''John from Cincinnati'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television series, set against the

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

community of

Imperial Beach, California Imperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the southernmost city in California and the West Coast of the United States. It is in the South Bay area ...

. It aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

from June 10 to August 12, 2007.

Overview

''John from Cincinnati'' is the result of a collaborative effort between writer/producer

David Milch David Sanford Milch (born March 23, 1945) is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including ABC's ''NYPD Blue'' (1993-2005), co-created with Steven Bochco, and HBO's '' Deadwood'' (2004-20 ...

and author

Kem Nunn Kem Nunn (born 1948) is a third-generation Californian novelist, surfer, and magazine and television writer who lives in southern California. He has been described as "the inventor of ''surf-noir''" for his novels' dark themes, political overton ...

, whose novels have been termed "surf noir". The program deals with a strange young man of mysterious origin and the effect he has on a

dysfunctional family A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate suc ...

of professional surfers and their community. The series includes surfing sequences by well-respected surfers such as Brock Little,

Keala Kennelly Keala Kennelly (born August 13, 1978) is a professional surfer, DJ, and actress from Kauai, Hawaii. After spending a decade ranked in the top 10 on thASP World Championship Tour (WCT) Kennelly took a break from the tour in 2007 to explore her p ...

, Dan Malloy, John-John Florence,

Shane Beschen Shane Beschen (born February 18, 1972) is a California (USA) born professional surfer. In 1996, at Kirra, Shane Beschen became the first and only professional surfer to score three perfect 10 point rides for a total 30 out of 30 ASP three-wave s ...

, and Herbie Fletcher. The series' theme song is "Johnny Appleseed," performed by

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros The Mescaleros were the British backing band for British singer, musician and songwriter Joe Strummer, formed in 1999, which issued three albums prior to Strummer's death in 2002. Many of the band members were multi-instrumentalists. The origin ...

. A diverse soundtrack includes "Tic" by

Kava Kava Kava or kava kava (''Piper methysticum'': Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Greek 'intoxicating') is a crop of the Pacific Islands. The name ''kava'' is from Tongan and Marquesan, meaning 'bitter'; other names for kava include ''ʻawa'' (Hawaiʻi) ...

and songs from

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and Jale ...

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karlof ...

, and

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

Cast and characters

Ratings and cancellation

The pilot for the series was shown directly after the highly anticipated

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...

of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'', but it failed to sustain an audience. ''The Sopranos'' received an audience of 11.9 million people according to

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, 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
Say goodbye to "John from Cincinnati"
; ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' via

CNN.com CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. Retrieved 2014-08-02.

Episodes

Home media

References

External links

*
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 * {{HBONetwork Shows 2000s American drama television series 2007 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings English-language television shows HBO original programming Surfing mass media Television series created by David Milch Television shows set in San Diego County, California Imperial Beach, California