The Western genre has experienced an unprecedented revival on the small screen in recent years, for which one talented and prolific creator, writer, director and producer is getting much of the credit. Taylor Sheridan’s TV Westerns have undoubtedly reshaped the landscape of the genre in its contemporary form.
However, it’s overreaching to suggest that the renaissance Western series are experiencing on television is primarily the doing of Sheridan and his projects. In fact, this renaissance was already happening before he entered the scene, and would have continued to happen with or without him.
Some of the best Western shows of all time have been released over the past decade and a half, and most of them have nothing to do with Taylor Sheridan. Instead, Sheridan has skillfully tapped into the zeitgeist when it comes to the Western genre, perfecting the neo-Western tropes of the 21st century in ways that have mass appeal.
There’s much to be debated about whether the Yellowstone creator’s projects are in the best interests of the genre overall. Nevertheless, that Taylor Sheridan’s Western shows have attracted audience numbers other TV Westerns could only dream of is impossible to argue with. Still, the revival of the genre itself on the small screen isn’t down to Sheridan.
The Western Genre’s TV Revival Long Predates Yellowstone
Men holding guns in the Deadwood season 1 finale
Most aficionados of the genre would agree that there are better Western shows out there than Yellowstone, its spinoffs 1883 and 1923, Landman, and Taylor Sheridan’s other TV projects. But regardless of the relative merits of his work, there’s a consensus among critics and fans alike that Sheridan is the one most responsible for the Western genre’s revival.
Yet, despite being a widely-held view, the idea that Taylor Sheridan revived the TV Western is wholly mistaken. The trend of Western TV shows gaining traction and raking in more viewers than the genre had seen in decades long predates the debut season of Yellowstone, which was Sheridan’s first small-screen project.
It can actually be traced back to HBO’s prestige Western period drama Deadwood, which pulled in 5.8 million viewers when it premiered back in 2004 (The Washington Post). This figure was the highest for a series debut on the network at the time, and quickly secured Deadwood a second season.
After a few years of Deadwood blazing a trail, other prestige Western dramas began to follow suit. First, there was Fox’s Justified in 2010, before the cable networks AMC and A&E got in on the act, releasing Hell on Wheels and Longmire, respectively. By the time Yellowstone came around in 2018, the Western genre’s TV revival was already well-established.
Justified & Longmire Were The First Truly Neo-Western TV Shows
Some viewers and genre specialists may point out that the likes of Deadwood and Hell on Wheels are dramas set in the Old West, whereas Yellowstone is a neo-Western set in contemporary Montana. But Taylor Sheridan wasn’t the first person to create a successful neo-Western TV series, either.
He was beaten to the punch by several years, in fact. Justified and Longmire aren’t just the two best Western shows of their generation. They’re also the first true examples of neo-Western TV shows. It could even be argued that other small-screen neo-Westerns came along before Justified and Longmire, and there’s certainly a degree of truth in this argument.
Technically, the first neo-Western TV series was Cade’s County starring Glenn Ford, which was set in the American Southwest in the year it first aired on television, 1971. However, it was still the age of classic TV Western when the show first appeared, and, despite its contemporary setting, Cade’s County was stylistically similar to classic Westerns like Gunsmoke and Bonanza.
Meanwhile, the ‘90s series Walker, Texas Ranger starring Chuck Norris might have been set in the modern day, but it was more of a cartoonish pastiche of classic Westerns blended with martial arts genre tropes than a true neo-Western show. Cade County and Walker, Texas Ranger were certainly progenitors to the TV neo-Western, but they don’t really qualify themselves.
It took prestige series such as Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy to update Western genre tropes comprehensively for modern television, although these shows don’t fit primarily into the neo-Western bracket, either. Instead, it was Justified, a show about a maverick sharp-shooting U.S. marshal grounded in an authentic rendering of modern Kentucky, which definitively established the neo-Western on television.
Taylor Sheridan Did Bring Neo-Western TV Shows To A Wider Audience
Taylor Sheridan in Yellowstone
Still, it must be said that Taylor Sheridan has brought contemporary Western shows much larger audiences with Yellowstone and Landman, as well as his other period Western dramas. He might not have originated the genre’s revival on the small screen, but he’s unquestionably taken viewing figures to the next level.
Neither Justified nor Longmire could boast anything like the record 16.4 million viewers who tuned into Yellowstone’s finale in 2024, let alone the lesser-known Western series which followed them in the early 2010s. Even Deadwood at its peak never got close to these numbers.
The overwhelming success of Yellowstone has made Taylor Sheridan one of television’s hottest properties, as studios look to churn out series upon series of his creations in the Western genre. Naturally, then, the shows which paved the way for Sheridan’s success – as well as those currently rivaling his latest releases – are increasingly being pushed to the margins.
The Western Genre Needs More TV Shows Outside The Taylor Sheridan Universe
Kevin Costner as John Dutton and Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton in Yellowstone
The shared universe of Taylor Sheridan’s Western TV shows is rapidly expanding, with not one, or two, but three Yellowstone spinoffs currently in the works, in addition to the two which have already been released, and Landman’s renewal for a second season. If network and streaming executives aren’t careful, Sheridan’s work could soon swallow up the entire Western genre.
Despite their mass appeal, it’s worth noting that Sheridan’s Western shows haven’t been received positively across the board by fans or critics. For instance, 1883 and 1923 have been criticized for being overly drab and poorly plotted, while many longstanding Western fans see Yellowstone and Landman as more akin to sensationalist costume soap operas than serious additions to the genre.
But with just one other Western TV series of note presently continuing its run besides Sheridan’s output – AMC’s Dark Winds – fans of the genre have very little choice but to watch his shows. Netflix’s 2025 miniseries American Primeval was a welcome release earlier, and many viewers are looking forward to the next installment of Kevin Costner’s Horizon saga arriving on HBO.
Nevertheless, these examples are few and far between. Fears are growing that Taylor Sheridan is assuming an overly dominant position in the landscape of Western television. Even for the benefit of his own shows, his dominance needs to be challenged by exciting new releases in the genre, outside the shared universe he’s building.
Yellowstone (2018) TV Show Poster
Created by
Taylor Sheridan
First Episode Air Date
June 20, 2018
Cast
Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham, Brecken Merrill, Jefferson White, Danny Huston
