It seems that every time a new Taylor Sheridan-made Western-adjacent series drops on Paramount+, it breaks previous records. In 2021, 1883 debuted as the most-watched original series premiere on the platform, only to be surpassed the following year by 1923. Then, Landman took the title. Of course, all that success pales in comparison to The Madison, which took the cake earlier this year by garnering 8 million views in only 10 days — becoming the biggest Sheridan series premiere ever. With the neo-Western drama trending again on the platform, there’s no better time to dive back in.
‘The Madison’ Is a Hit On Streaming — And Perfect For Western and Non-Western Fans Alike
For those expecting The Madison to be another take on something like Yellowstoneor Landman, that perception doesn’t remotely match the reality. Rather than falling into the same recyclable plotline traps that Sheridan is known for, The Madison is an intimate character drama that explores the struggles of New York matriarch Stacy Clyburn (Michelle Pfeiffer) after the sudden death of her husband in Montana, only to come to realize that the life he lived there was more real to him than their time in the Big Apple. After Stacy, her daughters, son-in-law, and granddaughters travel west to deal with Preston’s (Kurt Russell) remains, they are hit with a culture shock as they come face-to-face with those who live and breathe the modern West, the types of “uneducated” and “intolerant” folks that they’ve constructed distinct prejudices about in their East Coast bubble — prejudices that couldn’t be further from the truth.
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.
The Madison does a brilliant job at exploring the different ways that grief can impact a person. Stacy largely keeps it together during their time in Montana, but upon returning to New York, she cannot handle the pressure of daily living without her husband. Her eldest daughter, Abigail (Beau Garrett), throws herself into a new “situationship,” while her second, Paige (Elle Chapman), becomes increasingly aggravated and hostile. With this six-part drama (which has been renewed not just for a second season but also a third), Sheridan has proven that he can do more than the Dutton-style soaps we’ve become accustomed to from the filmmaker. With such impressive talents as Pfeiffer and Russell as the headlining stars and veteran Sheridan collaborator Christina Alexandra Voros in the director’s chair, The Madison is in a league all of its own — and it’s streaming success has proven as such.
This Old West saga ought to be revived after its latest streaming success.
Taylor Sheridan Has Outdone Himself With This Memorable Neo-Western Drama
Unlike Yellowstone, which is chock-full of soapy family drama that feels more like Dallas than your usual John Wayne or Clint Eastwood romp, The Madison doesn’t fully qualify as a neo-Western. Unlike Robert Redford‘s An Unfinished Life(itself the anti-Yellowstone), which tackles some similar ideas, the typical genre tropes don’t appear much here at all. Instead, Sheridan pens his family drama as more of a “fish-out-of-water” tale with the American West as the backdrop. The series isn’t so much a Western in the traditional sense, but it surpasses many neo-Western takes that have highlighted the grand landscape of Big Sky Country.
As Aidan Kelly described in his review of the series for Collider, “The Madison may have a cowboy or two and take place in Montana, but it’s Sheridan’s biggest step out of his comfort zone yet.” That’s undoubtedly true, but it’s a step outside his comfort zone that has certainly paid off. With the second season already in the bag (we’re just waiting for its release) and a third underway, the Paramount+ drama has exceeded the expectations of many, turning a new page in Sheridan’s celebrated filmography.
The Madison is available for streaming on Paramount+.
