"May you never take an easy dump again"

HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht met with TV critics this week, mostly - I imagine - to sheepishly admit that The Sopranos won't be back until March, not January, because James Gandolfini needed knee surgery. I'm frownin' like Paulie ova heah.

But he also took a few questions about Deadwood, defending the decision to take it off the air and placate the masses with two two-hour movies next year. Milch's new proposal, "John From Cincinnati," was too good, y'see. (That had better be the best TV show EVER, man.)

Among the e-mail from outraged Deadwood fans was the following missive: "May you never take an easy dump again." Harsh, babe. (Did you send that one, Mis Hooz? Doesn't seem like your style, but maybe you were "in character.")

And believe it or not, HBO received much more e-mail for cancelling Carnivale. Don't mess with those horror/fantasy/sci-fi fans - or whatever you'd categorize that show under. (That reminds me - I never did browse through the issues of Iron Man that Daniel Knauf wrote.)

Thanks to the San Francisco Chronicle's Tim Goodman for live-blogging the presser.