Streaming tips
How the West was watched...
Godless
If you only know Michelle Dockery from Downton Abbey, you need to see her paired with Merritt Wever as frontierswomen who face off against a diabolical outlaw. Jeff Daniels, surprisingly, plays the baddie. Netflix
Gunsmoke
Arguably the best of TV’s classic Westerns, Gunsmoke debuted in 1955 and ran for 20 seasons, largely on the strength of James Arness as Matt Dillon, a towering federal marshal. CBS All Access
Deadwood
A settlement’s transition from gold miners’ camp to town becomes a microcosm of the story of civilization in this masterful modern Western— like Gunsmoke but with “c---sucker” in every other line. Ian McShane plays a swindling brothel owner and Timothy Olyphant the town’s reluctant sheriff. HBO Max
Justified
No matter the era, Olyphant makes a fantastic lawman. In this series, based on an Elmore Leonard novella, the actor plays a U.S. marshal dispensing justice in his native eastern Kentucky and finding a nemesis in an old friend, played by Walton Goggins, who has become a charismatic criminal. Hulu
Lonesome Dove
An insanely good ensemble cast—Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Anjelica Huston, and Danny Glover—carried this Emmy-sweeping sevenpart 1989 miniseries based on Larry McMurtry’s novel. To many fans, it’s the best Western ever. Hulu
Hell on Wheels
Two other AMC series, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, overshadowed it, but the five seasons of this drama set during the building of the transcontinental railroad is required viewing for Western fans. Anson Mount plays a former Confederate soldier who joins the railroad while seeking revenge for his wife’s death. Netflix