HBO's Deadwood = Done.

[Evil Avatar]

In the "Totally Off Topic" category CNN.com is reporting (http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/12/television.deadwood.reut/index.html) that HBO's Dark Western drama, Deadwood, may be canceled after the upcoming third season.

The pay cable network has opted not to pick up the options of the actors on the show, releasing them to pursue other projects.

"Deadwood" creator David Milch is shifting his attention to "John From Cincinnati," a one-hour project he is writing for HBO. The surfing-themed drama has been ordered as a pilot, subject to finalizing deals on the financial and talent side.Rumor is that David Milch was difficult to work with, which contributed to the demise of the series.

In other Western news, rumor is that Nick Cave's (http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com/) Australian western, The Proposition (http://www.theproposition.co.uk/), is awesome.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

[GunnyMo]

Wow. Just wow. That is total BS. Deadwood is a phenomenal show. Very sad to see it go. At least they are going to finish season 3.

Cocksuckers!

[The Continental]

That is definitely surprising. I've heard nothing but praise, both critically and from the average viewer about Deadwood. I've never given the show a shot personally, but I've yet to watch an HBO original series which I haven't enjoyed, it's just a matter of getting in on the first season, which is something I missed out on for Deadwood.

[Draft]

COCKSUCKERS!

Holy shit that had better not be true. Deadwood is far and away the best show on television.

What awful news.

[NoName]

So yea... I don't watch tv and have never heard of Deadwood. Sounds like I've been missing out.

[Zeal]

What the fuck, man? This show was really good, too.

F this shit. ::throws up hand::

[codswallop]

HBO has been incredibly stupid recently (or maybe they know things we don't about their shows). I was bitterly disappointed when they canceled Carnivale last year. Personally I wasn't a big fan of Deadwood but I'll bet they're pissing off even more customers with this decision.

[Wedge]

I need to pick this one up on DVD, with subtitles. I am shamed to admit it, but I had a hard time watching it without subtitles, so I quit after a few episodes into the second season. Here in Norway they only aired the first season.

But yes, it is a great show, and I think it deserves more attention. I have some spare time the coming week, so maybe I should pick up the 2nd season on DVD and have myself a marathon.

[UnderHero5]

I've never even heard of the show...

but then, I barely watch tv and don't have HBO.

I feel for you people who like it though. It sucks when good shows get canceled, especially for stupid reasons.

[ezzkmo]

Wow. I was just asking someone today out of the blue what's going on with the future of Deadwood. Now I know.

[Heretic Machine]

I watched a bit of Deadwood about three years ago when I had HBO On-Demand (I mostly got that to watch episodes of Oz), and it seemed pretty good. Disapointing to hear it go... what do they have left? Is it just The Sopranos now? Is Six Feet Under still going?

[KJAX]

Excellent, excellent show that I will now own on DVD. I hope the show got a chance to end the way they wanted.

[Lutheran]

Goddamn Hoopleheads at HBO!!! The cocksuckers!! Well its not definite yet so who knows , but not renewing the actors usually means its over.

[Ph00p]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I think that about sums up how I feel, I hear in reality Deadwood burnt to the ground, but if the show is only being ditched I guess theres no chance of finding out what happens to our fav characters is there? :(

[The Continental]

I watched a bit of Deadwood about three years ago when I had HBO On-Demand (I mostly got that to watch episodes of Oz), and it seemed pretty good. Disapointing to hear it go... what do they have left? Is it just The Sopranos now? Is Six Feet Under still going?

Six Feet Under ended last season. Their current shows are Big Love and The Sopranos. Other shows that will be returning are Rome, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm ,and I think The Wire. I know it's more of an HBO Comedy thing, but they are billing Dane Cook's Tourgasm as an "HBO Original Series" so I guess you can count that in.

Big Love has been solid, not great, but good. Rome however I definitely enjoyed and anxiously await its return, despite the fact that they managed to cram about a decade or so worth of events into a single season.

[Spigot]

Add me to the disappointed list. I've watched Season 1 on DVD and look forward to Season 2. Definately one of the better shows out there. It's annoying that HBO is cancelling shows like this and Carnivale... hopefully they'll wrap this up in a somewhat neat finale.

[Xerxes]

Kinda reminds me of like Dead Like Me. Cable always get rid of good shows when they are still good. I'm still waiting for the return of Sherman Oaks.

