#2
DEADWOOD
Why I liked it: It should be noted that I never saw Deadwood when it originally aired on HBO. I watched it later on DVD. It was great because it was real--sort of. The show was set in the historical town of Deadwood, North Dakota and featured characters based on real people. Creator and producer David Milch chose this setting as a fall back because he originally came up with an idea of a show revolving around ancient Rome; HBO already had a show about that, so he came up with the old West. The beauty that was Deadwood came from the fact that it was on a premium channel, not network or basic cable. Because of this, they could get away with a lot more. And boy, did they. Rampant gratuitous nudity, brutally horrific violence, and every swear word there is (including a few new ones?). This was how the old West really was. It wasn't black hats versus white hats. It was every man for himself, and there has barely bin a Western that has had the guts to show the reality. The acting wasn't half bad; but the writing was out of this world brilliant.
Why it got the boot: The folks over at HBO wanted David Milch to create another show for them, so he came up with John from Cincinnati. That meant that he devoted all of his time and effort to the second show and let Deadwood die. There were plans for a fourth season that were eventually rumored to be a trilogy of movies that wrapped up the stories and the characters. But with the cast finding new work--especially the main draw, Ian McShane, becoming a movie star--plans for the films were scrapped.
I loved the writing, but I find it hard to believe that "cocksucker" could ever have been used that eloquently in real life.
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