TheWesterngenre has had a huge resurgence in popularity, especially in television, but there still hasn’t been a series that has surpassed HBO’s 2004 show. ThoughWesterns fell out of popularityafter the 1970s, recent decades have seen a huge resurgence for the genre. Just in the 21st century, we’ve gotten notable TV shows likeJustified,Longmire,Dark Winds,Hell on Wheels, and countless others. That’s not even mentioning Taylor Sheridan’sYellowstoneand its various spinoff shows, or many of thebest Western shows of the last ten years. Western movies may not be as popular as they once were, but Western TV is doing fine.
Western television has come a long way from the days ofRawhideandGunsmoke; so much so that it’s helpful to separate the genre’s television efforts into classic and modern eras. Though the modern era of Western TV has seen some exceptional shows, likeAmerican PrimevalandOuter Range, its peak was in 2004, and no show since then has been able to surpass it. That’s not for lack of trying, either, as Western shows have only gotten more popular in the last 20 years, but even the best examples of Western TV still can’t top HBO’sDeadwood.
Deadwood Is Still The Best Western TV Show
Many Western Shows Have Come Close, But Deadwood Is Still The Best Example Of The Genre In A Serialized Format
Even after more than two decades and countless other shows, HBO’sDeadwoodis still the best modern Western series ever put to the screen.That’s not to say more recent Westerns are bad; it’s simply a statement thatDeadwoodwas and is truly groundbreaking in almost every category. The entire cast ofDeadwood, which included Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) and Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), was phenomenal.Deadwoodalso told a fascinating, sociological story of power, morality, and greed that is as topical today as it was in 2004. That, coupled with the amazing, period-accurate sets and costumes, phenomenal writing, and more, madeDeadwoodan instant classic.
This isn’t just my opinion, either.Deadwoodis widely regarded as not just the best Western show ever, but as one of thebest TV shows of all timein general. Almost everyone who has seenDeadwoodcan attest to its quality: it has 92% with critics and 95% with audiences onRotten Tomatoes, for example.Newer shows likeThat Dirty Black BagorWynona Earphave reached wide audiences and found a lot of success, but they simply can’t match the wayDeadwooddominated in every relevant category of what makes for a good show. They also all owe a debt toDeadwood.
Modern Western TV Doesn’t Happen Without Deadwood
Even After Two Decades, Deadwood Has Left An Indelible Mark On Western TV
Another sign of how great and influentialDeadwoodwas is its lingering effect on the Western genre as a whole.Every Western show since 2004 has, without fail, been influenced byDeadwoodin some way, and the current state of Western television simply wouldn’t exist withoutDeadwood. For example,Godlessfeatures the same gritty, revisionist view of the Old West thatDeadwooddid, whileYellowstonefocuses on multiple different characters fighting for land and power, just as the cast ofDeadwoodstruggled for control of the titular town.Deadwoodchanged the face of Western TV shows in much the same wayStar Trekchanged science fiction TV.
Deadwood changed the face of Western TV shows in much the same way Star Trek changed science fiction.
Deadwooddoesn’t just serve as inspiration for more modern Western TV shows, it literally changed the TV landscape in such a way that made those later shows possible.BeforeDeadwood,Gunsmokewas the best example of a Western TV show, and it was seen as outdated and overly sentimental.Deadwoodbrought the Revisionist Western movement - which started with films likeUnforgiven- into a serialized format and proved that the genre could still be taken seriously in the 21st century. OtherWesternslikeYellowstonewould never be as popular as they are ifDeadwoodhadn’t carved a path for them.
