TVSquad

Jonathan told you earlier this summer that there would be a Deadwood DVD set coming at the end of the year. I bet you didn't know it was going to be 19 discs.

The Deadwood complete series set will house all three seasons on those 19 discs, and it will come with a rather large booklet guide to the show as well. But that isn't the big news. The big news is that the set will include among its two hours of extras a feature titled "The Meaning of Endings," which will be a detailed explanation of what would have happened to the characters had HBO not canceled the show.

There's such a thing as beating a dead horse and then there's beating a dead horse, chopping it up into tiny bits, and flinging it around like a monkey flings poo. The fact that we're still reading news items about Deadwood nearly two years after it aired its final episode just goes to show you how much it's missed. Well get this - as if we didn't already know - those two final "wrap-up the series with a neat little bow" movies are as dead as Wild Bill Hickok.

It was announced today that former Deadwood star Timothy Olyphant has joined the season two cast of FX's Damages in a season-long arc. This marks Olyphant's first credited TV cast role since the HBO drama went off the air over two years ago.

Olyphant, who will star with returning cast Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, and Tate Donovan, marks the second addition to the FX drama in just over a week. William Hurt joined the show last Monday.

Olyphant's character will become involved in the life of Ellen Parsons (Byrne) as she deals with her fiancé David's murder and the FBI case being mounted against her boss, Patty Hewes (Close). Hurt will play a new client of Hewes.

Season two of Damages went in to production in New York City yesterday and the show returns to FX in early 2009, likely after The Shield's seventh and final season has concluded.

(S01E11) "Marry me." - Winston Funk to Sam

This week's episode of Samantha Who? ended up being quite satisfying and I'm not just saying that because the stable boy kissed the amnesiac heroine (which surely pleased the 52.5% of people who voted for "Sam & Todd forever" in our last poll). We were treated with crazy Regina, romance novelist wannabe Dena, teenager with a huge crush Andrea, and smitten with a potential son-in-law Howard. What more can we ask for? Especially after that "look at what you made me do" kiss!

Deadwood fans have been treated like yo-yos for the past several months. Some days we hear that the movies are a go and some days we hear that the movies are a no.

Take this as one of the "no" days.

And it comes from a pretty good source, Ian McShane himself. He's interviewed by Ryan Stewart over at our sister blog Cinematical, where he reveals that a good friend of his called him last week and told him that the movies weren't going to happen and that the production company is tearing down the sets. He also says that even if the movies were going to be made in the next year, he wouldn't be able to do them because he's too busy with his film schedule.

You know, it's been so long since I've seen the last episode of Deadwood that I'll have to go back and watch it again to prepare for the two movies that will end the western saga. I think the last scene showed Gerald McRaney on his way out of town, probably heading to Jericho, Kansas.

But there's no rush. According to this story at the Chicago Tribune, not only are the two movies not going to air until 2008 at the earliest, but (according to cast member W. Earl Brown), the stars of the show haven't even signed contracts to appear in the TV flicks. But creator David Milch said a couple of months that he is "committed" to finishing the movies.

(S03E12) Maybe I sit alone with this belief, but I was royally disappointed with this finale. This entire season has been building up to this episode. It was supposed to be a magnificent explosion with guns a blazing as Bullock and Swearengen delivered Deadwood from the clutches of Hearst and his Pinkerton pistoleros. There was none of that. For the most part it was calm. It's clear that this finale was written with a full-length fourth season in mind and I only hope now that the remaining four hours of this wonderful series can do it the justice it deserves.

(S03E11) Forgive the extreme lateness of this review folks, but between work and my cable being out for a day, I just haven't had the opportunity to sit down and watch this episode. But now that I have... wow. Words cannot describe how excited I am for tonight's season three finale. So take this review as sort of a refresher on the season as a whole as we prepare ourselves for the final stand-off between Hearst's men and the camp of Deadwood.

(S03E10) Once again, great as usual... but man, they are really building up to this season's climax at a snail's pace. As much as that fact has me agitated, you still have to admire it though. Every move, every scene, every choice bit of dialogue in this show means something. It all ties together. It's just so meticulously laid out and that's why we're unfortunately not being treated to a full fourth season. It's too bad that series renewal relies on viewership and not the quality level of the program, because let's face it. Deadwood, along with a few select others (Rescue Me comes to mind), are alone at the top right now.

(S03E09) Since there are only three episodes left this season, I was expecting this to be a much tenser hour. Don't get me wrong, it was great, but David Milch and Co. are being very economical about when, where, and how they're doling out the really explosive stuff. If anything, the final three installments will be brimming with what this whole season has been building up to: a final confrontation between the people of Deadwood and George "Boy the Earth Talks To" Hearst.

(S03E08) This show just continues to impress. After missing last week's episode, I sat down an hour early tonight and got a double dose. Talk about a great two hours of television. We pick up the morning after Al's impromptu meeting with the rest of the camp elders. Tensions are high as Merrick and Blasinov distribute fresh copies of The Pioneer around camp. The waiting game came next as it would only be a matter of time before Hearst saw Bullock's letter to the families of the murdered Cornishmen. And find it he did. He had some words with Merrick about printing the letter. But Hearst is no fool. He knows it was published to embarrass him and shed light on the murders he clearly had a hand in. If anything, all this has done is strengthened his already powerful dislike for the camp and its residents.

(S03E06) Omar Gooding?!?! This is too much to handle. From Wild and Crazy Kids to Deadwood. And yes, before people go comment crazy, I realize he's done plenty since then. But c'mon, he hosted a show where kids threw water balloons full of whipped cream and chocolate syrup at each other. Regardless, I'm not sure what adding his character (he plays Odell, Aunt Lou's son) will accomplish. I was starting to become content with all the players we had. Now we add Odell and leave out someone like Jack Langrishe, who I absolutely love. But I shouldn't discriminate... or else I'll come off sounding like E.B. or Steve the Drunk.

(S03E05) This sums just about everything up:

Johnny: "What are we waiting for?"

Swearengen: "To see what kind of hell breaks loose."

And break loose it did. From drug addiction to street fights, plenty of things came out into the open this week on Deadwood.

(S03E04) Even the slow episodes are good. I'm sure the die-hards (and I'd like to think that I'm one of them) will disagree with me when I say that this episode was slow but let's be honest. Not much happened and what did was a lot of filler. The biggest, and most important, event was Alma's decision to finally open the Deadwood Bank. Am I the only one who thought this was sudden though? I know she proposed the idea last season to Sol and I think we were to assume it was a go by all accounts, but this came out of nowhere. There's been no mention of it this season (that I can remember) and now here it is. Of course, this would explain why Alma was only willing to sell Hearst a 49% stake in her gold claim in last week's episode. She knew she would still need a majority share so that it could be used to back any deposits at her bank. I love when little connections like that are made though, because last week it made no sense to me in regards to the offer Alma made Hearst. Now it makes perfect sense. A "powerhouse" I believe Mr. Ellsworth called her.

(S03E03) New arrivals in the camp. Wu has returned from his recruiting mission in San Francisco. The rest of his workers he's hired will be arriving in "ten day." Nice to see that his vocabulary is growing. His return set the tone for the episode though. Wu is a changed man. Believe it or not, he's become quite the shrewd businessman despite his lack of English skills and his appearance is slightly updated too. Let's be honest, he looks ridiculous. But Wu's transformation seems to mirror that of the camp's. Things are changing and I don't think the end result is going to be what anyone expects.