Not Even Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone Shows Can Top This 6-Part Neo-Western Series

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While Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone is the most popular Western TV show in a long time, Justified has arguably had a bigger impact on the genre. Currently, there’s a surge of both classic and modern Westerns to watch, from shows like Dark Winds to The Madison, all available on streaming platforms.

While shows like Taylor Sheridan’s Lawman: Bass Reeves and Netflix’s The Abandons and American Primeval didn’t quite capture a large audience, demonstrating the challenge for traditional Westerns, Yellowstone’s prequel series 1883 and 1923 succeeded because they were connected to the popular Yellowstone universe.

Justified Is The Quintessential Neo-Western TV Show

By the end of its fifth season, Yellowstone had become the most successful show created by Taylor Sheridan. The popular neo-Western, which premiered in 2018, was a major success for Paramount and led to the creation of prequel series like 1883 and 1923, with another sequel, Y: Marshals, on the way.

The success of Yellowstone launched Taylor Sheridan into a prominent role in television, leading to shows like Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness, Landman, Lawman: Bass Reeves, and The Madison. Despite this, Yellowstone wasn’t the first show to revive the popularity of Westerns.

The show that best exemplifies this is Justified, a 2010 FX series created by Graham Yost and based on the character Raylan Givens from Elmore Leonard’s stories. Justified ran for six seasons and even had a follow-up series, Justified: City Primeval, in 2023. The show’s 78 episodes center around Timothy Olyphant’s portrayal of Raylan Givens, a US Deputy Marshal who lives by his own strong moral compass.

Timothy Olyphant Is A Huge Reason Why Justified Works

FX / MovieStillsDB

Even though Givens bent the rules when it suited him, Olyphant’s character still possessed a moral compass. Similar to many of Leonard’s complex heroes, he was a strong, intimidating, and fascinating figure. His gray areas – not being purely good or bad – made him ideal for this modern Western story.

While Givens wasn’t flawless, the show’s antagonists were significantly more problematic. Featuring a fantastic ensemble cast including Walton Goggins, Kaitlyn Dever, and Margo Martindale, Justified was a consistently surprising and inventive series, powerfully driven by a standout performance from Olyphant.

Why Neo-Westerns Have Taken Over Television

Paramount Network (via MovieStillsDb)

Justified was a fantastic series because it skillfully combined classic Western themes with the style of modern crime dramas, all set in a contemporary world. Similar to how Timothy Olyphant excelled in the traditional Western Deadwood, Justified demonstrated his ability to play a complex, morally ambiguous character for a new generation.

The TV show Justified captured a modern take on the Wild West, with a constant sense of danger and self-reliance. While Yellowstone wasn’t quite as intense or grim, it adopted a similar Western vibe, which contributed to its popularity.

Many of Taylor Sheridan’s TV shows, like Mayor of Kingstown and season 2 of Landman, share a similar tough, sun-drenched style with Justified. And because Yellowstone became so popular, a lot of shows inspired by Justified are now being made, even though Justified originally ended over a decade ago.

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2026-02-28 21:10