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If you don't remember HBO's 2007 TV show John From Cincinnati (or simply forgot about it), it's a story set around the border town of Imperial Beach, California, where a cast of imperfect characters who share a love for surfing make their way through difficult emotional times. The gritty town gets a visit from a strange individual named John Monad (played by Austin Nichols), and little by little this oddish stranger remedies their personal demons through mysterious – and often cryptic – means, indicating that there's much more to John than meets the eye.

As intriguing as the plot may sound, the show garnered measly TV ratings and mixed reviews from both critics and viewers, and folded after only one season. What went wrong?

No one really expected it to happen. John From Cincinnati was the work of David Milch, who's also responsible for bringing mind-blowing TV series like NYPD Blue and Deadwood (which also showed on HBO). It seemed impossible for someone who came up with such brilliant TV series could come up with something that doesn't make the cut.

But that's what happened to John From Cincinnati. And now, almost a year after HBO canceled the show, many questions still linger. Who was John Monad? What did he represent? And just what exactly was the show meant to be about?

Personally, I'm more interested in the question as to why John From Cincinnati didn't make it, particularly when John Monad was created by the same guy who brought Andy Sipowicz to life. I have a few guesses:

#1: Viewers didn't like it because it was too “predictable.” Now “predictable” may not be the right word here, since we never got to find out what happened after Season One. But take the initials of the show's title – J.C. – and couple that with John Monad's strange powers and abilities, and it's easy to guess that the show is another spin-off on the time-tested model of the life of Jesus Christ. If you, like me, think that the Wachowski brothers should've just taken the blue pill and kept The Matrix as a stand-alone movie instead of a trilogy, then you probably know what I mean.

#2: Viewers didn't like it because it was too “uninteresting.” Andy Sipowicz and the rest of the NYPD Blue cast were as engaging as the cast of John From Cincinnati was as wooden. While I think that this was a deliberate move on the part of the creators (the show was meant to have spiritual overtones), it simply failed to resonate with an audience that had gotten used to HBO's edgier and preppier TV series, like Deadwood and The Sopranos.

#3: Viewers didn't (and still don't) like having to fill in the blanks. As I've mentioned, John From Cincinnati was meant to have spiritual overtones, which made the show a good fit for a more intellectual audience. Scour the Net about the show and you'll find a lot of viewers who've expressed a lot of disappointment at the show's cancellation. Unfortunately, intellectuals are a dying breed these days.

All that said, my hat's still off to HBO for taking risks with shows like John From Cincinnati. I think such shows are attempts to reach a wider audience, particularly intellectuals who watch TV to actually learn things. Here's to hoping that other well-intended TV shows won't wipe out too.