John from Cincinnati

:

Season 1
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Jun 10, 2007
Metascore
50

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 24
  3. Negative: 7 out of 24
Watch Now

Where To Watch

Buy on
Stream On

Critic Reviews

  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Linda Stasi
    100
    As profane as "Deadwood" and as profound as "The Sopranos," the series strikes every right chord.
  2. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Gloria Goodale
    91
    [A] strange confabulation.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    91
    The ceaseless ways in which Milch and Nunn challenge our expectations about how families, friends, and strangers are meant to convey their fealty to each other, along with some fine hard-boiled dialogue and fisticuffs, suggest great continuing pleasures.
  5. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Robert Abele
    70
    Mesmerizing and entertainingly confounding.
  6. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Diane Werts
    70
    Ultimately, viewers just have to work a lot harder to fathom John from Cincinnati than Tony from Jersey.
  7. San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times
    Reviewed by: Charlie McCollum
    63
    I found enough mesmerizing moments, bits of character and sharp Milch dialogue in the opening episodes that I'll probably stick around to catch a few more waves.
  8. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Paul Brownfield
    60
    Sometimes "John From Cincinnati" is a muddle, at other times rich drama and divine comedy. And sometimes it's all of that at once.
  9. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    60
    Three episodes in, I started to buy into the world Milch has created. I don't understand it, I don't think I even really like it (almost all of the characters are damaged and rather unpleasant), but I am intrigued by it.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Alessandra Stanley
    60
    The premiere episode is almost willfully strange and unlikable. But that doesn’t mean that the series is bad, just peculiar, a solemn mythologization — and mystification — of surfing as unearthly pleasure and life-sapping addiction.
  11. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Maureen Ryan
    50
    It's only June,? but I can confidently state that you won’t see a weirder show than "John From Cincinnati" all year long.
  12. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Barry Garron
    50
    Intriguing but not entirely satisfying.
  13. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    50
    I'll be patient, out of respect to Milch and Tinker, but I don't expect you to be.
  14. Newark Star-Ledger
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    50
    It's an odd little show, often more David Lynch than David Milch, and after three episodes I'm still not sure I understand it all.
  15. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    50
    Too little of it even attempts to make a lick of sense. Still, the cast is first-rate, and Milch himself is a singular talent. I can't write off a show like that, but I can't exactly advise you to watch it, either.
  16. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    40
    The first three episodes of this peculiar series bored me silly with its pretentious mannerisms, and I can't help thinking that many HBO subscribers will tune in and wonder: They dropped Deadwood for this?
  17. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    40
    "John From Cincinnati" might be the strangest show ever produced for American television.
  18. Time
    Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    40
    Its visuals are gorgeous and its mystical glimpses tantalizing, but its transcendence is more asserted than earned. We sinful mortals still want prosaic things like a story.
  19. People Weekly
    Reviewed by: Tom Gliatto
    38
    The tone of the first three episodes is grubby yet also precious. [11 Jun 2007, p.41]
    All this critic's reviews
  20. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    30
    The only thing a person can be certain of after watching "John From Cincinnati" is this: Any die-hard "Deadwood" fan interested in keeping the veins in his forehead intact should not bother with it.
  21. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Hal Boedeker
    20
    A pretentious and talky botch, John From Cincinnati won't fill the void left by The Sopranos.
  22. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Nancy DeWolf Smith
    20
    In the three episodes HBO made available to reviewers, however, the only moment of transcendence for the viewer occurs when some of the characters take to the sea on their boards and ride the waves in an "Endless Summer" moment that comes as a blessed relief after the inexplicable chaos of what precedes it -- and is over too soon.
  23. Kansas City Star
    Reviewed by: Aaron Barnhart
    20
    A truly baffling series about surfing, screwed-up families and miracles.
  24. Salon
    Reviewed by: Heather Havrilesky
    20
    This show needs a miracle even more than the damaged inhabitants of Imperial Beach do.
  25. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    10
    Watching HBO's surfing drama "John From Cincinnati" is like sitting through a bad play at a tiny experimental theater.... In short, if Gary Busey were a TV series, he would be "John From Cincinnati."

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Best TV Season of 2007
4
#4 Most Discussed TV Season of 2007
25
#25 Most Shared TV Season of 2007

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 254 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 190 out of 254
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 254
  3. Negative: 57 out of 254
  1. JennetP
    Jan 25, 2012
    10
    No description of this series makes it sound at all appealing. In fact, despite my enthusiasm for surfing, Zen, and Garrett Dillahunt, INo description of this series makes it sound at all appealing. In fact, despite my enthusiasm for surfing, Zen, and Garrett Dillahunt, I didn't watch it until last year, not just because of the bad reviews, but because even the good ones made "John from Cincinnati" sound about as alluring as listening to Cyndi Lauper read the Manhattan Phone Directory through a bullhorn while Dick Cheney cleaned my teeth with a hunting rifle. And I'm not the only viewer the series failed to attract. Recently, I read that less than a quarter of the audience who watched the finale of "The Sopranos" stuck around to check out "John." In other words, the show never had a chance. And that was a shame of the first order, because "John" turns out to be one of the most original, profound, and moving series I've ever seen. Not only is there nothing like it, there's nothing even close enough to allow a cautious, qualified comparison--a descriptive comparison, that is. Even a non-descriptive comparison is hard. I could think for hours and then finally stammer, "John from Cincinnati" is to "Deadwood" as "The Tempest" is to "1 Henry IV," but,despite struggling to find the most apt analogy possible, all I have done is tell you "It's really different" and "It's really good." So, though I normally condemn unsubstantiated value judgments, I think it's essential to make one here, because anything I could say is as likely to make you shun "John from Cincinnati" as to make you want to watch it. If you think I'm just being lazy, look at some of my other reviews; all I'm trying to avoid is turning another potential viewer OFF. I will qualify my approbation a bit, however. "John" is not a show for fools, nor for people who just want to power down their brains after work and settle into a stupor. I'm not saying that the series requires effort to watch--it doesn't--but it will stimulate brains that are not already dead, and the questions it will raise are exciting. So viewers who mind being stimulated, mentally, should probably choose another series. "John" is also not a show for rigid people. If, for you, rules and categories and formulae are ends in themselves (rather than means of achieving certain ends), you will not like this series, as it consistently breaks generic and other boundaries. If characters must adhere to familiar types; if, for you, mothers must be nurturing and children lovable and junkies loathsome and surfers moronic and avatars eloquent, then, no, you will not like this series. If, however, you have an open, active mind and your sympathies extend to people unlike yourself and you've occasionally asked a question or two about what it might mean to be human and, most importantly, you really enjoy seeing something you've never seen before, especially if it's beautiful, then check out "John from Cincinnati." I have a feeling that your great-great grandchildren will be proud to tell their friends that you were among the very few who realized way back in 2012 that this series was a classic.… Full Review »
  2. LisaB
    Sep 4, 2007
    10
    I loved it and so did all my friends. It draws you to think which is uncomfortable for people who like things in a nice neat box.
  3. BarryT
    Aug 26, 2007
    10
    10++++ I LOVE thisshow! Quirky, strange, mesmerizing, with the richest cast of characters, wonderful subplots--and the big question. I 10++++ I LOVE thisshow! Quirky, strange, mesmerizing, with the richest cast of characters, wonderful subplots--and the big question. I couldn't wait until the next show, then the next season. I watched each episode on On Demand at least twice to pick up all the subtleties. Now I just found out HBO cancelled it. HBO, PLEASE reconsider! Please put John fro Cincinnati back on the air.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »