# Why did "Deadwood" get cancelled by HBO at season 3? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726 "2012-12-02T03:00:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/1 "2012-12-02T03:00:01Z")
I asked this question a few years ago right after the series ended, but there were few hard answers. It seemed like a fantastic show, but then it just got lopped off and many story lines were clumsily truncated or left hanging. Were the ratings going downhill that bad or what? Have any answers some to light in the last few years? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/2 "2012-12-02T03:07:48Z")
I blame the “cocksuckers”. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/3 "2012-12-02T03:10:13Z")
I think the ratings were OK, but not good enough to make up the costs of running a period piece series. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/4 "2012-12-02T03:16:43Z")
I thought that the creator wanted to end it so he could move on to John From Cincinnati. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/5 "2012-12-02T03:37:15Z")
The reason I’ve usually heard is that it was expensive to produce. Which I never really understood, as they basically used the same sets, costumes and props every episode. One would think those would basically be sunk costs after the first season. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/6 "2012-12-02T03:41:30Z")
We’ll probably never know the truth. Alan Sepinwall interviewed David Milch about the cancellation of _Luck_, and _Deadwood_ was mentioned. > [@](#): > > Sepinwall: [Speaking about _Luck_] I watched the finale again yesterday, and there are a number of moments and lines that feel prophetic — like Marcus saying, “Today’s the day they take it all away from us,” or Ace’s speech at the end — like they were designed to be in a series finale. And that’s always how I’ve viewed the last “Deadwood” episode; like it was a series finale without being intended as one. Were you ever thinking as you wrote this that there would be a chance you wouldn’t get to do more? > > Milch: [speaking about _Luck_] No, there was no sense of that on my part. By way of contrast, I absolutely knew when I was writing the last “Deadwood” that it would be the last, and I wrote it intending it as the finale. > > Sepinwall: Interesting. I had never heard that before. > > Milch: That’s the case. I was trying — the last images of Swearengen scrubbing the bloodstain and saying “Wants me to tell him something pretty,” that was as close as I felt I could come to a concluding speech. I call bullshit. Then there’s [this article](http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/deadwood-an-update-on-the-reasons-why/): > [@](#): > > Deadwood series creator David Milch has said, “I am deeply disappointed by the way things turned out. (HBO) felt like they had to make a choice, and this is how they chose. I know they tried to work it out, and I tried to work it out with them.” > > It’s been confirmed that HBO offered to greenlight a small six-episode order of the groundbreaking drama but Milch, who has had bad experiences with so-called “short-order renewals,” rejected the offer. “For my part, I did not want to accept a short order. We couldn’t have done the work the way we wanted. I didn’t want to limp home. My old man used to say, ‘Never go anyplace where you’re only tolerated,’” relates Milch. One source has reported that Milch had already plotted the fourth (presumed final) season episodes. > > So in essence, the reason for Deadwood’s ending seems to be a financial one. Milch is working on a new series for HBO (John from Cincinnati) and, due to that commitment, HBO didn’t believe that he would be able to return to Deadwood for quite awhile, delaying the possible start of a Deadwood season four. Deadwood is an expensive show to shoot and it’s assumed that the cable channel didn’t want to (or couldn’t afford to) pay the actor salaries for months while they waited for production to begin. I think Milch simply lost interest in _Deadwood_ in favor of – “Oh look, shiny!” – _John from Cincinnati_. HBO wanted to keep Milch and they weren’t going to insist that he finish _Deadwood_ when he wanted to do something else. That way lies madness, and millions of dollars for a product that wouldn’t be up to snuff. We also have Milch famously saying – after the cancellation – that if Ed O’Neill (his original choice) had been cast as Al Swearengen, the show would still be on the air. So even **he** can’t decide on a story! ETA: Part of the expense was Milch’s constant rewriting, not just adding dialogue but adding entire scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Voluble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/4af34b/32.png) [@Voluble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voluble)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/7 "2012-12-02T09:10:48Z")
I have read that Milch was having severe issues with his drug use which is one reason there were so many re-writes. He would write something and then hand it to the actor. Apparently he was pretty manic and had suffered from several types of mental illnesses over the years such as OCD and manic depression. It is hard to believe a man could turn out something that brilliant on the fly but I bet his head was constantly swarming with ideas. I can’t remember where I read all of that so take it with a grain of salt. It has been a while now. But in such a situation I can see a cancellation without a very clear reason being given. The fact that _John from Cincinnati_ seemed like a good idea to him probably indicated that something was seriously wrong. When _Deadwood_ ended is when I cancelled HBO and I haven’t subscribed since then. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/8 "2012-12-02T13:41:12Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > We also have Milch famously saying – after the cancellation – that if Ed O’Neill (his original choice) had been cast as Al Swearengen, the show would still be on the air. So even **he** can’t decide on a story! > > . Ed O’Neill ?!??!?!? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/9 "2012-12-02T13:59:03Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Ed O’Neill ?!??!?!? Seriously? He gas a serious theater background and training, IIRC. Married with Children was just a gig he landed. The cracks were showing in Deadwood anyhow. That boy actor was horrid, Cy’s storyline was just spinning its wheels, and there was too much time wasted on that dumbass theater troupe. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/10 "2012-12-02T14:17:22Z")
