There was a time when Westerns dominated the big and little screens, when Clint Eastwood and John Wayne brought in millions at the box office and Gunsmoke was the longest-running show on television. As the turn of the millennium approached, the popularity of Westerns waned like the setting desert sun, but the genre didn’t die off completely. One of the best Western films of all time was released this century, along with arguably the best Western television show of all time: HBO’s Deadwood.
Set in the 1870s, the show follows the growth of the real life Deadwood, South Dakota from humble camp to bustling frontier town, centered on two prominent historical figures: Sheriff Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) and saloon owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane). Using real newspapers from the time, the show blended history with fiction as it focused on how civilization forms out of chaos; this theme carried over from the original idea of the show, which was set in Ancient Rome. Making Deadwood a Western was the right call, as Slash Film named it the Best Western TV Show Ever.
Despite Widespread Acclaim, the Show was Cancelled After 3 Seasons
Deadwood‘s first season got an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but the show really found itself as it developed; the second and third seasons received a 96% and 95% rating respectively. The show was called “HBO’s period piece magnum opus” that went “criminally underlooked”. Despite being hailed as one of the greatest television shows ever made, Deadwood was cancelled after three seasons and 36 episodes. HBO had offered a shortened fourth season to close the story, but creator and head writer David Milch refused.
Luckily, that was not the end of Deadwood. After years of discussion, the story was concluded with a movie released in 2019. Simply titled Deadwood: The Movie, the film reunites most of the original cast as the town awaits the admittance of South Dakota into the Union. With a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the long-awaited conclusion to television’s best Western matched the prestige of the original show.
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