Yellowstone’s next spinoff, Y: Marshals, will premiere on CBS on March 1, 2026. This is the fourth show in the franchise and the first sequel, following the prequels, 1923 and 1883. The series will trail former U.S. Navy SEAL and rancher Kayce Dutton as he works with a specialized group of U.S. Marshals to protect Montana from criminal elements. Surprisingly, Kayce’s wife, Monica, won’t be appearing in the offshoot, an absence that is yet to be explained by Taylor Sheridan and Kelsey Asbille, the actress who portrayed the character in the parent show.
With the premiere date still several weeks away, fans can watch a few other great TV Westerns that also revolve around tough lawmen. These shows will put you in the mood for justice and present you with some tough characters to compare Kayce with. Will he measure up? We will see. The choices range from old Westerns that ride on genre tropes while remaining entertaining, to newer neo-Westerns that capture the best and worst aspects of modern life.
‘Joe Pickett’ (2021 – 2023)
In Joe Pickett, the titular character (portrayed by Michael Dorman), is a game warden who moves with his family to watch over the wilderness surrounding Yellowstone National Park. While adjusting to life in the area and immersing himself in the affairs of locals, he makes a horrific discovery: a dead body in his backyard. You bet the devastated Pickett will stop at nothing to find out what the person knew and why they were killed. Hint: a powerful family is involved.
Yellowstone National Park in another show? That’ll definitely excite Yellowstone fans. Based on characters created by novelist C.J. Box, this engrossing, high-stakes neo-Western explores the conspiratorial collusion of powerful families, entrepreneurs, and government officials as they watch over beleaguered communities. Here, series creator and director John Erick Dowdle (best known for Waco) clearly wants viewers to feel the pain of the downtrodden, and his visceral and immersive visual style grips us right from the opening seconds of the premiere. The family arcs are wholesome, too.
‘Cimarron Strip’ (1967–1968)
Set in the late 1800s in the Cimarron Territory, which later became the Oklahoma Panhandle, Cimarron Strip stars Stuart Whitman as Jim Crown, the Marshall tasked in maintaining law and order in the area. Aided by saloon owner Dulcey Coopersmith (Jill Townsend), drifter Francis Wilde (Randy Boone), and scout MacGregor (Percy Herbert), Crown faces off against corrupt land barons, robbers, and cattle thieves.
Cynical and spellbinding, Cimarron Strip is as addictive as Westerns get. Stuart Whitman brings a dry gravity to his character’s numerous predicaments, and Jill Townsend couldn’t be better as the former upstairs maid who arrives in Cimarron City on the same train as Marshal Crown and becomes a saloon owner. You’ll also love the show’s theme, composed by the great Maurice Jarre, who scored Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and a few other 1960s Hollywood hits.
‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’ (2023)
Initially intended as a Yellowstone spinoff, Lawmen: Bass Reeves was remodeled into a standalone tale, built around peace officer and first Black Deputy Marshall west of the Mississippi River, Bass Reeves (David Oyelowo). The lawman was famous for his knowledge of the languages of several Native American tribes, including Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole, and Creek, and for taking down over 4000 dangerous outlaws without ever getting injured.
A resonant morality play about defiance, will, and honor, Lawmen: Bass Reeves is so good you can’t help but wonder why only a single season was made. Reeves could have been a star-making role for any upcoming actor, but Sheridan tends to prefer established Hollywood figures as the leads of his shows, and no person could have done a better job than the prodigiously talented Oyelewo. The series brilliantly covers the intense personal scrutiny that was often imposed on lawmen in the old times, particularly if the person with the badge was of a different color. This is, therefore, one of the most recommendable westerns featuring black protagonists. And the music is excellent, something the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards recognized.
‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ (1993 – 2001)
Syndicated in numerous countries around the world, Walker, Texas Ranger is arguably Chuck Norris’ best work… way better than his movies. The ‘80s and ‘90s action star portrays Cordell Walker, a by-the-book Texas Ranger who enjoys sending miscreants flying, courtesy of round-kicks. Aided by his reliable partner, James Trivette (Clarence Gilyard Jr.), Walker takes them all down, whether they are corrupt politicians or crime bosses.
Is there a better ‘90s opening theme song than “Eyes of the Ranger, composed by Tirk Wilder? It makes you drop everything and grab a seat. Overall, the neo-Western is wildly entertaining, delivering a perfect balance of action and dialogue. The show ranked among the Top 25 on Nielsen Ratings from 1995 until 1999, and remains popular in some territories to date. Unknown to many, Taylor Sheridan actually starred alongside Chuck Norris in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger, his first-ever acting role.
