Theater of the mindless

Television will never have the capability to challenge people to use their brains the way books do or even the way some radio does (or did, I suppose, before everyone got all oversensitive -- not to mention the old radio serials). But television's big minds have been trying harder, and all that needs to be posed to the audience is one simple question:

What the heck is going on here?

Thank the people behind Lost for making this a common occurrence in the boob tube medium and for proving that a lot of people actually like to be challenged to participate or at least use their imaginations when it comes to entertainment (though, the love-it-or-hate-it crowd surrounding Lost also proves there are quite a few people who DON'T like to be challenged).

Anyway, what I'm saying is that this is a good thing. Star Wars fans proved a long, long time ago that one basic story can plant the seeds in the mind of a fan and spawn thousands of galaxies worth of stories and ideas -- some good, some bad, but all products of an imagination that's being used. That's why I like Lost, and it's also why I'm starting to dig John from Cincinnati.

John is a simpler story, told in same methodically slow form that it's creators used with Deadwood to great success.But there's mystery there that's starting things up in my head, not the least of which surround John himself and the flapping-dead parakeet that can heal people. And all that surrounds a family more dysfunctional than Ben's "others" ever could be.

What's John? An alien? An angel? Or just "slow?" Is Zippy the one with the healing powers? Or is it Shawn? What did John do to Kai? Why is a drug dealer (Dayton Callie is genius in his Calamity Jane-ish character) flying in from Hawaii to keep an eye on the family and why is he babysitting a high-profile, shallow pocketed customer? Why the heck was Mitch floating? What're Luke Perry and his adorable protege up to?

It's refreshing to find another show that makes people think. Cuz most of the time they just follow the story (if there even is a story and not a bunch of dimwits trying to be the best whatever) and hope it gets them somewhere.

Cin city

In hopes of putting together the massive, analytic, important review of the premiere of John from Cincinnati. I can't actually do that.

Yes I took a whole day to watch the show and I could have watched it 10 times. Truthfully, I watched it one and a half. It was tough to pick up on the first time so I restarted about half way through.

Here's what I know. It's about a family of surfing royalty -- three generations of the Yosts. The eldest, Mitch, hurt his knee and never surfed in public again. His son, Butchie, became famous and then followed drugs back to obscurity. And Butchie's son, Shaun, is a star rising faster than HBO board members' worries (about the executives, not the show... yet).

They're safely in the realm of dysfunctional. Enabling grandma Cissy wants Shaun to follow his dreams, but everyone else is worried he'll end up like his father. Their friend Bill is an ex-cop with what seems like PTSD. And then there's John, who arrives at the show's opening as if from nowhere. He picks up English quickly from his surroundings, but it's not clear why he only knows three phrases when he shows up or where he came from (the show's big mystery, it seems).

And that's it. There's some story and character development that I won't get into. It's really not important. The real problem is, the show is a little slow moving, and I can't judge it on just one episode. I'll continue watching (though I probably wouldn't if this show'd arrived during the regular season) and report back later. Until then, I honestly recommend you take a look at the show. You'll recognize some familiar faces if you're a displaced Deadwood fan. You'll also recognize a familiar writing style.

Let's hug it out!

More of Vince and the gang without waiting until next year!!! From Zap2it:

HBO has been known to let the better part of two years pass between seasons of its original series. That will emphatically not be the case with Entourage this summer.

The show's current season is scheduled to come to an end June 3. It will then be off the air for all of 14 days before a new season kicks off on June 17, where it will anchor a Sunday lineup that also features two new shows, David Milch's drama John From Cincinnati and another comedy, Flight of the Conchords.

HBO has also set a premiere date for the second season of Big Love, which will migrate to Monday nights starting June 11.

The short turnaround for Entourage owes to the fact that the current episodes are part of the show's third season, which was broken up into two parts, the first 12 airing last summer and the remaining eight saved for this run. The episodes starting June 17 are part of the series' fourth season.

In a post-Sopranos world, it makes sense to choose Entourage as your anchor lead-in. Not that I need for a reason to check out a new HBO show, but Entourage is the most entertaining show the network has.