Oooh, you really should watch beyond first four episodes of Deadwood! Season two in particular put everything on its head... Swearingen became a very complex character, a villain whose goals somehow end up benefiting the future of the camp, while Seth is getting progressively darker... The show itself is very dark... It's true, there's no "campinesss", instead when it's funny it's because of the absurdity of life no matter how dark the subject matter.

I am a history buff in addition to my love of Westerns, and it feels Deadwood is more on the money regarding the "true" life on the border than any other Western I've seen so far. It's not so cut and dry, white and black, black-hearted villains versus brave lonesome heroes... No one is a hero. The evil usually triumphs. Yet life, and love, go on.