10 Nearly Perfect Western Shows, Ranked
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 wonderful wife and precious daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, interviews, and breaking news on select occasion. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own, from supernatural thrillers to historical fiction. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" in 2025 from the Western Writers of America, of which he is a member. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.
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The Western continues to make waves with modern viewers, whether in the form of new installments like the Yellowstone Universe or by revisiting older material. Cowboys, outlaws, lawmen, and pioneers make up the mythic Old West, but the genre has extended far beyond even the 19th century. Whether you prefer old-fashioned horse operas or neo-Westerns, we've put together some shows that it's about time you revisit.
The "near perfect" in the headline here is intentional. For some reason or another, these shows may not be perfect, but they're the type of Westerns you'll want to give the old college try, even if they get a little weird. From neo-Westerns and "Weird Westerns" to more classical interpretations of the genre, there's something here for everybody. So saddle up, because that stunning horizon is calling...
10 'Outer Range' (2022-2024)
What first began as a neo-Western drama with a slight sci-fi twist quickly became a psychedelic "Weird Western" by its second season. Outer Range may have been Prime Video's attempt to lean into the Yellowstone market, but the Josh Brolin-led Wyoming drama did so much more than that. When rancher Royal Abbott (Brolin) finds a mysterious black hole in his west pasture, things get out of hand when a stranger named Autumn (Imogen Poots) shows up looking for some answers of her own.
Outer Range is more than a sci-fi neo-Western, though. Through the use of time travel in the second season especially, it's also a Western proper as the narrative shifts to the not-so-distant past. With a rich mythology and plenty of suspense to go around, this is a two-season Western series that is perfect for a quick binge — but be warned, it does end on a major cliffhanger.
9 'Joe Pickett' (2021-2023)
Sticking with the neo-Western space for a little bit longer, Joe Pickett is a murder-mystery-style crime drama that follows the titular Wyoming Game Warden (played by Michael Dorman) who finds himself in the center of plenty of trouble. Based on the popular novels by C.J. Box, the series centers on a new mystery each season, one that puts Joe (and his family) in the deep end. Of course, that's what makes this program so thrilling.
Although Joe Pickett was sadly canceled before its time, the Paramount+ series is a great alternative for those who have no interest in Yellowstone for its content but love the Western aesthetics. Joe Pickett himself feels like a classic Western hero, one whose old-fashioned sense of justice doesn't always mesh with those around him. It's easily one of the best Western shows based on books.
8 'The Young Riders' (1989-1992)
Another Josh Brolin-led Western television series, The Young Riders wasn't too far off from the style of horse opera popularized by Young Guns in the late '80s. Following a group of Pony Express riders that include a mix of historical figures like Wild Bill Hickock (Brolin) and original characters, the series centered on new one-and-done episodic adventures that push the riders to their limits. Plus, it's just loads of fun.
As one of the best Western shows that's free-to-stream, The Young Riders is a blast no matter how dated it may at times appear. Brolin and the rest of the cast deliver with a youthful vigor that's certainly becoming of the genre, and although it only ran three seasons, it's one that easily could have run longer. Don't sleep on this underrated classic.
7 'American Primeval' (2025)
Perhaps the most violent television Western out there, American Primeval comes from Mark L. Smith, the creative mind behind The Revenant. Set during the Utah War of 1857, the Netflix miniseries follows Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch) after he's hired to protect a runaway mother and her son, who are being hunted by trained killers along the wild frontier. Just be warned, this one is for mature audiences only.
With better action sequences than most Western movies, American Primeval does not pull its punches. Kitsch plays his usual moody sort of protagonist, but in the Old West setting it comes across as far more alluring and deadly than ever. As this unlikely group fights through bounty hunters, Native Americans, crazed Mormons, and more, they find themselves at the edge of civilization with little to lean on but each other.
