All right, you ********s at HBO -- Draw!

In response to the news that Deadwood will not have a fourth season, SaveDeadwood is up and running, urging DeadwoodHeads to help take out ads, write to HBO, and in general make noise. The great philosopher Al Swearengen is quoted:

"Pain or damage don’t end the world, or despair or fuckin’ beatin’s. The world ends when you’re dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man—and give some back." Al Swearingen, as written by Jody Worth.

Fans are also urged to say they will cancel HBO if the show is not renewed.

I can't do that -- I love Rome too much. Besides, it seems churlish to repay HBO for three great seasons of Deadwood by cancelling, and artistic judgment may be involved. Too many TV shows outlive their creativity, but are still sent out season after season, like a video El Cid, dead, but strapped to his horse to battle the Moors. Stories have an arc that includes an ending, and if the creators think Deadwood should close, I will miss Al and the rest, but so be it.

There is also a serious market point here. It is sad to see such negativism and animosity from the fans, instead of gratitude and a desire to help. But the nature of the non-market in television creates considerable fan frustration that has no outlet except anger. HBO's subscription model allows for more voting-with-money than does an advertising model, but it is still highly imperfect. A show like Deadwood is expensive to produce, and it must draw the audience numbers to last, not appeal only to a niche, however devoted that niche may be. (And yes, my fellow DeadwoodHeads, I hate to break the news to you, but we are a weird bunch.)

The Deadwoods of the world need a market mechanism so that the intensity of our interest can be expressed tangibly. (A kiss on the hand may be so continental, but diamonds are a girl's, and a media company's, best friend.) The digital revolution, and especially DRM, are is creating the means by which price mechanisms can be used.

So once again, those who screech "free, free, free," like a broken record (remember those?) are not the consumers' friend. We need more choices, more payment systems, not fewer.

So I'll go back to my original offer to promise to buy the DVDs, and urge the fans to make the cash registers ring at "Shop Deadwood." I know I need a new coffee mug, and surely the sound track from Deadwood is a necessary addition to my music library.

And HBO -- tell us what we can do to help you here.

posted by James DeLong @ 9:45 AM |

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