Deadwood Movies & Other HBO Notes

Notes of interest from last week's HBO presentation to the television critics association.

In the wake of original programming chief Chris Albrecht's departure (amid allegations that he beat the crap out of his girlfriend in Vegas), HBO is waffling on its promise of delivering closure to Deadwood fans in the form of a pair of original movies, which were to shoot late this summer for an early 2008 premiere.

[HBO co-president Richard] Plepler put the odds for greenlighting a film at "50-50," citing the fact that members of the cast are committed to other projects and the willingness of the series' creator, David Milch, to pursue it.

"If David is game for this and we can figure it out, we'll figure it out," [HBO co-president Michael] Lombardo said.

Those cocksuckers-by-choice. I knew they were gonna pull this shit.

Another factor that will play a part in resuming production in "Deadwood" will be the fate of Milch's new series, "John From Cincinnati," which Plepler spoke supportively of but stopped short of a renewal announcement.

"The show is really finding an audience, and the audience is staying consistent," he said. "I think it's important to see where it goes, where David takes us, and we'll make that decision at the end of the season."

If the show--which I think is absolutely brilliant (though still not a substitute for a proper Deadwood Season 4)--was doing *that* well, they would've renewed it already, as they've done in the past with other series.

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Meanwhile, HBO announced that the Extras Christmas Special (a one hour episode that will serve as the series finale) is currently shooting. HBO will also likely air a Ricky Gervais stand-up special (he's been on tour for months--mostly in the UK).

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Finally, HBO has commissioned a spin-off of sorts to Little Britain.

HBO has handed out a six-episode order to "Britain" stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams. In the original series, the two play a variety of recurring characters in sketches that spoof contemporary life in the U.K.

"The new series will be a sketch show set in contemporary America," Walliams said. "We are taking some existing characters and writing new material for them, as well as introducing new characters and ideas."

The HBO series, which will be filmed in the fall for a 2008 debut, will be produced by HBO Entertainment in association with 19 Entertainment and MBST and Little Britain. Fuller is executive producing with Larry Brezner, David Steinberg, Lucas and Walliams.