Deadwood creator David Milch sounds a little like his character Al Swearengen when he says, "My father always said, 'Never go anyplace where you're only tolerated.'"
That sentiment sums up Milch's reasons for not accepting HBO's offer of a reduced order, from 12 episodes to six, for the fourth season of his show, Deadwood. Milch told the Phildelphia Inquirer that he had always envisioned the show as four full chapters, and doing a truncated version just wouldn't have worked.
"I did not want to accept a short order. We couldn't have done the work the way we wanted. I didn't want to limp home," he told the newspaper.
At a cost of $5 million per episode, Deadwood couldn't justify its existence when it didn't become a ratings hit like HBO's The Sopranos. Last week, the cable network all but sealed Deadwood's fate when it let the contracts of the lead actors lapse, including that of Ian McShane, who vividly portrays the unofficial mayor of Deadwood, saloon owner Al Swearengen.
Milch is a TV vet, having worked on Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue, so while he is sad about the grim prospects for the series about a frontier mining town in the late 1800s, he understands why the network would balk at spending so much money.
"They needed a number of eyes we weren't providing them. That's their business. They have to look at things that way," he said.
The third season of Deadwood returns to HBO on Sunday, June 11. In the meantime, Milch is concentrating on his new HBO pilot, John From Cincinnati, which he describes as a "surf noir." As for Deadwood, Milch says there may be a chance it could get a fourth and final season, but he's moving on.
"It's not impossible, but I'm absolutely assuming there won't be a season four."
I've watched a lot of TV in my life and never has anything compared to this show. I've never entertained purchasing a single DVD - yet I went out and bought the box set of series 1 and 2 of Deadwood to get up to speed before series 3 starts here in Australia on Monday. I'm devestated the c*&ksuckers are concluding this brilliant drama. So they are off to concentrate on another series where a teenage girl turns cop, turns beauty queen, turns crap! Let us hope Deadwood gets the ending it so rightly deserves.
very, very sad!
How funny that I have to "keep the language clean" when commenting on Deadwood. I am totally devastated to learn that the third is the last season. I didn't have cable until a few weeks ago and was able to catch up on the first and second seasons through the Video On Demand feature. . .here I am anxiously awaiting season three and I find out its the last. . .what a real bummer!!!. . . this is by far one of my favorite series. My daughter thnks its hilarious that Al Swearengen is my most favorite character.
HBO takes a page out the "Showtime 'Ruin the Series' Guide for Moronic Network Executives". Deadwood is great TV and if HBO had any sense in their tiny pinheads they'd give Milch whatever he wants and bring Arrested Development to HBO to replace Curb Your Enthusiam, which is probably not coming back.
Ugh. This will be another show I love that was cancelled on a cliffhanger.
this is a travesty!!! deadwood is a far superior show than anything else on tv. sad sad sad!!
has anyone ever counted the times the word c**k s***er has been used in one episode of this show?
That's really, really lame.
booooooooooooo!
SAY IT AIN'T SO!<br />
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Writing like this exists nowhere else in the tele-verse. Without Deadwood how am I expected to get my weekly dose of faux iambic pentameter??<br />
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This is sad news indeed. When this sterling TV program fades from the airwaves, a part of my love for the medium'll go with it.
At a cost of $5 million per episode....whoa!<br />
I've only seen season 1 so far and its awesome
That's the point ... Milch finished writing Season Three believing, like the rest of us, that there would be a Season Four. Then HBO reneged, and mutilated the story. I will be dropping HBO the day Season Three is over. Lots of people will. See HBO NO MO to pledge the same: http://www.hbonomo.com/
This sucks!, I hope that there is a decent enough conclusion at the end of the third season.