[pheriannath]

First Carnivale, now this?

I'm going to go slap some TV execs...

[balamoor]

Man that sucks.....Deadwood is an awesome show.

[ProfPuppet]

Yeah, hope that surfing-themed drama works out for you, you idiot.

[Loganrapp]

I don't know - I'm usually of the mind that three seasons for an extended-storyline show usually is good. Let's be honest, Sopranos started taking a dive from season four on, and just started getting back up with this latest one.

I wouldn't doubt the rumor that David Milch is difficult. Watching him on Dinner for Five, and hearing interviews from the actors, it sounds like he's a very eccentric and unorthodox man. He could have proven to be too unorthodox to maintain for very long - even for HBO. Yes, I try to take in all I can about Deadwood.

On the bright side, though, guys - Showtime stayed smart and kept Sleeper Cell for another eight episodes.

[Dracula-X]

Those heathen cocksucking hoopleheads at HBO... W.T.F.

Such a great show. First Carnivale, now this...

[saulob]

people.. lets watch... L O S T :D

and..24h...

these are my only shows...

[KarmaGhost]

I know that I'm going to catch some hate for saying this, and that's ok, but does this really belong on the front page, even when prefaced with "totally off topic?"

[Mantooth]

I know that I'm going to catch some hate for saying this, and that's ok, but does this really belong on the front page, even when prefaced with "totally off topic?"

It does if your name is in the upper left corner of the front page. :D

[absolut taco]

The Proposition is indeed awesome. I caught it at Sundance this January and it's a very difficult movie to watch, due to some extreme violence, but it's well worth the effort.

[Evil Avatar]

I know that I'm going to catch some hate for saying this, and that's ok, but does this really belong on the front page, even when prefaced with "totally off topic?"

It is Sunday, a pretty slow news day and I first heard about Deadwood from the readers here on Evil Avatar.com.

[KamaItachi]

Ah crap. Deadwood was one of the best things I've seen on tv in years. While it's better that they end on a high rather than run the show into the ground, there were so many characters that were just starting to get rounded out and develop well.

Cock suckers... cunt lickers... I make you a thousand gestures!

I'd be interested in seeing The Proposition, though. Big Cave fan.

[Jack B]

"Here's my counter offer to your counter offer... Go fuck yourself"... Al Swearingen. RIP..

Damn, I loved that show. Oh, well hopefully season 3 will be on par with the 1st 2.

[jeffool]

Fucking hell, are you kidding me? It's a good show, let Milch do what he wants! And for that matter, make Robert Wuhl's special a regular show!

First West Wing ends on a dud of a show tonight, and now this? Bah.

(Yes, I'm a fan of West Wing, and have seen every episode the week it aired. Sure, the past two or three seasons sucked, but before that it fucking rocked. And all of the campaign stuff this year was good, but damn wans the end a let down.)

[DoubleUranium]

Motherfucking cocksuckahs!!

Damnit, I've been anxiously awaiting season 3, and now this sad news. Losing this and Carnivale is cruel news. After season 3 of Deadwood ends I might have cancel HBO until Rome returns in 2058 or whenever it is finally coming back.

[nein89]

Nick Cave? Western? Okay, losing Deadwood is sad and all, but finding out about The Proposition more than makes up for it. Thanks, Evil.

[OUX]

Sorry guys my fault I just started getting into Deadwood with HBO on Demand and I like it a lot. If only I had been a better christian my karma wouldn't have gotten it canceled.

[spacerat100]

i liked the first season of deadwood but season 2 is a lot boring imo. I was really hoping for at least one or two shootouts :[

[Ra Hoor Khuit]

Dammit, I just finished watching the first series and was really getting into it. It's one of the few shows that really offers a totally different setting than your standard mass produced, formulaic, bullshit drama. The Proposition is great though, when I heard it was by Nick Cave I really didn't expect great things, but it seems his talents can be turned to almost anything. It really gives an impression of how harsh a landscape Australia is, and how hard it would have been to settle there. Ray Winstone is great, as always, and it has the guy who played Faramir in the lord of the rings trying to "civilise" the place. This seems to be the direction that Nick Cave is heading in so we can expect more great films from him.

[zapata666]

In other Western news, rumor is that Nick Cave's (http://www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com/) Australian western, The Proposition (http://www.theproposition.co.uk/), is awesome.


