John From Cincinnati

New York PostLinda Stasi

As profane as "Deadwood" and as profound as "The Sopranos," the series strikes every right chord.

Christian Science MonitorGloria Goodale

[A] strange confabulation.

Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker

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.

NewsdayDiane Werts

Ultimately, viewers just have to work a lot harder to fathom John from Cincinnati than Tony from Jersey.

LA WeeklyRobert Abele

Mesmerizing and entertainingly confounding.

San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum

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.

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

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.

Los Angeles TimesPaul Brownfield

Sometimes "John From Cincinnati" is a muddle, at other times rich drama and divine comedy. And sometimes it's all of that at once.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

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.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

It's only June, but I can confidently state that you won’t see a weirder show than "John From Cincinnati" all year long.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

Intriguing but not entirely satisfying.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

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.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

I'll be patient, out of respect to Milch and Tinker, but I don't expect you to be.

Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall

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.

TV GuideMatt Roush

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?

VarietyBrian Lowry

"John From Cincinnati" might be the strangest show ever produced for American television.

TimeJames Poniewozik

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.

People WeeklyTom Gliatto

The tone of the first three episodes is grubby yet also precious. [11 Jun 2007, p.41]

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

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.

Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker

A pretentious and talky botch, John From Cincinnati won't fill the void left by The Sopranos.

Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf Smith

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.

Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart

A truly baffling series about surfing, screwed-up families and miracles.

SalonHeather Havrilesky

This show needs a miracle even more than the damaged inhabitants of Imperial Beach do.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

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."