I have been curious about John from Cincinnati, but personally I hope it fails miserably, as I have read its cancellation is pretty much the only chance of anything happening on the Deadwood front. God I love that show.

While I don't watch a lot of television, I did watch the Sopranos and personally found this last season to be lacking! I was surprised it received any nominations, to be honest. And what about The Closer? It is the best drama on the tube today. There is not a bad actor in the bunch. (Is it wrong that I think J.K. Simmons is hot?)

About 2.5 Men ... it IS funny, but not in a smart and witty way; rather it is funny in a crude sort of way that you laugh your ass off, but you don't tell your friends you watch it.

John From Cincinnati? I tried to watch that first episode, but ... it was just wrong on too many levels to count. I kept asking myself: HBO cancels a show like Carnivale that made you think (in a good way) but put crap like this on instead! Makes a girl want to cancel her HBO!

John from Cincinnati is a great show. A show that completely succesfully challenges the tired formulas, is entertaining as hell, a true defintion of what art is and makes you think. Something Heather does little of. And Heather your ignorant, childish, and clueless review has put your future postings on my ignore list. You're done, cooked over. YOU just wiped out.

To those that want to check out John start from episode one do not watch the show out of order. And do not watch if you are rushed. This show takes full attention. Something Heather with all her other crap TV watching she had to do admits she was behind and obviously rushed her viewings.

Salon your reviewers suck. The lowest blog reviewers are more capable. Get some smart people or I will not renew.

I was a huge Deadwood fan. I believe it was the best show ever. But they stopped that show and I moved on. But there seems to be those holding on out there for their precious Deadwood to come back to life . And there are those angry for their Carnivale being cancelled. And those haters will never give anything else a chance. They are bitter people hanging on to something gone. Get over it already. Give JFC a chance.

Air conditioned squalor -- that's the best description of the Beverly Hilton I've ever read.

but it pisses me off that you just may have deterred people from giving John a shot.

Heather makes some great points about the lack of realism in the peripheral characters. This ungroundedness makes JFC seem at times like off-off-Broadway experimental theater...which is a deeply weird thing to behold in HD in one's living room.

That said, I find myself thankful for its weirdness. As much as I loved Deadwood, I always sort of suspected that the story, costumes, and historical setting were besides the point -- like that was just the predictable stuff I had to endure to get Milch's deep intuitions about character and spirit.

JFC, on the other hand, feels more personal and immediate, more like a poem than a novel. I drink a beer and just sort of flow with it, always finding plenty of brilliance and humor to sustain me through the chaos, lunacy, uneven acting, and occasional preciousness. I'd love to see more surfing, too, however.

While i may be able to understand there being no nominations for Dexter as a whole, I can't believe Michael C. Hall wasn't nominated for his incredible performance. At the very least they should have nominated Christian Camargo (who plays Rudy) for best supporting actor.

Also, I think everyone should be used to The Wire getting screwed out of Emmys by now.

ho. here we go again. another reviewer who constantly rails against the tried and true railing against a non-formula program because it doesn't follow the tried and true.

the intention of john from cinninati is mise en scene (i'm referring to the andrew sarris definition of the term) first and character-driven plot device second. and it portrays its intent quite well.

the lack of dynamic tension drove me to distraction for the first forty minutes of the first episode.

then i got it.

instead of using a tried and true plot device to ratchet up expectations and deliver laughs, pathos or thrills, milch confronts with the mystical; practically daring us to deny its existence. that makes following the proceedings a little more work and a little less play, yet it is in-the-moment and exhilarating work.

a bit like surfing.

Missed you, Heather. Hope you had a great vacation involving multiple plane connections, ferry rides, and a golf cart to the tropical island bungalow of your choice. Domo arigato by the way, for favorably mentioning "The Wire" -- the best TV show or film I've ever seen.

Fwiw, I want to encourage you to write about how becoming a parent has changed your TV viewing. Is your daughter enjoying Teletubbies and Sesame Street? Is Jon & Kate + 8 not: a) the most addictive show, involving b) the most likeable couple? C'mon, go for it.

Meanwhile, thanks for turning me on to 30 Rock, true successor to the genius of Arrested Development. On the other hand I tried but couldn't get into BSG; just not enough Grace Park. You are right of course about guys' TV viewing being more or less a reflection of the presence or absence of hot chicks (if you'll pardon the expression). Hollywood knows this; yet many years after The Fast and The Furious it still has such a hard time knowing what a "hot chick" even is. Call it "Steven Spielberg Leading Lady [yawn] Syndrome."

Ed O'Neill is so great to watch. Sure,Cissy and Mitch's angry spewing has been hard to take, and the kid is a bit wooden, but this is not a show that is just trying to be cool. This last episode was great. Give it a chance. For a more open-minded discussion of the show, try reading Alan Sepinwall's blog.