Deadwood dies and The Shield lives

Over in the States, it’s the start of the summer, which means less telly. Or at least it used to.

The big US cable channels have slowly cottoned on to the idea that people will still watch shows during the sweltering summer months, and the likes of HBO and co have been switching their schedules to grab the audiences.

One of the shows running in summer is Deadwood, the series which features guns, whores, cowboys and TV’s Ian McShane swearing like he’s just been handed a profanisaurus. But there’s been some bad news for Deadwood fans – the show, which kicks off its third season this month, won’t be getting a fourth. And the reason is that creator David Milch is just too darned busy. He’s already at work on another show, about a surf-loving private eye. And his HBO overlords weren’t exactly thrilled at keeping the cast available by paying them lucrative contracts.

But there’s hope on the horizon. The channel has agreed to greenlight four hours’ worth of a Deadwood finale event – two batches of two hours, which would help to wrap up the storyline. Since the series sticks as closely as possible to what’s known about the frontier town’s history, it would have ended next season any way – as Deadwood was destroyed after fours years. But Sky and DVD viewers take heart: you will see a proper finale.

Even better news has just hit for anyone who loves the conniving, ultraviolent antics of Michael Chiklis’ Vic Mackey on The Shield. The show, which airs on Channel 5 over here, will get a seventh season. The FX cable channel in the States has greenlit 13 episodes to air in 2008. The series finished its fifth season earlier this year and has 10 more episodes – now to be the sixth season – planned for next year. Hurrah for dirty cops!

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

Latest in Movies
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog
Drop
New horror movie starring White Lotus and Yellowstone actors gets a great Rotten Tomatoes score as early reactions call it the "perfect date night movie"
The cast of Thunderbolts
Marvel fans are revealing who they'd like to see added to the Thunderbolts lineup, from Moon Knight to a major Hulk villain
The Rise of Skywalker
Despite those retirement reports, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is "very involved" in the Rey Star Wars movie, according to Daisy Ridley
Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson doubles down on never coming back as Black Widow: “Natasha is dead. She is dead. She’s dead. Okay?"
Clown in a Cornfield
First reactions to new clown horror movie say the slasher is giving Terrifier a run for its money
Latest in News
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Rise of the Ronin
A year after its PS5 launch, Rise of the Ronin debuts on PC to "Mixed" reviews and performance complaints: "Stuttering on a 4090 is just... no"
Rise of the Ronin's photo mode offers some wonderful shots
On the heels of Rise of the Ronin's PC launch, its director says there's a "significant" amount of Japanese Switch gamers: "I am closely watching how this will change with the release of Switch 2"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
Dino Crisis 2 art showing a young woman and man back-to-back amid tall green grass, both with their weapons drawn
Dino Crisis gets a fresh trademark filing by Capcom, but it might not mean the 26-year-old survival horror franchise will get a new installment like fans expect
Cujo
Netflix is making a brand new adaptation of Cujo, the infamous Stephen King book about a killer dog