HBO’s expletive-ridden Old West drama, Deadwood, may be returning to the network in the form of a two-hour movie. The cult series, set in 1870s South Dakota, had a stellar cast including Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker and my beloved Garret Dillahunt (I still miss him on Raising Hope, but I love him on The Mindy Project). During its three-season run (2004-2006), the show received critical acclaim, winning eight Emmys and a Golden Globe.
Audiences were sad to see the show go, and when it did, HBO promised to continue the story with two television movies instead of a formal fourth season. After that announcement, the actors moved on to other projects and discussions stopped. Fast forward to August of 2015, when HBO and Deadwood creator David Milch revisited the idea of bringing the show back in film form. Garret optimistically tweeted about the possible return of the show and soon after, fans were left hanging once again.
In January, HBO announced that it green-lit a script for a movie from Milch. At the time, HBO’s president of programming Michael Lombardo asserted that, “David has our commitment that we are going to do it. He pitched what he thought generally the storyline would be—and knowing David, that could change. But it’s going to happen.”
And now, finally, it seems that Michael and HBO are going to make good on their promise. In a recent interview with TVLine promoting his upcoming series for Starz, American Gods, Ian McShane, who played the appropriately named saloon owner Al Swearengen, assured fans that David’s script “has been delivered to HBO. If they don’t deliver [a finished product], blame them.”
Ian went on to say that he’s been in touch with David about the project, adding “I’ll be seeing him for lunch [soon].” As for returning to Deadwood, Ian spoke for the whole cast, saying, “We’d all love to do it….It would be nice to see all of the old gang again.” It sure would. I’m looking forward to it, love the actors and (unashamedly) love the potty-mouthed dialogue. I’ll be tuning in.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com
“Swidgen!”
It’ll be great to see those characters again – including Jewel, the saltiest non-traditional sex worker to ever grace an old-school whorehouse!
I loved, loved, loved Deadwood.
Yay for Tim Olyphant!
I’m so excited for American Gods and Ian is most perfectly cast as Mr Wednesday, but he will forever be the swear engine to me so this is absolutely amazing news.
me too. i’m salivating for american gods. the promos look amazing and i just know his mr wednesday will be next level. i would love more deadwood – such an incredible show.
Let’s not forget the amazing John Hawkes!
And Brad Dourif! This is great news, I love this show so much!!
I didn’t manage to get into Deadwood the first time, though I watched this in its entirety. But that was more than five years ago, I wasn’t in my 20s then and my English wasn’t good enough to fully enjoy the dialogue. This news makes me want to go back and re-watch.
I had a hard time with Deadwood after a while. The first season was so great, but it degenerated into terrible people doing terrible things, and I just couldn’t keep watching. Which is too bad, because Olyphant, Parker, & Hawkes were fantastic.
Same with me. I remember liking the first season, but season 2 turned me off and I gave up on it.
This is fantastic news!
More hoopleheads!
Best. TV. Show. Ever.
(Apart from maybe The Wire)
Al Swearengen=sexiest man alive.
I recognize that this exposes my depravity.
OMG!!!! This is wonderful news. Funny, as I dislike both swearing and violence, but I was so into the characters that I just turned my head or plugged my ears for a moment and kept watching.
Yay! Just rewatched it last year. Can’t wait.
Bring it on!!!!!