5 Best Western TV Shows to Watch on HBO Max

Western shows have been steadily increasing in popularity in recent years, thanks in large part to Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe. However, there were great Western shows long before Yellowstone arrived on the scene, and some of HBO Max’s best are indicative of that.

While the streaming service’s Western catalog does lean more heavily on great Western films, it still hs a few series that fans of the genre should check out. The shows range from classic “Old West” style Westerns to neo-Westerns with contemporary settings and problems, creating different options to satisfy everyone.

Walker: Independence (2022-2023)

The 2022 series Walker: Independence originally aired on the CW before becoming available to stream on HBO Max. The series takes audiences back to the late 19th century to a true Wild West setting, serving as a prequel series to the CW’s Walker, which itself serves as a reboot, layering different iterations of a popular Western hero.

Walker: Independence follows Abby Walker, an ancestor of Cordell Walker, who decides to make the dangerous journey west from Boston after her husband’s murder. During her travels to Independence, Texas, Abby encounters trouble and finds an ally in Hoyt Rawlins, forming a great leading pair for the series.

Despite being set in the past, Walker: Independence includes some great updates to the genre, including featuring a woman lead who is just as brave and cunning as traditional male Western heroes. The series also features some great unexpected twists in Walker: Independence‘s series finale that are sure to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

Sadly, Walker: Independence was canceled by the CW after just one season, though this isn’t necessarily a reflection of the show itself. In fact, Walker: Independence scored a 71% critics’ Rotten Tomatoes rating and a stellar 93% approval from audiences, proving how good the series actually was despite its untimely ending.

While it would have been fun to see Walker: Independence‘s characters return for a second season, the one-season series is worth a watch.

Walker (2021-2024)

Like its prequel series, Walker is another CW show that has made its way onto HBO Max, but it has a couple more seasons for audiences to get invested in. Rebooting the classic Chuck Norris series, Walker, Texas Ranger, Walker stars Jared Padalecki as Cordell Walker.

As in the original, Cordell Walker is a member of the Texas Rangers and works to solve increasingly dark crimes as the series progresses. The contemporary setting makes it different from its prequel and many of the classic Westerns of decades past, but Walker still incorporates classic Western themes.

The series has a mix of the classic cowboy and hero elements of traditional Westerns in Cordell Walker, but the character is also more nuanced, giving the series more depth. Walker maintains his own ethos, but how he chooses to solve problems both in his work as a Texas Ranger and in his personal life isn’t always perfect.

Walker is also a great series for Western fans who also enjoy procedural shows, as the series functions as a blend of the two genres. The titular character is a rugged law enforcement agent who is called to uphold the good in society, though he occasionally bends rules to do so.

Like Walker: Independence, Walker was canceled as a result of the CW’s change in ownership and business plan, but it lasted for four strong seasons and was a hit with fans. Walker holds a 90% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with reviews that highlight Padalecki’s performance and the drama aspects of the series.

Banshee (2013-2016)

Banshee may not be a typical Western, but the crime drama has all the elements needed to be included in the genre, making it among the best neo-Western offerings on HBO Max. Banshee follows Antony Starr’s character, a former convict who takes the identity of a man named Lucas Hood, as he becomes the sheriff of a small town.

Banshee‘s set-up is immediately intriguing, and Starr plays Lucas Hood with conviction, creating an anti-hero that holds a unique place within Western tropes. Like Justified‘s Raylan Givens, Banshee‘s Lucas Hood is not a rule follower — he is a cowboy-like sheriff with his own moral code.

Despite being a criminal with his own agenda, though, Hood still has some surprising good qualities that make him an unconventional hero in his phony sheriff role. The complexity of Lucas Hood is one of the best aspects of the series, but naturally, Banshee also includes some classic good versus bad guy action too.

While the first season of Banshee isn’t perfect, it still sets up a crime and action-filled series with a great premise, and the show only gets better from there. After the mixed reviews of season 1, Banshee season 2 earned a 94% approval rating, and seasons 3 and 4 each earned 100%, making it worth investing in.

Carnivàle (2003-2005)

Carnivàle carries the essence of the Wild West that is so crucial to classic Westerns, yet it stands entirely apart from many traditional Westerns in the best way possible. The series blends elements of many different genres into a compelling narrative about good, evil, and making one’s way in the American West.

On its face, Carnivàle is more of a fantasy than a Western, but fans of traditional Westerns should hear us out on this one. If science fiction shows like Firefly and Westworld can be considered a variation of Westerns, then so can Carnivàle in both its setting and themes.

The series is set in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, and it begins with a young man named Ben Hawkins leaving his Oklahoma home to travel with a carnival. Across the show’s two seasons, the carnival continues making its way westward, encountering the obstacles of the time period as it does so, while a much larger mystery unfolds.

Ben Hawkins’ story revolves around mysterious dreams that seem to carry messages in them and tie into his own family history. Meanwhile, a preacher in California, Father Justin, has the same dreams. While the show doesn’t follow cowboys in the traditional sense, the divide between Ben and Father Justin highlights the good and evil narrative central to Westerns.

Deadwood (2004-2006)

If there is one Western series that is synonymous with HBO Max, it is Deadwood, making the show essential viewing for any fans of the genre. Compared to some of the other Western and neo-Western offerings on the platform, Deadwood feels much more like the classic Western series, though arguably even more violent and explicit.

Centering on the real historical settlement of Deadwood, South Dakota, the series explores the formation of the town and the outlaws and lawmen who lived there. Deadwood is led by Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock and Ian McShane as Al Swearengen, two real figures from the town’s history.

The series begins with the settlement in its earliest stages of development, where viewers are introduced to Bullock as a hardware store owner and Swearengen as a saloon owner. They, along with the other residents of Deadwood, encounter famous figures like Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp, and more.

Based on the names of its real-life-inspired characters alone, audiences can be sure that Deadwood has no shortage of gunslinging action. Despite some critiques of the violence and profanity, Deadwood is one of the most influential Western shows, and it has eight Emmy Awards to back that up.

Though the series was initially canceled after three seasons in 2006, Deadwood and its characters returned for Deadwood: The Movie in 2019, rounding out the characters’ stories. In the years since its release, Deadwood has become one of the most legendary TV shows of all time, making it the crown jewel in HBO’s Western catalog.