There's something about the Western genre that pulls us back in no matter how far we stray from the mid-to-late 19th century. The wild frontier calls to us even from our modern comforts, pulling us into an untamed land full of outlaws, Indians, ramblers, and cowboys. While some Westerns are slow burns or take a minute or two to secure our attention, there are other times when the genre grabs our interest from the beginning and keeps it until the very end — and those are the shows we aim to highlight here.
While certain popular Western programs, like Gunsmoke and Bonanza, end on not particularly high notes, there are plenty of horse operas that stick the landing. We've put together Western shows that will keep you laser-focused from start to finish, ranging from epic miniseries' to a decade's worth of television. So settle in for the Old West, because we're headed for the frontier.
'Godless' (2017)
Image via NetflixFrom that harrowing opening sequence to the title alone, Godless throws the viewer right into the deep end of the unending battle between the Western outlaw and lawman — only, in this case, it's so much more than that. The seven-part Netflix drama boasts an impressive cast that includes Jeff Daniels, Michelle Dockery, and Jack O'Connell, and features enough complex (yet rootable) characters for viewers to get behind. You'll certainly have no trouble sticking with it.
When Roy Goode (O'Connell) evades his former mentor Frank Griffin (Daniels), he hides out in a town full of women after a mining disaster killed nearly every man in town. With Griffin and his band of outlaws on his tail, Goode must work together with the people of La Belle to defend their home. Godless kicked off the modern streaming trend of limited Western series, and it's even considered one of Netflix's most perfect miniseries.
'American Primeval' (2025)
Image via NetflixAnother Netflix series that'll hook you with little trouble at all, American Primeval is easily the grittiest Western series on this list. With the backdrop of the infamous "Mountain Meadows Massacre" and the rest of the Utah War in the forefront, mountain man Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch) is tasked with guiding Sara Holloway (Betty Gilpin) and her son through the wild frontier. Along the way, they're stalked by everything from bounty hunters to outlaws and everything in between.
A complex blend of genuine history and fictional events, American Primeval is an intense six-part adventure that touches on a lesser-explored era of frontier history. With Kim Coates as the notorious Mormon leader Brigham Young and Shea Whigham as frontiersman Jim Bridger, it almost serves as a follow-up to The Revenant — which tracks considering Mark L. Smith wrote that film as well.
'Lawmen: Bass Reeves' (2023)
Image via Paramount+Another modern take on the Old West, Lawmen: Bass Reeves follows the first black U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi as he rides across Indian Territory to enforce the law. Played by the remarkable David Oyelowo, Bass Reeves is a force to be reckoned with as he rises above his past as a slave to become one of the most effective lawmen in the region. If producer Taylor Sheridan's name is what got you in the door, Oyelowo will be the one to keep you watching.
Although there have been hopes that Lawmen could continue as a Western anthology series, this eight-part limited series offers more than enough excitement for fans looking to revisit Indian Territory. With a cast that also includes Donald Sutherland, Dennis Quaid, and Lauren E. Banks, this Paramount+ triumph is a powerful entry in the Western genre canon that certainly earned its high praise. Creator Chad Feehan outdid himself with this one.
‘Little House on the Prairie’ (1974–1983)
Image via NBCAlthough some might consider Little House on the Prairie to be more of a "Midwestern" than a traditional Western, it certainly qualifies as a horse opera. Based very loosely on the autobiographical novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder (played by the ever-smiling Melissa Gilbert on the series), the NBC series ran for nine seasons as it followed the Ingalls (and later the Wilder) family as they settled in Walnut Grove. With brand-new challenges every week, 200 episodes will fly by as you plow through the prairie.
Sure, there are a few duds in there, but with nine seasons and four made-for-TV movies to hold you over, you'll feel like you're part of the Ingalls family in no time. Just don't expect a direct adaptation of the novels — this show takes some serious liberties. If you've already binged through Little House a few times, here are some similar shows you may want to give a try.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz
Which Taylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In?
Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn't write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
FIND YOUR WORLD →
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan's world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
ALand, legacy, and a name that's been feared and respected for generations. BKnowing the deal better than anyone else in the room — and being willing to walk away first. CReputation. I've earned it the hard way, and everyone in the room knows it. DBeing the only person both sides will talk to. That makes me indispensable — and dangerous.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan's universe is always absolute — and always costly.
AFamily — blood or chosen. The ranch, the name, the people who carry it with me. BThe company — or whoever's signing the cheques. Loyalty follows the contract. CMy crew. The men who stood with me when it counted — I don't abandon them for anything. DMy community — even when my community is a powder keg and I'm the only thing stopping it from blowing.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it's crossed.
AQuietly, decisively, and in a way that sends a message to everyone watching. BI outmanoeuvre them legally, financially, and politically before they even know I've moved. CDirectly. Old school. You cross me, you hear about it to your face — and then you deal with the consequences. DI absorb it, calculate the fallout, and find the move that keeps the whole system from collapsing.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan's worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
AWide open land — mountains, sky, silence. Somewhere you can see trouble coming from a mile away. BThe oil fields of West Texas — brutal, lucrative, and indifferent to whoever happens to be standing on top of them. CA mid-size city where the rules haven't quite caught up yet — fertile ground for someone with vision and nerve. DA rust-belt town built around a prison — where everyone's life is shaped by what's inside those walls.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
AI do what has to be done to protect what's mine. I'll answer for it eventually — but not today. BGrey is just business. The line moves depending on what's at stake, and I move with it. CI have a code — it's not the law's code, but it's mine, and I don't break it. DI've made peace with it. Keeping the peace requires compromises most people don't have the stomach for.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they're defending.
AA way of life that the modern world is doing everything it can to erase. BMy position — and the leverage that comes with being the person everyone needs to close a deal. CRelevance. I've been away, I've been written off — and I'm proving that was a mistake. DWhatever fragile order I've managed to build — because without it, everything burns.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan's world is never given — it's established, maintained, and constantly tested.
ABy example and force of will. People follow me because they believe in what I'm protecting — and because they know what happens if they don't. BThrough negotiation and leverage. I don't need people to like me — I need them to need me. CBy being the smartest, most experienced person in the room and making sure everyone quietly knows it. DBy being the calm centre of a situation that would spiral without me — and accepting that nobody thanks you for it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
AThey'll learn. Or they won't. Either way, the land was here before them and it'll be here after. BI figure out what they want, what they're worth, and whether they're an asset or a problem — fast. CI was the outsider once. I give them a chance — one — to show they understand respect. DNew players destabilise everything I've built. I assess the threat and manage it before it manages me.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
AMy family's peace — maybe their innocence. The ranch demands everything, and I've let it take too much. BRelationships, time, any version of a normal life. The job eats everything that isn't nailed down. CYears. Decades in some cases. Time I can't get back — but I'm not done yet. DMy conscience, mostly. And the ability to ever fully trust anyone on either side of the wall.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
When it's over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan's characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
AThat I held the line. That the land is still ours and everything I did was worth it. BThat I was the best at what I did and that no deal ever got closed without me at the table. CThat I built something real, somewhere nobody expected it, and I did it on my own terms. DThat I kept the peace when nobody else could — and that the town is still standing because of it.
REVEAL MY SHOW →
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you're complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world's indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you're willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family's weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what's yours, you don't escalate — you finish it. You're not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone's world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn't make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You're a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they'll do to get it. You're not naive enough to think this world is fair. You're smart enough to be the one deciding who it's fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you're not above reminding people that the two aren't mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they'd be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they're more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don't need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you're the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky's world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You've made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
'Outer Range' (2022–2024)
Image via Prime VideoFor something a bit more fantastical, may we suggest Outer Range? The sci-fi-flavored neo-Western follows the Abbott family of Wyoming ranchers in the aftermath of a mysterious black hole that appears in the middle of their west pasture. But patriarch Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin) has some secrets he's hoping to keep under wraps, secrets that risk being discovered if more curious parties take a gander on his land.
