6 Surprising Reasons Why Taylor Sheridan Is the Most Powerful Man on TV Right Now

Image Courtesy of Simon & Schuster/Emerson Miller Published Sep 15, 2026, 6:53 AM EDT Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, and conducts interviews. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His novella, The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain, was released in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family. Sign in to your Collider account When it comes to prestige television, nobody else holds all the cards quite like Taylor Sheridan. The actor-turned-filmmaker hit his stride in the mid-2010s when he penned critically acclaimed films like Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River, launching a screenwriting career that eventually morphed into a showrunning one. By 2018, Yellowstone hit the airwaves, and while it was a bit of a tough sell for some at first, the modern cowboy drama became all the rage as the years went on and streaming boosted its reach. But why is Sheridan such a heavy-hitter in the TV industry? Well, there are a few simple reasons we've noticed over the years. Between his ability to write memorable dialogue and creating a genuine sense of place, Sheridan has proven that he can put in the work. Not only is he creating shows now, but his name has been attached to projects like Lawmen: Bass Reeves just to generate additional credibility. After all, if Sheridan is sold, why wouldn't we be? Although Sheridan is close to leaving Paramount behind in favor of NBCUniversal, thus far his Paramount+ dramas have been some of the biggest hits in streaming — and here's why. Taylor Sheridan Draws in A-List Talent Part of the reason we first noticed Yellowstone in the first place was that Kevin Costner was headlining the production. Although Sheridan had intended to partner with Robert Redford to turn the Dutton drama into an HBO production, the cable giant passed, ultimately leading to Paramount Network and Costner's involvement. The incredible success of Yellowstone combined with Sheridan's experience as an actor (which informed the way he wrote every character) has attracted several other big names to the small-screen — names that may not have considered such a career shift beforehand. From Billy Bob Thornton and Sam Elliott to Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren to Sylvester Stallone and Morgan Freeman, Sheridan has been able to attract big stars to just about every new television adventure. Even the programs that are only produced by Sheridan, such as Dutton Ranch, still manage to pull in names like Annette Bening and Ed Harris. That's no small feat, and it's certainly helped garner attention for every new Taylor Sheridan show as they hit the airwaves. Sheridan's Work Appeals to Rural and Politically Diverse Demographics Image via Paramount+ Ever since the rural purge of the 1970s, television has largely shifted away from programming meant to appeal to middle America. Of course, there have always been exceptions to that rule, but for the most part, you'll find that most network and cable television shows gravitate toward either urban environments or politically liberal mindsets. While Sheridan isn't the only creator out there willing to embrace both conservative viewers and rural audiences, he's certainly the most pronounced — and the most prolific. For instance, both Yellowstone and Landman deal with blue-collar industries that most programs wouldn't touch with a 49-and-a-half-foot pole. The beef and oil industries are complex operations that are explored over several seasons and often seen in a positive light, winning points with the folks who relate to those ways of life. This isn't to say that Sheridan doesn't appeal to viewers on the other side of the political aisle either (he certainly does), but his willingness not to demonize those in America's heartland or preach at them is certainly a selling point. He's One of the Few Tackling the Neo-Western on Television Image via Paramount Network Again, Sheridan is by no means the first (or only) creator in Hollywood engaging with the neo-Western. Before Yellowstone even aired, we had Longmire and Justified to keep the spirit of the Old West alive in the 21st century. However, Sheridan was able to do what some of those other shows were not and push the subgenre so fervently into the mainstream that it's become something of his brand. Between Yellowstone and spin-offs Dutton Ranch and Marshals, as well as Landman and the critical darling The Madison, Sheridan is well-known for contemporary takes on the American West. Some of this, of course, carries over from Sheridan's feature film work as well. The three films that launched his behind-the-scenes career have been dubbed the "American Frontier Trilogy" for a reason, and many still consider them among his best works. When it comes to television, Sheridan unashamedly embraces the Western, and while 1883 is the only traditional Western he's helmed himself (as he only produced Lawmen: Bass Reeves), 1923 is a fine mix of old-school horse opera and neo-Western sensibilities. That said, that's certainly not all he can do... Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor SheridanShow Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn't write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for. 