Image via Paramount+
Published Jun 22, 2026, 7:14 PM EDT
Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, and conducts interviews. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His novella, The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain, was released in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.
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If you're looking for a Western series that rivals the action you're used to on the big screen (particularly when it comes to Old West-styled movies), then you're in luck. With so many great horse operas to choose from, we've compiled a list of some of the best Western programs that push the action to the limits — the types of shows you won't want to turn off.
From long-form dramas to one-and-done miniseries events, the Western has been at the center of some of television's finest moments in the past few decades, even if it isn't always its most popular genre. Those seeking the action found on the big screen but itching for tales that run far longer than your average Western should consider some of these dramas for your next binge. Saddle up, because we're hitting the trail!
'Comanche Moon' (2008)
Image via CBSA direct prequel to the profound Lonesome Dove, the Comanche Moon miniseries takes Larry McMurtry's popular novel and translates it to the small screen for a three-part tale that features Steve Zahn as Augustus "Gus" McCrae and Karl Urban as Woodrow F. Call. As the pair of Texas Rangers carry out their duties across the growing Lone Star State, they find themselves against the warring Comanches as they seek to take the land back by force.
The opening battle sequence sets the stage for this tragic drama, and the later attack on Austin feels like something ripped right out of a Clint Eastwood film. Comanche Moon is one of those Western programs everyone should watch at least once. It may not be as grand or compelling as Lonesome Dove, but it sets the stage masterfully for Gus and Call's later years. More than anything, it feels like a movie.
'Justified' (2010–2015)
Image via FXAnyone who knows anything about Justified knows that the FX series has been highly praised for Timothy Olyphant's stunning portrayal of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. But for those who adore the neo-Western crime drama, there's more to it than just that. The action on Justified is top-notch, and there's a reason that you can find compilations online of all Raylan's best duels. No wonder it was so beloved throughout its six-season run.
When considering the best episodes from every Justified season, there's no doubt that you'll come across some of the show's most memorable action-heavy moments (Season 4's "Decoy" comes to mind). As far as Elmore Leonard adaptations go, Justified hits all the marks. For more beyond those 78 episodes, consider adding Justified: City Primeval to your watchlist as well, though some are a bit mixed about how it compares to the original.
'Damnation' (2017–2018)
Image via USA NetworkWhen former Longmire scribe Tony Tost described Damnation for the Fayetteville Flyer, he did so by calling it "1/3 Clint Eastwood, 1/3 John Steinbeck, [and] 1/3 James Ellroy." If that's not enough to warrant your attention on the Depression-era neo-Western drama, then perhaps the promise of action-packed gunfights, town brawls, and pitchforks (see above) will do just that? As a farmer's strike breaks out in rural Iowa, a Marxist preacher (Killian Scott) wars against an uncompromising strikebreaker (Logan Marshall-Green) for the soul of the town.
Damnation is an intense TV-MA take on the complicated battle between social classes that pits brother against brother. With plenty of movie-style action to move the plot along, you'll never find yourself bored during this 10-episode USA Network/Netflix drama. Easily one of the best single-season Western dramas to be cancelled before its time, the tragedy of Damnation is that it could easily have lasted a while longer... Still, you'll find that it's just as thrilling as any movie you've seen set in this era.
'Godless' (2017)
When it comes to modern Western television projects, the genre took a stark turn in 2017 when Netflix dropped Godless. The miniseries chronicled the tale of wounded outlaw Roy Goode (Jack O'Connell) on the run from the ruthless Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) who arrives in a town full almost exclusively of women after a mining incident killed most of the men in town. With a posse of outlaws on his tail and a mining company set to take over the town, the citizens of La Belle band together to stop the invasion.
Godless is full of great action sequences, from a daring train robbery and escape to the final shootout throughout the town, the whole thing is quite explosive. The high-quality production value is remarkable, as Godless stood on the cusp of the movement for more cinematic television. The exceptional Netflix miniseries raised the bar for modern horse operas, and paved the way for streaming attempts at the historical genre.
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
'1883' (2021–2022)
Image via Paramount+Off the heels of Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan went back in time to the tougher age of westward expansion in 1883. The novel Western miniseries tells the story of the first band of Duttons to settle in Montana as they travel from Texas all the way to the Treasure State. With the intensity of programs like Deadwood and the quality of a theatrical, big-screen production, 1883 is full to the brim with Old West suspense and action that hits all the right notes.
In only 10 episodes, 1883 proves itself to be a remarkable prestige Western drama that rivals anything else Sheridan has ever done. More than that, it's way better than Yellowstone. With more intriguing characters, on-location production values, and brutal action sequences that speak to the clear harshness of the American West, 1883 offers a complicated picture of the wild frontier. It's a bit much at times, but the whole thing is tame compared to the next series on this list...
'American Primeval' (2025)
Image via NetflixAs if you could expect anything less from action director Peter Berg and the scribe behind The Revenant, American Primeval is about as intense as you can get when it comes to Western-related action. Not only is the whole Netflix miniseries of the highest caliber cinematically, but the action sequences (especially the infamous "Mountains Meadow Massacre") are some of the most harrowing you'll ever see on a television show. This one goes almost beyond TV-MA, and would be equivalent to a "hard R" rating on the big screen.
As Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch) leads a woman and her child through the frontier, they encounter Native Americans, depraved travelers and outlaws, merciless bounty hunters, and the Mormon militia lead by the bloodthirsty Brigham Young (Kim Coates). Blood and guts reign supreme here, with visuals that can be a bit difficult to sit through. As far as movie-level quality goes, American Primeval more than lives up to the hype — and it's much better than Netflix's The Abandons, which premiered later that year.
'Hell on Wheels' (2011–2016)
Image via AMCNot unlike HBO, AMC has been known for its feature-quality entertainment across a broad spectrum of genres, with the Western being one of its most consistent in the past two decades. Hell on Wheels is a prime example of how the network elevates its material into something explosive, with action sequences that range from knife fights and brawls to elaborate battle sequences with plenty of firearms. The high production value alone is worth giving this five-season drama a shot.
As one of the grittiest Western TV shows, Hell on Wheels may not be for the faint of heart, but then again, perhaps the Old West isn't either. The AMC drama pushes its hero, Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), to the limits as he seeks vengeance for his murdered family. With plenty of action to keep you invested, you'll find the quality of material here to be worth the time commitment.
'Billy the Kid' (2022–2025)
Image via MGM+For the very best Western action that television has to offer, Billy the Kid is where you want to be. The high-octane tale of the titular outlaw is known for its clever gunplay and elaborate action sequences that include everything from an impromptu gunfight outside a burning home to a climactic final shootout at a political rally to finish the series off. Tom Blyth plays the cool action hero with ease as Billy plows through gunman after gunman to get to his goal.
It helps that Billy the Kid was made at a time when television has been elevated to feature film status. The MGM+ series certainly benefits from modern filmmaking techniques and action styles that blend well with the Old West aesthetic. So, if you're looking for some great movie-quality action but are in the mood for a Western program that runs for a few seasons (even if it's not always historically accurate), Billy the Kid ought to be your first stop.
Billy the Kid
Release Date 2022 - 2025-00-00
Showrunner Michael Hirst
Directors William A. Graham
Writers Michael Hirst
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Eileen O'Higgins
William Bonney
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English (US) ·