HBO is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the namesake unit Home Box Office, Inc., a division of AT&T's WarnerMedia. The program which featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television shows, along with made-for-cable movies, documentaries and occasional comedy and concert specials.
Deadwood is an American Western television series that aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three seasons and 36 episodes. The series is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before and after the area's annexation by the Dakota Territory, and charts Deadwood's growth from camp to town. The show was created, produced, and largely written by David Milch. Deadwood features a large ensemble cast headed by Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane, playing the real-life Deadwood residents Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen, respectively. Many other historical figures appear as characters, including George Crook, Wyatt Earp, E. B. Farnum, George Hearst, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Jack McCall, and Charlie Utter. The plot lines involving these characters include historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements. Milch used actual diaries and newspapers from 1870s Deadwood residents as reference points for characters, events, and the look and feel of the show.
David Sanford Milch is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including NYPD Blue and Deadwood.
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series is presented to the best directing of a television drama series, usually for a particular episode.
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 7th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1955 and it is given in honor of a writer or writers who produced an outstanding story or screenplay for an episode of a television drama series during the primetime network season. Undergoing several name changes, the award received its current title at the 48th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1996.
Seth Bullock, a Montana Territory marshal, watches over inmate Clell Watson, a man sentenced to death for stealing a horse. Lamenting his misfortune, Watson mentions that he, like Bullock, was headed to Deadwood, a camp on Indian land in the Dakota Territory. While Watson seeks to make his fortune prospecting in the gold-rich region, Bullock aspires to open a hardware store there with his business partner, Sol Star.
The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana.
Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had its heyday from 1876 to 1879, after gold deposits had been discovered there, leading to the Black Hills Gold Rush. At its height, the city had a population of 5,000, and attracted larger-than-life Old West figures including Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok.
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, Indigenous Americans and other terms, are the indigenous peoples of the United States, except Hawaii. There are over 500 federally recognized tribes within the US, about half of which are associated with Indian reservations. The term "American Indian" excludes Native Hawaiians and some Alaska Natives, while Native Americans are American Indians, plus Alaska Natives of all ethnicities. Native Hawaiians are not counted as Native Americans by the US Census, instead being included in the Census grouping of "Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander".
Watson attempts to make a deal with Bullock to secure his release, claiming to know of easy opportunities for thievery along the way to Deadwood, but his pleas are cut short by Star, who arrives informing Bullock that the owner of the stolen horse has gathered together a drunken mob. Rather than turn Watson over to the angry mob, Bullock takes him out to face them and publicly hangs him on the front porch, but not before writing down his last words and giving them, along with his marshal's badge, to a member of the mob to convey them to Watson's sister.
Upon arrival in Deadwood with a wagon full of hardware goods, Star and Bullock rent a vacant lot from Dan Dority, who tells them that payment is due every morning to Al Swearengen, the proprietor of the Gem Saloon, a local brothel.
A brothel or bordello is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. Technically, any premises where prostitution commonly takes place qualifies as a brothel. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub parlours, studios, or by some other description. Sex work in a brothel is considered safer than street prostitution.
At the Gem, Swearengen converses with Whitney Ellsworth, a local prospector, when they discover that Trixie, one of the prostitutes, has shot a customer in the head after he became abusive. The customer survives for twenty minutes, but dies shortly after the arrival of Doc Cochran. Swearengen ruthlessly beats Trixie, furious at the possible effect of a customer's death on his business and reputation. Meanwhile, Cochran and Johnny Burns deliver the corpse to Mr. Wu, an associate of Swearengen's and leader of Deadwood's Chinese community, who feeds it to his pigs.
Wild Bill Hickok, a famous gunslinger, arrives in Deadwood, along with his companions Charlie Utter and Calamity Jane. During a delay on the road, Jane encounters a Norwegian family returning home to Minnesota. One of the three Norwegian children, Sofia Metz, smiles at Jane as they pass.
Minnesota is a state in the Upper Midwest and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858, created from the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory. The state has a large number of lakes, and is known by the slogan the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". Its official motto is L'Étoile du Nord.
As Jane tends to the stock, Hickok and Utter check into E. B. Farnum's Grand Central Hotel and then visit Tom Nuttall's No. 10 Saloon. Nuttall and A. W. Merrick, editor of the local newspaper The Deadwood Pioneer, are noticeably impressed to meet the famous Hickok, but Jack McCall, a man at one of the poker tables, whispers to his fellow players that he is not impressed. As Hickok plays poker, Utter and Nuttall negotiate a fee for Hickok's regular appearance in the saloon.
Farnum reports Hickok's arrival to Swearengen, who is annoyed by the complication of having a famous former lawman in the camp. Brom Garret, a wealthy aspiring prospector from New York City, arrives at the Gem. Swearengen dispatches Farnum to collect Tim Driscoll, the owner of a nearby gold claim eyed by Garret. The team of Farnum, Driscoll, and Swearengen con Garret to purchase Driscoll's claim for $14,000. Driscoll goes beyond the scripted con, and works Garret up to pay $20,000. As Driscoll is heavily indebted to the Gem, Swearengen pockets the money and later has Dority stab Driscoll to death in Farnum's hotel, possibly because of Driscoll's jeopardizing Swearengen's hopes of future further fleecing of the tenderfoot Garret.