If I had a womb I would carry Nick Cave's babies.

[Evil Avatar]

One thing to add: If you like the series and want it to continue, watch the third season and tell your friends to watch the season. Buy Season 1 and Season 2 on DVD and finally, write a real pen-and-paper letter to HBO telling them how much you love the series.

Online petitions and E-mail campaigns almost never work, but pen-and-paper has a big impact on the decisions these executives make. They always figure if someone took the time to write a letter and put it in the mail that they represent 10 or a 100 other people who feel the same way.

In the end, even if they do trash Deadwood, they might make another western in the future.

[Evil Avatar]

Nick Cave? Western? Okay, losing Deadwood is sad and all, but finding out about The Proposition more than makes up for it. Thanks, Evil.

You're welcome. I love western movies, they just don't make enough good ones.

If you want to read a couple of good western novels check out Tom Piccirilli's two western noves, Grave Men and Coffin Blues. They are more like the classic spagetti westerns than most of the cookie-cutter westerns that you see on your local bookshelves.

Anything by Ed Gorman or Bill Prozini is also a sure bet, but some of those are very tradditional (fantastic, but traditional).

I'm thinking of taking one of my horror/western stories and cutting out some of the supernatural elements and selling it as a regular western.

[baz]

The proposition is awesome, it's really gritty though and gives you the aussie outback without cleaning it up at all.

[Balthasar]

You're welcome. I love western movies, they just don't make enough good ones.

If you want to read a couple of good western novels check out Tom Piccirilli's two western noves, Grave Men and Coffin Blues. They are more like the classic spagetti westerns than most of the cookie-cutter westerns that you see on your local bookshelves.
If you want a really good western, take GrinR's recommendation to me and read Blood Meridian. Just the other day I heard it described as one of the "most violent" or "bloodiest novels in American literature history." That's probably not an exaggeration (not that the violence is what makes it great).

[chazio]

I read somewhere that Milch creatively wanted to end the show in Season 4...so hopefully through some miracle they let him do that. End the show right.

[Mav]

old news, AICN broke this news days ago

HBO is slowly turning into a bullshit channel

took them two fucking years to film a measly 20 episodes of Sopranos season 6

cancelled Carnivale on one huge fucking cliffhanger ending...

The only things holding their network tv show lineup together are Sopranos, Entourage and Deadwood. I loved Rome, but it's going to be like late 2007 early 08 before we see season 2 of it, plus Rome costs them a fortune to produce :( Sopranos is ending this season, and while I love Entourage as well it's only 30 minute episodes ;( at 13 episodes a season you aren't getting much. You'd think you'd get more since like 90% of the "set" for the show is just various spots around LA.

I'll miss Deadwood, fucking cocksuckers.

[Karmakaze]

Six Feet Under ended last season. Their current shows are Big Love and The Sopranos. Other shows that will be returning are Rome, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm ,and I think The Wire.

Man, I hope you're right about The Wire, that was a pretty good show, though I haven't seen every season. Rome's great, even if with all the hacked up historical falacies. Haven't seen Entourage yet but I've heard good things about it. That said, HBO's golden age of good shows has defintiely passed. Not with a bang, but a whimper..

[Balthasar]

took them two fucking years to film a measly 20 episodes of Sopranos season 6
You have to understand the role producers and writers and networks have in a television show to make that assessment, which is actually incorrect in this case. The holdup on the Sopranos is almost entirely due to David Chase, the creator.

cancelled Carnivale on one huge fucking cliffhanger ending...
That was the writer's choice to end it that way, but to be fair they were left not really being sure what was going to happen. If more people had watched Carnivale, it would still be on, so considering the kinds of shows HBO have shown a willingness to put on, I can't blame them here either. Blame the viewers.

Sopranos is ending this season...
Not quite. This season is split up into a 12 or 13 episode run, ending in two weeks, and another 8 week run, starting sometime in December. That is when it actually ends.

I'll miss Deadwood, fucking cocksuckers.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Deadwood, but there was some quality to be found. In general, I thought the dialougue, which was really where most of the action took place (not unlike a stage play) was a bit too circular; that no one could even approach speaking in a direct way meant it was a lot more work to understand what anyone was trying to say. If I turned around for a moment to something else I would be lost for quite a while.

