minahan |ProdCode=110 |EpisodeNumber=10 |ShortSummary= Butchie and Kai wake up to a joyous revelation: Shaun has returned, surfing into the beach with John; but he can't explain where he's been. Imperial Beach plays host to a makeshift parade organized by a revamped Stinkweed. The episode, and the series itself, ends with a cryptic message by John, "Mother of God, Cass-Kai", super-imposed over a clip of Kai surfing. |LineColor=F98A2F }} |
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Home media
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| colspan="7" | John from Cincinnati: The Complete First Season |
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| align="center" width="400" colspan="3" style="background: #F98A2F" | Details | align="center" width="400" colspan="3" style="background: #F98A2F"|Special Features |
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| colspan="3" align="left" width="400"|
| colspan="3" align="left" width="400"|
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align="center" colspan="2" style="background: #F98A2F;" | Region 1
|align="center" colspan="2" style="background: #F98A2F;" | Region 2 |align="center" colspan="2" style="background: #F98A2F;" | Region 4 |
align="center" width="220" colspan="2" | April 1, 2008{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/John-Cincinnati-Street-Date-Change/8744|title=John from Cincinnati DVD news: Delay for John From Cincinnati|work=TVShowsOnDVD.com|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109090833/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/John-Cincinnati-Street-Date-Change/8744|archivedate=2008-01-09}}
|align="center" width="220" colspan="2" | July 20, 2009{{cite web|url=http://www.tescodvdrental.com/product/detail.html?product_id=130062|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110202232551/http://www.tescodvdrental.com/product/detail.html?product_id=130062|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-02-02|title=John from Cincinnati rental page|work=Tesco DVD Rental}} |align="center" width="220" colspan="2" | September 3, 2008 |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0814164|title=John from Cincinnati}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20180307040835/http://www.imperialbeachnewsca.com/news/article_ff77c05d-970c-5e94-8182-43640e661ece.html Exploring Life On The Border With David Milch] - Article about David Milch and the filming of John from Cincinnati, in Imperial Beach's local newspaper
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802023323/http://calamitydan.com/protect/john_from_cincinnatti.htm |date=August 2, 2008 |title=Photos and transcripts }}
{{HBONetwork Shows}}
Category:2000s American drama television series
Category:2007 American television series debuts
Category:2007 American television series endings
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:HBO television dramas
Category:Magic realism television series
Category:Television series created by David Milch
Category:Television shows set in San Diego County, California