What's new

Deadwood: Cancelled (?) (1 Viewer)

CharlesD

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 30, 2000
Messages
1,493
According to a post by W Earl Brown (Dan Doherty) on the HBO.com Deadwood message board, Deadwood will not be back for a fourth season:

Having not slept for much of last night, I sit staring bleary-eyed at my computer. That phone call last evening floored me. Never, in my wildest dreams, did I see it coming.

I feel cheated.

I am cheated as an person because the way I was brought up a man's word is his bond. We were given word in Dec. that we'd be back for a fourth season. A formal annoucement of that fourth season was trumpeted in the press in March. Lives were planned accordingly.

I am cheated as an artist because something that I poured my lifeblood into has been given short-shrift and not allowed to conclude properly.

I am cheated as a fan because the verbally fleet and intricately plotted show shall just cease to be. It will just stop. No wrap up. No farewells.
 

Holadem

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2000
Messages
8,967
I sincerly hope this isn't true? I have been taking my sweet time with S2 and loving every minute of it. Goddammit!!! :angry:

--
H
 

Quentin

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
2,670
Location
Los Angeles
Real Name
Quentin H
It sounds true enough. Where there is smoke in Hollywood, there is usually fire.

First Carnivale, now Deadwood? Unbelievable.
 

TravisR

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2004
Messages
42,425
Location
The basement of the FBI building
While it sounds bad, I'll hold out hope until there's some sort of comment from HBO on the subject. It seems weird because HBO has definitely groomed this show as their next big drama since The Sopranos and Six Feet Under are almost done/done. Maybe David Milch (who is apparently working on another pilot for HBO) has some type of control that says that he can pull the plug on the show even if HBO wants it back?

They also cover the story here:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/0...eut/index.html

EDIT: Over or not, they've done some truly great TV and I'm sure the next 12 episodes will be just as good.
 

Justin Bauer

Supporting Actor
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
553
I can't believe it!

After the RAVE reviews HBO gave Deadwood when they saw the rushes. They renew it for a 4th season and then back out?

Fuck them...seriously.

I am not a fan of Carnivale, but they screwed that show.

I am SHOCKED they actually went through on the greenlight for Rome considering the buget ( I loved the damn show, but I will admit that the ratings did not really justify a 2nd season at that price).

But to actually greenlight it and then pull the rug out 6 months later before the new season airs? I will be cancelling my subscription after Deadwood season 3 only to renew for The Sopranos and ROME...then it will be gone for good after that.

I would not be this upset if they had not already given the damn green light to let me believe that we would get to see the perfect ending to Deadwood with the camp being destroyed by a flood...but no, it will probably end like the other 2 with perhaps small cliffhangers.

What a shame those HBO cocksuckers would do this.

It is now looking like Milch left the show?? Rumors are flying now and it looks like he left could have left and HBO is still deciding on doing a 4th season, but they released the actors, which basically cancels the show??

I hate this day.
 

Alex-C

Screenwriter
Joined
Apr 18, 2000
Messages
1,238
muthahumper !

I see Earl is posting over at that thread. The guy seems pretty unhappy about the whole sitch, as am I, as I would expect him to be....

but do I dare pull some quotes from Something about Mary while I have his attention.

Anyway, if this is the case and the show dies after season 3, I wonder if there is any precedent about a lead actor taking home a golden globe on a series that only lasted 3 seasons ??
 

Joseph DeMartino

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
8,311
Location
Florida
Real Name
Joseph DeMartino

1) Rome's renewal was contingent on bringing down the per episode cost, according to some things that I read. And amortizing some of the big ticket items likes the sets over more episodes automatically brings the per ep price down for accounting purposes.

2) Since HBO is a premium subscription service, not an advertising supported channel, ratings don't mean the same thing to them that they do to CBS or TNT. What original series do for HBO is help distinguish it from the other premium movie services - an important point in the age of Netflix. (Exclusive music and sports events serve the same purpose for HBO, Showtime, et. al.) They also attract new subscribers. So far more important to HBO than the week-to-week ratings of a Deadwood vs. a Sopranos are how many people are signing up to watch them - as indicated by market research and surveys - and also how many people drop HBO when a given show goes on hiatus and sign back up when it returns. The more subscribers who come for the show and stay for the movies/sports, the better HBO does. If a Deadwood or Carnivale isn't gaining them enough subscribers to be worth the cost while a Sopranos or Rome or Sex and the City is, then guess which gets cancelled and which kept?

Add differences in how the shows do in ancillary markets like foreign, DVD, broadcast or cable syndication and there can be even more reason to cancel show "x" and keep show "y" - all of them strictly rational and businesslike, and not involving any emotion at all. Much less a desire to "screw" anybody. Deadwood isn't a person. Neither is HBO. Anthropromorphizing them does bring any clarity to the discussion.

"This isn't personal. This is strictly business."

:)

Joe
 

Justin Bauer

Supporting Actor
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
553
Joe, where you the guy that posted in my thread about TNT's CAESAR about 2 years ago? We talked about the Masters Of Rome series?

If not, I am sorry for getting you confused.


I understand that HBO does not get any ad revenue...which is why I don't bitch about their DVD prices. I also understand that they look at ratings in a different way. But, they have shown nothing but love for Deadwood and were excited about it--via reports--when they saw the 3rd season rushes which lead to the early renewal for the 4th.

