I’m going to be contrary with my favorite characters:
Charlie Utter
Al
Sol Star/Dan Doherty/Calamity Jane
I like Charlie the most because, in some weird way, he’s the character I can most identify with. He’s definitely one of the most loyal and good-hearted characters in Deadwood (keep in mind I haven’t seen season 2 yet), and it’s established from his very first scene in Nuttall’s saloon. When Wild Bill asks him “will you let me go to hell the way I want to”, that about kills me, as does the scene later on where Charlie visits Bill’s grave for the first time.
As the most trusted associate of the leads, Sol Star and Dan Doherty are two of the unsung stars of that ensemble, I think, with both John Hawkes and W. Earl Brown knocking it out of the park with every scene they get, and they function as great counterpoints to each other–although they’re not too different.
Everybody bitches about McShane not getting enough love from the awards circut, but frankly, I think it’s a goddamn crime that Robin Weigert hasn’t been nominated yet for ANYTHING. The way she goes from comedy to tragedy at the drop of a dime is just amazing–she can make you laugh, and tear out your heart doing. Not to mention that along with Al, she’s one of the more quotable characters on the show.
And Al. What’s there to say about him that hasn’t already been said? I think that Milch’s genius was not creating one of the greatest villians in tv history, but that he managed to make him loved. Al is a bad man in a bad town, sure, but the few moments of kindness we have seen from him–as opposed to the absolute satanic majesty of Powers Boothe (I shudder thinking about the way he punished poor Veronica Mars)–make him a compelling, endlessly watchable character.
As someone who has seen every episode of the Sopranos, I can say its a pretty good program. Ditto Oz, Rome, Six Feet Under, and every other one hour drama I’ve seen on HBO (except Carnivale-I really tried to get into it, but I just couldn’t do it). Deadwood happens to be a notch above. Maybe a good three or four notches, actually. This takes nothing away from the others, which are all high quality.
As for the jealousy comment, I can say I wish Deadwood got the credit it deserves, meaning as far as ratings or award show love, but it certainly hasn’t affected the show or its chances of being on (I heard HBO has already ordered a fourth season on the strength of three. Allegedly the same reason Big Love got called in to follow The Sopranos-they thought Deadwood could stand on its own). So no, no jealousy there. Its one of the few properties being run perfectly, in my opinion, from the creative side to the executive.
The important thing is the show continues to top itself and I’m watching the first two seasons again in prep for June 11th. Hail Deadwood.
I’m going to chime in on this Sopranos-Deadwood business only for a minute and say that when comparing the two at least to this point Deadwood has a much stronger narrative thread.
Jesus Christ Baba, have a drink or something. It’s a TV show, that I like, but if you don’t, whatever. We’re talking opinions here.
As for Deadwood, Al is obviously the best character, especially when teamed up with Mr. Wu. The pep-talk he gives Merrick in Season Two is probably my favorite scene from the show thus far. I’m also a big fan of Dan and Charlie Utter. That scene with him and Jane at Bill’s grave just kills me no matter how many times I see it.
Originally Posted by Giant Baba Martian logic on your part. Jealousy implies there is something I coveted from the Sopranos. There’s nothing. I find it overrated shit. I brought it up, because it is also a nicely budgeted, slick, talent-filled (though I don’t see it shine through in the stories) HBO drama, just like DEADWOOD (which blows it away on every creative level), and to deny the Soprano’s successful existence as a reason why a show like DEADWOOD could be made is cutting one’s nose off to spite its face. My slam is not “out of nowhere,” but wholly valid and logical, quite unlike the silly claims levied by you. Now, get back to me when you can actually debate the “jealousy” part.
listen to yourself. “Jealousy implies there is something I coveted from the Sopranos. There’s nothing. I find it overrated shit”. are you a fucking retard or something? you covet the sopranos success. if the sopranos wasn’t successful you never would have made your ignorant remarks. the show is pretty much a phenomenon, something that deadwood will never be so “fuck the sopranos”. ingenious reasoning!
the whole argument isn’t whether or not your slam is valid and logical (although i would totally disagree), it’s that it was utterly pointless not to mention petty and tasteless. you’re trying to validate your claims because “it’s overrated shit”. i could really care less what you think about the sopranos and if you wanted to start a thread of why you dislike it so much i’d say go for it. this wasn’t the thread for it. i was only agreeing with schwartz that there was absolutely no point in bringing down the sopranos so you can feel better about deadwood. now is that too difficult for you to grasp?
