TVSquad

(S01E06) Wow. Wow. Wow. That's it. That's the review. Wow. I think my brain blew a fuse. Last week's interminable bridge episode was totally worth it for this. The pay-off. Love it, or hate it. This is the show to be watching right now.

(S01E04) "Want to leave a message... on my face?" Classic. I'm officially forming the Steady Freddy fan club. I could use a lot less mega-whiny Mitch Yost and a lot more Freddy.

(S01E02) It's going to get harder and harder for Mitch and Bill to explain away the miraculous occurrences going on around them by way of their own neuroses now. Last week, Bill could chalk up Zippy the Wonder Bird's resurrection to his senility, and Mitch could decide that his levitating abilities came courtesy of a plumcot-sized brain tumor.

(S01E01) Unlike my esteemed colleagues at various print publications, I did not have access to John from Cincinnati's press screener weeks before the show's broadcast. I would have to write my review within an hour or two after watching the premiere with the rest of America. This is all well and good, but I was a little nervous about what I would make of David Milch's latest outing without some time to reflect. I didn't want my commentary to be mired in superfluous comments about how Ed O'Neill and Rebecca De Mornay are looking these days. This series is drawing on an "everything and the kitchen sink" range of literary and philosophical references. It deserves more from me so I prepared by reading everything that was available – namely the script, interviews with Milch and the early reviews.

I'm going to do my best to try and avoid using the words "gnarly" and "cowabunga," but I can't promise anything. You should be excited though because John From Cincinnati is going to be good. The new "surf noir" drama from David Milch has finally been scheduled and it's set to premiere at 10PM following The Sopranos series finale on Sunday, June 10. So far we here at TV Squad have been pretty high on this show. Can you blame us? Besides the fact that it's coming from the mastermind behind Deadwood, we're talking about a show about surfing and people who levitate. Yes, levitate. Last time I checked, that means "float." Crazy, huh? Add to that a cast that includes Bruce Greenwood, Rebecca De Mornay, Luis Guzman, and Ed O'Neill and it looks like HBO may have its next hit. Sounds like they know it too. It's been given a full 10 episode first season and I doubt very much that airing after The Sopranos series finale is a time-slot that's just given to any ol' show. Make a note though because the show moves to its regular time-slot at 9PM the following week. Gnarly, huh?

Monday's New York Times features a story on David Milch and the writing process behind his forthcoming HBO pilot John from Cincinnati. If you've been reading our reports on the series' casting, you know that HBO's enthusiasm for this project is what brought about the earlier-than-anticipated-end of Milch's other HBO outing, Deadwood.

Most Deadwood fans, including myself, were pretty pissed to find out that Deadwood was getting the boot thanks to a show about the first family of surfing, but what are you going to do? Artists grow. They change. They want to write other stuff, and most fans of Milch will follow him anywhere including the sunny California coast.