Robert Duvall’s 4-Part Epic Western Is the 10/10 Tribute You’re Looking For

1 week ago 14

Published Feb 18, 2026, 8:35 PM EST

Rohan Naahar is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

The sad passing of acting icon Robert Duvall leaves his fans with no option but to honor his life and career by revisiting his memorable roles. Duvall starred in more classics than can be counted on one hand. He's probably best known to audiences across the world for his sympathetic portrayal of the scheming lawyer Tom Hagen in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather and its sequel, The Godfather: Part II. However, he delivered equally moving performances in the neo-noir film The Outfit, the drama movie Tender Mercies, the satirical comedy Network, the war epic Apocalypse Now, and the psychological thriller The Conversation. Duvall kept working well into his career; he's perhaps one of the few stars who witnessed the New Hollywood era of the 1970s and the streaming wars of the 2010s. Spoiled for choice as they are, audiences seem to be flocking to one of Duvall's most memorable performances after his passing.

According to FlixPatrol, the 1989 limited series Lonesome Dove witnessed a massive spike in viewership immediately after Duvall's death on February 15. It was the most-watched show on the domestic iTunes charts on February 17, ahead of acclaimed hits such as Halt and Catch Fire, Landman, and Parks and Recreation. Lonesome Dove was released at a time when Westerns were believed to have gone out of fashion. The 1990s are widely considered to be one of the weakest decades for the genre, even though they produced classics such as Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven and Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves. Lonesome Dove was just as vital for the genre's survival as those films.

'Lonesome Dove's Influence Can Be Traced to Taylor Sheridan's '1883'

Based on the classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Larry McMurtry — he also co-wrote the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain and wrote the novel that inspired the film Terms of Endearment — Lonesome Dove featured Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, Anjelica Huston, and a young Steve Buscemi. The four-part show originally aired on CBS, and it now holds a "Certified Fresh" 98% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The website's consensus reads, "Headlined by Robert Duvall's sublimely rowdy performance, Lonesome Dove brings Larry McMurtry's beloved book to resounding life in an epic treatment that broadens the possibilities of what the silver screen is capable of." Lonesome Dove should appeal to not only fans of Duvall's work, but also those who admire Taylor Sheridan's 1883 and HBO's Deadwood. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.