Taylor Sheridan Series Is Yellowstone in Texas

Taylor Sheridan adds Texas oil drama Landman to his extensive portfolio on Nov. 17 — the fourth TV show he’s created for Paramount+ and one of his ever-growing list of projects. At this point, it’s natural to ask why Sheridan is making yet another television series. But Landman is actually based on the hit podcast Boomtown by Christian Wallace, and that basis in fact helps to give this project a different feel, even if some of the dramatic elements are the same.

Landman is an entirely fictional story inspired by the podcast, and carried by Billy Bob Thornton in the main role of Tommy Norris. It’s a perfect character for Thornton, who embodies the grit and devil-may-care attitude of a Taylor Sheridan protagonist. And the plot brings Sheridan back to the neo-Western space in which he works best. Fans of Yellowstone will find a lot to love in Landman, which tackles similar themes while also reveling in its Texas setting.

Landman Is a Quintessential Taylor Sheridan Show

It Feels Like a Blast From Sheridan’s Past

After finding success with Yellowstone, audiences have watched Taylor Sheridan expand his TV portfolio into other genres. He teamed with Hugh Dillon to tell an urban crime story with Mayor of Kingstown, ventured into a mob drama with Tulsa King, and created a military series in Lioness. Landman truly feels like Sheridan coming back to the modern Western ethos that he nailed so well with Yellowstone and in his films before that, and it succeeds in part because of that. With its Texas setting and a collection of hard-bitten characters fighting just to survive, it’s everything Sheridan does really well.

That means viewers’ mileage will vary, depending on how much they enjoy Sheridan’s body of work. There’s absolutely no doubt that he repeats some of the same storytelling elements that have made him a massive success. Like all of his other series, Landman contrasts the main character’s family against the uncompromising business that they’re in — this time it’s the oil industry instead of ranching, prisons, the mob or the CIA. What helps to separate Landman from the pack is ironically the part that he didn’t create: the podcast.

Landman is not a direct adaptation of Boomtown, which earned a Webby Award nomination for exploring the Permian Basin oil boom. Viewers shouldn’t take what happens in this show as fact, but using it as a jumping-off point creates a real-life context that makes the fictional events more compelling and easier to understand. Audiences know that the world in which these characters live and the stakes they face are real, and it’s a slice of American culture that many people will be exploring for the first time. There have been several TV shows based on podcasts, but Landman is one of the better ones because it preserves the podcast’s feeling of place and and its eye toward the bigger picture.

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Billy Bob Thornton Is the Strong Center of Landman

A Reliable Supporting Cast Backs Thornton All the Way

Billy Bob Thornton is the newest A-list star to lead a Taylor Sheridan series, and he’s the biggest reason to watch Landman. Not just for the name recognition, but because Thornton is also completely in his element. The Academy Award winner sets the tone for the whole show immediately as Tommy, who’s the man keeping things going between the big corporations and the “little guys” on the ground. He’s introduced through a monologue and Thornton delivers it with such apathetic edge that it’s reminiscent of what Jeff Daniels did in the opening scene of The Newsroom. But there’s nothing uplifting or motivating about what Thornton’s character has to say; it’s just cold, hard facts.

Thornton was fantastic as dogged, complicated attorney Billy McBride across four seasons of Prime Video’s legal drama Goliath. Here his character is now working with the institution instead of taking it down, but the two roles have a few things in common. Tommy, like Billy, has seen more than his fair share of things and has become a survivor. He does what he has to do without any pretense. Yet while Tommy is no-nonsense and callous most of the time, Landman follows the Sheridan playbook by balancing that out with the softer side he shows to his family: his ex-wife Angela and their two children. There’s a subplot in the series premiere in which Tommy has to help his daughter Ainsley with something that could easily have been awkward and melodramatic, and Thornton plays it with perfect grace and tenderness. His range is what Landman needs to make both sides of Tommy, and both sides of its overall story, believable.

The Paramount+ drama surrounds Thornton with a whole cast of veteran character actors who populate the world without taking the audience out of what’s happening. Sheridan enthusiasts will recognize James Jordan, who portrays Dale Bradley, from the movie Wind River and almost all of Sheridan’s TV shows. Mad Men star Jon Hamm is back on the small screen as the polished corporate executive who doesn’t have to get his hands dirty, as that’s what he has Tommy for. Other cast members include Colm Feore, Ali Larter and Michael Peña. But one person to keep an eye on is Jacob Lofland as Tommy’s son Cooper, who’s working in the oil patch — much to the apprehension of his parents. The early bits of Landman are also a coming-of-age story for Cooper, and Lofland plays it with a quiet discomfort that sticks with the viewer.

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Is Landman on Paramount+ Worth Watching?

The Show Makes Some Bold Storytelling Choices

Landman will obviously be on the radar of Taylor Sheridan fans, who will get the most out of it because it’s the equivalent to Yellowstone in many ways, just set in Texas. The two series have the same tone and feel, they both include dysfunctional family dynamics, and they share a blue-collar story pitting individuals against big business. Tommy Norris is on a different side of that argument from Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone character John Dutton, but the themes are near-identical. Sheridan isn’t challenging himself immensely with the setup, but that’s okay, because that means audiences are getting some of his best work. He makes some sharp storytelling choices early on, including a tragedy that audiences will only see coming just moments before it happens.

Yet one doesn’t have to be a Taylor Sheridan die-hard to enjoy Landman, because it has an almost philosophical tone on many occasions that is refreshing. Through the employee characters played by the likes of Jordan and Peña, the show reflects on hard work and sacrifice in a part of the country that can feel like its own separate world. It can be grim, and it can be slow, but it offers moments of dreaming, too. It’s not Sheridan’s most exciting or dramatic series — those used to the infighting of Yellowstone or the crime drama of Mayor of Kingstown may find it a harder watch — but he’s in top form. Landman is anchored by the intense talent of Billy Bob Thornton and the context of Christian Wallace’s podcast, while Sheridan builds a whole new frontier well worth exploring.

Landman premieres Sunday, Nov. 17 on Paramount+.

Set in the vast landscapes of West Texas, the series follows a group of landmen who negotiate oil and gas leases between landowners and energy companies. Central to the story is the dynamic and ambitious landman, struggling to balance his professional ambitions with personal integrity. As he navigates the high-stakes world of energy deals, he encounters ethical dilemmas, fierce competition, and the impact of his work on the local communities and environment.

Creator(s)

Taylor Sheridan , Christian Wallace

Cast

Billy Bob Thornton , Ali Larter , Michelle Randolph , Jacob Lofland , Alejandro Akara , James Jordan , Kayla Wallace , Paulina Chávez , Mark Collie

Seasons

1

Where To Watch

Paramount+

Pros

• Billy Bob Thornton gives another intense performance as Tommy.
• The supporting cast is populated with reliable faces.
• The family vs. business drama will keep viewers interested.

Cons

• Audiences may feel like they’ve seen some of this on Sheridan’s other shows.