Fishing with John
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''Fishing with John'' is a 1991
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
conceived, directed by and starring actor and musician
John Lurie John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including ''Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...
, which earned a cult following. On the surface, the series resembles a standard travel or fishing show: in each episode, Lurie takes a famous guest on a
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
expedition. Since Lurie has no expert knowledge of fishing, the interest is in the interaction between Lurie and his guests, all of whom are his friends. Nothing particularly unusual actually happens, but the show is edited and narrated in a way to suggest that Lurie and his guest are involved in dramatic and even supernatural adventures. The guests featured are film director Jim Jarmusch, actor Matt Dillon, musician
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
, actor
Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...
and actor-director Dennis Hopper. The series ran for 6 episodes, each featuring a different guest and locale, except for episodes 5 and 6 which both feature Hopper in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. Each episode has
voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...
narration by Robb Webb, which is sometimes bizarre and off-topic. The soundtrack is by Lurie, with several guest performers. ''Fishing With John'' originally aired on IFC and Bravo cable channels in 1991.''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' article:
TELEVISION REVIEW; The Musician and the Sea: Fish Have Little to Fear
"
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...
released a DVD of the complete series in 1999.


Production

''Fishing With John'' centered on actor and musician John Lurie taking fishing trips with various celebrity friends of his. Jim Jarmusch, Matt Dillon, Tom Waits, Willem Dafoe and Dennis Hopper all appear in the series. In the DVD commentary, Lurie notes that the original plan was to film in
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, but funding issues forced the filming to happen in Jamaica, where Waits was already on vacation. Lurie claimed that following their trip to
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, Tom Waits was displeased to the point that he did not speak to Lurie for two years afterwards. Lurie claimed that Dennis Hopper was so high on sugar during his two-part episode that he was unable to concentrate long enough to fish. Also in the commentary, Lurie explains that the choice of Matt Dillon was largely pushed upon him by the Japanese group financing the episodes. The filmmaker had originally wanted
Flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
from
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to accompany him on the Costa Rica episode.


Narration

The narrator of ''Fishing With John is Robb Webb, a professional sounding announcer who often interjects with bizarre non sequiturs and dramatic inventions unsupported by the footage, such as claiming that Dennis Hopper has "seen a map on the wall of the monks' monastery that leads him to believe that somewhere in this area is the lair of the giant squid".


Episodes


Release

The entire series is available on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
from
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...
and features a
commentary track An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
by Lurie on each episode.


Soundtrack

The series' soundtrack was largely composed by Lurie, and included Lurie himself on vocals, soprano saxophone, harmonica, keyboards, guitar. It also featured the Fishing With John Singers (Marion Beckenstein, Lisa Bielawa, Mary Ann hart, Cassie Hoffman, Sarah Hover, Jeffrey Johnson, Phyllis Jo Kubey, Eric Lamp, and Alexandra Montano), as well as the Cassatt String Quartet: Muneko Otani, Laura Goldberg, Michiko Oshima, Anna Cholakian. Many other performers were featured, including
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
, Robb Webb, Steven Bernstein, Michael Blake, Jane Scarpantoni, Evan Lurie, Doug Wieselman, Tony Scherr, Calvin Weston, Mauro Refosco, Marcus Rojas, Bart Feller, Eugene Moye, Garo Yellin, Bryan Carrott, David Tronzo, Erik Sanko, Tony Garnier, Billy Martin and Nana Vasconcelo. A CD of the soundtrack was released in 1998 on Strange & Beautiful Records.


Reviews and reception

''Fishing With John'' has garnered positive reviews from ''
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'', the ''Apollo Guide'', ''The Digitalbits'', ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'', and The Film Buff. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' praised the series, noting that, "There is no big-bang payoff at the end of these episodes; that is part of what makes ''Fishing With John'' such an appealing alternative to the high-volume, laugh-track world of network television. It is also richly photographed by some first-rate cinematographers (including Michael Spiller, who often works with Hal Hartley). And, with music by Mr. Lurie throughout, the series sounds better than any fish deserves." Footage from the first episode was used in the ''
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...
'' episode " Hooky"; Lurie and Jarmusch were credited with guest appearances.


References


External links

*
''Fishing with John''
at
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...

Interview with John Lurie regarding ''Fishing with John''Video interview with John Lurie''Fishing with John''
an essay by Michael Azzerrad at the Criterion Collection {{Fishing television 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings Fishing television series 1990s American documentary television series IFC (American TV channel) original programming Bravo (American TV network) original programming