Outer Range gets really weird the longer it goes, utilizing time travel in one of the most creative ways for a horse opera. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but this out-of-the-box two-season Western drama deserves to be highlighted for its creativity and impressive cast. Of course, Outer Range also ends on a pretty massive cliffhanger, so watch at your own risk — though, truth be told, the ride itself is so wild you may not even mind.
'The Son' (2017–2019)
Image via AMCAnother stellar two-season Western (this time with a definitive ending), The Son was AMC's answer to Yellowstone before Yellowstone even hit the airwaves. Following Texas cattleman, oilman, and family patriarch Eli McCullough (Pierce Brosnan), this riveting period drama waxes poetic on the importance of legacy, and how myths may be constructed to maintain such a powerful brand. Brosnan is at his best here as Eli struggles to maintain his hold over his family, land, and sanity.
The Son is one of those near-perfect Western shows that most forget about, but that's a real shame considering how addicting these 20 episodes are. The narrative structure itself is a highlight, as it follows an older Eli played by Brosnan in the 1920s while flashing back to his younger self (played by Jacob Lofland) in the 1850s during his time with the Comanche. In the second season, the series even flashes forward to the 1980s to follow his granddaughter, something Yellowstone would never have done.
'The Young Riders' (1989–1992)
Image via ABCIn the explosive aftermath of '80s blockbuster Westerns like Young Guns, ABC was inspired to helm its own take on the Old West with The Young Riders. Following a group of Pony Express riders — a mix of original characters and historical figures like Josh Brolin's "Wild Bill" Hikock — as they rode into trouble around the West, the series uses the early years leading up to the American Civil War as a backdrop for conflict surrounding race, creed, and other hot topics of the day.
One of the best free-to-stream Western shows out there, The Young Riders is a three-season adventure that just keeps pulling you back for more. The riders themselves are a likable bunch who always stand up for the right thing, no matter how hard or complicated. As one of the last major Western programs to follow that "traditional" model of mythic old-school genre storytelling, The Young Riders stands tall as a reminder of the genre's strengths.
'Have Gun – Will Travel' (1957–1963)
Image via CBSWith more episodes than even Little House (though fewer seasons), Have Gun – Will Travel remains at the top of the Western game. From the first time we met Richard Boone's Paladin, we knew that this Old West hero was more than the usual shoot-'em-up bounty hunter, and that remained the case throughout the six-season run. Each episode pits Paladin in a unique set of circumstances that we can't wait to see how he gets out of them.
Have Gun – Will Travel was also a half-hour Western, and because of those shortened episodes, the plots move along at a speedier pace while maintaining their substance. That's to the show's advantage, of course, as it boasts 225 episodes, though all of these fall in at around 25 minutes a piece. That's plenty of Paladin adventures for a longer binge.
'Longmire' (2012–2017)
Another six-season horse opera drama, Longmire is of the neo-Western variety. Based loosely on the mystery novels by Craig Johnson, the A&E-turned-Netflix series follows Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) as he patrols the least-populated county in the continental U.S. — a county that seems to pull in more crime than the lawman knows what to do with. Somehow, however, we always believe it.
Longmire is a blast. Although set in contemporary times, the show has a real knack for allowing those old-school Western sensibilities to shine through Walt's character. There's a reason that we consider it one of the best Western shows out there, and it's for those same reasons that viewers still demand a revival. Maybe now that Paramount and Warner Bros. are merging, we'll finally get one.
'Lonesome Dove' (1989)
Image via CBSThe definitive adaptation of Larry McMurtry's fabulous Western novel, Lonesome Dove is what happens when high-quality filmmaking meets the long-form nature of television. Long before movie stars transitioned to the small screen in our modern streaming age, Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones came together as former Texas Rangers Augustus "Gus" McCrae and Woodrow F. Call to blaze the trail from Texas to Montana. And we've never quite recovered.
Lonesome Dove gets everything right about the genre, masterfully adapting its source material with ease. As arguably the most essential Western television production out there, it boasts plenty of action, violence, drama, suspense, romance, and character work to capture the heart of any viewer out there. It's a stunning piece of work.
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