WYATT IN DEADWOOD

Producer David Milch reportedly is thinking about adding the character of Wyatt Earp to the cast of 'Deadwood', his HBO series that takes a semi-historical look at life in the Black Hills of Dakota back in the 1870s..

Mary Kopco, director of the Adams Museum and House, said Earp spent a winter in Deadwood in 1875 or 1876.

"Milch will take a real historical figure and make some dramatic changes and really explore different personality types of them as a larger-than-life person," Kopco said.

For Toobworld, Hugh O'Brian IS Wyatt Earp. He played the role in the TV series 'The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp', as a guest in the series 'Guns Of Paradise'/'Paradise', in 'Gambler 4: The Luck Of The Draw', and in a TV movie that blended scenes from his old TV show with new footage.

When it comes to historical figures, our criteria has a lot of leeway. Sometimes when there's an overflow of portrayals of a particular historical character, say Abe Lincoln or JFK, it's easier just to ship 'em out to an alternate TV dimension.

But in this case, I don't want to lose either the Hugh O'Brian Earps or the 'Deadwood' series. So I'm willing to find some loopy splainin to reconcile the two visions of Earp into one person.

So far, Milch is just thinking about adding the character. This might be a moot point in the end.

But if I was to cast the role, and try to keep it all in alignment with Hugh O'Brian's work, I'd get George Eads away from 'CSI' long enough to play the role. I've always thought Eads would be perfect as a descendant of O'Brian's Earp (Toobworld has plenty of them!) and there's just enough similarity in their square-jawed features to pull it off.

Just sayin', is all.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby