David Milch's "Luck"

WHAT do get when you cross the men behind Deadwood and Miami Vice with Dustin Hoffman? Bet you didn't think it would be a television series set at the Santa Anita racetrack and revolving around a quartet of degenerate gamblers, a crusty Kentuckian who talks to himself, some nasty white-collar criminals and a few noble, beautifully photographed horses?

Somehow, this is what fortune -- or at least, HBO -- has given us, and my curtain-raiser on the series Luck is here. I was lucky enough to sit down with David Milch, Michael Mann and Hoffman recently and speak with them about the show.

As rich as it is, this program seems like -- no pun intended -- a real gamble for the cable network. I'll be interested to see whether people watch it, in part because I have another story on Luck planned.