5 Classic Westerns & The Neo-Western Shows To Watch After Them

While the Golden Age of Westerns may be over, the revival has brought a new wave of creativity to the genre. Some of the best modern Westerns have put a new spin on the frontier era, either by highlighting previously overlooked stories or telling familiar stories from a new perspective. That said, the genre has pushed boundaries further, introducing the neo-Western.

Many of the best Western TV series of all time have become cultural icons, but tell similar stories and sometimes have outdated portrayals of Indigenous characters. On the other hand, neo-Westerns keep the spirit of the genre while featuring better representation and creativity. So, if you are a fan of classic Westerns, there are many neo-Westerns you will love.

If You Liked Hell On Wheels…

You’ll Love Landman

Hell on Wheels is about the construction of the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. While it is a period setting, the series is a fantastic modern Western with a distinctive visual style. Hell on Wheels is gritty at times, with one of the best Western TV villains in the form of The Swede, who steals every scene he is in.

Like many historical TV shows, Hell on Wheels takes some creative liberties, but many of the characters are based on real people, and many of the real events are depicted onscreen. Classic Western fans who enjoy historically inspired TV shows and liked Hell on Wheels will love Taylor Sheridan’s Landman, which is a fictionalized account of the Texas oil boom.

Both shows keep their gritty tone and Western themes surrounding the ideas of power and innovation while questioning the cost to the average working person. While Hell on Wheels involves the literal frontier, Landman presents a new frontier of its own, with people fighting to build businesses and a future within a world that is preparing to change quickly.

While Hell on Wheels suffered from a mid-series slump, the show has a 73% positive critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 89% audience rating. Landman‘s first season has a 78% positive critics’ rating, and its feature-length finale is a study in suspense. Landman‘s best episode is full of shocking moments and tension, which Hell on Wheels fans are sure to enjoy.

If You Liked Godless…

You’ll Love Wynonna Earp

Godless has an extremely unusual and exciting setup for a Western TV series. The show is set within a town that is mostly populated by women after a mining accident killed most of its male citizens. As the Western genre is generally male-oriented, with many prominent Western TV characters being men, this is already a refreshing new approach.

The show had a terrifying villain in Frank Griffin, and no shortage of female characters who defend their town against outlaws. Still, Godless only lasted for a season before it was canceled, leaving many viewers wanting more despite it ending properly without major cliffhangers. Fortunately, there is a neo-Western that can fill the gap that Godless left behind.

The excellent neo-Western Wynonna Earp has four seasons and a 92% positive critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. The genre-mixing show pits the descendant of the legendary lawman Wyatt Earp against the vengeful spirits of outlaws that he took down. While Godless lacks the supernatural twist in Wynonna Earp, both shows are female-fronted Westerns with similar themes of justice and redemption.

The women in both Godless and Wynonna Earp carve out their own futures in the familiar Western setting. The characters are not only tough and capable, but diverse for the 2010s, with positive LGBTQ+ relationships in both series. Fans of Godless will appreciate this aspect of Wynonna Earp, which sometimes feels similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, just set in the Wild West.

If You Liked Lawmen: Bass Reeves…

You’ll Love Dark Winds

The typical themes of classic Westerns filmed in the genre’s golden age often feel comforting and familiar, as many of the shows have very similar storylines. However, Western fans will definitely have watched Lawman: Bass Reeves if they enjoy different stories set in the Wild West. While Lawmen: Bass Reeves was released in 2023, it is a classic Western due to its post-Reconstruction era setting.

Many of the characters are based on real people, including the titular Bass Reeves. Reeves was a formerly-enslaved Black man who became a legendary lawman while fighting racial injustice and hostility. The show has a 93% positive audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes; stars David Oyelowo, Donald Sutherland, and Dennis Quaid; and was produced by the Western powerhouse Taylor Sheridan.

Fans of Lawmen: Bass Reeves likely appreciate the way the show tackles Black and Indigenous representation and covers a story that has often been overlooked. That makes the neo-Western police procedural TV series Dark Winds the perfect show to watch next, as it focuses on Navajo lawmen and was made with a predominantly Indigenous creative team.

Dark Winds is a gritty, character-driven show with main characters who feel like outsiders in their field, and the crime noir format brings another new perspective to the familiar Western setting. Both shows keep the genre’s core themes of justice and power struggles, all while centering the different cultures and spiritual practices at the heart of their stories.

If You Liked The Lone Ranger…

You’ll Love Longmire

The Lone Ranger is arguably the most influential Western TV series of all time, with heroes, villains, and plenty of action. Even people unfamiliar with the Western genre have likely heard of The Lone Ranger, which still inspires movies and TV shows today. The neo-Western TV series Longmire often feels like an updated version of The Lone Ranger in terms of its main plot.

Longmire is based on the Walt Longmire Mysteries novels by Craig Johnson, which follow the titular character as he works as the sheriff of a fictional Wyoming town. Walt Longmire has a rigid sense of fairness and prioritizes justice over revenge while tackling the difficult moments of his profession, and at times, the show feels like a continuation of The Lone Ranger.

That said, many of the themes and characters in The Lone Ranger are considerably outdated, especially the portrayal of the character, Tonto, who acts as the companion and sidekick. While this character does not hold up today, Longmire‘s Indigenous characters are well-rounded, nuanced, and have key roles in the series, especially Longmire’s longtime friend, Henry Standing Bear.

Both The Lone Ranger and Longmire have lasted a considerable length of time, but the latter has a more modern series structure, with six seasons and 63 episodes to The Lone Ranger‘s five seasons and 221 episodes. While the classic Western has made its mark on neo-Westerns like Longmire, Longmire has given us a modern Western that is just as good as the classic.

If You Liked Deadwood…

You’ll Love Justified

Many of Deadwood‘s episodes are masterpieces, and the classic Western TV show has a 95% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is one of the best classic Westerns filmed in the modern time period, and features some of the best Western TV show actors of all time. That includes Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Dayton Callie, and Anna Gunn.

The Emmy Award-winning series is set in a lawless mining town that attracts people trying to get rich, including the morally bankrupt George Hearst, whose obsession with gold strips away his humanity. Somewhat ironically, given its theme, Deadwood ended abruptly due to budget cuts — but the show has a spiritual successor in the form of the neo-Western series Justified.

Many of the actors in Justified will look familiar, as many also starred in Deadwood. While Justified is set in the modern day, it has many of the same themes as Deadwood, including the fight for justice in a town where many people turn to crime for different reasons. However, Justified is not just a modern remake of Deadwood, and has a very different standout villain.

Walton Goggins gives one of his career best performances as Boyd Crowder, who hides his brutal tendencies and white supremacist views behind a seemingly charismatic demeanor. The relationship between Crowder and Justified‘s Marshal, Raylan Givens, is one of the most complex in a Western, and the show was given the chance to end well, which is a welcome bonus.