Jean-Claude Van Johnson: Pilot
January 13, 2018 8:23 AM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe

Jean Claude Van Damme runs into an old flame and wants out of Retirement... but not out of the retirement we know him for. Watch one of the greatest 90s action stars to satirize himself in an unexpectedly entertaining action comedy. Get Ready to meet his secret identity Jean Claude Van Johnson.

Will the bad guys run at him one at a time?
Can he still do the splits?
What did you say his plumbing used?
Does Jean Claude's Grandfather actually have an emu farm?
Is Paramount really making an origin story of PF Changs with Jackie Chan as General Tso riding a giant CGI chicken?
How much did Pop Tarts spend for that product placement or is that part of the Jean Claude diet?
Can every training montage be that training montage?
If they are dropping JCVD references, will they ever talk about Welcome to the Jungle or Derailed?
Will Filip recover from his future self telling him that Looper is better than his favorite?
Will the Action-Adventures of Tom Sawyer be a box office success?
Can the JC go back to his career as in black ops with his cover as an international movie star?
posted by Nanukthedog (8 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wait, what?
posted by Literaryhero at 3:10 PM on January 13, 2018 [1 favorite]


I stumbled across this recently and had the initial same reaction as Literaryhero. I've watched the first two episodes - it's not the best TV ever, but it's fun enough. I have to say, I think the thing that has impressed me the most is Van Damme's sense of humor about himself. It's clear the writers are coming from a place of affection for his movies, and he is clearly taking it in that spirit and having fun along with them.
posted by nickmark at 3:36 PM on January 13, 2018


I need to make a spoiler correction for my setup... apparently it is a remake of 'Huck Finn.' I hope we can can forgive my oversight, there was a little too much literaryhero (by that I mean, "Wait, what?") in trying to sort through which scenes they were filming and well... I hope you Mark Twain purists can forgive my oversight...

I mean... this is the next show I will be recommending people when they say, "I like Arrested Development..." Be forewarned...
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:45 PM on January 13, 2018


Also another slight spoiler... if you watch the amazon prime x-ray through a few episodes, it'll tell you how this show was pitched...
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:06 PM on January 13, 2018


Oooh, I'm interested in this. JCVD is a great little film particularly because Van Damme was so game on making fun of his image as an action (and Belgian) hero and on recent-ish interviews he always seemed like he was trying to avoid the (ridiculous) super-serious image most of his contemporaries still wanted to cultivate by the time the oiled muscle karate killing machine thing was little more than an artifact of the 80s and early 90s.
posted by lmfsilva at 2:04 PM on January 14, 2018


Loved JCVD. Heard abotu JCVJ a while ago, hadn't gotten around to watching it until now.

Fun!

Filip: "Who are you?"
JC-whom-coincidentally-everyone-thinks-is-Filip-improvises: "I'm you. From the future. And I'm here to warn you. That something bad is going to happen to this factory. You should leave."
Filip: "You're not me from the future."
JC: "What?"
Filip: "Like matter cannot occupy like space. Timecop."
JC: "Timecop."
Filip: "Have you seen it?"
JC: "Yeah."
Filip: "So you know the rules."
JC: "But, uh, in Looper. Bruce Willis. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt touch many times."
Filip: "If you are really me, do you think Looper, it's a better movie than Timecop?"
JC: "Yes."
Filip: "False."
<fights>

That Filip Van Damme has his own damned IMDB page is awesome.

I love the alternation between buff JC (real) and schlubby JC (prosthetics).

Minor quibble about JC's age (57) and Vanessa/Kat Foster's (39)... but that's actually not that terrible, relatively, in Hollywood. (Bruce Willis in RED was 55, Mary-Louise Parker was 46. I'm surprised. Very surprised.)

I like the sidekick/Luis' super bloody and violent and traumatic past, "It's not that interesting. I'll tell you later."
posted by porpoise at 6:50 PM on January 14, 2018 [2 favorites]


YES! This whole thing was WTF?!?! from start to finish and over before I realized what had just happened. Well worth it if you like sort of Nacho Libre meets CHUCK meets... whatever.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:43 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


Hah! Yes! I went through the six episodes and it reels from position to position. It's a very broad parody/commentary.

I loved the absurdities but there's a lot of heart in there, too. Luis fits both categories, I loled out load for reals for the second showing of the character.
posted by porpoise at 9:48 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


« Older Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Nathaniel...   |  Babylon 5: The Parliament of D... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster