
Taylor Sheridan’s TV shows share more with neo-Western movies made in the same vein than they do with this David Milch series starring Timothy Olyphant. Deadwood isn’t a Western show set in modern times like Yellowstone, Landman, or The Madison. However, it is a beautifully stylized period drama with as much depth and real history as it has grit.
Milch’s Western series was canceled prematurely by HBO back in 2006, but it’s more than stood the test of time as television has evolved in the two decades since then. With the Western genre currently experiencing something of a revival on the small screen, there’s never been a more opportune moment to come at Deadwood fresh.
Deadwood Is One Of The Best Western TV Shows Ever Made
Its Realism & Period Details Remain The Yardstick For Other TV Westerns
Deadwood first arrived on our screens long after the golden age of classic TV Westerns had passed, and 14 years before Taylor Sheridan first made his mark on television. Yet, the series has still gone down in history as one of the best Western shows ever made.
What Made Deadwood One Of TV’s Definitive Western Shows
Timothy Olyphant & Ian McShane’s Performances Set The Series Apart
This 20-year-old show features some sublime camerawork to complement its meticulous set designs, as well as a powerhouse performance from Ian McShane as real-life pimp Al Swearengen. McShane’s character is one of 21 historical figures to feature in Deadwood, the most prominent of which is Timothy Olyphant’s hot-blooded sheriff, Seth Bullock.
Deadwood And Yellowstone Might Be More Similar Than You Think
They’re Both Shows About Lawless Land-Grabs Set In Adjacent States
On the face of it, aside from Deadwood having been the best Western show on TV before Yellowstone, the two series don’t have a lot in common. The shows are set almost 150 years apart, with vastly different characterizations and storylines. If you dig a little deeper, though, the similarities between Deadwood and Yellowstone become clear.
Firstly, the town of Deadwood is close to South Dakota’s border with Montana, the state in which Yellowstone is set. The fictional Dutton ranch is located just 400 miles from where Al Swearengen and Seth Bullock set up camp in the late 1870s. In fact, Bullock lived in Montana before he arrived in Deadwood.
The old West and the new West are still essentially the same Wild West, where disparate social elements come into conflict.
What’s more, both shows center on a struggle for control over local resources. In the case of Yellowstone, the main struggle is over agricultural land. Deadwood, meanwhile, is about the struggle to appropriate the precious metal buried in the ground of the Black Hills, where the titular town was established.