[Balthasar]

Man, I hope you're right about The Wire, that was a pretty good show, though I haven't seen every season.
I only saw the last season the Wire had (season 2?). Really good stuff. Very different from the typical "crime drama." It seemed pretty much done, though.
Haven't seen Entourage yet but I've heard good things about it.
Entourage is fantastic. Jermey Piven definitely steals a lot of spotlight (and not in a bad way).

[Evil Avatar]

I wasn't the biggest fan of Deadwood, but there was some quality to be found. In general, I thought the dialougue, which was really where most of the action took place (not unlike a stage play) was a bit too circular; that no one could even approach speaking in a direct way meant it was a lot more work to understand what anyone was trying to say. If I turned around for a moment to something else I would be lost for quite a while.

I think you are thinking of Season 2, where the dialogue was certainly the star of the show and some of the action was toned down quite a bit in favor of more character oriented plotlines.

That was when it took that decidely Shakesperian turn, which was interesting but may have also resulted in lower ratings.

I was watching Season 1 last night on DVD and the dialogue is a lot more straightforward and there is a lot more action in every episode.

[Mav]

Not quite. This season is split up into a 12 or 13 episode run, ending in two weeks, and another 8 week run, starting sometime in December. That is when it actually ends.


I know, that's why I said Sopranos gets 20 episodes (give or take) after a freaking two year break between seasons 5 and 6..

[Balthasar]

I know, that's why I said Sopranos gets 20 episodes (give or take) after a freaking two year break between seasons 5 and 6..
Ahh. Well, again, that's all Chase. If it were up to HBO, Sopranos would run every year. Why would they want it to be off for two years? That show draws in a lot of new subscribers.

[Balthasar]

I think you are thinking of Season 2, where the dialogue was certainly the star of the show and some of the action was toned down quite a bit in favor of more character oriented plotlines.
I watched a bit of season one, but not all of it, so you may be right here.

That was when it took that decidely Shakesperian turn, which was interesting but may have also resulted in lower ratings.
Shakesperian is exactly what I thought as I watched more and more of season 2. My biggest gripe with season 2 was the way those last 4 or 5 episodes played out. I really just lost interest because all of this momentum that was building up seemed to go absolutely nowhere. I'm not even sure I've seen the season finale yet, I got so bored. Perhaps too much talking, not enough doing?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing how this 3rd season plays out. Hopefully it will be a bit more even. There's so much about the show worth liking.

[dr_wily]

damn, im in the middle of season one.. great show

although at the rate of me watching ill be dissapointed in about 2 years.

[Jack B]

One thing to add: If you like the series and want it to continue, watch the third season and tell your friends to watch the season. Buy Season 1 and Season 2 on DVD and finally, write a real pen-and-paper letter to HBO telling them how much you love the series.

Online petitions and E-mail campaigns almost never work, but pen-and-paper has a big impact on the decisions these executives make. They always figure if someone took the time to write a letter and put it in the mail that they represent 10 or a 100 other people who feel the same way.

In the end, even if they do trash Deadwood, they might make another western in the future.

I bought Season one on DVD. I've watched the first 5 episodes again (actually a couple times each) with the commentary turned on. Great stuff.

Gawd, I'll miss this damn show!

[Jack B]

I wasn't the biggest fan of Deadwood, but there was some quality to be found. In general, I thought the dialougue, which was really where most of the action took place (not unlike a stage play) was a bit too circular; that no one could even approach speaking in a direct way meant it was a lot more work to understand what anyone was trying to say. If I turned around for a moment to something else I would be lost for quite a while.

For me the dialougue was the best part. Yes, sometimes I had to hit pause and rewind, but I loved the Shakespeare meets Scarface meets Dickens kind of wit.

Also, I don't think I'll be able to watch Doris Day or someone like that play Calamity Jane ever again... Dag Nabbit! Anyway, gosh darnnit!

Or as the Deadwood's Calamity Jane would say, "Ride out tomorrow morning? Why so early, what's the fucking rush! Well, I'm riding out tonight and I'm out of here, because, I don't drink where I'm the only one with balls..." Or... "Quit apologizing and SHUT THE FUCK UP!" :D

[karaokequeen3]

Bastards. Still, it means that buying the DVD sets won't be such a massive burden. Oh, and if anyone has not seen The Proposition yet, go out and watch it! It's been in the Uk for the past couple of months, and yeh, once you've seen it, Danny Huston will be a the forefront of your mind...