After reading the unanimous praise in this thread, I decided to pick up the season DVD set and I'm floored, just a great show alround. I was never a fan of NYPD Blue but David Milch has created an excellent show here, the characters never devolve into stereotypes, I like that the female characters don't get sidelined in this show, you have Calamity Jane (I think Wiegert's maybe the definitive version, even with the swearing, every scene with her is gold) Joanie Stubbs, Alma Garrett, Trixie, all fascinating characters. When I saw the cover I thought Michael Biehn was in it but it turns out, it was just Timothy Olyphant and he does a damn good job, he does give off a great Biehn vibe with his character though. It's a shame Keith Carradine only did a few episodes as Bill, he was great, I hope he does more stuff like this instead of the usual movie of the week stuff he's been doing for the last 10 years.
What I also liked are the moments of levity in this series, the slow deterioration of the priest, the scene in the hardware store was actually quite moving, Calamity Jane and Charlie Utter talking at Bill Hickock's grave. Just seriously great writing and direction. Brad Dourif's performance in the final episode is either serious overacting or some seriously great acting, I'm not sure which.
What I also love about this show is the humor, it's never forced and mostly done through character and situations, Al telling the junkie who shit his pants to jump off the balcony and then lie in the mud and the junkie does it, "I'll just turn over so I don't get trampled on"
Man, Tolliver is an evil fucker, even though those two kids knew what they were doing it still slapped me in the face.
