The reason I think it is good for kids to be exposed to profanity at home is that they are going to encounter it in the school hallways and playgrounds anyhow. Even 12-year-old kids talk like drunken sailors when they get away from adult supervision.
Now my wife and I never swear and not because we are prudes but because we both have mastered the English language and we are able to express ourselves with intelligent words. That said, hearing profanity from others does not offend us nor does it disturb us. It does usually cause us to render a lower opinion of that person's intelligence and education however.
I believe this attitude has rubbed off on our kids and they do not swear either - at least not in front of us. But we had no problem having them watch profanity-laden shows and movies with us from the time they were just little babies. As a result, they have grown up to be well-mannered, having learned what is and isn't appropriate language to use in public. I believe that the fact that they have become experts on profanity has helped them with their peers. They are not impressed (or shocked) to hear their peers utter profanity and they don't think it's very cool either.
That's excellent! So, just out of curiosity, when you miss the nail-head and mash your thumb with the hammer, what *do* you say?
And again, not every character in "Deadwood" swears all the time. There are those who do, but the kids won't have trouble noticing that they're the characters who are either "low class", uncultured, or thugs. Some of the characters only use profanity in extreme situations. And some barely, if ever, use it at all, because they are able to express themselves, even forcefully when appropriate, by employing ordinary English like a fencer uses his sword. The kids are bound to understand the lesson.
Additionally, some of the characters in the show who swear habitually, like Trixie, find themselves embarassed when they swear around some of the characters who look down on such language or who are shocked by it, like Sol. Trixie has been trying to clean up her language as a result. Again, the kids will understand.
"Even 12-year-old kids talk like drunken sailors when they get away from adult supervision."
This one did not. I enlisted in the Air Force at 18 and was shocked to hear such language as routine. That was in the mid fifties. Now we all get to hear it in any attempt to watch a movie, and on shows like Deadwood.
Having said that, and now pushing my seventies, I love Deadwood, if I can watch it alone. It is still embarassing to me to hear profanity in the presence of others.
Well, there's more than profanity on Deadwood.
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this. At least MY sons won't be watching this until they're 18.