Considering the people involved, considering Milch’s work on Deadwood and the confidence to which people attach the word “genius” to his name, it’s at least safe to assume that we won’t see people drop in goofyfoot then suddenly be surfing regularfoot. And that John from Cincinatti is certainly worth checking out.
The first episode will air in June on HBO, with 11 weekly, one-hour episodes to follow, and, if all goes well, future seasons on top of that. To find out whether they get the surfing parts right, we’ll all just have to wait and see.
***Editors Note**** In an article in Surfing’s March 2007 issue [“On the Set,” page 61] regarding the upcoming HBO TV series “John from Cincinnati,” about a family of surfers in Imperial Beach, one of the show’s writers, former Surfer magazine editor Steve Hawk, overstated the role of the Fletcher family in the show. Here is the official word from HBO regarding Herbie and Dibi Fletcher’s relationship to the show: "We are working with the Fletchers as consultants on this project as they are experts in the world of surfing, and in the interest of authenticity they, along with co-executive producer Kem Nunn and others who live in the surfing world, help advise on many of the issues in the series that pertain to that world. HBO did not acquire the Fletchers' life story rights, and the series is not based on the Fletchers. The fact that our story includes a multigenerational surfing family was simply a creative choice used to develop the story of "John;" any perceived similarities between the surfing Yosts and the Fletcher family is coincidental. As to the decision to cast Greyson Fletcher in the role of the Yost surfing grandson, Shaun, David Milch met Greyson on set and thought he could be perfect for the role, as he is an excellent skateboarder and understands the world. As a bonus, he turned out to be a very good little actor."