First it looked like there wasn't going to be a fourth season of Deadwood at all. Then David Milch said he was trying to raise the $60 million himself for another season. Now comes official word that Milch and HBO have reached a deal. After this third season, the show will wrapup with two two-hour movies.Interestingly, HBO did offer Milch a fourth season. But it was for only 6 episodes, and Milch didn't want to do that. So they're going with the movies instead.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-05-2006 @ 10:21AM
Peter said...
One season of Deadwood costs $60 million? That's nuts. Or am I just grossly underestimating the cost of TV shows? There's a TVSquad piece for ya, do a comparison of TV show budgets, be pretty interesting...
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6-05-2006 @ 1:27PM
Dave T. said...
I think most comedies are like half a million an episode right? Regardless, $60 million for a season of deadwood is worth it. I'm guessing DVD sales alone have to be in the tens of millions.
I think two, two hour movies is kind of lame since the show isn't set up with short story arcs. Argh I'm so disappointed. This whole third season is going to be bittersweet.
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6-05-2006 @ 1:40PM
Erik said...
The article I read mentioned that each episode of Deadwood costs $5 million to make and that the reason Milch didn't want to do an abbreviated 6-episode season was because each episode of the series takes place over one day and he couldn't wrap up all of the arcs he wanted to wrap up in "six days," but then he was willing to do two movies because "movies" would allow him to break with form and cover a longer period of time than just 6 days.
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6-05-2006 @ 3:10PM
Fred said...
The sets, costumes, horses, and location shooting alone would be pretty costly, I think. But there are a lot of other factors that can affect the cost. Deadwood is definitely going to have different costs attached than, say, an hour-long courtroom drama.
I'm just trying to figure this out, though: he turned down six hours in favor of four hours?
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7-13-2006 @ 11:02AM
Lark said...
I simply don't understand why HBO & Milch is taking Deadwood off, period. Deadwood is one of the BEST shows on HBO or anywhere else. It's almost like once your appetite is whetted, then the show is canceled (think Carnivale/Six Feet Under)and is replaced with (what i consider) a lesser show (think Rome). Deadwood is so unique and now it will be gone. No doubt replaced by something that does not have the quality of Deadwood. How many awards does it have to be nominated/win for HBO to realize it's a keeper? Don't know if the 2 hour movies will do it.
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8-20-2006 @ 10:42PM
Dick K. said...
What's up with HBO, everytime I find a show that can hold my interest and keep me coming back for more they cancel it! i.e.: Deadwood, Carnivale, etc. But they keep shows like Curb your Enthusiam, Entourage or even worse yet Big Love? Fluff seems to be the seller or is it just mindless dribble. I can say truthfully that I've never heard talk around the office about the cutesy stuff, it has always been the HBO programs that leave you on the end of your seat waiting for the next week's episode!
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8-30-2006 @ 12:43PM
mr. O said...
"I simply don't understand why HBO & Milch is taking Deadwood off, period"
Milch doesn't get to decide what Deadwood "takes off". He is an independant producer and it's mentioned above that he wanted a full season. HBO is making way for a new show that they've repeatedly publicly said is the reason Deadwood's slot isn't available for an enitre season. Simple, Google-search stuff.
And Six Feet Under ran for 5 seasons...a lot longer than the vast majority of television series. I think your point is that you're pissed it was cancelled - not that it was cancelled prematurely. Period.
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