A good Western can be hard to come by if you don’t know the right place to look. When it comes to television horse operas, however, there are a few other hoops one must jump through. Do you prefer modern-day takes on the American West or more classic ones? Color or black-and-white? Multiple seasons or a miniseries? However you answer those questions, we believe that we’ve got something for you.
When it comes to the most bingeable Westerns, that can fall into the realm of personal taste. Some prefer meditative takes on the genre that speak to harsh historical truths, while others prefer something a bit more mythic and inspirational. If Deadwood is what you’re after here, you’ll be sorely disappointed, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some stellar Western television productions still worth binging from this list. So, let’s hit the trail with some of the greatest TV horse operas that deserve some extra love.
9
‘1883’ (2021–2022)
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If you’re looking for something downright historical but also quick when it comes to binging hours, 1883 may be the series for you. Although a Yellowstone prequel, this 10-part adventure does not require you to revisit any of creator Taylor Sheridan‘s other material. Rather, this one-and-done wagon train voyage follows the first Duttons to migrate to Montana — and all the horrors they encounter.
Some consider this gritty horse opera to be among the Western TV shows without a single flaw, but whether you fall into that camp or not, it’s hard not to invest in this tough-as-nails take. It’s equal parts romantic as Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) comes of age on the journey, action-packed as the pioneers encounter natural and human conflicts alike, and meditative as Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) and others reflect on their reasons for being there. As perhaps one of the most impressive entries on this list, 1883 feels like an epic novel put on screen.
8
‘Maverick’ (1957–1962)
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For a more comedic take on the genre that parodies the Western without becoming overly slapstick, look no further than Maverick. The five-season series initially starred James Garner as rambling gambler Bret Maverick before his brother, Bart (Jack Kelly), showed up. The show alternated its leading man for three seasons before Garner left, replaced by a rotating cast of Bart, Roger Moore‘s cousin Beau Maverick, and (briefly) Robert Colbert‘s “other brother” Brent. Still, nothing quite beats that initial pair.
Maverick entertained ABC audiences across 124 episodes, including parodies of two of television’s most famous Western programs (which also both feature on this list). However, many have cited “Shady Deal at Sunny Acres” — a Bret and Bart team-up from the second season — as one of the greatest episodes of Western TV out there. The Maverick brothers sure knew how to have a good time, and that’s part of what makes the show such an effective binge.
7
‘Bonanza’ (1959–1973)
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One of the programs parodied by the last entry, Bonanza is arguably one of the most popular Westerns ever put to the small screen. Running an impressive 14 seasons, the NBC series followed the misadventures of the Cartwright family, Nevada-based ranchers always getting involved with whatever new conflict brewed in Virginia City. Led by patriarch Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene), brothers Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker), and “Little Joe” (Michael Landon) typically found themselves in the darnedest of spots.
An essential Western TV show, Bonanza (sometimes called Ponderosa in syndication after the Cartwright ranch of the same name) ran for 431 episodes, which will fly by when you start binging one after another. The Cartwrights are not only likable protagonists, but they have one of the catchiest theme tunes to hit the airwaves — one that Lorne Greene himself once put words to. Although Roberts left the series after a few seasons and Blocker sadly passed away a year before the program concluded, Bonanza was always a hit.
6
‘Have Gun – Will Travel’ (1957–1963)
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Richard Boone may have been known as a villain in several John Wayne Westerns, but on television, he was one of the coolest gun-toting heroes out there. For all six seasons on Have Gun – Will Travel, Boone played the “man in black” Paladin, a gunslinger with a heart of gold and a penchant for getting himself out of whatever trouble his new client gets him in. Unlike most shoot-’em-up protagonists, Paladin was as intelligent as he was quick with a gun, opting to find more creative ways to solve problems than shooting his enemies.
Have Gun – Will Travel is a Western series that has aged like fine wine. With only half-hour installments, 225 episodes fly by with every new Paladin adventure. Always clever and willing to put his life on the line, Boone’s most memorable on-screen role deserves more appreciation all these years later. Indeed, the CBS program was so popular at the time that it was one of the few to expand from TV to radio rather than the other way around.
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.