I ran a site called [SaveDeadwood.net](http://SaveDeadwood.net) for about three years, following the developments from the time the cancellation was announced up through (and past) when it was time to pull the plug. The official line was the cost, but I tend to agree with Auntie Pam that Milch may have gotten distracted. I had some correspondence with cast members and none of them ever mentioned a problem with Milch, but I don’t necessarily expect that they would. The condensed timeline of the key events is: May 11, 2006 - Word leaks that HBO has not renewed the contracts of the cast for a fourth season. May 14, 2006 - [SaveDeadwood.net](http://SaveDeadwood.net) goes online and begins an intensive effort to lobby the television press. May 25, 2006 - Fans organized through [SaveDeadwood.net](http://SaveDeadwood.net) place an ad in Daily Variety. June 2, 2006 - Chris Albrecht, then-CEO of HBO, and David Milch meet in New York and reach a handshake deal to produce a pair of telepics to bring Deadwood to a conclusion. May 5, 2007 - Chris Albrecht punches out his girlfriend in Las Vegas following the Floyd Mayweather - Oscar De La Hoya fight and is forced to resign a few days later, essentially nullifying his agreement with Milch regarding “Deadwood”. The new honchos at HBO want no part of “Deadwood,” and Milch subsequently loses interest in doing the films. July 10, 2008 - Richard Plepler (co-president of HBO following Albrecht’s departure) more or less sticks a fork in it at the TCA Summer meeting. The Wayback Machine has an archive of [SaveDeadwood.net](http://SaveDeadwood.net) from January, 2009 at [Save HBO's Deadwood! - Show and Cast News](http://web.archive.org/web/20090201133206/http://savedeadwood.net/) No guarantee that any of the links there still work. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/11 "2012-12-02T17:05:28Z")
**Don Logan** , thanks for that, and for your efforts to save the show! Except for the truncated story line with the theater troupe, I think the third season gave us a decent ending. It would have been nice to see the fire and the rebuilding, but that would have been really expensive, if done right, and Milch would have insisted on doing it right. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/12 "2012-12-02T17:12:21Z")
I was pissed off that the show was canceled, but it did allow Timothy Olyphant to go off and do the series, “Justified” - and that has been/continues to be a gem. Speaking of which - the new season of Justified begins January 8th, so if anyone has not seen this fantastic series, plenty of time to download them and check them out! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/13 "2012-12-02T17:17:51Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I thought that the creator wanted to end it so he could move on to John From Cincinnati. Well, we all make mistakes, don’t we? ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/14 "2012-12-02T18:24:15Z")
Someday I’d like to visit the alternate universe where Ed O’Neill got the Swearengen gig just to see how it turned out. 🙂 And I say this as a shameless O’Neill “fanboy”… I still sort of mourn the short-lived Dragnet reboot he starred in. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/15 "2012-12-02T19:17:47Z")
> [@Voluble](#): > > I have read that Milch was having severe issues with his drug use which is one reason there were so many re-writes. He would write something and then hand it to the actor. Apparently he was pretty manic and had suffered from several types of mental illnesses over the years such as OCD and manic depression. It is hard to believe a man could turn out something that brilliant on the fly but I bet his head was constantly swarming with ideas. > > I can’t remember where I read all of that so take it with a grain of salt. I believe that was NYPD Blue. It was one of the reasons Jimmy Smits left. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/16 "2012-12-02T19:21:24Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Speaking of which - the new season of Justified begins January 8th, so if anyone has not seen this fantastic series, plenty of time to download them and check them out! Best news in this thread, or even for this month, IMO! ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/17 "2012-12-02T22:39:47Z")
I always found it hard to believe that John from Cincinnati could have come from the same hand that created Deadwood. JFC had to be one of the worst shows in recent memory. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/18 "2012-12-03T06:18:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, we all make mistakes, don’t we? That one was unforgivable. To bail on Deadwood so you can make John From Cincinnati is a crime against humanity. (To clarify, this has always been my understanding of why Deadwood ended. It wasn’t cancelled; Milch bailed.) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/19 "2012-12-03T06:31:00Z")
Has Milch ever explained what the plan was with John from Cincinnati? It was such a weird mess that I wonder what he thought he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726/20 "2012-12-03T18:52:56Z")
He explains it in [this article.](http://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_air/2007/08/john-from-cin-2.html) You’ll need a Milch-to-Normal Person translator. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-deadwood-get-cancelled-by-hbo-at-season-3/642726.md?page=2)