6 'The Son' (2017-2019)
The Son was Yellowstone before Yellowstone ever hit the airwaves. Following Texas patriarch Eli McCullough (Pierce Brosnan) as he seeks to secure his land and family legacy in the early 20th century, the series offers everything that the Taylor Sheridan drama does but in a condensed timeframe and with a bit more of a historical bent. The AMC series is for mature viewers only, but don't let that turn you off.
Balancing Eli's life both in the past (he was adopted by Comanches in his youth) and his 1910s "present," The Son paints a harrowing picture of the myths that built the American West — and still hold it together to this day. With only two seasons under its gunbelt, the AMC series will keep you hooked from start to finish. As far as prestige Westerns go, this is among the most overlooked.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Western Icon Are You Most Like? No Name · Doc Holliday · Wyatt Earp · Mattie Ross
Pick your name, your gun, your horse and how you spend a night in town, and we will tell you which legend of the Old West you would have been. Four icons are waiting at the end of this: the stranger who never gives his name, the gambler who would die for a friend, the lawman who never wanted the badge, and the girl nobody has ever talked out of anything.
🚬No Name(Dollars Trilogy)
🃏Doc Holliday(Tombstone)
⭐Wyatt Earp(Tombstone)
🐎Mattie Ross(True Grit)
01
The town is about to learn your name. What do they call you? In a Western, what people call you is already half the character.
02
What are you carrying? Everything out here is character, right down to what is sitting on your hip.
03
What are you riding? A hero and their horse is one of the oldest relationships in cinema.
04
You have got one evening in town. How does it go? The saloon is where these films quietly tell you who somebody really is.
05
A stranger offers you money for a job that sounds like trouble. Somebody always turns up with a full purse and a bad idea.
06
Somebody is waiting for you in the street. What does the town see? Two people, an empty road, and everybody else watching from behind the shutters.
07
What is the one thing you will not do out here? The code is about the only thing west of the river that actually holds.
08
The job is finished. Where does the story leave you? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your icon.
The Dust Has Settled Your Western Icon Is…
Four icons and four completely different ways of walking into trouble. This is the one you would have been out there, why it fits, and what it would have cost you.
The Man With No Name
You have never explained yourself and you have never needed to, because people work out fairly quickly that you are the most capable person in the room without you ever having to mention it.
- Eastwood built the character out of everything he refused to do, stripping away the backstory, the speeches and every bit of reassurance until only the competence was left.
- You keep your own counsel, and while other people occasionally find that unnerving, you have never felt any real need to fix it for them.
- The Dollars films work because he genuinely is in it for himself right up until the moment he is not, and he never explains that part either.
- You would be gone before anybody got a chance to thank you.
Doc Holliday
You are the funniest person in most rooms and the most loyal person in all of them, and you would be genuinely insulted if somebody suggested those two things were in any tension.
- Doc has no real reason to be in this fight beyond the fact that his friend is in it, which is the only reason he has ever needed for anything.
- You lead with wit, and it does a very effective job of hiding how seriously you take the handful of people you actually care about.
- Val Kilmer's performance is the most quoted in the entire genre because the jokes keep getting sharper as the situation gets worse.
- You would spend everything you had on this and still describe it as a good week.
Wyatt Earp
You never wanted this job, and you took it anyway because the alternative was standing there watching somebody less careful do it badly, which is the most Western reason there has ever been.
- Earp is the reluctant authority figure, a man who came to town specifically to be left alone and somehow ended up answerable for all of it.
- You are protective by instinct, so when something goes wrong your first thought is who is exposed rather than who is to blame.
- These films understand that keeping order costs far more than breaking it, and that the person holding the line almost never gets thanked.
- You would do the whole thing again, and you would complain about it the entire time.
Mattie Ross
Nobody has ever successfully talked you out of something you had already decided was right, and a long line of grown adults has found that out the hard way.
- Mattie is the most relentless character in the Western canon and she manages it through argument, paperwork and flat refusal rather than a fast draw.
- You have no patience for being managed, so you negotiate, you check the details and you turn up exactly when you said you would.
- True Grit is the rare Western where the moral centre is the youngest person on screen and every adult around her has to catch up.