‘The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.’ (1993 – 1994)
Set in the Old West of 1893, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. follows Brisco (Bruce Campbell), a Harvard-educated lawyer who grows tired of being a white-collar worker and becomes a bounty hunter. Consumed by his special brand of law enforcement work, he is soon hired by a group of wealthy industrialists to capture outlaw John Bly (Billy Drago).
Made after Campbell had completed work on the original Evil Dead trilogy, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. is funny, but it’s also a prescient and haunting drama, placing itself firmly in the weird Western category. Additionally, it is a brilliant character study that plays out in an intense atmosphere of steampunk and scientific genius. Several episodes involve the Orb, a powerful futuristic device, and Brisco has an inventor buddy who often assists him with anachronistic technology.
‘The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp’ (1955 – 1961)
Several Wyatt Earp movies have been made over the years, notably Tombstone, but the legendary lawman is portrayed even better (by Hugh O’Brian) in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Right from the series premiere, we see Earp troubled by the fragments of information he gathers from locals and begins obsessively piecing everything together. His aura never changes.
One of the most artful Westerns of the 1950s, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is tense, brooding, shadowy, and occasionally unnerving. O’Brian is the dark heart of the ABC hit, playing a profoundly social man tortured by complicity, regret, and his inability to trust those around him, including Doc Holiday. The lead actor was chosen for the role because of his close resemblance to early photographs of Wyatt Earp. O’Brian received an Emmy nomination for his work and would go on to reprise the role in two episodes of the CBS television series Guns of Paradise.
‘Longmire’ (2012 – 2017)
Netflix
Longmire first ushers us into rural Absaroka County, Wyoming, where Sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) is mourning his spouse. Aided by deputies, Vic Moretti (Katee Sackhoff) and Ferg (Adam Bartley), with the invaluable counsel of his Cheyenne buddy Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips), he investigates crimes stemming from local politics and Native American reservation pressures.
Series creators John Coveny and Hunt Baldwin fashion a handsome, layered, sweeping, exciting neo-Western crime drama that rewards lovers of slow-burn storytelling. For the first few episodes, Taylor’s Walt Longmire is so despicably low we cannot wait for the long-suffering lawman to wreak vengeance on behalf of all offended parties in his jurisdiction. The cross-cultural series became the highest-rated original drama show on A&E, and it remains popular on streaming. You’ll love the grooming, too, a department that earned Longmire a nomination from the Makeup and Hairstylists Guild Awards.
‘Gunsmoke’ (1955 – 1975)
Gunsmoke follows U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness) as he protects Dodge City from nefarious drifters and outlaws, while erasing all other forms of frontier violence. His pursuit of justice is boosted by the presence of his deputies Chester Goode (Dennis Weaver) and (in the future) Festus Haggen (Ken Curtis). Each episode features chases, gunfights, and family tales.
In this long-running Western, which started out as a radio series, revenge is always a dish served hot, and action fans are sure to feel sated by the end of each episode. Better yet, it’s all solid family viewing, even with younger children. The show won 15 Emmys as well as other trophies. It frequently held the top-10 spot in the Nielsen ratings, too, for several seasons. But has it aged well? It does… in most parts. The cinematography looks a bit dated, but every other area holds.
‘Justified’ (2010 – 2015)
Inspired by Elmore Leonard’s neo-Western tales, particularly “Fire in the Hole,” Justified follows Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), a relentless deputy U.S. Marshal who enjoys enforcing cowboy justice in Harlan County, Kentucky. The lawman is reassigned to the rural area as punishment for a controversial shooting incident during his stint in Miami.
Nominated for eight Emmys during its run and winning two, Justified has a strong script that brings the best out of the actors. Walton Goggins is excellent as a zealot and former white supremacist criminal who enjoys using pyrotechnics. Olyphant equally dominates as you’d expect him to, doing even better than he did in Deadwood. Author Elmore Leonard also ranked it as one of the superior adaptations of his work, equal to Jackie Brown and 3:10 to Yuma.
- Release Date
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2018 – 2024
- Network
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Paramount Network
- Directors
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Stephen Kay, Taylor Sheridan, Christina Alexandra Voros, Guy Ferland, John Dahl
- Writers
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John Coveny, Ian McCulloch
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
