OT: A "Deadwood" Sequel and a "Sopranos" Prequel

As "anti-hero long-form series" go, The Sopranos remains first and best in my book. But its fellow HBO series "Deadwood" wasn't too far behind. Both series centered on an "evil" protagonist we could root for, played by a charismatic actor: James Gandolfini as Tony, Ian McShane as Al Swearengen(great name for a big "swearer" of the highest order) the town boss of "Deadwood." I've always found it insane that the "Deadwood" makers first sought Ed O'Neill(Married with Children, Modern Family) to play Swearengen, an American thug was evidently the first concept of a character McShane has given us as a Brit émigré(maybe) with an elegance to his brutality.

"Deadwood" had a great dialogue mix: grandiose with Shakespearean weight and florid over-articulation, mixed with gutter level cussing. And I mean gutter level. And I mean cussing. (X number of viewers evidently abandoned the show over it.)

Both "The Sopranos" and "Deadwood" had as their central theme: the exercise of power against all comers who might take it from you. Tony Soprano and Al Swearengen had to take on any number of pretenders to the throne, and couldn't always just kill their adversaries; oftimes they had to outfox them, to outmaneuver them. Al ended up pitted against a richer, more ruthless opponent in George Hearst(Gerald MacRaney) who pretty much routed him at the end of the series. Which didn't really get an ending, it just cut off at the end.

That has been solved. HBO in May will give us a "movie," already in the can, that will wrap up all the loose ends in Deadwood. And back -- older but still charismatic -- is Ian McShane as Swearington. And Timothy Olyphant(co-starring in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as Deadwood's righteous sheriff. And Molly Parker(a sexy porcelain doll of primness) as the female lead. And even MacRaney back as Hearst (they can't kill him, he's a real life figure who sired the first in line of Hearsts to follow him.)

I'm very excited to see the "Deadwood" gang get to wrap things up.

Meanwhile, with James Gandolfini long dead(RIP), a Sopranos sequel wasn't in the cards(hey, they'd have to confirm Tony as dead or alive.)

So we are getting a "prequel" to the 60's childhood of Tony Soprano, who, touchingly, will be played by the late Gandolfini's son, who, touchingly, was there in the hotel room where James Gandolfini had his fatal heart attack in real life.

Good actors are playing Tony's parents, Johnny and Livia. Jon Bernthal and Vera Farmiga(Mrs. Bates, hah!). Somebody's playing Young Uncle Junior. And the project has the quality control of involvement by Sopranos creator David Chase and his best writer, Terrence Winter. So I'm kinda jazzed about this too. I don't know if it is a theatrical. The project is called "Newark" and will include the racial tensions of the riots in Newark in the 60's as a backdrop to the Mafia tale.

It just goes to show you -- even if Hollywood returns to the same material over and over, if the material is beloved -- accommodation can be made.