Audiences absolutely loved Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western series “Yellowstone.” They loved it so much, in fact, that there around a half-dozen “Yellowstone” spin-offs, making the Dutton ranching family a pretty major part of contemporary television. The flagship series follows John Dutton III (Kevin Costner), the patriarch of the Dutton family and head honcho of the largest ranch in Montana, Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, along with his three natural children and adopted son Jamie (Wes Bentley). “Yellowstone” is soapy, chaotic television that sometimes doesn’t make a ton of sense, but that’s also why it’s a lot of fun and has become such a successful show.
Some folks might consider “Yellowstone” to be the best Western show ever, but critics would be quick to point to the HBO series “Deadwood.” Seriously, “Deadwood” is the best Western TV series of all time and it’s not even all that close, and the critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes support that claim. “Deadwood” has a Rotten Tomatoes critic’s score of 92%, beating out the 83% held by “Yellowstone” by a fair margin. We will have to wait and see how “Yellowstone” fares with the passage of time, as it’s only finished fairly recently, but “Deadwood” ended nearly 20 years ago and it’s still truly an all-timer.
Deadwood is a profane but nuanced look at life on the frontier
Created by “NYPD Blue” co-creator David Milch, “Deadwood” was a violent and profane look at 1870s South Dakota and the wild American frontier. The series had a sprawling ensemble cast of characters based on real-life figures, and was led by Timothy Olyphant as Deadwood sheriff and hardware store co-owner Seth Bullock and Ian McShane as the antagonistic saloon owner Al Swearengen. As they would in real life, the characters grow and change as a result of their harsh and often horrific experiences trying to make civilization out of anarchy, making “Deadwood” extremely compelling television that is ultimately timeless.
While many of the classic Westerns that inspired “Yellowstone” glorified the grit of the old West without ever contending with the problematic parts, “Deadwood” has more in common with great Revisionist Westerns which force audiences to reckon with the good, bad, and the ugly of the era, even if it’s uncomfortable. There are no easy heroes, and even those with the best intentions can end up doing some pretty dark deeds, and that complexity has helped “Deadwood” stay relevant and relatable two decades after it was made.
The bummer is that “Deadwood” was cancelled after only three seasons, although a 2019 “Deadwood” movie served as the perfect farewell to a show that ended all too soon. “Deadwood” is more brutal than “Yellowstone” (and a lot more vulgar), but fans of the latter should find a lot to love in this now-classic TV Western. Just don’t watch it with grandma.