Yankton’s [expletive deleted] Revenge.

Will Deadwood be dead wood after three seasons? The [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] at HBO have decided to [expletive deleted] us all by allowing the options on the cast to lapse after this [expletive deleted] season. Still, David Milch — who’s working on a “surf [expletive deleted] noir” for the network at the moment, says he’s good for a season 4, and HBO says they’re still considering it. What is there to [expletive deleted] consider, [expletives deleted]? The Wire notwithstanding, Deadwood is the best [expletive deleted] show on television. (By the way, if you think this is [expletive deleted] hard to read, you’re more than [expletive deleted] welcome to try it the other way around.)

Men of Gondor (and Baltimore).

King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) enlists backup from Faramir and Jimmy McNulty as David Wenham and Dominic West join the cast of 300 — based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae — along with Rodrigo Santoro of Love, Actually and Lena Headey of The Brothers Grimm. 300 Spartans against a million Persians? McNulty had best call up Omar for this one.

Gold Stryker.

Will Al Swearingen meet his match in Hannibal Lecter? Proving once again that quality character actors love them some Sioux country, Brian Cox joins Deadwood Season Three as “Jack Langrishe, an eccentric producer and theater owner who strives to introduce a modicum of culture to the mean streets of the South Dakota town.” (He’s likely the earlier rumored openly gay character in love with a male ingenue — Garret Dillahunt, perhaps?) (Also posted at Quiddity.) In other HBO news, memo to myself: The Wire Season 3 hits On Demand on Sept. 12, meaning I should probably pick up the service sometime before then.

Marblehead & McNulty.

Hi y’all…sorry about the recent lack of updates around here. I was in Boston for a few days, where I enjoyed some meetings, a Fenway game, and a scenic excursion to the North Shore. Whatsmore, most of my free time of late has instead been spent catching up on back seasons of my most recent new-favorite show, The Wire. At any rate, updates should resume their normal schedule this week.