Taylor Sheridan’s Landman Could Be His Best Non-Yellowstone Series Yet — And a Franchise in the Making
Taylor Sheridan has already reshaped television with Yellowstone and its sprawling prequel universe. But now, the showrunner’s oilfield drama Landman — adapted from the Boomtown podcast — is being hailed as the series most likely to launch Sheridan’s next great franchise.
A New Frontier for Sheridan
Unlike Yellowstone, which thrives on ranching legacy and frontier myth, Landman shifts to the modern energy economy. Set in Texas boomtowns, the story dives into the lives of roughnecks, corporate dealmakers, and families caught in the high-risk world of drilling and fracking.
Here, oil barrels replace cattle as the currency of power. Deals happen not on horseback but in rigs, refineries, and boardrooms. Yet Sheridan’s trademarks remain: gritty realism, morally complex characters, and the ever-present clash between survival and ambition.
Why Landman Works as a Franchise
Where Yellowstone builds a dynasty through the Dutton family tree, Landman builds one through the oil industry itself. Each well, company, and boomtown offers fertile ground for expansion:
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Offshore rig workers risking their lives.
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Corporate executives enmeshed in corruption.
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Environmental activists and whistleblowers fighting back.
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Families uprooted by drilling and boom-bust cycles.
The oil industry is global and political, meaning Sheridan can expand outward instead of just backward, with spin-offs naturally tied to different aspects of the same world.
Character-Driven Drama at Its Core
Sheridan’s success lies in anchoring sprawling industries to human stories. In Landman, Billy Bob Thornton leads as Tommy Norris, a man navigating both the danger of rigs and the greed of executives. The characters are ambitious yet broken, resilient yet expendable — the kind of archetypes Sheridan thrives on.
This human-first approach ensures that any spin-off isn’t just spectacle, but grounded in the struggles of ordinary (and extraordinary) people.
Why Paramount Needs It
Paramount has leaned heavily on Yellowstone to drive subscriptions. But as streaming competition intensifies, Landman offers a fresh franchise path with timely resonance: energy politics, climate change, and labor disputes. Unlike the nostalgic pull of Yellowstone, Landman feels urgent and modern — a story of America’s present and future.
With Sheridan’s reputation for authenticity, on-location filming, and industry insight, Landman has the credibility to become a long-term franchise anchor.
Sheridan’s Expanding Legacy
Sheridan has proven he can transport audiences from Montana ranches (Yellowstone) to prison economies (Mayor of Kingstown) and now to Texas oil rigs (Landman).
If Yellowstone mythologized America’s past, Landman dramatizes its present. And in doing so, it could secure Sheridan’s place as one of the most versatile franchise builders in modern television.