🤠Yellowstone 🛢️Landman 👑Tulsa King ⚖️Mayor of Kingstown FIND YOUR WORLD → 01 Where does your power come from? In Sheridan's world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind. ALand, legacy, and a name that's been feared and respected for generations. BKnowing the deal better than anyone else in the room — and being willing to walk away first. CReputation. I've earned it the hard way, and everyone in the room knows it. DBeing the only person both sides will talk to. That makes me indispensable — and dangerous. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan's universe is always absolute — and always costly. AFamily — blood or chosen. The ranch, the name, the people who carry it with me. BThe company — or whoever's signing the cheques. Loyalty follows the contract. CMy crew. The men who stood with me when it counted — I don't abandon them for anything. DMy community — even when my community is a powder keg and I'm the only thing stopping it from blowing. NEXT QUESTION → 03 Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it's crossed. AQuietly, decisively, and in a way that sends a message to everyone watching. BI outmanoeuvre them legally, financially, and politically before they even know I've moved. CDirectly. Old school. You cross me, you hear about it to your face — and then you deal with the consequences. DI absorb it, calculate the fallout, and find the move that keeps the whole system from collapsing. NEXT QUESTION → 04 Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan's worlds are as much about place as they are about people. AWide open land — mountains, sky, silence. Somewhere you can see trouble coming from a mile away. BThe oil fields of West Texas — brutal, lucrative, and indifferent to whoever happens to be standing on top of them. CA mid-size city where the rules haven't quite caught up yet — fertile ground for someone with vision and nerve. DA rust-belt town built around a prison — where everyone's life is shaped by what's inside those walls. NEXT QUESTION → 05 How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt. AI do what has to be done to protect what's mine. I'll answer for it eventually — but not today. BGrey is just business. The line moves depending on what's at stake, and I move with it. CI have a code — it's not the law's code, but it's mine, and I don't break it. DI've made peace with it. Keeping the peace requires compromises most people don't have the stomach for. NEXT QUESTION → 06 What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they're defending. AA way of life that the modern world is doing everything it can to erase. BMy position — and the leverage that comes with being the person everyone needs to close a deal. CRelevance. I've been away, I've been written off — and I'm proving that was a mistake. DWhatever fragile order I've managed to build — because without it, everything burns. NEXT QUESTION → 07 How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan's world is never given — it's established, maintained, and constantly tested. ABy example and force of will. People follow me because they believe in what I'm protecting — and because they know what happens if they don't. BThrough negotiation and leverage. I don't need people to like me — I need them to need me. CBy being the smartest, most experienced person in the room and making sure everyone quietly knows it. DBy being the calm centre of a situation that would spiral without me — and accepting that nobody thanks you for it. NEXT QUESTION → 08 Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you. AThey'll learn. Or they won't. Either way, the land was here before them and it'll be here after. BI figure out what they want, what they're worth, and whether they're an asset or a problem — fast. CI was the outsider once. I give them a chance — one — to show they understand respect. DNew players destabilise everything I've built. I assess the threat and manage it before it manages me. NEXT QUESTION → 09 What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal. AMy family's peace — maybe their innocence. The ranch demands everything, and I've let it take too much. BRelationships, time, any version of a normal life. The job eats everything that isn't nailed down. CYears. Decades in some cases. Time I can't get back — but I'm not done yet. DMy conscience, mostly. And the ability to ever fully trust anyone on either side of the wall. NEXT QUESTION → 10 When it's over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan's characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind. AThat I held the line. That the land is still ours and everything I did was worth it. BThat I was the best at what I did and that no deal ever got closed without me at the table. CThat I built something real, somewhere nobody expected it, and I did it on my own terms. DThat I kept the peace when nobody else could — and that the town is still standing because of it. REVEAL MY SHOW → Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you're complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes. 