It was shown on Sky here but I never watched it from the start, any episode I saw seemed to be too much predicated on a story arch so it was confusing. I recently saw it in my local Xtravision for €5 to rent a season per week so was thinking of picking it up.
Best series on television ever, in my book… But, very violent and if the copious use of “fuck”, “cocksucker” and “cunt” will bother you, don’t waste your money.
Ian McShane brings cursing to a Shakespearean level of eloquence.
If I may be so bold, I would heartily recommend this feast of visual and vocabulary splendifitude, you bet your fuckin’ ass.
Anyone who tries to watch Deadwood out of order is a cocksuckin’ hooplehead.
That being said, the series is fantastic, if you’re a fan of Westerns or great anti-heroes.
€5? That’s like, £5! In which case, a better deal than it is up North 
In either case, worth catching. Feels a lot more like The Wire than Sopranos to me, I tried to catch it on Sky too, but my sister (with whom I was living with at the time) would never allow it to be on and would alway call her b/f in on the argument. Her attitude changed completely when b/f’s parents found that they liked it too :rolleyes:
Hell, yes! Definitely watch it if you can view it from the beginning. The first four episodes featured Keith Carradine as “Wild Bill” Hickock, but the other actors, especially Tim Olyphant as Seth Bullock and Ian McShane as Al Swearengen carry the show throughout. The dialogue is practically Shakespearean once you get past all the cursing. Even the minor charactors, such as William Sanderson’s E. B. Farnum and Jeffrey Jones’ A. W. Merrick are interesting and eloquent.
It’s a damn shame that HBO wouldn’t pick up a fourth season or even a TV movie to wrap up the show. The third season left us all wanting more. Historically, Deadwood suffered a devastating fire in 1879. That would have made a helluva season arc by itself.
like cochrane said above:
HELL YES.
I’ve tried watching it multiple times. I believe everyone who says it’s worth it, but I just can’t get beyond the first ep or two. Hopefully someday.
Westerns and prison shows (Oz) have to be amazingly good to get me to sit still long enough to watch. Never got through Oz either, in case you’re wondering.
I like the mix of actual historical figures such as Al Swearengen and Seth Bullock, and ones made up for the show.
I think it’s fitting that Al’s surname is ‘Swear-engine’.
It’s almost Shakespearean in its use of dialogue, loaded with so much subtext that sometimes I found it hard to follow.
But nevertheless it is quite a spectacularly well made show, with astonishingly unlikeable and sometimes repellent characters that you feel compelled to watch in all their disgusting glory.
One of the best shows to ever grace a TV screen.
I’m a huge fan of HBO series and have enjoyed all the ones I’ve seen but Deadwood was by far my least favorite. I found the dialogue to be tedious and gave up after season two. It had some great characters but I found it exhausting trying to wade through the verbosity.
I couldn’t recommend it enough. It’s definitely worth owning all three seasons.
If you do watch, prepare yourself for an abrupt and rather unfulfilling denouement. Ian McShane’s Swearengen alone made the series worth watching, and there were plenty of other fantastic performances. (I’ve seen Timothy Olyphant’s acting prowess both criticized and defended, but I think he was perfect in this role.)
I hope, on a future viewing, to figure out why certain characters were so perpetually fuckin’ pissed off.
Wonderful, if flawed, and as others have said, well worth your time even if just for Swearengen alone. And Olyphant does do an excellent job. I got to this series late and had only seen him in the odious “Hitman”, in which he was throroughly unbelievable as a badass. He’s really quite good in this, and a unique heroic figure.
Another vote for HELL YES. Almost every single character was given time, and most of them were very interesting. IMO, it was much better than The Sopranos.
Like Trixie? I loved her in S1 but in 2 and 3 she was on a perpetual rag, given all her fuckin’ givens. I got tired of Calamity Jane too, but at least she had alcoholism as an excuse. Her drunk scenes are really hard to watch. And she was so mean to Charlie! Sweet Charlie. My favorite Charlie scene is the one where Joanie compliments him on his new frock coat. “Well, you’re wearin’ it today.” Loved Joanie.
I’d just buy it. It will ultimately save you a fiver as when you see it you’ll almost certainly want to own it 
McShane’s Swearengen is IMO one of the greatest “fictional” characters in any medium.
Another vote for Deadwood and Al- loved almost all of it. The last few episodes paled considerably- there was a feeling that they had to put some kind of hasty conclusion to it all because of the cancellation. But the first two seasons and most of the third (for me, the fight between Dan and Capt. Turner was the swan song) were some of the best television I’ve ever watched. I love a good f-word though, so your mileage may vary :).