It just does not make sense to back out of it now before a new season premiere unless there is something going on that we don't know about.

Either Milch left the series or the actors wanted some sort of payday.
 

TravisR

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2004
Messages
42,425
Location
The basement of the FBI building
Joseph, the thing is that Deadwood is one of HBO's bigger hits (especially compared to Rome or Carnivale) so it would be a better for them to keep something that they know is working over taking a chance on something new. They've increased the show's budget and gave it a renewal for a fourth season months before the third has started running. That's what makes this move so weird to me. Unless, like I said, they're dumping Deadwood and are just hoping that whatever else they pick up manages to be a major hit like The Sopranos or Sex And The City.

By no means am I an expert on how to run a cable network (or anything else) but it seems crazy to hope for the best when investing millions in a new show when you've got something else that's already working fairly well.
 

Holadem

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2000
Messages
8,967
I wonder if this means anything for the future of The Wire? I love that show, but it is definitely one of the least popular HBO shows, and one of the hardest to get into - you pretty much have to be there from the begining.

--
H
 

Steve Felix

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 17, 2001
Messages
619
Real Name
Steve Felix
Three seasons isn't terrible. But I subscribed for Deadwood, and I'll cancel for Deadwood. I feel pretty bad about supporting cropped films anyway.
 

Nicodemus

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Oct 21, 2003
Messages
224
Yep, three seasons is better than two (what they gave to Carnivale). But I still have to question HBO's financial and artistic decisions: to kill a milking and widely acclaimed cow?

I think HBO is digging their own grave cancelling favorite shows after another.
 

Justin Bauer

Supporting Actor
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
553


Exactly. Why would anyone want to invest any time in their shows now if they cancel them as soon as they get the chance.

I remember thinking that I was happy for just one season of Deadwood as long as it came out on DVD...but now...it would not be such a problem if they had not already given the go ahead for season 4 back in Dec.

Hell, they had it posted on their own website, which is horrible for new. Suddenly, that posting is gone from the "news" section.

I will now cancel HBO at the end of the summer. I have no reason for it.

Deadwood is gone
Curb Your Enthusiasm is probably gone

The Sopranos will be gone in March. Rome will be gone by next summer.

All that is left is Entourage.

I can get my hands on these shows via other sources than just HBO and I will make sure they never see a dime from me again.

I will buy DVDs used from Blockbuster...I would rather feed their beast than HBO's.
 

Lew Crippen

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 19, 2002
Messages
12,060
It seems to me that there is a significant amount of hate for a company that ha produced several TV series that are far and away better than almost anything produced by the major networks.

I believe in supporting companies that take chances, even if they do not always work (either from a commercial perspective or an artistic one) instead of withdrawing support because their latest decisions don’t align with my preferences.

In another vein, I would suggest that one of reasons for the superiority of many limited series, is just that: they are limited. Consider for example, some of the very best of British TV—when the series comes to its logical conclusion, it ends. For me at least, a failing of many manor network series is that they continue long after the third act.

And as a corollary to that, many series have problems when they try to be open-ended when the chosen format is artistically closed. In a romantic comedy, for example, when the guy gets the girl—it is over (or at least should be).

Finally there is the problem of ‘artistic burnout’. As an example, when asked in an interview why there were so few Fawlty Tower episodes. John Cleese replied, “that they were just too hard to write”. While I would have liked to have a few more episodes, if the few we have were all that he and Connie Booth could produce, I’d rather have the perfect few, than have more seasons written by lesser talents.
 

Kevin Grey

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 20, 2003
Messages
2,598

I think one of the issues here is that Deadwood was promised a fourth season and presumably story decisions were made assuming that. Had Milch known the third season was the last (or had some idea that it was possible) then he might have made an effort to wrap things up a bit.

Speaking for myself, due to a variety of issues I had to stop watching about halfway through S2 and had planned on watching it on DVD and DVR'ing S3 in the meantime. If this knews is true, then I might not invest the time. The same happened with Carnivale- I bough S1 on DVD having only seen the premiere and heard great word of mouth but once I found out that S2 was cancelled with no wrap-up to the series I haven't had any desire to watch it.
 

RickGr

Second Unit
Joined
Nov 2, 2002
Messages
342
Well rumor has it that Curb will be back for one more season. When Deadwood is done with its season 3 run, Bill Mahr will be back so I guess HBO has me for awhile.
 

JonZ

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 28, 1998
Messages
7,799
"I think one of the issues here is that Deadwood was promised a fourth season and presumably story decisions were made assuming that. Had Milch known the third season was the last (or had some idea that it was possible) then he might have made an effort to wrap things up a bit."


Yes Milch recently said something they had planned for the 3rd season but didnt get to will kick off the fourth.

When my G/F told this news, I said wherever she read it was wrong becuase they already said yes for 4 and told her about the sentence above, that plans were already made for the next season.

Those cocksuckers!This had better not be true. Thats all I can say. This is my favorite television show and with Sopranos ending, all Ill have left is My Name is Earl.

I'd dump HBO but need it for Boxing :frowning:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,808
Messages
5,123,525
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top