Editor's note: This story contains language around sexual and substance abuse.
There is a phrase often credited to Napoleon Bonaparte that history is "a lie agreed upon." Nowhere in television storytelling is this concept more prevalent than in David Milch's critically acclaimed HBO western series, "Deadwood."
In fact, Milch titled the two-part season 2 premiere after Bonaparte's quote. It also serves as the subtitle to critic Matt Zoller Seitz's self-published book on the series, "The Deadwood Bible: A Lie Agreed Upon."
It's an apt mission statement for a book that lays out the history of one of TV's most revered prestige dramas, save for the lies.
For all the talk about its language, violence, beauty and vulgarity, "Deadwood" was a show ultimately about the rise and formation of a community in a lawless South Dakota town. "The Deadwood Bible" exists similarly because of an entire community of "Deadwood" fans and passionate critics.
"This (book) is the only one I've ever written that doesn't have my name on the cover of the spine, and there's a reason for that," Seitz tells Wisconsin Public Radio's "BETA."
A few years ago, Seitz wanted to see what kind of appetite there was for a comprehensive look at "Deadwood" and launched a Kickstarter to fund the writing of it. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
Seitz, who is currently a staff writer at New York Magazine, was the perfect point person for the definitive "Deadwood" book. He was an early champion of the in-depth TV criticism and contemporaneously covered "Deadwood" as a critic, forging a friendship with Milch in the process.
"The Deadwood Bible" is equal parts oral history, Milchian biography and critical companion. It features interviews with over 130 members of the cast and crew, including Milch himself.
Milch — a Yale professor turned TV creator who was best known for the groundbreaking ABC drama, "NYPD Blue" — met with HBO in the early aughts to pitch a show about ancient Rome.
Weirdly enough, HBO was in the midst of making their own limited series, "Rome," and asked Milch if he had any other ideas. Seitz said Milch recalled "he paused and cocked his head quizzically and looked up at the sky and said, 'Did I say Rome?'"
And with that, Milch quickly ported a lot of the themes he wanted to address about the rise of a community to America's post-Civil War west.
"Deadwood" jumped out for a variety of reasons. Being on HBO, it was noted for its extreme violence, Shakespearean dialogue and explicit nature. However, it probably became best known for its creative and extreme profanity.
"David (Milch) would throw in some profanity as punctuation," said Seitz. "The profanity was pretty notorious because even by HBO standards, it was extreme. I mean, think about the fact that 'The Sopranos' was on the air at the same time as 'Deadwood,' and people were talking about the profanity on 'Deadwood' as being excessive."
The brilliance of the show was how Milch created an entire community of characters that kept expanding. Even though they all carried their own baggage, they often leaned on each other. Seitz said that all the "Deadwood" characters have a little bit of Milch in them, including his demons with addiction and abuse survival.
"David (Milch) is a person who has had a lot of substance abuse problems in his life, and he had just gotten sober a few years before he started making 'Deadwood.' And I don't think it's a surprise that so much of the show is about addiction and overcoming addiction," he said.
"There are a shocking number of the major characters on the show are victims of physical, sexual abuse or both in childhood," Seitz continued. "The repercussions of that carry forward and how they deal with people. And David was a victim of sexual abuse."
Always at the center of the community was the seemingly corrupt, but secretly selfless, saloon keeper Al Swearengen. He's perhaps the closest avatar to Milch himself.
"Al Swearengen, the character played by Ian McShane, is David. He's charming, he's witty, but he's also a hair trigger temper and can use people when he's not being compassionate," Seitz explained.
Al was also one of the hardest characters to cast. One of the pleasures of reading "The Deadwood Bible" is the oral history that covers a lot of the "what ifs" of casting and production.
"David was adamant at first that Ed O'Neill — who was formerly the star of 'Married With Children' — would be the perfect Swearengen, and HBO didn't want him," Seitz said. "One of the executives I talked to told me, 'I just couldn't get past this hurdle. Like, I can't look at this guy without thinking that's Al Bundy. What's Al Bundy doing in the Old West?'"
O'Neill and Milch would eventually collaborate on Milch's post-"Deadwood" series, "John from Cincinnati," after "Deadwood's" unceremonious cancelation.
Seitz does dogged work in his book sequencing the steps that led to the infamous phone call that ended one TV's most critically acclaimed and beloved shows.
"One of the things I'm proudest of in this book is that for years and years and years, people have been speculating on exactly why 'Deadwood' ended," Seitz said. "HBO had a number of financial considerations, one of which was that they had a lot of incredibly expensive shows on the air, of which 'Deadwood' was one of them. And they were under increased pressure to have good ratings and do well by the stockholders."
Dayton Callie, who plays Charlie Utter on the show, was in the room with Milch when an executive from HBO called. Callie recalled the story to Seitz for the book: "One of the executives called David and said, 'Hey, instead of doing 12 episodes, which is the normal number, why don't we do six?' And David, who is a very prideful person, said, 'How about none?' and hung up the phone."
Milch then called star, Timothy Olyphant, to warn him that the show was likely canceled. Olyphant was reportedly about to buy a house and Milch wanted him to know his recurring role and paycheck were likely coming to a halt. Shortly after that, word spread among the cast and "within a matter of a week, 'Deadwood' was canceled because all these actors had started booking other jobs," Seitz said.
"Deadwood" received a coda of sorts in the form of a 2019 TV movie. Years of fan interest and cast appreciation for the show led to them all assembling one last time.
"I think it's really quite beautiful and I almost feel like it's half of a 'Deadwood' story and half of a testimonial and tribute to David Milch," said Seitz. "That's why all these people came back. They came back for David, because by that point, David had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's."
Milch, who himself just released his autobiography "Life's Work," entered a memory care facility during the writing of "The Deadwood Bible." Seitz has a moving essay in the book about visiting Milch there. He claims that's one of the "most extraordinary experiences" of his life as a writer.
"We hung out at the memory care facility for a couple of hours, just talking about various things with him and (wife) Rita. And then at the end, I was waiting for my ride to pick me up, and David put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'I made a new friend today.' And it was kind of devastating. But then as I walked away, I was in tears," said Seitz.
"I thought about it and the idea that David met me again and called me his friend is a great compliment. Like, if he had no memory of knowing me before, and he spends a couple of hours with me and says I made a new friend today — well, what higher praise could there be from one human being to another?"
Perhaps a 500-page book honoring one of your greatest achievements? "The Deadwood Bible" is now available at MZS Press.