The Criterion Collection contains some fun content in addition to movies. There are the occasional shorts, miniseries, and of course spine #100, the Beastie Boys music video anthology. And then there's one of the few, rare television series, "Fishing With John." It's one of those weird little media curiosities that could have easily fallen through the cracks, and I only watched it because it happens to be Criterion Collection spine #42.
Originally aired on Bravo and IFC in 1991, I think "Fishing With John" is best described as an absurdist fishing show. There are six episodes, and runs roughly two and a half hours altogether. I could see an unsuspecting viewer coming across this at random during those initial broadcasts, thinking it was a normal travel show that happened to feature some celebrity guests, and slowly becoming aware of the bone dry humor and steadily encroaching madness. The host, John Lurie, is one of those talents who I've seen in a lot of things over the years - Jim Jarmusch movies mostly - but never could identify by name before now. He's primarily a musician and artist, who has a lot of famous friends and colleagues, and managed to rope several of them into his fish-seeking adventures.
Each episode depicts a fishing trip, usually in an exotic locale. In one episode, Lurie and Matt Dillon go to Costa Rica and encounter the supernatural. In the next, Lurie and Willem Dafoe go ice fishing in Maine and have a brush with death. Little fishing is actually depicted, and successfully caught fish are rare. The cinematography here is great, but also designed to look like it could have been shot by amateurs. The aesthetic is very similar to the low budget, improvised mockumentary style shows that have gained popularity over the last few years, like "How to With John Wilson." Initially I thought that "Fishing With John" might have actually been Lurie's genuine vacation videos with the narrator, Robb Webb, having been added later. Thanks to Lurie's commentary tracks, I learned that everything was staged or improvised. Also, John Lurie doesn't actually know anything about fishing.
Most of the show's humor comes from Webb's off kilter description of events, which start with minor oddities, like "These are horses" and "These are real men doing real things," and then increasingly wander off into the wacky and bizarre. Then there's the music, which was composed by Lurie. In addition to a theme song that consists of Lurie droning the words "Fishing with John" in David Lynchian fashion, the soundtrack sometimes follows the narrator's lead and gets a little self-reflexive and meta. One episode, where spooky things are supposed to be happening, brings in a choir that ominously chants about fishing, "The Omen" style. And if you're only half-listening, lulled into complacency by the placid mood and natural beauty of the scenery, you might not catch the hysterical lyrics.
Because I am a nostalgic soul, I love getting to see familiar faces like Willem Dafoe and Tom Waits existing onscreen in fairly casual circumstances thirty years ago, just messing around and complaining about the usual travel woes. The last two episodes are spent with the late and much missed Dennis Hopper - chasing giant squid if the narrator is to be believed - and it's ridiculous and wonderful. You can tell that Lurie is actually friends with most of his guests, and they're comfortable around him. If Lurie had actually wanted to make a straight travel show like this, I'm sure he would have found some success.
I've learned that there is a HBO sequel series, "Painting With John," that features more of Lurie's land-based hijinks in the present day. A second season wrapped up earlier this year, so I'll have to go and take a look.
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