Cowboy/Ranch TV Series That Are Good And Bad

[Cody Fousnaugh]

I just happen to turn on the series, Yellowstone, on Paramount Network yesterday. We had watched this series before, that is, until the language got too much for us. The series ended the last of 2024, but there are a couple of spin-offs. For us, in the beginning, the show seemed very good. It showed all of the aspects of cattle ranching in Montana. One of the ranch-hand stars even showed up at PRCA rodeos. What I often wondered was, is this the language that is really used on a ranch? Guess Faye could tell me that.

The other show was The Ranch staring Sam Elliott and Debra Winger. We watched this one until the end, but the language wasn't as bad, and as much, as Yellowstone was.

So, both of these series were "good and bad" to us.

 

[Faye]

I just happen to turn on the series, Yellowstone, on Paramount Network yesterday. We had watched this series before, that is, until the language got too much for us. The series ended the last of 2024, but there are a couple of spin-offs. For us, in the beginning, the show seemed very good. It showed all of the aspects of cattle ranching in Montana. One of the ranch-hand stars even showed up at PRCA rodeos. What I often wondered was, is this the language that is really used on a ranch? Guess Faye could tell me that.

The other show was The Ranch staring Sam Elliott and Debra Winger. We watched this one until the end, but the language wasn't as bad, and as much, as Yellowstone was.

So, both of these series were "good and bad" to us.

If any foul language was used, it was rare. It wasn't used like in Yellowstone which is one of Taylor Sheridan's poorest works. The fight with the Indians has little factual basis and all the sexual violence is way out of line. Nothing about that show is representative of life on todays Montana ranches.

The only one I like is 1923. It is more accurate and the boarding school scenes are based on documented history. Indian boarding schools were closed for good about 1970. That is a very sad thing, but it is true. Also the war with the sheep ranchers in 1923 is fairly accurate. There wasn't as much violence as Sheridan puts in all his TV series, but at least it isn't dramatic crap in my opinion, like Yellowstone.

The Ranch with Sam Elliot was so boring I couldn't watch it very long. I like Sam Elliot, but that show was lame.

I don't think anyone could make a TV series out of ranching that wasn't boring. Ranchers do it because they love the life, not because it is exciting. That is the reason rodeos came to be. It was a time they could get away and do something exciting. I think there was a reality TV series that started about ranch life, but it didn't last.

The most exciting times for me growing up, were the roundups and chuckwagon campout suppers after the work was done.

 

[Sheryl]

I think "Lonesome Dove" was the best series I ever saw.

 

[Joe Riley]

We are hooked on Longmire reruns.

 

[Krystal]

Taylor Sheridan shows.... I hated the Yellowstone series. We tried to watch a few shows of it and disliked it immensely. I know a lot of people loved it, but not me. I didn’t like anything about it. And normally, foul language does not bother me that much in shows because I certainly know how to use it well myself. But I do not like every other word coming out of their mouth being “F”. Sometimes it is the only word that will fit but most of the time it isn’t necessary to say it as much as they do in shows.

I tried to like 1923 but I quit watching it when the Indian girls were being abused by the nuns and priests. I couldn’t stand to watch that. Could. Not.

I did like 1883, the prequel to 1923 and Yellowstone. I thought it was done well, whether it was accurate or not. I thought Faith Hill and Tim McCraw did a fine job acting, given that they are country singers and not actors.

I liked Landman too! I liked Billy Bob Thornton, who was in it, and thought the show was pretty good. But I could have done without the wife and daughter characters being in the show. They really didn’t add anything to the story, I didn’t think.

 

[Cody Fousnaugh]

We are hooked on Longmire reruns.

YES, we got completely hooked on Longmire.

 

[Faye]

I have watched Longmire 3 times.

 

[Joe Riley]

I have watched Longmire 3 times.

Review (Spoiler Alert)
"It's hard to think of a neo-Western crime drama with as much mystery and intrigue as Longmire. The series began its run on television in 2012 on A&E, spanning three seasons on the network before moving to Netflix for the back half of its six-season run. During its time on air, Longmire was beloved by audiences and expertly scratched our Western TV itch long before Yellowstone hit the small screen. But how did Longmire end? It shouldn't surprise you that the show came a long way from where it began, and the series finale "Goodbye Is Always Implied" goes out with a bang that would make classic TV Westerns everywhere jealous."

 

[Marie Mallory]

One of my top 10 movies of all time, about a rancher and livestock.

The Rare Breed,

 

[Susannah]

Longmire is definitely the best IMO. I liked Lonesome Dove too although it’s been so long I barely remember it. I’ve never been able to get very far into Yellowstone.

Nearly all western TV shows and movies are full of horrible language and treat women and livestock bad. It used to be a favorite genre for me but probably not in the last decade or more.