Entertainment
Prime Video’s Forgotten Jean-Claude Van Damme Series From Ridley Scott Deserves Another Chance
Ridley Scott and Jean-Claude Van Damme are two of the biggest names in movie history. The former is a director who is still going strong at the age of 86, with the recently released Gladiator II and classics such as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, and Black Hawk Down. The latter is a 90s action movie icon. He may not have quite the success of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, but with hits such as Universal Soldier and Timecop, he became a staple of cable TV.
Ridley Scott and Jean-Claude Van Damme are both film stars, but it doesn’t feel like they’d mash well together. However, if you’re one of the few who saw the short-lived Prime Series Jean-Claude Van Johnson, you’d know they were meant for each other.
How Did Ridley Scott and Jean-Claude Van Damme End up Working Together?
In 2016, Ridley Scott, like now, was still as influential as ever, having just made the successful The Martian with Matt Damon. Sadly, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s time as an action star had passed as he aged and the genre changed. That didn’t mean he disappeared. He was in The Expendables 2, did voice work for the Kung Fu Panda films, and stunned critics with 2008’s JCVD, a black comedy satire where he played a version of himself. It was an exciting look at what Van Damme was capable of as an actor, and it wouldn’t be the last time he played himself.
Jean-Claude Van Johnson was created by David Callaham, a co-writer for big 2000s-era movies like The Expendables, Wonder Woman: 1984, and Spider-Man: Across the Universe. In 2015, he pitched an idea to Jean-Claude Van Damme about a TV show where the actor would play a version of himself as a spy. It was part-action series, part-comedy, and all Van Damme. With the action star’s career in decline, he said yes. Better yet, Ridley Scott got involved as well as an executive producer. Van Damme told CBR:
“I was, for 10 years, where? In the gutter — no budget, all that shit, and respect to those because sometimes they come out as a miracle, but today no. Suddenly [executive producer] Ridley Scott and these two guys here equal quality script, good crew, 15 day shoots, lots of money, and now everything’s perfect.”
‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson’ Was a Hilarious and Exciting Series
The synopsis for Jean-Claude Van Johnson is that all this time, Jean-Claude Van Damme has not just been an actor but a secret agent. That movie career of his we know was nothing but a cover for his secret missions. Now, having been out of action for years, he decides to make a comeback, not just in the movies but as a spy. That’s a pretty unique idea and a hilarious one, as the series was not only filled with action but lots of laughs that winked at Van Damme’s career. Jean-Claude Van Johnson also starred Kat Foster as Van Damme’s former colleague, and Phylicia Rashad, best known as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, as a woman who is both his talent agent and the handler for his spy missions.
In an interview with Collider, Van Damme said he was drawn to Dave Callaham’s idea because, “What they did was great, creating so many different characters for me to play and even adding time travel, so that I can confuse the audience even more. And there’s a great cast and great music.”
Jean-Claude Van Johnson was for sure funny as it poked at Van Damme’s movie roles, but it was smart enough to hold back and not be a Naked Gun-level type spoof. Critics enjoyed it, earning a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, but viewers loved it even more, with Jean-Claude Van Johnson having a 96% average Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, and a very impressive 7.5 on IMDb from more than 10,000 ratings.
‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson’ Only Lasted One Season
Jean-Claude Van Johnson was a unique and fresh satire unlike anything else we were watching in 2016, but it only aired for one six-episode season. The reason for its cancellation had nothing to do with the cast, creators, or the quality of the show, but a set of unfortunate circumstances that were out of their control. Just one month after its premiere on Prime Video, Variety reported that the series, along with two other Prime Video shows, I Love Dick and One Mississippi, were being shut down.
Jean-Claude Van Johnson was greenlit by then Amazon Studios President Roy Price, who wanted to create more original programming, but he ended up getting fired after a sexual harassment investigation. With Price out, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos shifted the strategy for his company, as he decided to move away from smaller series to ones that were bigger and broader and could be hits across the world, not just in the U.S. It’s a shame that Bezos thought Jean-Claude Van Johnson was too small for success because it’s one of the best-written shows of the last decade. Thankfully, you can still check it out on Prime Video to see what you may have missed out on the first time around.
- Release Date
-
2016 – 2017-00-00
- Network
-
Prime Video
Jean-Claude Van Johnson is available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login