With all the stuff I am out and about doing it takes a good show to get me to sit down and watch TV.Recently I got a tip off from a mate. It went something like this.
"It is a western with lots of swearing, but it is so well made and hard to describe...just trust me ok?"
Now normally I expect this person to a be a little more articulate so I took the offered season one DVD's of Deadwood from him and despite the less than inspiring synopsis I gave it a whirl.
I now know why he was recommending it and why he struggled to capture the essence of the show in 20 words or less.
Firstly, there is a hell of a lot if swearing - IMDB comments that Fuck is used over 2980 times in the 36 episodes. That is a spectacular average of one F bomb being dropped every 43 seconds of the show. Cocksucker also gets a beating along with a multitude of variations and permutation of snatch, cunt and pussy.
With that in mind you wonder how easy it would be to sit through - after all it makes Eddie Murphy in Delirious or Raw look like Bill Cosby kissing babies.
The answer is that it fits the characters and the scenario perfectly. While I am guessing the language is not period correct, it just works and in no time you will be calling co-workers cocksucker and cunt and wondering why they are staring at you.
The good news is that there is also a story with most of the characters drawn from real life and the whole thing loosely planted in actual history . Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok are probably two well know names from the wild west but the real meat in this show lies with Al Swearengen. He is charismatic, rough, rude and ruthless - everything a bar and brothel owner should be.
A classic quote from Al after a family were murdered and robbed; "God rest the souls of that poor family... and pussy's half price for the next 15 minutes."
The story is well layered with great character development and lots of people to love and hate. Despite the obvious traps and stereo types the genre would be exposed to, it manages to walk a line rarely trodden in this sort of show and avoids telling you who is the good guy and who is the bad.
So, track it down and allocate some time, it is well worth the viewing and after the first season I am already disappointed that it only did three seasons and 36 episodes in total.
Seen it? Let me know what you thought.
Oh, and I just found this on Youtube - Fucking brilliant!
