10 Western Shows Without a Single Flaw

Image via Paramount+ Published Jul 17, 2026, 12:07 AM EDT Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts. Sign in to your Collider account The Western genre had its time in the limelight, dominating the early era of Hollywood with its gritty and hard-boiled style alongside a sense of unbridled freedom. However, it has begun to pick up steam again, with many fans enjoying new and old Western shows, such as Yellowstone. But because the genre is so old, many of the series suffer from distinct flaws; even now, the genre has many disappointments. On the other hand, there are a decent number of critically acclaimed Westerns that achieve the impossible and remain perfect from start to finish. This list will highlight the Western TV shows that have no flaws based on consistency, originality, influence, pacing, writing, acting, memorability, and overall quality. Fans yearn for a time of lawlessness, manliness, freedom, and gritty action, which is exactly what these shows possess. 10 'Gunsmoke' (1955–1975) Image via CBS This list includes a variety of Western shows, new and old, and the oldest featured is Gunsmoke, coming out in the mid-1950s. The Marshal, Matt Dillon (James Arness), is stationed in Dodge City, Kansas, and is tasked with protecting the small town from anything that may cause it trouble, from cattle rustlers to fiendish outlaws. A lot of flawless Westerns are rather short, mainly because it is nearly impossible to remain perfect with over 20 seasons. While Gunsmoke is that long and has some lows, it is surprisingly consistent throughout the two decades it was on air. Gunsmoke had to be doing something right for it to go on that long, and its main feat was creating the template for serialized Westerns and shifting the genre from child-friendly to mature adult-oriented content. 9 '1883' (2021–2022) Image via Paramount+ The Yellowstone franchise, also known as the Duttonverse, is arguably the most popular Western franchise right now, and while they have a lot of spin-offs, none can be considered perfect except for 1883. This limited series prequel follows the early generation of the Dutton family who travel from Texas to find a new home in Oregon, facing hardships and danger along the way. By stripping away the romanticized lens of the time period, 1883 becomes a gritty and grounded Western that depicts the Oregon Trail as a grueling trek. This show is surprisingly haunting, overshadowed by its tragic tone that doesn't get in the way of incredible action and dramatic moments that show why 1883 is the best Yellowstone spin-off. 8 'The Wild Wild West' (1965–1969) Image via CBS While all genres are prone to evolving, Westerns tend to stay true to the classics, but some shows, such as The Wild Wild West, decide to experiment. James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) are two Secret Service agents who must travel the West in a specialized train in order to protect the president from outlaws, mad scientists, and any other potential danger. By mixing the Western and spy genres, The Wild Wild West creates something entirely new and different, almost being steampunk-esque, which is one of the earliest examples of it. With pure pulp entertainment, The Wild Wild West is one of the most inventive Westerns, using its distinct blend to spice up the genre with its high-tech action and Western style. 7 'The English' (2022) Image via Prime Video Some shows on this list are old, like Gunsmoke, but it also features some modern classics, like the newest show on here, The English. Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt), an Englishwoman, arrives on the Western Frontier with one goal in mind: to kill those who murdered her son. To do this, she teams up with a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout to travel the badlands. As the newest Western on this list, The English has already established itself as an essential Western for its classic revenge story. Westerns often romanticize the era and conveniently dance around the problems with it, but The English handles the Native American displacement with grace and authenticity. Visually stunning, this poetic and underrated Western show is a flawless masterpiece that more fans need to watch. 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 6 'Hell on Wheels' (2011–2016) Image via AMC Set after the events of the Civil War, Hell on Wheels follows a former Confederate soldier, Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), as he searches for the killer of his wife. This adventure of his takes him to the titular mobile encampment, which he travels with on his long journey of revenge. Perhaps one of the most underrated Western TV shows, Hell on Wheels deserves more credit for being a must-watch drama during a time with few classics. It has a unique view on the era, focusing on the industrialization of the Wild West, which it uses to showcase the brutal, racial, and corrupt time period in all of its shame and capitalism. 5 'Lonesome Dove' (1989) Image via CBS Miniseries are hit or miss for Westerns, but when done right, they are without flaw, and one such example is Lonesome Dove. This story is about two former aging Texas rangers who decide to put their quiet and peaceful retired lives in Texas behind them in favor of one last thrill of adrenaline as they travel to Montana. Many consider it the best Western miniseries of all time, and while this list has one higher than Lonesome Dove, it is exceptionally profound. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones put up career-defining performances, which help portray the character study about aging, friendship, and regret. 4 'Justified' (2010–2015) Image via FX Timothy Olyphant is an incredible Western actor in some of the best shows the genre has to offer, including Justified, where he is one of the main stars alongside Walton Goggins. When a lawman who acts like a Wild West gunslinger is reassigned to his childhood town, he is reunited with an old friend in the worst possible way when he learns that he has turned to a life of crime. A lot of Westerns have moving parts, but Justified solely relies on its protagonist and antagonist dynamic, which is one of the most intriguing in all of television. Their mirrored arcs develop with each other, showcasing phenomenal character development that drives the story into suspenseful moments and action-oriented shootouts that prove Justified is a modern Western masterpiece. 3 'Have Gun – Will Travel' (1957–1963) Image via CBS Gunsmoke may be the oldest and longest-running Western show on this list, but Have Gun – Will Travel is not too far behind. Paladin (Richard Boone) may be a highly educated and sophisticated man who lives in a luxurious hotel, but he is a hired gun who will take on any job that takes him across the West. As an older show, Have Gun – Will Travel is a rather underrated Western that is still worth a watch because of its classic style. Unlike most Western heroes who were shoot-first types, Paladin was a tactical and sophisticated character who used his intellect and negotiation. With a distinct and memorable protagonist, each episode was a unique Western masterpiece with moral ambiguity. 2 'Godless' (2017) There are a handful of Western miniseries on this list, but none are as good or acclaimed as Godless. Set in a New Mexico mining town, a tragic accident kills almost all the men, leaving the population mostly women. However, when a daunting outlaw comes to the town to find his protégé who is hiding there, it is up to the women to protect the village themselves. It may only be seven episodes, but it is because of that tight pace that there are no flaws in Godless. By the end of the show, fans will wish there were dozens more seasons, but the way it trimmed unnecessary filler is why it is paced so well. Godless is a fresh new take on an old genre, but it still maintains the classic grit and tension fans love, with the ending culminating in one of the best shootouts in the Western genre. 1 'Deadwood' (2004–2006) Image via HBO This list features some of the best Westerns of all time, but the greatest is, hands down, Deadwood, an HBO masterpiece that is the peak of Western. The titular settlement started as a simple encampment, but the show chronicles its life as it evolves into a fully-fledged town. But going from a lawless, violent mining town to a recognized city takes blood, sweat, and tears. Renowned for having some of the best dialogue in television history, Deadwood is almost Shakespearean in its writing, delivering a masterful script that is among the best in Hollywood. Built upon the character foils in the show, the dynamics and growing relationships and the tension that comes with it, it is a masterful display and truly riveting. Deadwood is a prestigious Western that many consider to be one of the best TV shows of all time, easily making it a Western with no flaws from start to finish. Deadwood Release Date 2004 - 2006-00-00 Network HBO Max Showrunner David Milch Writers David Milch Seasons 3 Streaming Service(s) MAX