| Genre: | Drama Magical realism |
| Location: | Imperial Beach, California |
| Runtime: | 47-57 minutes |
| Creator: | |
| Starring: | |
| Opentheme: | "Johnny Appleseed" by The Mescaleros |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | HBO |
| Company: | HBO Enterprises |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 10 |
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.
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".[1] 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.[2] [3]
The series includes surfing sequences by surfers such as Brock Little, Keala Kennelly, Dan Malloy, John-John Florence, Shane Beschen, and Herbie Fletcher.[4]
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.
| Actor | Role | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
| 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". | ||
| 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. | ||
| Linc Stark | A surf talent scout, manager and agent. Owner of Stinkweed surf products. Recently bought out by his financial backers. | ||
| Ramon Gaviota | Manager and caretaker of the Snug Harbor Motel. | ||
| 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
| Daphne | Meyer Dickstein's fiancée. | ||
| 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
| Vietnam Joe | A war veteran who helps people cross the Mexican border into the U.S. illegally. Grows and smokes marijuana. | ||
| 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. | ||
| Steady Freddie Lopez | A drug dealer from Hawaii with ties to the Yost family, particularly Butchie. | ||
| 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. | ||
| Palaka | An associate of Steady Freddie Lopez. | ||
| Tina Blake | Shaun's mother. She now works as a pornographic actress and prostitute but wants to leave the business. | ||
| Jake Ferris | Linc Stark's business partner. | ||
| Dwayne | Harelipped maintainer of the Yost family web site. Usually works out of Jerri's coffee shop. | ||
| Jerri | Operates local coffee shop. |
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.[5]
One day after the season finale aired, HBO canceled the show.[6]
| No. in series | Title | Written by | Directed by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|
| John from Cincinnati: The Complete First Season | ||||||
| Details | Special Features | |||||
|
| |||||
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||||
| April 1, 2008[7] | July 20, 2009[8] | September 3, 2008 | ||||