Fans of Taylor Sheridan have had an onslaught of new shows to watch in 2026 alone. His first two shows of the year were The Madison and Marshals, and while both performed exceedingly well on Paramount+ streaming charts, they were vastly different from one another. While The Madison, starring Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer, is more of an original Western, similar to Yellowstone Season 1, Marshals is a direct spin-off of the flagship Yellowstone series, and it returned Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton in his post-ranch days after he’s accepted a new job as a U.S. marshal. Sheridan also released another Yellowstone spin-off, Dutton Ranch, last month on May 15, and it’s still not his last new project this year.
In just a few weeks, the long-awaited third season of Special Ops: Lioness will be returning after a two-year hiatus. As confirmed by Paramount earlier this week, Lioness will be returning on August 2 with all the stars from the previous seasons, including Zoe Saldaña,Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freemanand Michael Kelly. The series, which signaled a major shift from Sheridan away from Westerns and into the spy genre, has had a bumpy history, so there’s a lot riding on Season 3’s success.
‘Lioness’ Season 2 Beat the Odds
When Lioness first premiered on July 23, 2023, the series wasn’t exactly beloved by the audience or critics alike. Scoring 54% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as 76% from the viewers, the series proved to be a departure from Sheridan’s home-run Westerns in the middle of mixed reviews. With Season 2, however, Lioness appeared to have found its groove. Earning a much higher 90% Tomatometer score, the series was not only well-received by critics, but found major improvements in viewership too. Per The Wrap, the second season saw a 10% increase in total domestic homes compared with season 1, and reached a total of 8.3 million compared to Season 1’s 7.6 million.
With such an upward momentum, Season 3 of the series has a lot to prove. Not only will the third installment become a deciding factor in the show’s success, proving that it’s either a show that’s only getting better with time or that Season 2’s numbers were just a fluke, but it gives Sheridan the possibility to grow the series into one of Paramount’s strongest non-Yellowstone hits. After all, if Season 2’s impressive numbers keep going, Lioness will continue to expand its audience, reach millions of viewers and win over critics, without losing momentum at any point.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show 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
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
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.
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
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.
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
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.
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.
Expectations Are High for ‘Lioness’ Season 3
Knowing the 10% increase in viewership from Season 1 to Season 2, means that all eyes are on Lioness‘ return for Season 3 after two years. Luckily, it seems the show will be pulling out all the stops, aiming to make it not only another one of Paramount’s hit thrillers, but a Sheridan project that could be built and expanded on just like Yellowstone. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Oscar winner Saldaña teased what’s to come for her character. “I had various conversations with Taylor in terms of where he was gonna take it, and I really am so happy and so proud of the direction that he eventually took for Joe,” she said of the upcoming season. “It was very demanding, I’m not gonna lie. And I didn’t even know if I was gonna be able to pull it off.” See the official synopsis for Season 3 below.
In Lioness Season 3, hidden networks, foreign operatives, and personal betrayals collide. Joe (Saldaña) walks the line between duty and home as unseen forces circle her world. Guided by Kaitlyn (Kidman) and Westfield (Kelly), Joe confronts enemies operating in the shadows, leaving her to reckon with a war that now reaches into every part of her life.
In just a few weeks, fans of Sheridan will get another high-octane treat when Lioness returns for its third and rumored last season on August 2. With a rocky past and an expanded viewership, however, the series has a lot riding on its third installment. Will it continue the success of Season 2 and Sheridan’s previous projects, or will the series never reach its full potential?