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‘Billy the Kid’ (2022–2025)
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Although Billy the Kid flew almost entirely under the radar, it’s one of the few modern programs set in the American West that actually travels back in time. Tom Blyth stars as the titular outlaw, whose Regulators stand against the nefarious Santa Fe Ring as they rule over the New Mexico Territory. Often at odds with his old friends Jesse Evans (Daniel Webber) and Pat Garrett (Alex Roe), Billy starts a wildfire that soon stretches beyond his control.
Those looking for a history lesson here should be aware that Billy the Kid makes a lot of changes to Old West history. In that sense, it’s far more “myth and legend” than “fact and reality,” but since creator Michael Hirst told such a phenomenal tale, we’ll let that slide. With only three seasons and 24 episodes total, you’ll binge through this one quick.
4
‘Little House on the Prairie’ (1974–1983)
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When it comes to Western programs that hook you from start to finish, there are few better than Little House on the Prairie. We’re talking about the original nine-season NBC series here, inspired loosely by the novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder (played by Melissa Gilbert on screen). As the Ingalls family journey west, they ultimately settle in Walnut Grove, making a life for themselves on the open frontier.
Although Little House deviates considerably from the real-life Ingalls story, it’s another example of a fan-favorite program that makes the heart glad. A “family-friendly” Western (or Midwestern, as some have deemed it) if there ever was one, Little House doesn’t usually enter gunfight or train robbery territory, but it tells deeply human stories that will keep you glued to the screen for all 200 episodes (plus a few made-for-TV movies). In fact, Michael Landon, who played Charles “Pa” Ingalls, even recycled some Bonanza plots.
3
‘Longmire’ (2012–2017)
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Image via NetflixThe only neo-Western on this list, sometimes a show is so good that you have to break the rules. Based on the popular mystery novels by author Craig Johnson, Longmire may be set in contemporary Wyoming, but it feels quite old-fashioned in the way the titular hero operates. Robert Taylor stars as Sheriff Walt Longmire, a lawman who sticks to his guns and fights for “honesty and integrity” for six seasons.
Longmire is a Western series perfect from start to finish. Even when the program moved from A&E to Netflix, the quality never declined as Walt, his deputies, and best friend Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips) battle against whatever new trails envelop Absaroka County and the nearby Cheyenne Reservation. With 63 episodes that go from episodic mysteries to more serialized adventures as time goes on, you’ll plow through this fan-favorite series.
2
‘Gunsmoke’ (1955–1975)
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No list of anything labeled the “greatest Western TV” would be complete without Gunsmoke. The famed horse opera began as a radio show initially before making the jump to television, where it ran on CBS for 20 seasons between 1955 and 1975. After a recommendation by John Wayne himself, the Dodge City adventures of U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) took off with a bang, beginning with half-hour black-and-white installments before shifting with the times and transitioning to color-based hour-long episodes.
As arguably the most iconic classic Western television series, Gunsmoke put Matt and his fellow Dodge residents into the middle of all the old-school Old West action you can dream of. From stellar hours like “The Gallows” and “The Cabin” to “Seven Hours to Dawn” and the very first tale “Matt Gets It,” all 635 episodes deserve your attention, even if the show declines a little in quality in its later years. Afterward, don’t sleep on the five made-for-TV follow-ups Arness starred in years later.
1
‘Lonesome Dove’ (1989)
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Based on arguably the best Western novel ever written by Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove has been considered an “epic Western film” by some (and maybe rightly so), but it’s technically a television miniseries. In four parts, director Simon Wincer and screenwriter William D. Wittliff masterfully translate McMurtry’s prose to the screen as ex-Texas Rangers Woodrow F. Call (Tommy Lee Jones) and Augustus “Gus” McCrae (Robert Duvall) lead a cattle drive from the Mexico-Texas border to the paradise of Montana. And it’s incredible.
Lonesome Dove the miniseries, just like the novel, is a sweeping adventure full of love, loss, tragedy, triumph, and moral questions that are tough to answer. You know, just like the actual Old West. Duvall and Jones (but especially Duvall) offer some of the best material of their entire careers, proving that prestige television has existed long before the streaming era we live in today.
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