Yellowstone has ruled the Neo-Western genre for nearly eight years, but Taylor Sheridan’s Landman is exceeding it. Sheridan officially kicked off Yellowstone in 2018, forever shifting the potential for traditional-feeling Westerns in the modern age. The show has been a difficult one to top, but it turns out that Sheridan himself was the key to such an achievement. His new series, Landman, has accomplished what its massively successful predecessor could not.

Yellowstone concluded in 2024, making way for new installments in what has now become a larger franchise. Several big spinoffs are ongoing or upcoming, and Sheridan continues to do his magic from the driver’s seat. This expansion comes down to Yellowstone‘s reputation for excellence. The show holds an impressive 83% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes—success that isn’t easy for a five-part series to maintain. Still, Landman is proving that it has even greater potential.

What Is Landman About?

Image via Paramount+

Sheridan’s Landman is another Neo-Western, this time revolving around the modern oil boom in Texas’ Permian Basin. The story follows Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton), an experienced landman at the center of the dangerous dealings between roughneck workers and the billionaires profiting from the industry. Landman has the feel of a crime drama, but rather than traditional mobsters or crime lords, the series examines the gritty underbelly of technically legal corporations, all in contrast to the blue-collar American Dream.

How Landman Compares To Yellowstone

The most obvious similarities between Yellowstone and Landman are their creator and genre. Sheridan has proven himself a master of Neo-Westerns, and both of these TV shows check all the necessary boxes. They revolve around influential figures within purely American settings, and explore themes of greed, family, legacy, and the age-old battle for land and resources. Additionally, both Yellowstone and Landman center on a similar protagonist, with overt connections between Thornton’s Tommy Norris and Kevin Costner’s John Dutton.

Where these two Sheridan Westerns differ is in Landman‘s deep dive into the dynamic between corporate America and the workers who underpin it. Corruption and ambition don’t just lie between families in this series. The addition of the massively wealthy and powerful raises the stakes significantly, contributing an even grittier feel to Landman. Still, what’s interesting about this show in comparison to Yellowstone is the heartwarming and comedic quality of Tommy Norris’ family. It’s a unique balance.

Landman Is Exceeding Yellowstone

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It’s still early in the game for Landman. The show premiered its first season in 2024, and season 2 is currently ongoing as of this publication. This makes the show’s success and promise compared to Yellowstone all the more impressive. While Landman still has a lower Rotten Tomatoes score than its predecessor (78% critic score overall), its viewership has remained strong right out of the gate. Sheridan’s new Neo-Western is Paramount+’s top trending TV show worldwide.

Yellowstone‘s cult status has undoubtedly contributed to Landman‘s success. The idea of another New-Western from Sheridan was an easy sell. Still, this fact was bound to make viewers more critical, since all eyes would be on this renowned creator to see if he could duplicate his previous masterpiece. Sheridan answered this request with a show that continues those qualities that made Yellowstone great, while still contributing something fresh and new. Landman‘s exquisite balance of intensity, grit, crime, and heartwarming quality has given it great legs. It’s off to a better start than Yellowstone, and this is sure to continue.