DEADWOOD SEASON FINALE!

[FavreChild]

"The direction of this camp makes me f*cking sick. And it bores the shit out of me. C*cksuckers!"

[woodbuck27]

"The direction of this camp makes me f*cking sick. And it bores the shit out of me. C*cksuckers!"

Hey FavreChild your cool, Ehh.

Any brothers?

[FavreChild]

Nope, but believe it or not, I watch Deadwood religiously with my pop and stepmom. I'll borrow from Madtown and assert that the family who watches Deadwood together, stays together.

[woodbuck27]

Nope, but believe it or not, I watch Deadwood religiously with my pop and stepmom. I'll borrow from Madtown and assert that the family who watches Deadwood together, stays together.

First I heard of this series. What Network is it affiliated with FavreChild?

[FavreChild]

HBO. The language/dialogue used is said to be thoroughly researched (and historically accurate).

See http://www.hbo.com/deadwood/about/ to read more about the series...

[SkinBasket]

HBO. The language/dialogue used is said to be thoroughly researched (and historically accurate).

See http://www.hbo.com/deadwood/about/ to read more about the series...

Which, as mentioned earlier, can be a bit confusing at first. After the first episode, my wife and I looked at each other and both asked "what the fuck were they talking about?" After getting used to the dialect, it gets a lot easier.

I thought season two overdid the dialect and speech patterns a bit and made the show even harder to understand. That and the plodding season two plot made it kind of crappy. Seasons one and three are much better.

[FavreChild]

Yes, you really have to pay attention, and sometimes you also need to infer what is happening from body language and other physical cues to understand what is going on.

Beyond the cussing, the language is otherwise much more formal that we are accustomed to. And very rarely are the characters (except perhaps Swearengen) direct in their meaning/intention when conversing.

(BTW, it really wasn't until FDR that American speech shifted to the more direct, plain style of speech known as the feminine style of rhetoric.)

But the dialogue (and its accuracy) is, of course, a big part of what makes the show so brilliant. It's really a very gritty presentation of life in a lawless camp.

[FavreChild]

I thought season two overdid the dialect and speech patterns a bit and made the show even harder to understand. That and the plodding season two plot made it kind of crappy. Seasons one and three are much better.

Yeah, season 2 started out a bit slow, and then it was confusing with Yankton vs. Montana and all that go-between. And it wasn't the same when Al was sick and out of the picture (except the scene where Dority yells at Wu). And I know a lot of people thought there was too much drama with "the widow" and Mrs. Bullock. And also the storyline with Wolcott, just because he was absolutely deplorable. But still better than anything else on TV.

[KYPack]

FC, I'm a big Deadwood Fan.

You are right on the mark about the language.

In that era, if you wanted to show class, you spoke like an upper class Englishmen. So you even have rough types like Bullock demonstrating the strange convoluted manner of speaking, when they are in a social setting. That butts up against some real rough and tumble people like crooks and buffalo skinners, who could give a shit less about social niceties.

Deadwood was a for real lawless boomtown, like the Klondike or the cattle towns & all kinds of wild shit went down up there. Deadwood was in Indian territory and there was literally no law at that time.

The real Deadwood was every bit as wild as it's portrayed in the series. in it's heydey, Deadwood averaged a murder a nite!

The townspeople had to clean it up for the sake of their own survival.

i can't believe the show is cancelled. it's ratings were excellent for a cable show.

[FavreChild]

Add'l news of possible interest (from TVenvy.com):

Yesterday, Variety reported that Paul Giamatti will play John Adams in a seven episode HBO miniseries based on the David McCullogh bestseller John Adams. Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are executive producing the project, which begins filming in Virgina in January, and is slated to air in seven hour-long parts starting in March 2008.

The miniseries will focus on Adams’ time as a Massachusetts lawyer working behind the scenes to facilitate the American Revolution rather than on his time as the second President. I have not read McCullogh’s book, but apparently it is partly based on the famous correspondence between Adams and his wife Abigail during the period (these letters are also immortalized in the musical 1776).

