WhileYellowstonemay currently hold the heavyweight belt forWestern TV shows, there are plenty of series in the genre that aren’t a part of the Taylor Sheridan experience. TheTaylor Sheridanverse of TV showsnow includes everything from Old West legends likeLawmen: Bass Reeves, to gritty gangster dramas likeMayor of Kingstown, to modern action-thrillers likeSpecial Ops: Lioness, but it’s in the Western genre where the showrunner and writer appears to be most comfortable, with several shows taking place in the setting.
Beyond being fine shows,Yellowstoneand its spinoffs have introduced younger and modern audiences to the joy of Westerns.Western movies may be a strataof the industry that more people are familiar with, but there’s a long history of Western TV shows too, and it’s not justYellowstone,1883, and1923that have plumbed the themes and settings for multiple episodes and seasons at a time. There are some modern titles that regular TV viewers will be familiar with, as well as some classic Westerns that hold up as well as anything on TV.
Rawhidedepicts a group of cattle drovers in the 1860s, who work all across the Old West. The trail boss, Gil Favor (Eric Fleming), leads a team of cowboys across the dusty plains, driving cattle and helping the needy people they meet along the way. The series had a rough, brutal, and even occasionally, a supernatural bent to it. Racism, torture, and the realities of life on the plains are all often factored into stories, andRawhidehas episodes where even more inexplicable events occur.
The series, beyond being an adventurous, thrilling romp, offered two critical artifacts to the Western genre. First off, it’s theme song, “Rawhide”, which is a rambling, exciting tune about cattle driving that has made its way into every corner of pop culture, fromShrek 2to the British seriesHustle.The series also introduced a young man by the name of Clint Eastwoodas Rowdy Yates. While Eastwood had been acting since 1955,Rawhiderevealed him asthe Western star he would go on to be.
The miniseriesGodlesscomes from a long line of Western TV miniseries. Directed by Scott Frank, who directed the similarly Western-minded superhero movie,Logan, the same year,Godlesswas a critical success with 12 Emmy nominations and three wins for its seven episodes. Set in 1884 in a small town in New Mexico,Godlessfollows Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), an outlaw on the run from his mentor Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels). Fed up with Frank’s wicked ways, Roy stumbles into La Belle, a town almost entirely populated by women.
Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy, Merritt Wever, and Tantoo Cardinal also star. Beautifully shot with violence that feels raw but never exploitative,Godlessis a wonderfully excessive and impressive series with a sharply written story. The mostly female cast offers something fresh and unique in a genre dominated by male-centric casts.
Though he had a career previously, including in the excellent Western TV show,Deadwood(spoiler for this list),Timothy Olyphant was really introduced to audiences as Raylan GivensinJustified, the neo-Western crime drama that ran for 6 seasons on FX. The series, which also served as an early role for Walton Goggins as local criminal Boyd Crowder, is set in Harlan County in eastern Kentucky. Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan is a man out of time, with an Old West ethos trying to stop crime in a modern, evolving world.
Justifiedfits the neo-Western genre as well as any movie or TV show,marrying elements of Westerns and gritty cop dramas into an intriguing and strikingly well-acted series. ThoughJustifiedbegins as more of a procedural, it slowly develops into a longer, intriguing story about the effects of Raylan’s unconventional style of policing on himself and the region. The series was nominated for 8 Emmys and remains a standout example of how to do Westerns in the modern era.
Bonanzafirst premiered on NBC in 1959 and introduced viewers to the wealthy Cartwright family who live near Virginia City, Nevada, in the 1860s. Led by father, Ben Cartwright (Lorne Green), the Cartwright family lives on a huge ranch called Ponderosa, near Lake Tahoe, where they get into all sorts of sitcom-worthy predicaments over the 14 seasons of the show. Pernell Robert, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon also star as Ben’s three sons.
Unlike other Westerns of the time,Bonanzawas a period drama that confronted contemporary social issues.
Unlike other Westerns of the time,Bonanzawas a period drama that confronted contemporary social issues. Comedies and anthology series were doing it at the time, but few week-to-week drama series took this tack.Racism, bigotry, substance abuse, environmentalism, and more were all tackled on the showwith a surprising amount of heart and empathy. It’s a long series that bounces from jokes to serious moments with ease.
The longest-running Western TV show is also one of the genre’s best.Gunsmokepremiered in 1955 and ran for 20 total seasons, and that was after it premiered as a radio serial for 9 seasons. The TV show stars James Arness as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, an officer of the law working in Dodge City, Kansas in the years following the end of the American Civil War. Dillon handles criminal problems in town and outside of it, with his range extending into the surrounding plains and deserts.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earppremiered a few days beforeGunsmokeand so is technically the first Western TV show written for an adult audience.
While Dillon’s deputies are somewhat inept and provide comic relief, Dillon himself is a talented marshal who handles everything from dangerous violent crimes, to arguments between friends, acting as a peacemaker. As one of the first TV Westerns written specifically for adults,Gunsmokeushered in the era of Westerns on TV and sat right in the middle of the Western “Golden Age”. Tropes and themes found in modern Western TV shows can often be traced to this show.
Deadwoodwas a part of theHBO boom of TV showsin the early 2000s, alongside the likes ofThe Sopranos,The Wire, andRome, that showed movies were no longer the sole domain of “serious” storytelling and incredible visuals.Deadwoodis set in Deadwood, South Dakota, in the 1870s, just when the area was being annexed. The three-season series depicts the growth of Deadwood from a backwater camp to a sprawling town, with all the crime, political scheming, and problems that come with that.
Despite coming long after the Golden Age of Westerns,Deadwoodfeels like the culmination of Western storytelling. Characters like Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) and Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) are plucked right out of history, and played so honestly in a setting so real, that it’s easy to fall right into the world, and never want to leave. Smartly written, philosophical about the real American West, and expertly crafted,Deadwoodis a must-watch for any history orWestern TV showfan.
