Stephen King Hates Himself For Liking This Taylor Sheridan TV Series

He’s one of the most successful authors in history, but Stephen King is still a human being with regrets. Granted, the regrets he’s most vocal about typically relate to his own career choices, but according to a recent social media post, he’s also upset at the fact he likes Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman” series on Paramount+.

“Landman” takes place in the realm of the Texas oil industry and sees Billy Bob Thornton play a fixer for a giant tycoon. This puts him into contact with everyone from the cartel to politicians, while simultaneously dealing with his seductive ex-wife, feisty teenage daughter, and a son who witnesses a traumatic on-site accident. While there isn’t any ranching involved, “Landman” is another Sheridan Western that will appeal to fans of “Yellowstone” due to its masculine bravado, which is why King hates himself for liking it.

“LANDMAN: I sorta hate myself for liking this, the spine is all macho-macho man and like THE MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN and YELLOWSTONE, the main character is a fixer who takes no s**t,” he wrote on Threads. “We’d all like to be that guy. But Taylor Sheridan knows how to show ordinary men at work, and you gotta like that. Also, great country music needle drops.”

In all fairness, “Landman” ranks near the top of Sheridan’s best TV shows, so King shouldn’t be too hard on himself for enjoying it. Furthermore, his point about it chronicling regular dudes at work has some merit.

“Landman” opens with Billy Bob Thornton’s character being held captive by cartel members. Even though another prisoner gets shot right next to him moments later, our protagonist is only concerned about emptying his bladder and talking trash. He isn’t intimidated by the criminals, and from the outset, we know “Landman” will be quite sensationalized for the sake of creating good drama. That said, series co-creator Christian Wallace worked on oil rigs in West Texas before he became famous, and he was adamant about bringing some realism to “Landman.” 

While speaking to Decider, he revealed that while some elements are over the top, the working man scenes are pretty true to life. In his own words:

“Not everything is exact, but we tried our level best to make it that way. From the costumes to the props to the locations we used, everyone cared deeply about doing it the right way to the best of our ability. There is an attention to detail and a level of care in every scene. It was important to get as much right as we could. If roughnecks are watching, they might see some things that make them go ‘hey….’ Hopefully, they’ll forgive us for the few times we didn’t get it exactly right.”

While Sheridan’s shows aren’t for everyone, they typically respect the real industries in which their stories are set. The organized crime, violence, and tough-guy protagonists are just there to bring the sizzle — which is just as impactful as authenticity, just in a different way.