10 Classic Western Shows That Are 10/10 Masterpieces
When it comes to Western genre television, nothing quite beats the classics. You may love Yellowstone, Deadwood, or Longmire, but when it comes to the horse opera’s many years on the airwaves, the “Golden Age” still reigns supreme. Folks continue to return to and revisit the classic Western TV shows that ran from the 1950s to the 1970s, and if you’ve ever wondered what many consider to be the “masterworks” of such frontier tales, look no further.
These are the Western shows that folks consider 10/10 masterpieces for one reason or another. It may not be that there were no episodic duds in there or eras through which the show suffered, but the binge is worth the effort anyhow. From tales of lawmen and bounty hunters to ranchers and pioneers alike, these are the television horse operas that deserve your undivided attention. There’s a reason these shows are all considered “classics,” and so there’s no better time to revisit them.
‘The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp’ (1955–1961)
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Image via ABC</figure>
When it comes to Western programs that are perfect from start to finish, many return to The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Now, the show was a bit more “legend” than true-to-life, but the television interpretation of the mythic Wyatt Earp (played by Hugh O’Brien) became the traditional view of the Old West lawman for decades. For six seasons, this ABC drama paved the way for what the television Western ought to be, eventually concluding in a feature production, Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone.
The first “adult” Western on television, Wyatt Earp grew from following the titular hero’s early days as a lawman in Dodge City to his eventual tenure in Tombstone, culminating with the famed “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.” Sure, it paves through Earp’s history and mythologizes the American legend, but it does so with the biggest smile and plenty of action. With half-hour adventures, 226 episodes will fly by.
‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’ (1958–1961)
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Image via CBS</figure>
Steve McQueen was a television star before he made it to the big screen, and Wanted: Dead or Alive was his “magnus opus” on the airwaves. For three seasons, McQueen strolled around the Old West as the soft-spoken but effective bounty hunter Josh Randall, one of television’s greatest gunslingers who tackled a new job every week. Armed with his infamous Mare’s Leg, it seemed that there was nothing this ex-Confederate hero couldn’t do.
The CBS series further elevated McQueen’s “cool” factor, but it also proved inspirational for the genre at large. Randall was the type of Western hero that was “too cool for school,” and helped solidify the image of the cowboy hat-wearing drifter on the small screen. With only 94 episodes that run only 30 minutes apiece, Wanted: Dead or Alive is a series that you’ll likely revisit again and again.
‘The Rifleman’ (1958–1963)
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Image via ABC</figure>
A bit more “family friendly” than some of the more adult-oriented programs (although, let’s be real, these days all of these would be “family friendly”), The Rifleman was ABC’s attempt to cast a wider net with the genre. Chuck Connors starred as the titular hero, Lucas McCain, a Union Army vet and single father raising his son, Mark (Johnny Crawford), the only way he knew how. The idea of a single father on television was pretty novel at the time, as The Andy Griffith Show wouldn’t premiere until 1960.
With great episodes that rival even Western movies, The Rifleman predicated itself on McCain’s ability to give out second chances. Even the title hero himself wrestled with his own clear vices, not to mention a temper. For all his trick shooting, McCain wasn’t a master of everything, but he always did his best. Another half-hour program, The Rifleman ran for five seasons and 168 episodes total, perfect for the whole family.
‘Maverick’ (1957–1962)
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Image via ABC</figure>
Never before was there a Western television series quite like Maverick, and there has never been one quite like it again. Initially, James Garner headlined the program solo as Bret Maverick, a rambling, gambling, card player who found himself in sticky (yet humorous) situations all over the American West. Midway through the first season, Jack Kelly arrived as Bret’s brother, Bart, to lighten the load, and together the pair shared the weight of this comedic horse opera. Later on, Roger Moore and Robert Colbert would also star as cousin Beau and brother Brent, respectively.
As one of the Western programs worth watching over and over again, Maverick not only poked fun at the genre at large (and some of the other programs on this list), but found clever ways to navigate the Old West without consistent use of a lawman or common outlaw. Although the James Garner years were the best of the series, Maverick ran for a total of five seasons and 124 episodes, all of which have their own merits — it’s no wonder several spin-offs and even a feature film would spawn from this TV classic.
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
‘Cheyenne’ (1955–1963)
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Image via ABC</figure>
The first hour-long Western program to hit the airwaves, Warner Bros. and ABC hit television gold with Cheyenne. Clint Walker starred as the title drifter Cheyenne Bodie, a man raised by the Native American tribe that is his namesake who wanders across the Old West taking odd jobs along the way. Despite his own history with Indians and his experience in the Union Army, Cheyenne was a gentle soul who aimed to keep the peace rather than erupt into a gunfight.
