Deadwood
Deadwood is, in my honest opinion, outside of BBC’s Misfits, the best show not enough people have seen. Like most of the shows listed here, it is dark, grimy, and there is something about watching it that makes you think your TV is going to develop sores, but that is the very draw of this world.
Deadwood is about a town in the old west that has no law. We follow Seth Bullock and Sol Star as they relocate and try to move on with their lives in the town of Deadwood. It sounds simple, but this is a show for fans of incredible acting and writing. Seeing some of the interactions here remind me why television can be such an amazing medium.
It also introduced me to Ian McShane, who pretty much became my favorite actor the first second I saw him (and heard him) as Al Swearengen, who is the most powerful man in all of Deadwood. There is just something about how McShane carries himself on screen that I find mesmerizing. He scares me. He intimidates me. He makes me wish I was as cool as him.
And in the same breath, he makes me grateful I don’t have to be around him at any point, because he is forcefully intimidating. And he is but one aspect of this multi-tiered ride. Also worth noting is a pre-Justified Timothy Olyphant, who is also unforgettable as the show’s lead with the murky past, Seth.
One warning, though. The language in this show would make DeNiro blush. If you made a drinking game out of taking a shot every time they drop the F bomb on any episode of Deadwood, you would be legally brain dead within the first ten minutes.