🤠 Yellowstone 🛢️ Landman 👑 Tulsa King ⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world's indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you're willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family's weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what's yours, you don't escalate — you finish it. You're not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone's world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn't make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it. You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You're a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they'll do to get it. You're not naive enough to think this world is fair. You're smart enough to be the one deciding who it's fair to. You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you're not above reminding people that the two aren't mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they'd be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they're more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don't need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land. You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you're the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky's world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You've made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Taylor Sheridan Juggles Multiple Genres Image via Paramount+ Although his bread-and-butter is undoubtedly the Western, with an emphasis on neo-Western tales, Sheridan has had no problem hopping genres when it suits him. For instance, although most of his shows have a sort of cowboy bent to them, he's made waves with other sorts of programs as well. The one that first comes to mind is Lioness, a military espionage drama that follows an elite unit first tasked with dealing with Middle Eastern terrorism before dealing with cartel troubles just south of the border. Both a spy thriller and a complex look at the U.S. Armed Forces, the show is a stark departure from Sheridan's usual material that has found streaming success. In addition to Lioness, Sheridan has tackled organized crime in his mobster drama Tulsa King and even a detailed look at the U.S. prison system in the crime thriller Mayor of Kingstown. With his name firmly attached to both productions (and more underway, such as the Samuel L. Jackson-led Frisco King), we know that he's had no trouble making each new genre his own. Just revisit the best Mayor of Kingstown episodes if you're in doubt. With more seasons of many of these programs in the works, it's clear that Sheridan is hoping to expand his brand beyond the wide brim of his cowboy hat. Sheridan's Shows Are Mostly Prestige Soap Operas Image via Paramount+ Part of the reason that every new Taylor Sheridan show feels like a Taylor Sheridan show is because each of these programs is essentially a prestige soap opera. It's prestige television in that his shows have large budgets, pull in big-names, and look truly cinematic on the screen, but the characters and plotlines themselves are often so soapy that you could skip several episodes (or possibly even an entire season) without much consequence. Melodrama is at its peak in a Sheridan-made television series, chock-full of generational family feuds, overlapping romances, sudden (but inevitable) betrayals, and characters who seem to walk away from every criminal act scot-free. Combine that with a heavy reliance on violence and potent characters with quippy one-liners that, in any other context, would feel ridiculous, and you've got yourself just about every Taylor Sheridan show. Sure, some shows, like 1883 and The Madison, rise above some of those standard Sheridan tropes, but there's a reason that some have labeled the creator a "one-trick-pony." After all, the similarities between each new series are generally stronger than their differences — but it's that sort of familiarity that continues to bring audiences back for more. Sheridan Is Unafraid To Explore Certain Locales Image via Paramount+ In conjunction with appealing to rural audiences, Sheridan goes a step further. Instead of doing "small-town cop in a big city" ala McCloud, the television giant is careful to take each of his productions directly to the source. Yellowstone and The Madison were both largely filmed in Montana, and Landman and Dutton Ranch are each shot on-location in Texas. Likewise, Tulsa King explores Oklahoma, while Lioness goes all over, from Maryland to Texas. Even shows that aren't shot where they take place, such as Marshals and Mayor of Kingstown, still take every precaution to simulate the landscape and culture of the environment. The setting of each new series is as important for Sheridan as his cast and characters (even those stars who appear on multiple shows), since Sheridan treats the landscape as a character itself. This is perhaps best understood in Yellowstone and The Madison, where "the land" is essentially a character meant to be treated sacredly, but this idea can be found in the other shows as well. In a world where almost every show seems to be shot in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, or some soundstage in Canada, Sheridan's shows are a breath of fresh air from a visual perspective. The Madison Release Date March 14, 2026 Network Paramount+ Showrunner Taylor Sheridan Directors Christina Alexandra Voros Main Genre Drama Seasons 1 Producers Rajeev Malhotra Creator(s) Taylor Sheridan Release Window 2026 Executive Producer(s) Art Linson, Bob Yari, David Glasser, David Hutkin, John Linson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ron Burkle, Taylor Sheridan, Christina Alexandra Voros, Michael Friedman