Let's not dwell on this being probably the last season of Deadwood (9 pm/ET), the tragicomic Western anchoring HBO's new Sunday lineup. Let's be grateful it's still so pungently riveting — bristling with deadly conflict, sordid secrets and treacherous alliances.
In 1870s Deadwood, violent actions may speak louder than words, but it's the words (courtesy of creator David Milch) you remember: a dazzling, baffling barrage of flamboyant language, elegant in its wit yet profane in its bile.
As the season opens, signs of civilization — a school, a bank, a theater (in a former brothel), elections for sheriff and mayor — are taking tentative root amid the squalor and savagery.
"Change calls the tune we dance to," says dastardly saloon owner Al Swearengen (th
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Question: I noticed that you have mentioned quite a few times in your column that Hugh Laurie should win an Emmy. I think no one deserves it more than Ian McShane for his mesmerizing portrayal on Deadwood. Can you believe he wasn't even nominated for the first season? As much as I like Laurie (even though I don't watch House), McShane should win it hands down.
Answer: There is no question that the lead dramatic actor category is the toughest Emmy to handicap, because there are so many amazing contenders. On the heels of this letter came this from Alex: "Just read your thoughts on how you thought Hugh Laurie was robbed of an Emmy last year. Unless you are only looking at the nominated contenders, how can you forget Denis Leary? I hope that the voters finally take his performance to heart this year, because he was the one who was truly robbed of an Emmy last year. Hopefully this new Emmy voting system will work to his benefit. His performance last year was the best out of any show, even
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Question: Aargh! This anti-Boston Legal drivel that I've been encountering all over the place is really starting to infuriate me. First and foremost, this was not a second straight win in the category for Shatner — he won as guest actor last year, while The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli who got the supporting actor in a drama award. Putting that misconception aside, I feel it is completely unfair to call Spader's win an undeserving one, citing the "era of remarkable drama on network and cable" as a reason and questioning Boston Legal's "rise to the top." You're faulting the actor for what may or may not have been the show's shortcomings, perhaps forgetting that it's a single episode these actors are judged on. While Boston Legal is nowhere near the level of 24 and Deadwood, Spader's courthouse performance on a Texas death-penalty case (which was, from what I gather, his episode submission) is quite possibly the most compelling piece of monologue acting I've seen on TV in quite a long ...
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Question: Can you please share when HBO's awesome Deadwood will return? Any scoopage as well too, please.
Answer: Season 3 is debuting next summer, and try as I did to wrestle scoop out of Ian McShane (Swearengen) and Paula Malcomson (Trixie) at the Emmys last week, all they divulged was that Brian Cox was slated to start work as gay theater producer Jack Langrish the next morning, Sept. 19. "He's amazing," Malcomson raved. "And the writing for it is so great…. We need a gay man in Deadwood." Asked whether Swearengen will return to his pure evil ways after last season's detour to relative niceness, McShane said, "He's a mixture. He's not one thing or the other. But usually within the course of a scene he changes from one to the other. So, a kinder, gentler, more angry, v
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Boston Legal
Question: Since this is the first time that I've ever really felt passionate about the Emmy Awards, I have to ask you — how can you stand it? Not only did I see my favorites lose, but my second choices as well. Terry O'Quinn and Alan Alda lost to Captain Kirk. Tony Shalhoub beat Jason Bateman and Zach Braff (and Ray Romano, for that matter). James Spader beat Hugh Laurie, Ian McShane and Kiefer Sutherland... Holy crap, Lost just won best drama. Forget I said anything. Emmy rules!
Answer: Loving those mood swings, Phil. Join the club. And let the rants begin. For the record, the post-Emmy e-mailbag was pretty close to 100 percent rants. I have to agree. (Check out my Dispatch from Monday for my complete morning-after analysis.) If there was unanimous scorn for anything, it was the double repeat wins of James Spader and William Shatner for Boston Legal. Again, I have to agree. In an era of remarkable drama on network and cable, these are the best dramatic performances? Not by a long
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Desperate Housewives
Nominations for the 57th Emmy Awards were announced this morning and, as expected, ABC's Desperate Housewives cleaned up with 15 nods, including best comedy series and bids for leading ladies Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman. Housewives tied NBC's terminally ill Will & Grace for most nominated series. (No, that wasn't a typo.) ABC's other freshman smash, Lost, scored 12 nods, including best drama series and supporting actors for both Naveen Andrews and Terry O'Quinn. Among the pleasant surprises: long-overdue nominations for NBC's Scrubs and star Zach Braff; supporting nods for The Shield's CCH Pounder and Grey's Anatomy's Sandra Oh; and best-actor nods for Deadwood's [bleepin'] brilliant Ian McShane and House's crabby doc Hugh Laurie. Of course, there were also plenty of glaring omissions, most notably WB's perpetually ignored Gilmo
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For every drop of refreshing new blood in this year's Emmy field, there's a stubborn residue of tired old blood. The Emmy nominations are an annual rite of frustration in which every positive breakthrough is balanced by an aggravating snub.
This year is no different. As expected, last year's instant hits on ABC, Desperate Housewives and Lost, got their due, leading the comedy and drama pack respectively (although Housewives was tied with the academy's longtime, and inexplicable, darling Will & Grace with 15 nominations).
But because of the TV academy's regrettable devotion to faded perennials like Will & Grace, The West Wing and Si
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