Ranking Taylor Sheridan’s Television Series
Taylor Sheridan’s TV work has a way of grabbing the room and refusing to let go.
Grit, momentum, and characters who carry whole histories in the way they stand still can turn an episode into an “okay, one more” situation fast.
Stories often land in places that feel lived-in rather than postcard-pretty, and the conflict tends to hit with a blunt honesty that keeps viewers arguing about motives long after the credits roll.
One series hooks you with white-knuckle tension, another pulls you in with mood and place, and another earns its points in the quiet moments where a look across a room feels louder than a fistfight.
Disclaimer: Rankings reflect editorial opinion informed by publicly available information, general viewer response, and critical reception, and viewers may disagree.
8. Mayor of Kingstown
Power, politics, and prison walls collide in this dark Michigan drama.
Mayor of Kingstown follows the McLusky family, who basically run the town by brokering deals between inmates, gangs, and law enforcement.
Jeremy Renner, yes, Hawkeye himself, leads the cast with raw intensity.
However, critics were split, landing the show at just 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans still found plenty to love in its gritty realism.
7. Special Ops: Lioness
Zoe Saldana leads this pulse-pounding spy thriller as a tough CIA handler running an undercover operation inside a terrorist network. Think Mission Impossible meets real-world geopolitics, and you are halfway there.
Where the show truly shines is in its portrayal of women carrying impossible burdens without flinching. Though it earned a solid 73% on Rotten Tomatoes, many viewers felt it deserved even higher praise.
If action-packed storytelling with emotional depth sounds like your jam, Special Ops: Lioness is absolutely worth your streaming queue spot.
6. Landman
Billy Bob Thornton plays a sharp, no-nonsense land negotiator navigating the wild and dangerous world of West Texas oil. Imagine a legal thriller wrapped inside a dusty cowboy hat, and you get the idea.
Sheridan based the show on a popular podcast, which gives it an authentic, boots-on-the-ground energy that feels refreshingly different. Critics rewarded it with a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes.
How does a show about oil contracts become genuinely thrilling? Thornton makes every scene crackle with personality, turning boardroom drama into something that feels almost cinematic.
5. Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Did you know Bass Reeves was the first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River?
His real-life story is so extraordinary that even Hollywood could not make it more dramatic if it tried.
David Oyelowo delivers a towering performance, making every scene feel like a page torn from a forgotten history book.
Though this series sits slightly under the radar compared to Sheridan’s bigger hits, it carries enormous cultural weight and storytelling power.
4. Tulsa King
Nobody expected Sylvester Stallone to headline a Taylor Sheridan comedy drama, and yet here we are, absolutely loving every second of it.
Stallone plays Dwight Manfredi, a New York mob boss exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where literally nothing goes according to plan.
The culture clash humor is laugh-out-loud funny, but the show also packs genuine emotional punches.
Rotten Tomatoes gave it a strong 89% approval rating. Honestly, watching Rocky navigate Oklahoma life might be the most entertaining thing Sheridan has ever produced.
3. 1883
Few TV shows have ever made the American frontier feel this brutal and beautiful at the same time.
1883 follows the original Dutton family as they trek westward through unforgiving territory, hoping to find a better life but finding hardship at every turn.
Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and a scene-stealing Sam Elliott anchor this emotionally devastating prequel. With an 89% Rotten Tomatoes rating, audiences were completely hooked.
Warning: keep tissues nearby, because this show does not play nice with your heart. It is raw and utterly unforgettable television.
2. 1923
Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford sharing a screen together sounds like a movie studio fever dream, but 1923 made it glorious reality.
This Yellowstone prequel drops viewers into the Prohibition era and the Great Depression, where the Dutton family fights drought, land barons, and brutal winters.
Holding a spectacular 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, it stands as Sheridan’s most critically celebrated work.
The performances are magnetic, the Montana landscapes are jaw-dropping, and the writing crackles with tension. If you only watch one Sheridan prequel, make it this one.
1. Yellowstone
Where do you even start with Yellowstone?
Kevin Costner plays patriarch John Dutton, a man who will do absolutely anything to protect his family’s massive Montana ranch from developers, politicians, and rival landowners.
It is basically Game of Thrones with cowboy hats, and that is not a complaint.
Season 5 pulled in a staggering 12.1 million viewers at its premiere, making it the biggest scripted series premiere of 2022.
Sheridan built an entire television universe from this foundation. No other show on this list comes close to matching its cultural footprint.
