As we've said before, Deadwood is one of the very TV series that didn't deserve to be cancelled.
It was so incredibly well-written, its characters were so uniquely fleshed out that it made for some of the most interesting TV episodes in recent history. More than that, however, was the fact that Deadwood ended on such an abrupt moment with a realised ending. It was all so hurried, so clearly sliced off mid-story that fans of the series have been hankering for another season or a proper ending for many years.
Indeed, Ian McShane, who played the infamous Al Swearengen, said that he'd trade all the films he's done for another crack at Deadwood. Speaking at this year's Television Critics' Association shindig, HBO's new head of programming, Casey Bloys, confirmed that a Deadwood script is currently in the works with David Milch and that he "feels good" about its chances - but stopped short of saying it had an automatic green light for production.
While not being drawn on specifics, Bloys said that he's "impatient" to read Milch's script. The writer, who's worked on the likes of NYPD Blue, Murder One and Luck, is notoriously prodigious with his work. In fact, there's an entire chapter of Difficult Men, a book on prestige television in the '90s and '00s, that's dedicated to him and his work practices.
As you'd expect, there's no set time or date for any of this and there's been more than a few attempts to get a Deadwood finale off the ground - so don't hold your breath here, in other words. However, the fact that HBO are confirming that Milch is working on it is good news.
Previous reports merely suggested that the idea was worked on; now it looks like there's actually some kind of movement on the whole thing. Again, it's a long way off from being on our screens, but let's hope its sooner rather than later.
