WhenJohn from Cincinnatipremiered on HBO in 2007, anticipation was incredibly high. The show was the brainchild of novelist Kem Nunn and David Milch, the veteran TV writer whoseprevious HBO series,Deadwood,had raised the bar on what television was capable of. Milch was considered something of a genius in the TV world, and viewers and critics lamentingDeadwood’scancellation after three seasons held their breath to see what he would do next. What he did was co-create an openly mystical, deeply confounding series that was largely met with a mix of confusion and hostility.
John from Cincinnatiflopped hard, garnering generally negative reviews and ending up canceled after only one season. While some of its elements have come to be appreciated in the intervening years, it’s hard to make an argument that it’s some kind of misunderstood classic. But while it’s undeniable that the series had some pretty major flaws, its tale of characters struggling to move forward in the face of the inexplicable feels like a stealth precursor tofuture series likeThe Leftovers,which would tread similar thematic ground to stronger effect seven years later. Its SoCal surfer world setting also anticipates another short-lived show, AMC’sLodge 49,whose ragtag chosen family becomes embroiled in a larger mystery.
‘John from Cincinnati’s Endless Bummer Summer
AsJohn from Cincinnatibegins, things aren’t going well for the Yosts, a legendary surfing dynasty in the Southern California border town of Imperial Beach. Patriarch Mitch Yost (Bruce Greenwood) was forced to stop competing after a traumatic knee injury, and now surfs in the early morning when no one else is around. His son Butchie (Brian Van Holt) was once an exciting figure in the sport, but now lives a marginal existence in the throes of a heroin addiction. Mitch’s wife,Cissy (Rebecca De Mornay), has a strained relationship with her husband, and defensiveness has become her default posture.
Only Butchie’s 14-year-old son Shaun (real-life pro surfer and skater Greyson Fletcher) seems content with his lot in life, mostly because all he really wants to do is surf and skate.Into this mess steps a mysterious young man named John (Austin Nichols), a blank slate who can only communicate through repetition, but who seems to have some otherworldly abilities and divine designs for the Yost family. After his arrival, inexplicable things begin happening. Shaun somehow miraculously survives a devastating injury, Butchie seems suddenly free from his addiction, and Mitch starts floating a few inches off the ground. A makeshift community begins to form around an old, run-down motel, with the Yosts and their support system seemingly having a role to play in the coming change, whatever that may be.
The show is definitely a mixed bag. Its larger plot is very hard to parse, but it’s also the kind of show that invites its audience to go along for the ride, as oblivious to what’s really going on as its characters. The Yosts are an incredibly dysfunctional family, almost to an absurd degree, viciously cutting each other down at every opportunity, casually throwing out racial slurs in true mid-aughts HBO fashion.It was probably intentional for the Yosts to be as flawed as possible to earn their redemption, but it makes them a difficult bunch to want to spend much time with.
The supporting cast, a motley crew of living saints who keep the Yosts afloat, folks like the motel’s caretaker Ramon (Luiz Guzmán), “surfing attorney” Meyer Dickstein (Willie Garson), and retired cop Bill Jacks (Ed O’Neill), are wherethe series really shines, when the family drama is set aside in favor of a more laid-back approach with plenty of humor. The scenes with O’Neill, who spends much of his time at home receiving telepathic communications from his pet birds, are among the most enjoyable in the series, a winning mix of absurdity and genuine emotion.
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‘John from Cincinnati’s Stealth Influence
It’s unclear how much direct influence, if any,John from Cincinnatihad on future series likeThe Leftovers,butits short run cleared a path for these series to explore the mysteries of existence.The Leftoversis based on Tom Perrotta’s 2011 novel of the same name, which uses the unexplained sudden disappearance of 2% of the world’s population to explore how ordinary people move forward with their lives when faced with something that defies rational understanding. Most respond with despair, either floating through their lives or joining cults like the Guilty Remnant that claim to offer some solace.
The Leftoverstakes a very different approach, but the overriding theme is much the same:the choices people make when their understanding of the world and their place in the universe is suddenly changed. The characters onThe Leftoversrespond by leaving behind everything they knew, either running off to join a cult or packing up and moving to Jarden, Texas, a town that becomes a holy site after it’s discovered no one there was affected by the disappearance.
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While much ofThe Leftoversis rooted in existential malaise,John from Cincinnatitakes a surprisingly more optimistic approach, as the characters largely roll with the changes and form a ramshackle family, accepting their place in a vision that’s bigger than themselves. In this way, it might havemore in common withLodge 49,whose deeply lost characters find their purpose within the titular lodge and each other.
John from Cincinnatiis undeniably a messy show, but in its quieter moments, it’s possible to catch a glimpse of what Milch and Nunn were reaching for.Humanity’s purpose in the universe is impossible to grasp completely, but it’s important to remain open to the possibilities. Milch and Nunn’s reach may have exceeded their grasp, but their unwieldy, ambitious, occasionally sublime show feels like a dispatch from a bygone era where TV series were more willing to ponder big questions without any easy answers.