Definately looking forward to seeing Brian in the series but right now I am more anxious to see Gale Harold as Wyatt Earp. According to IMDB (I know) he will appear in the 8th episode.
Gale is a terrific actor and for those not familiar, Gale starred in Queer as Folk for five seasons and has also made appearances on The Unit and Law and Order: The SUV
Oh and one minor thing about Gale, he’s good looking but of course that does not influence my interest in the least.
Originally Posted by DrVenkman Yeah I did, I can’t wait to see what they do with him.
I agree. I’ve heard a few things about his role, but I won’t spoil them here. However, since I heard he was announced, it’s going to be incredibly frustrating to have to wait until DVD to see Cox go toe to to with McShane. It should be glorious.
Didn’t know Earp was showing up. I hope at somepoint down the line we get Teddy Roosevelt, too.
Weird. We’ve had Season 2 on DVD here in Aussie for a couple of months now. It sells VERY well, too, by the looks of things.
It only airs on one of the movie channels on cable here in 2-hour (2 episodes back to back) blocks. And being on a movie channel, the airing pattern is all over the place and it’s hard to watch in any kind of continuity. I’d imagine, like me, alot of people caught an episode or two here and there, couldn’t keep up or find out when the rest was airing, and then just bought the boxsets when they came out.
And such beautiful sets they are, too. Love the artwork.
I can’t wait for the Wyatt Earp storyline. From what I’ve read, he tried to set himself up as lawman in Deadwood, which Bullock didn’t appreciate too much. Angry and righteous Bullock is always entertaining.
The lack of Charlie can be summed up pretty easy, he is one ugly bastard. Everyone speaking/featured in the trailer is either fairly photogenic(Dickens,Parker,Malcomson,Olyphant) or interestingly featured(Doriff,McShane,Hawkes,Boothe) or god knows what(Weigert). Charlie is a great character but..
Originally Posted by Giant Baba No, however, you are a fucking moron with a big hard on being a Sopranos defender, then concocting conspiracy theories about people who don’t like it. Additionally, backing up the moron assertion, you couldn’t see a clear connection that someone would mention one in the same context with the other. Instead, you go off like Art Bell hopped up on amyl (sic?) nitrate excited over being at an Area 51 alien fuck party. There you go again, going off. You’ve also outed yourself as someone who came in, made this “don’t you go talkin’ bad about the So-so pranos, Willis” crap, then slung insults first, and still haven’t backed up those insults with anything close to actual facts. Instead, you just go off, bruised because someone drew a logical corolation between the shows and expressed THEIR OPINION that didn’t jibe with yours. It was a one-off opinion and you had to take it, focus on it, then blow it way out of proportion because it bothered you. You’re welcomed to your opinion, but so am I, and I came into the thread to read about DEADWOOD but find myself having to school a fool with a high hard one for THE SOPRANOS who felt the need to zero in on ONE OPINION that isn’t even the topic at hand. I’ll entertain you one last bit: I gave THE SOPRANOS 2 seasons to win me over. Not once, in any episode did it do that. Still, I gave it more chances than I’d ever given any show since, nor will ever give again. I found it suck city. DEADWOOD, I gave one episode a chance. The first one. I expected to like it but go along my way and watch the others later. I didn’t. I found myself glued to the fucking couch watching all 12 Season 1 episodes BACK TO FUCKING BACK over the course of (literally) half a day. I now wait for Season 2 to hit ON DEMAND, since I was living abroad, and the only way to see DEADWOOD would have been to download it, and frankly, I don’t download a lot of tv, let alone shows I didn’t know. So, not only did it win me over, but I look forward to catching up with others here, watching Season 2 in a single sitting, and then, when Season 3 premiers, I’ll most likely (if Season 2 is even 1 iota close to Season 1’s quality) be able to watch it normally like the other fans. Only OZ had that power. Only 4 shows in over 3 decades of television viewing won me over with such immediacy: (the original, superior) KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, THE SIMPSONS, OZ and DEADWOOD. Two of them were HBO productions, and one of them was the grand daddy that made most others possible. HBO knows good original productions. I see why people like the Sopranos, and I don’t attack them for liking it. I know WHY they like it. However, I see one loose cannon that maybe loves the show too much and has taken it upon themselves to try and hammer that I should love it to. Guess what, you only make me hate it worse, since you have now created a stereotype I find myself applying to Sopranos zealots. Congrats. That’s no small accomplishment, cocksucker.(Am I cute? I made a DEADWOOD reference that you should find humor in, but probably won’t). It’s time to move back to the topic, vato. *****Interesting. I mentioned LOST too, but nobody went off on that. So, any “jealousy” or feeling of being “threatened” has now been confirmed and displayed in your outrageous posts.
