HBOs Sunday Tripleheader Deadwood Entourage shine in third season Louie not so lucky
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 (the masterful Ian McShane). He's none too happy about being forced to tango with mining mogul George Hearst (Gerald McRaney), who's orchestrating a war for control.
The circuitous plot is challenging, but the true glory of Deadwood is in its vivid creation of a volatile world where scoundrels, wretches and tormented heroes coexist in an unvarnished time capsule of Wild West history.
And then we have the wild West Coast of Hollywood high life, skewered in the corrosively enjoyable satire Entourage (10 pm/ET). It's back for a scintillating third season with blockbuster movie openings, make-or-break box-office grosses and a father who says of his teenage daughter: "In this town, as long as I keep her off an E! True Hollywood Story, I've done my job."
It's a time of high anxiety for rising star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his frenetic, newly independent agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) as they await the opening of Vince's big-budget breakthrough, James Cameron's "Aquaman." Family and friendships are tested amid the dizzying rush. There's a reason a theme-park roller coaster is used as a metaphor. This is one fabulous ride. Strap in and enjoy.
Paired with Entourage is HBO's uneven first attempt at a "classic" sitcom, Lucky Louie (10:30 pm/ET), filmed in front of a studio audience. And that includes simulated sex scenes.
Ewww is right. Aiming to take Roseanne-style domestic realism to a new graphic level, Louie stars comic Louis C.K. as a mopey married-with-kid mechanic. Gripes about money and especially sex are common, delivered with cringeworthy crudeness.
The funniest running gag involves Louie awkwardly trying to bond with his new African-American neighbors. Understandably, they try to keep him at arm's length. At least.
