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To be or not to be left out
Jun. 19th, 2011 10:10 pmThe thing is that Deadwood is so rich, there's so much to ponder and parse that I could spend hours reviewing just one episode. It reminds me of the good old times with BtVS when I could write long essays, draw many connections that perhaps existed on my mind only (but the connector is always the raison d'être of the connected things) and interpret things ad nauseam.
How could HBO cancell such a wonderful show? I suppose it was considered too complicated, too elitist.
Deadwood surely doesn't take the easy way so many tv shows indulge in. Buffy had depth and layers too but it could also be watched and enjoyed by viewers who simply wanted entertainment, humour, monsters and pretty girls; viewers who didn't care about the references, the deeper meaning, the writing structure, the foreshadowing stuff, the metaphorical language of the show, and who didn't see them while watching; viewers who didn't feel left out...
Joss Whedon was smart enough to cover the cleverness, the literary side and the complexity of his creation with a shallow and fun façade, hiding a gem behind a silly name and a geeky genre. It allowed the show to find an audience large enough to live on networks...but until now, and despite the cult that ensued, there are still many viewers or even critics who don't see the greatness of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (and it doesn't help that several silly vampire shows have followed!) or who simply couldn't imagine to put it in the same league as those quality tv shows that the cable has provided over the years.
David Milch, maybe because it was HBO, didn't disguise his fabulous show, although one could argue that the show is dressed-up like a western more than it is actually a western. I don't know the history of the ratings but I bet that they dropped during season 2, a magnificent season per se, but a season that many must have found too slow and un-westerny. And there's the Deadwoodlang that might be a put-off to many ears (either because of the profanities or because of the sophisticated and old-fashioned Shakespearian lines). Deadwood is a demanding show; it requires efforts but the reward is worth it.
One of my favourite episodes so far was "E.B Was Left Out", ( Read more... )
How could HBO cancell such a wonderful show? I suppose it was considered too complicated, too elitist.
Deadwood surely doesn't take the easy way so many tv shows indulge in. Buffy had depth and layers too but it could also be watched and enjoyed by viewers who simply wanted entertainment, humour, monsters and pretty girls; viewers who didn't care about the references, the deeper meaning, the writing structure, the foreshadowing stuff, the metaphorical language of the show, and who didn't see them while watching; viewers who didn't feel left out...
Joss Whedon was smart enough to cover the cleverness, the literary side and the complexity of his creation with a shallow and fun façade, hiding a gem behind a silly name and a geeky genre. It allowed the show to find an audience large enough to live on networks...but until now, and despite the cult that ensued, there are still many viewers or even critics who don't see the greatness of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (and it doesn't help that several silly vampire shows have followed!) or who simply couldn't imagine to put it in the same league as those quality tv shows that the cable has provided over the years.
David Milch, maybe because it was HBO, didn't disguise his fabulous show, although one could argue that the show is dressed-up like a western more than it is actually a western. I don't know the history of the ratings but I bet that they dropped during season 2, a magnificent season per se, but a season that many must have found too slow and un-westerny. And there's the Deadwoodlang that might be a put-off to many ears (either because of the profanities or because of the sophisticated and old-fashioned Shakespearian lines). Deadwood is a demanding show; it requires efforts but the reward is worth it.
One of my favourite episodes so far was "E.B Was Left Out", ( Read more... )