you sound like a gibbering child. yada, yada…art bell…area 51. ha, it’s too funny. you must have a brain of a three year old. you can not comprehend the shit the comes out of your ass let alone a one line sentence. does somebody have to spell it out for you? i’m not trying to defend whether or not the sopranos is a high quality show, again I’M NOT DEFENDING THE QUALITY OF THE SOPRANOS, this isn’t the thread for it. i told you to open up a thread for your undying jealousy and hatred towards the show if you really want to discuss it. go for it. i could care less. people can hate the show. it happen’s.
and of course you’re totally right, i obviously have a hard on for the sopranos because i agreed with someone when they asked if it was possible to show appreciation for one show without ripping on another. it was unwarranted (let me just clarify what i mean by unwarranted: i do not mean you are wrong for hating the sopranos, i mean this isn’t the place to discuss it) to rip a show in a completely different shows thread. you are so fucking dense it’s beyond belief. do you realize, the argument isn’t “oh he’s hating on the sopranos, bad man!”, it could’ve been a show i fucking hate and i still would’ve agreed with schwartz. 7th heaven, stop the hate! charmed, NOOOOO! once again, is it possible to show appreciation for one show without ripping on another?
art bell…sure, and i’m the conspiracist! you got me there fox mulder. look at me…you’re not the only one who knows their pop culture! what the fuck are you getting on with that i’m not backing up facts? what facts do i need to backup? i’m not debating whether the sopranos or anything else for the matter is something to die for. you’re the man hammering home about “opinions”. i gave a one line “opinion” and then you ranted on and on and on and on with a major case of the crybabies claiming i have hard on for a show you don’t even know if i like! i didn’t attempt to convert the unconverted and say anything along the lines that “the sopranos is the greatest show ever”. nice job telling me about your love affair for deadwood and your failures with the sopranos. would you like a bickie for your accomplishments? it’s like you’re preaching to the choir. nice one bud! i already love deadwood and i’ve seen season 2! wow i’m special! you probably had a hard time noticing i’m a huge fan of deadwood but because of your deluded mind you probably think my specific goal to joining this thread was to hex the sopranos haters. again i’m here to talk about season 3 of deadwood, not to reign supreme on completely different matters, such as you.
on a final note..
Quote:
You’re welcomed to your opinion, but so am I, and I came into the thread to read about DEADWOOD but find myself having to school a fool with a high hard one for THE SOPRANOS who felt the need to zero in on ONE OPINION that isn’t even the topic at hand.
this right here proves the point i’m trying to make. this is a deadwood thread. so let’s fucking discuss it! i made a comment, an OPINION, and you asked me to analyze it for you. yet, somehow, i’m the one zeroing in on opinions! by the way you never came in to talk about deadwood, you came in and said “hey man deadwood is awesome and fuck the sopranos!”. pointless, pointless, pointless. i’m not the one who brought up the sopranos, YOU DID! now go back to listening to your art bell program before your head explodes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by moovyphreak Hell yes, Calamity Jane is back! I love that character.
you know when i started watching the show i absolutely hated her and was begging she would go through a slow and painful death but now i find her to be a total riot. she cracks me up pretty much every time she’s on the screen, especially when she’s with charlie. i hope the nigger general is back for season 3. he was so funny when he was with jane briefly last year. i can not wait to see what’s in store with brian cox. the new season could be the best one yet.
This may be it for the show. I just read on the cnn site that the show is probably not going to get picked up for another season and that the actors have been released to take other jobs.
I’ll say it because of instinct, and because I don’t want to see it happen. David Milch moving from NYPD Blue to Deadwood to a bloody surfing show, not buying it. And why would they pick up a third season, bring on new people(Cox, Harold) and then drop it before the season even runs.
Hbo having Sopranos on its way out, and Deadwood being one of the more sure things right now…
I must say if the third season was the designed end and its supposed to be like this I’ll be just fine.
