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Category Archives: John from Cincinnati

June 18, 2007 · 8:00 am

How Weird is ‘John from Cincinnati’?: Episode Two Review

It’s the second episode of HBO’s John from Cincinnati, and Cultural Learnings has decided to see just how weird it can get. A series of scenes will be analyzed based on their weirdness, and then a final conclusion will be made. How long will this last? Well, until things get either too weird or not weird enough.

How Weird is John from Cincinnati?

Episode Two: “His Visit, Day Two”

Scene:

Young Woman from last week approaches Mitch about filming him for a surf video.

Weirdness Factor:

Mild. Only because this young twenty-something surf filmmaker is driving a vintage one-seated…Porsche, maybe? That’s not normal.

Scene:

John from Cincinnati continues acting strangely, sits down on the toilet and is somewhat unable to use the bathroom. And then we watch Butchie take a dump. And he talks about it. A dump a grown man can be proud of.

Weirdness Factor:

Strong. Did we really need to see them take a shit? Was that the only way they could show us that John doesn’t need to use the bathroom? Or that Butchie isn’t getting dope sick while he’s around him?

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Putting the WTF into HBO: ‘John from Cincinnati’ Review

So, the interwebs have been inundated with reviews of HBO’s new show, ‘John from Cincinnati’, that debuted tonight after The Sopranos Finale. Many lament that series creator David Milch exited Deadwood prematurely to helm this series about surfers. Others comment on how the language from his previous series is certainly back in full force. However, a majority of reviews have something in common: this is one screwed up show.

I was therefore heading into last night’s premiere with a certain perspective. On one hand I knew the series had a certain pedigree, and that some reviews were quite positive. On the other, however, was an underlying knowledge of how strange the series was purported to be. And, in the end, I find myself somewhere in between the two extremes presented: I think the series has some level of potential, but that its weirdness just seems that, weird. I don’t see any reason, any direction, within its premise. And yet, I want it to have direction and might follow it until it finds it.

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