Deadwood

[ChicoCahill]

did anyone watch the premiere after the sopranos? all i have to say is wow, its amazing how high quality the shows on hbo are.

[ChicoCahill]

i wrote this two weeks ago. has anyone been watching this? Its the sopranos goes west.

[rohithpatel]

Yes, the show seems interesting. People at HBO are expecting this show to replace the Sapranos as they think/hope this is its last season. HBO wants the huge audience that watches The Sapranos to get hooked to this show.

As for the show, its got a lot of potential, its got an awesome cast like "Carnivale". I haven't really seen anything that would make me think of this as a Sapranos-replacement but its too early right now, they are still trying to introduce the charcters.

By the way, the owner of the gym parlour seems like a very creepy fellow. The lead character sheriff-turned-hardware salesman seems very interesting too. As i said the show has great potential, but the last 2 (haven't yet the 3rd episode) haven't really been mind-blowing, as you would expect from a 12 episode-season show. Hopefully they will come up with some interesting stories to tell.

Note: on the deadwood website, it says that the 2nd season has been renewed and it will air in july 2005; so i guess the HBO suits are happy with its ratings.

[tscallions]

Actually, there is going to be another season of The Sopranos. David Chase said that there will be one more season but that it would only include ten episodes instead of the usual thirteen. As fas as Deadwood goes, great new show. I don't anticipate it reaching it's full potential until The Sopranos is officially over.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I am personally hooked.

Sunday Night is pretty much my TV night with the Simpsons and then the Soprano's, so watching Deadwood was just easy, just keep HBO on. I have watched all 3 weeks so far and I do feel it is just getting better.

I thought it was very intelligent writing to introduce the new saloon owners last night (Powers Boothe, etc) across from the Gem Saloon guy Al. It adds one more conflict to the already established other conflicts.

I really like the Gem owner Al too. He plays a corrupt maniac damn good. I did some research and he is actually from England and his name is Ian McShane. I also did not realize he was in Sexy Beast!! Really good actor and he plays the role perfectly. So far he is the anchor of the entire show to me and truly without him I do not think the show would be anywhere as interesting as it is right now.

The one and only thing that bothers me is the stupid Calamity Jane character, the she-man with the annoying voice. She just seems to be way over the top as a brute non feminine women, and she annoys me whenever she speaks. Ehh minor little beef there though.

All in all a good show IMO and it just got renewed fro Season 2. Even the I think it is really good, the Soprano's replacement it will never, ever be.

[rohithpatel]

BAH! I can't edit my previous post, anyway I meant to say "Gem Saloon" instead of "Gym parlour", no idea why i said that, maybe it has something to do with hearing Calamity Jane (the she-man, DirtyLarry was refering to) scream it, while crying during the 2nd episode. :p

But yes Al's character is probably why the show seems interesting at the moment, but I think Seth and more over Hickok seem like more interesting characters. I for one really want to know why people fear Hickok so much.

And talking about Sopranos, the last episode was AWESOME. I felt they were going to kill off one the main characters. The ending was great too.

[Mr Underhill]

I wonder how long Wild Bill's going to be around, Deadwood is the town of his demise. He's gonna get it playin' poker at some point, and his hand will include 2 black aces, and two black 8's, the fifth card isn't known, but thats the "Dead Man's Hand." I wonder if he'll survive the first season, I believe he was only in Deadwood for 11 or so weeks, so depending on the timeline in the show, he may meet the pointy end of a bullet during the last episode of the season. :)

[Quatermain]

The one and only thing that bothers me is the stupid Calamity Jane character, the she-man with the annoying voice. She just seems to be way over the top as a brute non feminine women, and she annoys me whenever she speaks. Ehh minor little beef there though.

That is how Calamity Jane was. You do realize Deadwood is based in part on the real Deadwood?

The real Calamity worked as a prostitute and dance hall girl in Deadwood, and briefly managed a house of her own. She was a coarse woman, a cross dresser, adept at profanity and drunk a great deal of the time.

Upon arriving in Deadwood in July of 1876, Hickok and others set up camp, but Calamity went downtown and became a dance hall celebrity, frequenting E.A. Swearingen?s Gem Theater. The Black Hills Pioneer of July 15, 1876 announced, "Calamity Jane has arrived."

HBO's episode 6: Plague was spot on. When the small pox epidemic hit the Black Hills and Deadwood, Calamity was the first in line to help people with the illness. She worked feverishly through the epidemic, nursing people without concern for her own well-being.

Calamity Jane is buried in Deadwood's Mt. Moriah Cemetery next to Wild Bill Hickok

One interesting bit the show has yet to acknowledge is the fact the Chinese in Deadwood were so discriminated they were not allowed above ground after a certain time each evening.

The result was an awesome tunnel system, which allowed the china men to move from house to house, even shop using these underground tunnels.