There’s a good chance you’re here because you just finished a Taylor Sheridan show and want to know what else he’s made. Or you got a few seasons into Yellowstone, someone mentioned Mayor of Kingstown or Landman, and now you’re not sure which shows connect to what. The TS universe has gotten big, and it isn’t always obvious where one show ends and the next begins. Here’s the whole thing, sorted out, with my take on what’s actually worth your time.
TL;DR: Yellowstone, its prequels (1883, 1923) and its sequel (Dutton Ranch) are one connected world. Mayor of Kingstown, Landman, Lioness and Tulsa King are standalone shows with the same writer and tone. Marshals and The Madison are the new 2026 spinoffs. If you haven’t watched everything and want one place to start, make it Mayor of Kingstown.
Taylor Sheridan writes everything himself. No writers’ room, often no notes. You can feel it. Complicated people, slow build, systems that are either corrupt or falling apart. When it works, there’s nothing better on TV. When someone else takes over, you can feel that too. More on that later.
| Show | Universe | Platform | Seasons | The one-liner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowstone | Dutton | Paramount Network | 5 (ended) | The flagship. First three seasons are the peak. |
| 1883 | Dutton prequel | Paramount+ | 1 | The Duttons head west. Bleak and beautiful. |
| 1923 | Dutton prequel | Paramount+ | 2 | A later generation holds the line. |
| Dutton Ranch | Dutton sequel | Paramount+ | 1 (S2 coming) | Rip and Beth carry on. Sheridan’s back. |
| Marshals | Dutton spinoff | CBS | 1 (S2 coming) | Kayce goes procedural. A hit, and the weakest of the lot. |
| The Madison | Yellowstone-verse | Paramount+ | 1 (S2 coming) | New family, no Duttons. Pfeiffer and Russell in Montana. |
| Lawmen: Bass Reeves | Standalone | Paramount+ | 1 | The first Black U.S. Marshal. Stands alone. |
| Mayor of Kingstown | Standalone | Paramount+ | 4 (S5 is the finale) | My favourite. Renner in the middle of everything. |
| Landman | Standalone | Paramount+ | 2 (S3 coming) | West Texas oil. Quiet and great. |
| Lioness | Standalone | Paramount+ | 2 (S3 Aug 2) | Saldana runs deep-cover ops. |
| Tulsa King | Standalone | Paramount+ | 3 (S4 coming) | Stallone as a relocated mob boss. Never grabbed me. |
The Yellowstone shows
Yellowstone is where most people start. It’s the Dutton family trying to hold onto their Montana ranch while everyone around them tries to take it. The first three seasons are excellent. Then the Kevin Costner situation blew it up. Production stalled, the momentum died, and the back half of Season 5 went off the rails, writing him out. The ending feels like they were closing out Costner’s time on the show instead of finishing the actual story. Still worth watching from the start.
1883 follows the original Duttons heading west. 1923 picks up with a later generation. Both are good, both a little melodramatic. If you love the backstory, they’re worth it. If you’re mainly here for the modern ranch drama, you won’t lose anything skipping them.
Dutton Ranch is the sequel, and it’s the one that got the universe back on track. Rip and Beth carry the ranch forward, Sheridan is writing again, and you can feel the difference right away. It’s the familiar formula done right. It landed as one of the biggest shows on streaming when it dropped in May, and a second season is coming.
Bass Reeves sits in the same Paramount+ world but isn’t connected to Yellowstone. David Oyelowo plays the first Black U.S. Marshal. Different tone, stands on its own.
The standalones
Mayor of Kingstown is my favourite thing Sheridan has made. Jeremy Renner plays the guy holding the peace between inmates, gangs, cops, and politicians in a small Michigan town. He’s stuck in the middle of all of it. If you like a good prison drama (Oz and anything in that neighbourhood), start here. Renner did Wind River with Sheridan before this, and you can see why he keeps coming back. It’s tense in a way that never lets up. The fifth and final season is on the way, so now’s the time to catch up.
Landman is Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris, a fixer for a West Texas oil company who spends every episode putting out fires, some of them literal, between roughnecks, billionaires, and the cartel. Oh, and he does an awful lot of driving. Thornton is the reason to watch, looking more exhausted and more dangerous as it goes. It’s quieter than Mayor of Kingstown but every bit as good. Two seasons are out, and a third is coming later this year.
Lioness, or Special Ops: Lioness in full, follows a CIA program that plants female operatives inside the inner circles of high-value targets. Zoe Saldana runs it as Joe, the officer managing the operatives and paying for it at home, with Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman higher up the chain. It’s tense, it moves, and the toll the job takes on the people doing it is the real story. Season 3 lands August 2.
Tulsa King drops Sylvester Stallone in Oklahoma as a relocated mob boss. I never got into it. Not bad, just not for me. It’s on to a fourth season, so plenty of people disagree with me.
The 2026 spinoffs
This is where the universe started to stretch. Three new shows arrived in the first half of 2026, and together they’re a decent test of how much Sheridan’s actual involvement matters.
The Madison premiered in March. Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell head up a New York family, the Clyburns, who land in the Madison River valley of Montana. Same world as Yellowstone, no Dutton connection. Six episodes, already renewed.
Marshals is the interesting one. It’s a Kayce Dutton spinoff on CBS, and it’s the ratings hit of the whole franchise right now. Big audience, fast renewal. I still don’t love it. It’s too procedural, it’s got that network-TV rhythm, and you can feel Sheridan isn’t running it. Kayce was already my least favourite Yellowstone character, so it was never going to land for me. But I’ll be honest, I’m in the minority here, and the numbers say so.
Dutton Ranch, which I already mentioned above.
For premiere dates on what’s still coming, I keep the 2026 TV show release dates updated.
Where to start
If you’ve only seen one Sheridan show and don’t know where to go next, Mayor of Kingstown is the answer, and with the final season landing soon, there’s never been a better time. Want more of the ranch world? Go back to Yellowstone Season 1, give it three episodes, then jump to Dutton Ranch once you’re caught up. Landman is the one most people sleep on.
The whole catalogue lives on Paramount+, except Marshals, which is on CBS. For what’s worth watching right now, my monthly TV power rankings keep a running list, and the Books, TV and Media hub pulls all of it together.
FAQ
No. Yellowstone, 1883, 1923 and Dutton Ranch share the same family and world. Marshals and The Madison branch off that Yellowstone-verse. Mayor of Kingstown, Landman, Lioness and Tulsa King are standalone. Same writer, same tone, different universes.
No. The standalones are completely independent. Mayor of Kingstown and Landman need no Yellowstone knowledge at all.
Start wherever a show grabs you. For the Yellowstone story in order: Yellowstone first, then 1883 or 1923 as prequels, then Dutton Ranch as the sequel. The standalones work in any order.
It’s a Yellowstone spinoff and a real ratings hit, but Sheridan didn’t write it. It shows.
Mayor of Kingstown if you like tension and moral grey areas. Yellowstone Season 1 if you want the flagship. Landman if someone’s already told you to watch it and you keep putting it off.