- You would get what you came for, and the film is honest about what that takes out of you.
5 'Dark Winds' (2022-present)
While not a traditional Western, Dark Winds is a detective crime drama with plenty of cowboy flavor. Set on the 1970s Navajo Nation, the drama follows Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) and his tribal police department as they solve new season-long mysteries on the Rez. With lots of breathtaking scenery and riveting character work, you won't want to miss out.
A criminally forgotten Western program, Dark Winds is another AMC drama that leans into the genre that dominated Hollywood for decades. With four seasons and counting, there's nothing on television quite like it. Although it changes some elements of the original mystery novels by Tony Hillerman, it's the sort of neo-Western series we certainly want to see more of.
4 'Lawmen: Bass Reeves' (2023)
For something a bit more historical in nature, consider Lawmen: Bass Reeves. This eight-part miniseries tackles the life of the titular Indian Territory lawman (played masterfully by David Oyelowo) as he juggles enforcing the law and keeping his own family safe. Created by Dutton Ranch creator Chad Feehan, the Paramount+ drama elevates Bass Reeves to legendary status with a deeply psychological exploration of his time keeping the peace in the Old West. It's a quick binge, but one you won't want to pull away from.
While it's been theorized that Lawmen might continue beyond the first season as an anthology program, Bass Reeves centers only on its title protagonist but does so with a gritty Western style. Donald Sutherland and Dennis Quaid also star, rounding out the cast with some pretty memorable performances. Although only executive produced by him, this is one Taylor Sheridan series that deserves your full attention.
3 'The Magnificent Seven' (1998-2000)
While the original Magnificent Seven movie may be a perfect Western, this television re-imagining is a near-perfect take on the concept that effortlessly translates the characters from the big screen to the small. While the first episode is a TV remake of the 1960 film, the Seven continue from there in their own self-contained adventures. Each episode focuses on a different member of the gun-toting group, who keep the peace in their small frontier town without the presence of the law.
With a stellar cast that includes Michael Biehn, Eric Close, Rick Worthy, Ron Perlman, and Laurie Holden, The Magnificent Seven feels like the traditional TV horse operas popular in the '60s and '70s but with a clear '90s action-oriented bent. It's a great time for folks looking for something truly exciting that builds on the firm bones of the original. The fast-paced gun-play is a blast.
2 'How the West Was Won' (1976–1979)
Another Western drama inspired by a feature film of the same name, Gunsmoke legend James Arness made his triumphant return to the genre here with How the West Was Won. Each episode — typically clocking in with an extended runtime of 90 minutes — followed the post-Civil War escapades of the pioneering Macahan family as they make a name and life for themselves on the frontier. After beginning with a television film, the show ran for three cinematic seasons that spoke to the sweeping nature of the American West.
Folks may not remember this Western legend, but How the West Was Won always had some of the most memorable guest stars. Actors like William Shatner, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, and Lloyd Bridges, to name a few, all made waves on the series. Of course, the adventures of the Macahan clan themselves are what kept audiences invested for a few years. Although the show ended a bit prematurely, it's still a brilliant binge that deserves another look all these years later.
1 'Billy the Kid' (2022-2025)
Arguably among the most underrated Western TV shows in recent years, Billy the Kid follows the titular gunslinger and outlaw (played by Tom Blyth) in a genre reinterpretation that you won't be able to pull away from. The MGM+ series ran for three seasons, following Billy as he allies himself with the Regulators during the famous Lincoln County War. Full of love, betrayal, and everything in between, Billy the Kid does everything it can to make you feel every decision this outlaw makes.
Of course, Billy the Kid takes some pretty big historical liberties. If you're hoping for a slightly fictionalized biography, you're out of luck. Nevertheless, the Western drama is a riveting experience that deserves high marks for its efforts. It may have re-written Billy's outlaw history, but it does so with real style.
Billy the Kid
- Release Date
- 2022 - 2025-00-00
- Showrunner
- Michael Hirst
- Directors
- William A. Graham
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