About this episode

The episode discusses the themes and historical context of the first season of the show Deadwood, created by David Milch.

This revisionist Western is a mix of fictional and historical narratives about how law, society, and America came to South Dakota in the late 1800s. We talk about how the show's creator, David Milch, got from Ancient Rome to the Dakota gold rush, and all the lines he crossed to get there. Sources Deadwood, Generic Transformation, and Televisual History by Allison Perlman T HE WAY OUT WEST: DAVID MILCH & IAN MCSHANE ON DEADWOOD by Damien Love Singer, Mark (February 14, 2005). "The Misfit". The New Yorker. Andreeva, N. (2003, January 7). HBO, Milch mine "Deadwood" for Western series. (News). The Hollywood Reporter, 376(39), 5. https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/Entertainment-115937&page=1 Brian McCuskey. (2013). Last Words in Deadwood. In N. S. Witschi & M. Graulich (Eds.), Dirty Words in Deadwood (p. 18). UNP - Nebraska Paperback. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1ddr701.9 Witschi, N. S., & Graulich, M. (2013). Who Put the Gun into the Whore's Hand? In Dirty Words in Deadwood. University of Nebraska Press. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/deadwood-review-season-one-hbo-2004-1235857267/ https://variety.com/2004/tv/reviews/deadwood-4-1200534541/…

People in this episode

Hosts: Christian Sager, Charlie Bennett

Topics covered

• revisionist Western
• law and society
• American history
• television analysis
• David Milch
• Deadwood

Keywords

• Deadwood
• David Milch
• Western
• HBO
• television history
• South Dakota
• gold rush

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HBO, University of Nebraska Press

Books & works: Deadwood

More episodes of Supercontext: an autopsy of media

• The Problem With Music · May 29, 2026 · 2h 6m
• Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's Twentieth Century · April 3, 2026 · 2h 31m
• The Magic Christian · March 6, 2026 · 2h 34m
• Something Is Killing The Children · February 6, 2026 · 2h 54m
• I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson · January 2, 2026 · 2h 32m
• The VALIS Trilogy · December 5, 2025 · 3h 6m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Supercontext: an autopsy of media podcast page.