Nothing I’ve read anywhere has McShane as anything but enthusiastic for more Deadwood. If any of the actors had been holding out for more money or had scheduling issues, HBO would have put that on their list of excuses, and they didn’t do that. It’s a puzzlement.
O’Neill as Al Swearingen? shudder NTY. I think that would have been a huge mistake.
I’m wondering if Milch meant that O’Neill in the part would have led to everything being written a whole different way, the story line would have taken a different turn, the ratings would have been even better, and HBO wouldn’t have made the demands that led to the cancellation.
Or. alternatively, I don’t know, Butchie, instead.
Highly doubtful, since most of the storylines in Deadwood were based on actual American history.
I love Ed O’Neil, and thought his JFC tirades were pure gold. Hell, I watched every episode of that craptacular Dragnet just for him. But I’m aghast at the idea of Ed O’Neill as Al Swearangen. Ian McShane was the best thing about Deadwood.
It is nothing but cruel irony that they began rerunning Deadwood starting with the pilot during this season of JFC. I’m not apathetic that JFC was cancelled; I’m ecstatic. I am pissed off enough at Milch for bailing on Deadwood to do a steaming piece of shit like JFC that despite the fact that I think Deadwood is the greatest show ever made, I truly hope Milch gets blackballed and never works again.
Well, sure, but it’s not like it was a history book, liberties were taken when necessary, and choices were made. For example, the real Al was a total asshole, without the traces of brilliance of the fictional character. If you have an actor playing Al who emphasizes the asshole, not the brilliance, you write up the asshole. Since Al is such an asshole, you make Bullock more likeable to counteract him. Since Bullock is so much more likeable, you make Sol more of an asshole to counteract that. Since Sol is more of an asshhole, he doesn’t fall for Trixie, so that storyline (totally fictitious, by the way), never happens. And so on.
Depending on what you have to work with, a series can go in an infinite number of possible directions.
:o
God spoke to Mitch but Mitch did not heed God’s words.
:o
So God spoke to Butchie but Butchie did not heed God’s words.
:o
So God spoke to Shawnie and Shawnie did heed his words.
OK, I didn’t see it and from what I’ve read it has been canceled, so I won’t get to.
Not to hijack too much, but is Rebecca Demornay still hot?
I guess so. She didn’t get nekkid or anything though. Mostly she screamed a lot.
I really liked the opening scene with the Dylan song and the camera racing thru the clouds, then John and Shawn surfing. Very cool.
Yeah, the general lack of nekkidness was a tad disappointing, and uncharacteristic of a Milch show. I think it was part of the general way the show never did what you expected – no big sex scenes, no big fight scenes, no big anything scenes.
I don’t know Butchie, instead.
Very cool. I really wish the series had had more moments like that.
Hell, yes. I want her to come to my house and scream at me.
She has some “smoker’s face” going on (that certain pattern of premature wrinkles in the faces of people who smoke), but she still looks pretty good.
Yeah, in that “getting jerked off by your mom” sort of way. . .
We could argue that Milch doesn’t do traditional “big” scenes. Milch’s fights and sex scenes are over fairly quickly, and incidental to something bigger rather than being drawn out to build drama, or to compensate for lack of drama elsewhere.
Only four “big” fights in 36 episodes of Deadwood – Al and Seth going over the balcony, Dan and the Captain, Ellsworth and Wolcott, Seth and the Indian. Not much sex – Seth and Alma, Silas and Ms. Isringhausen, Trixie and Sol – the Mason brother with his branding iron doesn’t count.
I could have used a couple of traditionally “big” scenes in JFC. Milch never told us (so that we could understand anyway) – “Look close here – this is big! You need to get this!” Dammit.
[Nitpick]That’s a Joe Strummer song[/nitpick]
I agree.
I thought she looked surprisingly hot, especially since she never really did much for me when she was younger (e.g., Risky Business). But I can’t think of another performance in recent memory that did more to extirpate every trace of sexiness from its performer. Arguably, that was the “point” of her demeanor in the context of the character, but I found it increasingly tiresome to watch.
“South Park” had her analogue in Ms. Crabtree, the psychotic, screaming school bus driver, but at least Matt & Trey had the sense not to make her a major character.
Woah. Am I slow or what? It just hit me that Risky Business is a play on words. :smack:
You are absolutely correct. I obviously didn’t read the post very carefully. My bad.