Deadwood is my favorite show of all time. I love the Wire as much as the next guy, and I loved the Sopranos for years. I can watch Arrested Development for days on end. But when it comes down to it, I consider Deadwood the GOAT TV show.

I don't think there's much argument that the dialogue in Deadwood is as good, if not the best, of any TV show ever made. And the cinematography and music is downright beautiful from the first episode to last.

Recommending Deadwood to someone isn't difficult. There's a ton of sex, violence, and language. The setting takes place in 1870s Deadwood, South Dakota, in a time where a lot of western land was finally being annexed and civilization was pushing westward. Deadwood was a town primarily for men who came out west in search of gold, very few children and women. Most women in the town were whores of servants of some sort.

While there's not necessarily a main character of the show, the two central characters are Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and Al Swearengen (Ian Mcshane). Bullock is a lawman and Swearengen is the owner of the most popular saloon in town, but you quickly realize he's more of a mayor/owner of the town more than anything.

Swearengen is written and acted as well as any character you will ever see on television. He's cruel and selfish mostly, with actions that range from beating women to cold blood killing for financial gain. However there are the moments of insecurity and selfishness. The monologues he delivers while getting 'services' from his saloon whores are some of the greatest in any medium, film/tv/whatever. It's pretty excellent writing when a viewer can be genuinely moved by the words of a character while a prostitute is going down on him.

It'd be tough to get in to every character here, but there are so many wonderful ones. From the syphilis struck reverend to Wild Bill Hickock to George Hearst, nearly every character is written and acted well.

Hopefully this thread will generate discussion on the 3-season series and the still slim chance of future developments from the show. There are a ton of themes to work with, as many as the Wire imo. The beginnings of what's very similar to modern day Capitalism is a huge theme in the show.

David Milch is a genius. For those who don't know his work, he started out at Yale (actually was in fraternity with George W Bush) but was eventually expelled for shooting up a police car. He spent years poor and claims to have spent nearly all of his money on LSD, which he did very often for years. His career got kicked off finally when he wrote a script for Hill Street Blues that was turned in to an episode. He then wrote and created NYPD Blue, and soon after began research and work for Deadwood. After Deadwood he wrote John From Cincinatti, which had only a brief run on HBO. His new project is a cop drama being pitched for HBO.

From everything I've heard, he would write Deadwood episodes mostly the night before shooting. And he wouldn't write anything down. Some writers account that he would lay down on the floor around a team of writers and speak out the dialogue and the team of writers would jot down all he said and collaborate at the end of the night. The actors had no practice with the scripts until it was time to shoot. I imagine this is deliberate, one of Milch's best writing qualities if that he doesn't judge his characters, and by not giving actors time to read and prepare a script, it doesn't allow them to as much either.


Anyway, here are some good clips from the show for those who want to try it out.

Deadwood Promo

Swearengen/Merrick

Powers Boothe awesomeness

Best of Al (Spoilers)

oh and **********

and hooplehead

deadwood has a lot of fabulous moments, it's a real shame that the show didn't get picked up for a 4th season, because it never had a chance to finish.

i didn't know how milch wrote the show, but that certainly makes sense - it explains why the plot isn't always thoroughgoing and how it dips into tangents at times.

It was like poetry in curse.

Yea...I still use hooplehead in my daily vocabulary.

Charlie Utter was my favorite character (next to Al of course).

Al Swearengen was the greatest TV character of all time.

If he can be lured into this thread, 2p2er Actual God worked on this show with Milch. He might have more insight into the writing.

2nd best show ever (The Wire) and to me, the best written piece of TV/Cinema ever.

+1 great ****in show

Awesome show, one of my favorites.. but can't be one of the best ever due to the lack of an ending.

My absolute favorite show of all time.

I thought the dialogue was great, but kind of ridiculous. Felt more like a Shakespearean play than 1870 America, especially anything that involved Al. I loved it though, and I think the writing is really on par with the best poetic dialogue evar.

(wtf does Chrome tell me dialogue isn't a word?)

Favorite episode? Favorite scene?

Also find this very tilting

I may have ****ed my life up flatter than hammered ****, but I stand before you beholden to no human **********.

God rest the souls of that poor family... and pussy's half price for the next 15 minutes!

Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair or ****ing beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back.

Al: Sometimes I wish we could just hit 'em over the head, rob 'em, and throw their bodies in the creek.
Cy: But that would be wrong...

Incredible Calamity Jane monologue begins around 1:00

always liked this one from Cy

"Some as don't know better might mistake me for being on the outside looking in" (looks over to one of his whores reading Bible then adds sarcastically)

"Then you got your idle snatch readin' scripture, and know there's still hope."

also

Seth: Will I find you've got a knife?
Al: I won't need no ****ing knife

I was just reading the script of the pilot and even the goddamn stage directions are poetry. These from the first scene with Jane and Hickok.

They consider each other a stalemated beat, then Jane
addresses some unseen second occupant in the covered back of
the wagon

Lying on his back like a corpse in state, Wild Bill Hickok
tries to outlast a migraine and hangover

The back step of the wagon takes Jane's weight, quashing
Hickok's hopes he'll be left alone. Jane look in on Hickok,
her idol and unrequited love. Hickok's eyes stay closed

An incongruous shyness itself to Jane's manner

I may have to read all the scripts now.

favorite scene i think is the 1st episode of season 2, swearingen and bullock get in a huge fight, bullocks wife shows up from out of town and as she arrives swearingen says "welcome to ****in deadwood"

also pretty much any scene where woo said ********** was hilarious

With what happens historically, it's almost better without the ending. Still a Top 3 of All Time Show.

Love, love, love, love Deadwood but Calamity Jane is possibly my most hated character from any tv show ever.

ya she's awful. awful. AWFUL.

I also disliked Bullock tbh. Thought that these two were just totally unbelievable?


I liked Al, Charlie Utter, Wild Bill, and just about everyone else.

The best of Deadwood is unrivaled in TV; as a whole I'll take The Wire tho . I need to revisit the series someday. I won't even pretend to have understood all the nuances of the show... it's very convoluted at times lol. Hard to discuss anything specific haven't seen the show since it got canceled. Would love to see it come back.

wtf i like calamity jane's character

Why the hate? She had some great scenes

Charlie Utter is fantastic and the actor is great on Sons of Anarchy as well

That doesn't sound like a "best writing quality." That sounds like it's a nightmare job. If you're good enough to be a big-time writer, and then you show up and have to deal with that, wouldn't you feel like you've stepped into a Joseph Smith revival?

On the other hand, it's hard to argue with results.