I, too, have spent a lot of time in Taylor Sheridan’s universe: This year alone I have been capitavated by Landman, Lioness, season 5 of Yellowstone, and now season 2 of 1923 (a painful drip feed). Sheridan is a production machine. In this piece, Stephen Rodrick drills down into his incredible work ethic, and looks at what it is people love about Sheridan’s particular brand of Americana. Not afraid to highlight the fact that “the creator made the savior in his own image,” Rodrick takes a somewhat wry look at Sheridan—a man who created a fictional world out of his own.
It is not hard to see the allure of Sheridan’s shows. He casts movie stars of a certain vintage, some perfectly utilized (Thornton on Landman), some apparently forgotten after casting (Demi Moore has fewer quality lines than Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on the same show).
Then, he makes it all look gorgeous. Sheridan shoots Americana with Vaseline on the lenses, a greater feat on Landman, where Texas oil fields are filmed at magic hour and even the hideous burn-off of natural gas is made to look romantic. His shows can be enjoyed as either camp in the Dallas/Dynasty model or, depending on your politics, a glimpse into an America forgotten by the Hollywood suits. How Sheridan creates these worlds complements the theme of one brave man — occasionally, a woman — taking on the malignant forces hell-bent on destroying this country.
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