Posted on 06/29/2004 10:45:43 AM PDT by BluegrassScholar
At first I thought it must be a joke, some TV critic geekoid friend's idea of leg-pulling in the highest order.
But who would pretend to be Deadwood creator David Milch?
For those of us who follow TV, Milch is a famously flawed legend. A writer on the legendary cop drama Hill Street Blues, he co-created NYPD Blue and let his demons grow to the point that he wasn't even writing out scripts but telling the Blue actors what lines they should say on the set just before filming scenes.
Most recently, Milch has developed HBO's super-real western drama Deadwood, basing his profanity-laced, explicit characterizations on an actual mining town in South Dakota's Black Hills just after Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn.
And he was calling this particular critic to discuss a June 12 article in which I and Sideshow columnist Sharon Fink disagreed over the quality of his show.
But Milch wasn't concerned with my criticisms on too-slow storytelling, aimless characters or dense language. He wanted to talk about race, specifically the notion that Deadwood unfairly excludes black characters.
Milch's defense: Deadwood was a mining town that didn't attract the black cowboys who learned to work the cattle industry during the Civil War.
"The only guy I could find in my research in the first year of the camp was a guy who called himself Deadwood Dick," Milch said. "His real name was Nat Love, and he published his autobiography. But it was all lies and fabrications, and nobody has been able to verify . . . that he was actually there."
Next season, Milch hopes spend more time with a proud black character named Hostetler that viewers saw in one scene last season, bringing him together with another character called the N--- General, a subservient black man who dresses in a stolen war uniform and runs errands for white people.
(He's hoping to workout a deal with longtime comic and comedy writer Franklin Ajaye to play the "General.")
"I just wanted to take a moment to explain that it was not that there had been African-Americans there and I had chosen not to represent them," Milch said. "Specifically, in the first year of the camp, several researchers had made the point that none were there."
He made a good point, and I had to admit to enjoying the show more toward the end of its run.
But after hearing about at least one of the black characters Milch has planned for next season's Deadwood, I was left wondering if I shouldn't be more careful what I wish for in the future.
Agreed.
Deadwood sounds cool. How many seasons has it had? I don't subscribe to hbo, but it'll probably show up on DVD in time. I can wait.
If the story remains accurate we will see Wyatt Erp next season. Erp didn't do much in Deadwood but he shows up at about this time in history.
except that Wild Bill died in December not June
Wild Bill was shot on August 2, 1876.
Deadwood just concluded its first season. You can read the summaries of all the episodes at www.hbo.com. Just click on the Deadwood link on the left. One of the best ensemble acting casts on television. Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane, Ian McShane as Al Swearengen steal nearly every scene they're in. If McShane doesn't win an Emmy, there's no justice in TV land.
McShane's character is by far the best. He sure doesn't tolerate those 'hoopleheaded c---s-----s', does he?
I don't see a problem with this at all. Black cowboys were a large part of the era and made numerous contributions in the settling of the west.
The only thing that I would change is the name of the series. Since the favorite expression is "C***s***er", I started calling it "The C***s***er Show" almost from the beginning. And, yes, it is one of my favorite shows. I just don't watch it in "polite company", though.
Same here. Sad too, as I really like westerns. It seemed to me that the writers were deliberately trying to out 'f-word' the Goodfellas.
What's a "deadwood"? and why should anyone care what hollywood does for a fiction show?
I quit watching televison for dummies a couple of years ago. You would be surprised how well you can think and converse when you quit watching the 'boob tube' !
What about a fair representation of the contribution of the Vietnamese to the American West?
I think the "F Word" came from Germany during one of our wars against them.
? I wonder just what the curse words were during the Old West.
Better bring in those Chinese and their opium dens. A big part of Bodie's history includes the Chinese, their laundering and their opium dens.
I had a problem with the language the first time I saw it, but I kept watching it and I'm glad I did, because it's riveting.
This was its first season. Best acted show I've seen in years, maybe ever. The language may put you off but it's nothing anybody who's at one time or another worked in an all male environment hasn't heard.
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