A fellow Freeper recommended "Deadwood" to me. I rented past season DVD's -- I Loved! the series. At first, yes, the language can be offputting; but moi, having been raised on history of the Old West KNOWS that language in the old west was ESPECIALLY colorful. Superb series (and show) for those looking for a fairly accurate depiction of the wild, old west. Superb! acting. Bravo.
Hubby watched the first season, I didn't because the language really put me off. Then there was an article about the creator of the show in the New Yorker, the guy is basically a super genius. When HBO complained to him about the bad language (they, did, if you can beleive it!) he wrote them a lengty academic style paper, complete with footnotes, etc. defending the salty talk as historially accurate.
By the time I got to the end of the piece, I was convinced. I told hubby "let's get HBO back so we can watch Deadwood". (We'd cancelled it since all we watch are the series, we weren't going to get it back until the Sopranos resumed) He was very pleasantly surprised at my reaction.
Speaking as a history teacher and a published author (I even have an agent) -- Well, yes, the language of the old west was colorful. But in a tv series, IMHO, when every other word is the "F" word, that's not colorful, it's an example of weak writing. Profane language and it's proper use is an art. Ask any marine D.I. Those guys can curse for fifteen minutes and not repeat themselves once. But for a writer, such language should be used as a surgeon's scalpel for maximum effect. When it's used as a bludgeon, as it is in Deadwood I find it get's old and boring real fast. Historically I don't think the show is very accurate, either. Too much intrigue.
How many blacks are on the show? I can't remember. But one in seven cowboys was black. There were very few gunfights in the real west, because most everybody carried a gun as has been posted here. Same reason each town had one sheriff and a couple of deputies. When the good guys had their hands full the whole town loaded rifles and made their desires known.