Star and Bullock hire Reverend Smith, the local pastor, to watch their goods as they explore the camp. Star and Bullock run into Ned Mason, a disoriented man who claims to have witnessed the massacre of a white family with two children by Sioux along the road to Spearfish, where the Norwegian family were headed. Bullock takes him to Nuttall's saloon, where he forces him to recount the story. Despite Bullock's urging to return to the scene to check for the third Norwegian child, Mason is reluctant, worried for his own safety. Hickok, who had remained at the saloon at poker, offers to ride with them as protection. As the search party leaves the saloon, Bullock confides to Hickok his suspicions about Mason's story.
News of the departing party reaches Swearengen, who is furious at the potential disruption to his business and resorts to offering free liquor and prostitutes at half price in an effort to keep his customers from joining the search, counseling them to wait until the following day. Upon arrival at the scene, the search party finds a ransacked wagon and the mutilated corpses of the Metz family. Bullock searches the area and finds young Sofia Metz, wounded but alive, lying under a bush nearby.
After dropping Sofia off with Doc Cochran, Bullock and Hickok confront Mason on the camp thoroughfare, stating that there was too much ransacking at the scene to be consistent with an Indian attack and that it was more likely a staged robbery. Mason tries to defend himself, arguing that he never would have returned to camp had he been involved, but Hickok says that he, like Mason, had often felt the need for sex and gambling after a kill. Cornered, Mason attempts to attack but is outdrawn and shot dead by Hickok and Bullock. From his window on the second floor of the Gem, Swearengen watches the events unfold until Trixie enters and, despite the brutal beating earlier, climbs into bed with him.
Production
Development and casting
Creator David Milch pitched to HBO a series set in Ancient Rome, exploring the introduction of law and order to a civilization. When HBO executives Chris Albrecht and Carolyn Strauss suggested that he change his setting due to the network already having Rome in development, Milch transposed the themes to 1800s Deadwood.[1] In a later interview, Milch reflected, "It had seemed to me that the symbol of the cross as the organizing principle of behavior could be transliterated to the symbol of the badge, as a similar organizing principle."[2] Milch wrote the role of Al Swearengen with Ed O'Neill in mind, having worked with him on the CBS series Big Apple, but executives were reluctant to build a series around an actor still associated with his lead role in Married... with Children. Powers Boothe was then cast in the role but was forced to withdraw due to illness, leading to the casting of Ian McShane. After Boothe recovered, he began playing Cy Tolliver on the series, a character introduced in the third episode of the first season.[3]
James Butler Hickok, better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his work across the frontier as a drover, wagon master, soldier, spy, scout, lawman, gunfighter, gambler, showman, and actor. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales that he told about his life. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation, along with his own stories.
Ian David McShane is an English actor. He is known for his television performances, particularly the title role in the BBC series Lovejoy (1986–1994), and as Al Swearengen on the HBO series Deadwood (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama and received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series nomination. His film roles include Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda (2008) and Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as well as the character Winston in the John Wick series of films. Since 2017, he has starred as Mr. Wednesday in the Starz series American Gods.
John “Jack” McCall ;, also known as "Crooked Nose" or "Broken Nose Jack", was the murderer of Old West legend Wild Bill Hickok. McCall shot Hickok from behind as he played poker at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory on August 2, 1876. McCall was executed for the murder on March 1, 1877.
Solomon Star was a German-American businessman and politician notable as an early resident of the town of Deadwood, South Dakota.
Seth Bullock was a Canadian-American Western sheriff, hardware store owner, and U.S. Marshal.
Charles H. "Colorado Charlie" Utter was a figure of the American Wild West, best known as a great friend and companion of Wild Bill Hickok. He was also acquainted with Calamity Jane.
The Gem Theater was a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota, owned by Al Swearengen. Swearengen and the Gem are both portrayed in the HBO television show, Deadwood, but in heavily modified form; the show's fictional "Gem Saloon" is already well-established when the show begins in August 1876.
Ellis Alfred Swearengen was an American pimp and entertainment entrepreneur who ran the Gem Theater, a notorious brothel, in Deadwood, South Dakota, for 22 years during the late 19th century.
Edward Bianchi is an American television director and producer. He is better known for his work on Deadwood, Boardwalk Empire and The Get Down.
Steve Shill is a British television and film director, actor, screenwriter, and television producer.
Ted Mann is a Canadian born television writer and producer. He has worked in both capacities on the series NYPD Blue, Deadwood and Crash. In 1995 he won the Emmy award for Best Drama Series for his work on the second season of NYPD Blue.
Gregg Fienberg is an American television producer and director. He worked on the Western drama Deadwood in both capacities and received a Directors Guild of America Award and two Emmy Award nominations for the series. He was an Emmy nominated producer for the mystery series Twin Peaks. He was also the executive producer and unit production manager for the HBO series True Blood.
Jody Worth is an American television writer and producer. He has worked in both capacities on Deadwood and has been nominated for an Emmy Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for his work on the series. He is the son of producer and screenwriter Marvin Worth.
Regina Corrado is an American television writer. She has been nominated for two Writers Guild of America Awards for her work on Deadwood.
Myers City, today called Myersville, is a ghost town in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States.
Deadwood: The Movie is an upcoming American television film directed by Daniel Minahan and written by David Milch for HBO. It is a continuation of the television series of the same name. It will premiere on May 31, 2019.
References
↑ Levine, Stuart (June 16, 2004). "Deadwood". Variety. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
↑ Sepinwall, Alan. The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever. Self published, 2012, p. 107.
↑ Sepinwall, Alan. The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever. Self published, 2012, p. 107-108.
↑ "Deadwood". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
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