I try my best not to begin watching new TV shows, especially those on HBO. This is not because I am some kind of snooty anti-TV elitist (although I am, sort of. I mean, most of what’s on TV these days is garbage and a colossal WOT). But then you stumble on a show like the Sopranos or 24 and you’re hooked.
Well, I’ve been hooked for a couple of years now on the HBO show Deadwood. What can I say? I think it is one of the most clever, brutally entertaining programs I can remember. It’s been a wild hit for the company and, like all wild hits…i.e. Sex and the City…it has spawned its own cottage travel industry. To wit: there are now ample outfitters and touring companies offering trips to the real Deadwood, in Wyoming South Dakota.
Nevermind they don’t even shoot the program there. But the town has spruced itself up real nice-like, put on some lipstick and taken a bath, and now brings in tourists by the bus load.
Now, I’m not advocating you go to Deadwood, but as you will read in this piece over at Sunset magazine, there is an allure to doing so. Some of the places in the show are real places. Some are obviously there because of the show (I wonder if you can buy a Swearengen doll that says c*cksucker when you pull the string?). There is, for example, a Bullock Hotel. You can also see where Wild Bill’s body lies, which happens to be right next to Calamity Jane’s grave at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery above Deadwood. Whether you can visit Trixie at the Gem Saloon, well, the article doesn’t say.