#6 John Doe (2002)

This show was great, very clever and enjoyed an excellent cast. Much like the Pretender it ends on an unresolved cliffhanger (this is a real gut punch cliffhanger though, whereas the Pretender is more of a tease) but unlike the Pretender the creators published the big reveal in an Entertainment Weekly article and it made its way onto wikipedia warning there are spoilers for said cliffhanger.

Meet John Doe! And look! Hair!

The show opens with a naked shivering man waking up on an island, our John Doe (played by a pre-Prison Break Dominic Purcell). The man falls off a cliff into a bay and is rescued by a fishing vessel. He only sees in black and white and seems to know literally everything except who he is. He then embarks on a mission to find that out. He uses his brains to win a small fortune betting on horses and then invests it and finds himself with more than enough money to live on.

He reports himself missing and ends up assisting the local police department as a consultant.He works cases and generally behaves in an extremely useful manner. Meanwhile a creepy guy that is evidently deaf as we largely only see him communicate via written word and sign language is lurking about. At one point he thinks he's found his family but it's revealed that it was part of an elaborate plot by a shady organization to derail his search. Occasionally he sees random things in color and at one point entirely loses his amazing cache of knowledge - while gaining the ability to see in color - but doesn't remember his identity.

As stated the show ends on a cliffhanger that's pretty well done so I won't spoil it. The cast was great, it included:

He had hairs in Equilibrium too!

William Forsythe as 'Digger' the owner/operator of a bar where John occasionally plays piano, goes to think, and generally hangs out at. Digger briefly employs Karen (Sprague Grayden) and it is Digger's bar where Karen and John first meet. Karen is a street smart kid with a big heart, she's survived the system and latches on to John as his personal assistant. She, Digger, Detectives Jamie Avery (Jayne Brook) and Frank Hayes (John Marshall Jones) become John's de facto family.

The show is largely driven by John's voice overs and observations about the world he finds himself strangely in and out of. While he has an impossible array of knowledge at his fingertips his people sense and knowledge of himself is spotty at best. Karen serves as an emotional anchor and guide, Digger is a source of wisdom and balance, and Hayes and Avery teach John about the vagaries of the world. It's a good solid dynamic.

I'm not sure why the show was canceled, I don't remember seeing it on TV or any advertisements for it, which may mean it wasn't advertised effectively and/or my memory is just being a selective little bitch. I think a friend recommended the show to me a few years ago or I stumbled onto it in reruns. Either way it's a near and dear favorite. If anyone does know why this gem was axed I'd be curious to know.


Availability:


Amazon - No, as far as I know there's never been an official release of the show on any format. That said there's no harm in hitting amazon and requesting to be notified when/if it is released. Who knows, it could still happen.


Netflix - No


Hulu - YES