I’m very excited by the idea of this project, and I think Giamatti is a great choice to play Adams. I was just rewatching Cinderella Man, a highly underrated movie, last night, and he’s great in it. I’m glad he’s moving on to bigger and better things after the fiasco of Lady in the Water. I also can’t wait to see who else will be cast. This almost makes up for the cancellation of Deadwood, HBO--but only almost. Actually, no, it doesn’t, but it’s a good start at getting back in my good graces.

[KYPack]

HBO made some great strides with Deadwood & I'm sorry to see it go. There are a TON of great actors in that show. It's one of the best series I've ever seen. I Tivo it every week.

My two favorite scenes were Bullock screwing the widow and the fight between Dan & Hearst's man. There have probably been a million sex and fight scenes filmed by now, but those two were different. Both of 'em had a couple extra layers of realism. The sex scene actually looked like two horny people trying to tear each other up. The fight scene really looked like two bad-ass guys trying to kill one another.

My biggest disappointment was how they used Powers Boothe. My greatest hope for the 2nd season was the addition of Boothe. That man is a great actor. He can really play an evil, sneaky sumbitch with lots of hidden sides to his personality. In Deadwood, he just seemed like a leering pervert.

I think HBO decided to kill Deadwood and it's high production costs to avoid another Sopranos situation. HBO kis laying out a ton of bread to keep the Spranos goin'. Think of the costs of the cast if Deadwood became a megahit!

[SkinBasket]

i can't believe the show is cancelled. it's ratings were excellent for a cable show.

I dont think its a matter of being cancelled. After how the Sopranos (the series that really started this current trend of HBO/Showtime Series) has dragged out before coming to a stumbling end, I think HBO reevaluated the arcs of their shows. Unlike network TV, where a show will be milked several seasons after it should have ended, it seems they're making an attempt to be a little more concise, and dare i say it - true to the plots of the shows, which means when a show runs it's course, its over - no matter how good it is. Of course with the relatively new-found popularity of these cable series, there's always more waiting in the wings.

One show that did end before it's time that I was sad about was Dead Like Me on Showtime. Funny, clever, and interesting shit with a great cast. I also recommend Weeds on Showtime, especially to Madtown.

[KYPack]

i can't believe the show is cancelled. it's ratings were excellent for a cable show.

I dont think its a matter of being cancelled. After how the Sopranos (the series that really started this current trend of HBO/Showtime Series) has dragged out before coming to a stumbling end, I think HBO reevaluated the arcs of their shows. Unlike network TV, where a show will be milked several seasons after it should have ended, it seems they're making an attempt to be a little more concise, and dare i say it - true to the plots of the shows, which means when a show runs it's course, its over - no matter how good it is. Of course with the relatively new-found popularity of these cable series, there's always more waiting in the wings.

One show that did end before it's time that I was sad about was Dead Like Me on Showtime. Funny, clever, and interesting shit with a great cast. I also recommend Weeds on Showtime, especially to Madtown.

Good points.

HBO doesn't really give a shit if a show is highly rated. They want buzz to get on more systems and get new subscribers. The key there is "NEW". Theywant new highly rated shows that create more subscriber and system revenue.

I don't have Showtime, Skin, any other cable favs?

[SkinBasket]

I assume you watch Rome if you have HBO. I actually enjoyed Rome better than Deadwood. I think it's because I can relate to Titus. That and I think the cast is actually a tad stronger than Deadwoods.

I was never really a fan of Carnivale. Sometimes when you dip too far into mysticism, you kind of lose focus on what people can grasp. At that time of night, I'm usually drunk, which means I need clear, concise plots and characters, not riddles and confusing subplots. Fucking subplots.

Unfortunately, it is only scheduled for 2 seasons. Well, better 2 good seasons than 5 unremarkable ones.

[No Mo Moss]

I don't know if this has run its course yet though. After only 3 season I think you could do some more with it. I know none of the actors were resigned yet, but that doesn't mean its over. I think if they would have resigned people then we would all know who lives and dies. I have a feeling a lot of people will die in this last one. I dare not speculate.

I agree with Favre child. Start at the beginning and be patient with some of the episodes that are a little slow. Once it gets going you'll be unable to leave the television.