"Rome" vs "Deadwood"

Self | February 11, 2007 | PJ-Comix

[PJ-Comix]

Two HBO TV series. Both soap opera formats based on historical events. One is extremely interesting and the other has become sordidly dull. I am, of course, referring to Rome and Deadwood.

Rome is extremely watchable. I just can't get enough of it and anxiously await each new episode of the series. It beautifully blends the lives of ordinary Romans with the aristocracy of that time. The writing is superb to the extent that it has gotten me back to rereading Durant's Caesar and Christ again with emphasis on the civil wars following the assassination of Julius Caesar.

OTOH, Deadwood is just, well, dead. It was sort of interesting in the episodes leading up to the murder of Wild Bill Hickock but at that point it completely jumped the shark and dove into the toilet. The best description of that show is SORDID. It just wallows in sleaze and what little historical connection it has is completely lost in the process. The prostitutes are filthy and need the constant attention of the doctor for their myriad diseases. It makes one wonder why anybody even paid for their services back then. Also I notice that the characters are engaging in types of sexual practices that were almost completely unknown in the USA until the WWI when the Doughboys entered Gay Paree to enjoy the sensual pleasure there. Deadwood has become completely unwatchable as well as anachronistic. The few times I take a look at it, I need to quickly change the channel. Oh, and what the hell are the characters saying? Yeah, I know they are speaking English but I can't understand most of what is being said. It is like someone on a meth high is writing a stream of conciousness script on an endless roll of toilet paper.

Well, those are my thoughts on those two series as I eagerly anticipate tonight's new episode of Rome.

[PJ-Comix]

I would like to hear your opinion on Rome and/or your critique of the ghastly Deadwood.

[neverhillorat]

Deadwood is fun to watch if you can deal with the language. Perfect casting!

[PJ-Comix]

I HATE Deadwood. First of all, it seems completely anachronistic with its frequent talk of oral sex. That type of sex was almost unknown in the USA until the Doughboys went to France in WWI. Also it seems to be more about whorehouses than about the West. I'm not a prude and, in fact, get a chuckle from the portrayals of sex in Rome but Deadwood just seems flat out sordid. It was sort of okay until Wild Bill Hickcock was murdered but then went downhill from there. Rome is a much SUPERIOR series!

[neverhillorat]

Deadwood, the real place, wasn`t a place people brought the fmily to for a vaction. But, PJ, give credit where credit is due, that time of sex ISN`t sex, didn`t you hear our last President explain?

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

Husband and I love Rome. There is plenty action, intrigue, history. I especially love the characters.

[PJ-Comix]

I know the Old West was full of whorehouses (funny how in movies of the past the whores always looked like Ann Margret or Urusula Undress) but the type of sexual activity depicted in Deadwood is anachronistic. Plus just WHAT are the characters saying? It is barely understandable.

[PJ-Comix]

Husband and I love Rome. There is plenty action, intrigue, history. I especially love the characters.

Notice how it is the first depiction in fiction of Mark Anthony as a complete sleazebag? Previously he might have been somewhat flawed as Richard Burton in Cleopatra but never such a lowlife as in this series. Out of curiosity, I did some historical checking on Mark Anthony and he was indeed something of a dirtbag.

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

My favorites are:
Atia & Mark Antony= They play the slimball very well.

Pullo & Lucius= I'm crushing on both of these guys ;)

[PJ-Comix]

I laughed like hell when, right in the middle of a conversation, Mark Anthony "watered" Cicero's house plant.

[Jack Deth]

Hi, PJ:

Haven't been a fan of "Rome", but I do enjoy "Deadwood". Well cast and written in a way that's reminiscent of Shakespeare of the Sagebrush.

What's cool about "Deadwood" is that it has reused actors in different roles. The actor who played the slimy little punk who back-shot Wild Bill returned the following season to play the psychotic, throat cutting front man for Hearst.

If you don't pay close attention, you'll miss how he was hanged from a balcony during the last moments of the second season's finale episode.

I still prefer HBO's "The Wire" to either "Rome" or "Deadwood".

Jack.

[melissa_in_ga]

My husband and I have been Deadwood fans from day one. While he watches Rome, and I've watched it a little, I never got the same feeling of anticipation that I got when Sunday rolled around during Deadwood days.

I think the characters of Deadwood were (are) very complex. Al Swearingen is simply the best "villain" on tv.

But what do I know? I'm also a big fan of "Big Love."

[PJ-Comix]

I can't stand Swearingen. His ramblings sound too "modern." BTW, one of my favorite characters in Rome is that fat herald who makes the public news announcements. I get a real chuckle out of the way he moves his hands and arms while announcing the news.

[Caramelgal]

The little bit I’ve got to watch of “Rome”, I really like it, but then I have a big interest in that time in history and am fascinated by ancient Roman society and politics - the “Old West” - well not so much.

I really need to catch up on the first season. Is it on DVD yet? Last years episodes aren't available on On Demand.

I’ve been hooked on Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. She takes a few liberties with history but then most novelists do, but her descriptions jive every much with all the more serious historical non-fiction books I’ve read about every-day Roman life. She’s very detailed in her writing.

As for HBO’s the Wire? I live in Baltimore. I work with a wonderful woman who grew up in the “hood” and had the smarts to get out and make a better life for herself.
She told me The Wire is good but as gritty as it is, that’s only half of it.

[PJ-Comix]

I enjoyed "I Claudius" by Robert Graves. That was also turned into a mini-series.

[2rightsleftcoast]

I absolutely love Rome. I think the writing, the actors,
the whole look of the show is spectacular. I loved the actor who played Octavian and they picked the perfect actor to play him now too. I was a huge fan of Deadwood. But I agree that it got a little boring last season. Sweringen is fabulous and I love the doctor. Oh, I do agree with you about the news reader on Rome. Isn't he perfect!

[neverhillorat]

The Wire is Great, better even then the Sopranos

[TheyConvictedOglethorpe]

I get a real chuckle out of the way he moves his hands and arms while announcing the news.

Better still was how he had to read the same advertisement from the Millers guild so many times, and kept getting more and more blase every time he repeated it. "Real Roman bread ... for real ... romans."

[Cyclopean Squid]

I really enjoy the show Rome, but I despise I, Claudius.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I enjoyed "I Claudius" by Robert Graves. That was also turned into a mini-series.

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Amen. Love Rome, but "Clau-clau" is the best that has ever been shown on the boob tube. Rome makes a good pre-quel. (On vacation, we had the pleasure of meeting the man who protrayed young Claudius as a child actor - he is now a talented musician).

Love Deadwood, too. Can't wait for season 3 on DVD.

Notice how the Mayor is the only one who speaks politely, but no one respects him?

I think "Xuin-jin" (Chinese for Swearingen) has gotten more sympathetic and interesting through season two (no season three spoilers, please!)

[Atlas Sneezed]

I despise I, Claudius.

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Aside from the iffy production values, why do you despise the production that I think is about the best there ever was?

("Aren't people just awful!" -Caligula)