Over time, Cheyenne — which was essentially a new Western TV movie every week — eventually became a “wheel program,” sharing space and airtime with shows like spin-off Bronco and pre-Maverick comedy Sugarfoot. It even was the launchpad for the short-lived The Dakotas. In total, Cheyenne was a near-perfect (though largely forgotten) horse opera that ran for seven seasons and 107 individual hour-long episodes.
‘The Virginian’ (1962–1971)
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Image via NBC</figure>
Based on the prized novel by Owen Wister, The Virginian spun-off from NBC’s Decision program before running solo for nine solid years on the network. James Drury starred as the titular Western hero, often found alongside his Shiloh Ranch companion Trampas (Doug McClure). A ranch foreman who was constantly fending off trouble, the Virginian — whose real name is unknown — never backed down from doing what’s right. No wonder it became one of the longest running horse operas on television, even outpacing Rawhide.
The Virginian ran in 90-minute segments on NBC, with each episode clocking in around 70 to 75 minutes in length. This meant that every episode was essentially a small-screen Western feature, further adding to the show’s popularity. In its ninth and final season, it was retitled The Men from Shiloh, which may have led to the end of the program after an already impressive 249 episodes.
‘Bonanza’ (1959–1973)
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Image via NBC</figure>
With a catchy theme tune and plenty of on-screen charisma, Bonanza is easily among the most popular Western television programs ever put to the small screen. The 14-season NBC triumph followed the Cartwright family, led by patriarch Ben (Lorne Greene), as they worked at the Ponderosa Ranch just outside of Virginia City, Nevada. Brothers Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker), and “Little” Joe (Michael Landon) worked under their father, and often found themselves getting involved in whatever new moral problem occurred in town.
Bonanza is still considered one of the best classic Western shows due to its enduring popularity, memorable cast, and progressive themes. Those first six seasons are arguably the best (until Roberts sadly left the show), though the remaining eight seasons are still quite fun on their own. Although the series ended abruptly with the Joe-focused hour “The Hunter,” 431 episodes is nothing to scoff at. Of course, the Cartwrights would return, in some form, in the prequel series Ponderosa, and three made-for-TV features about “the next generation.”
‘Have Gun – Will Travel’ (1957–1963)
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Image via CBS</figure>
If the first image you conjure up in your mind when you think “Western TV” is that of a man with his gun, then perhaps Have Gun – Will Travel is the series for you. Richard Boone stars here as Paladin, a gun-for-hire who travels from his San Francisco home all across the West for work some years after the American Civil War. Willing to tackle various kinds of jobs, Paladin always used his intelligence and his wit to get himself out of trouble whenever he could, only resorting to violence as a last measure.
For six seasons, Paladin transported CBS audiences to the Old West, dressed in all black and carrying his .45 Colt in a signature chess knight-clad holster. Plenty of memorable television writers got their start on this iconic Western, such as Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek) and Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible). Even famed Western filmmaker Sam Peckinpah and Dirty Harry legend Harry Julian Fink worked on this series. Thus, these 225 half-hour episodes will fly by as you reunite with Paladin on the open trail.
‘Wagon Train’ (1957–1965)
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Image via NBC</figure>
While Death Valley Days was the longest-running Western anthology program, the most popular was Wagon Train. NBC’s take on the John Ford film Wagon Master followed a “main cast” that included Ward Bond‘s Major Seth Adams (one of the best TV Western heroes) and Robert Horton‘s Flint McCullough as they led pioneers from St. Louis to California. However, every episode fixated on a different member of the wagon train itself rather than always relying on the leading stars for drama. Ford even came in to direct “The Colter Craven Story,” in which John Wayne cameoed.
The first few seasons of Wagon Train was the show at its peak, with Bond front-and-center. However, the actor’s untimely death during the fourth season prompted the network to hire John McIntire to take his place as new wagon master Christopher Hale. McIntire was later joined by other supporting cast members, including Cooper Smith (Robert Fuller), and the program eventually migrated to ABC. Even after eight seasons, 284 episodes, and some major cast shake-ups, Wagon Train remained one of the best.
‘Gunsmoke’ (1955–1975)
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Image via CBS</figure>
As if there was any doubt? Gunsmoke was not the first “adult” Western (by only a few days), but it perfected the model. Based on the radio program of the same name, the CBS series followed James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillion as he and his friends — Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake), “Doc” Adams (Milburn Stone), Chester (Dennis Weaver), Festus (Ken Curtis), and others — kept Dodge City safe from any unseemly types lurking about. For 20 years, Gunsmoke ruled the airwaves, and it’s still the longest-running horse opera on TV.
While the early seasons (the half-hour black-and-white episodes) are the best, the hour-long installments opened the door to new possibilities. Eventually, the flawless Western program expanded beyond its main cast, exploring the other citizens of Dodge wandering about. Although the series ended after an impressive 635 episodes, Arness returned for five made-for-TV movie continuations.
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