The TV Column

Modern western borrows from themes in the past

Kevin Costner stars as the embattled patriarch of America’s biggest ranch in Paramount Network’s modern Western Yellowstone.
Kevin Costner stars as the embattled patriarch of America’s biggest ranch in Paramount Network’s modern Western Yellowstone.

Is there anything more beloved and American than a good ol' TV Western? Paramount Network hopes you agree (see below).

The Western is so American that it was the dominant genre in network TV's first decade and among my earliest childhood memories.

That covers everything from The Lone Ranger and The Cisco Kid to Death Valley Days and Sky King.

Quick -- What was the name of sidekick Pat Brady's obstreperous Jeep on The Roy Rogers Show (1951-57)?

We can credit Gunsmoke (1955-75) for opening TV's floodgates. Thanks to Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty, by 1959, there were 26 Westerns airing in prime time on only three networks. Eight of TV's Top 10 shows were Westerns.

The popularity of the traditional Western slowly diminished, but later series enjoyed popularity as well. Deadwood (2004-06) is a modern classic and Westworld (2016-) is currently causing a buzz for HBO.

The most emails I've ever gotten concerned the fate of Longmire.

Some of the most memorable Westerns were also family dramas. These began with the Cartwrights of Bonanza and their sprawling Nevada ranch, the Ponderosa. Others included The Virginian (Shiloh Ranch), The Big Valley (Barkley Ranch) and The High Chaparral with its ranch of the same name.

Now comes Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. It's well worth a visit.

(By the way, Brady's 1946 Willys CJ-2A Jeep was named Nellybelle.)

Yellowstone premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday on Paramount Network with two-time Oscar-winner Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves) making his debut as a TV series regular.

Costner plays John Dutton, the laconic patriarch of Montana's modern-day Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, the largest contiguous spread in the United States. It's "the size of Rhode Island" and sprawls between Yellowstone National Park, an Indian reservation called Broken Rock, and the college town of Bozeman.

Not only must Dutton struggle to defend his land from a new breed of slick and litigious Indian politician, but also greedy real estate developers who want to slice off Yellowstone's most scenic pastures for golf courses and resort homes.

Paramount tells us the series is "an intense study of a violent world where land grabs make developers billions, and politicians are bought and sold by the world's largest oil and lumber corporations. Where drinking water is poisoned by fracking wells and unsolved murders are not news, they are a consequence of living in the new frontier."

It's also "the best and worst of America seen through the eyes of a family that represents both."

Creator Taylor Sheridan (Wind River, Sicario) has labeled the series "basically a Greek tragedy in the Big Sky country."

Sheridan says, "To me the series is about the death of a way of life. It's also about the changing structure of family and the death of a family."

Costner, who at 63 has aged well into patriarchal roles, is perfectly cast as the strong-willed silent type determined to preserve what has been his family's way of life for four generations.

He has his hands full, not only with the outside pressures, but with his four adult children, who now lack the uniting influence of their deceased mother.

The strong ensemble includes a local connection.

Wes Bentley plays Jaime Dutton. The 1996 graduate of Sherwood's Sylvan Hills High School has most recently appeared in three seasons of the FX anthology American Horror Story. In Yellowstone, he plays an attorney and "the responsible son" who uses his legal skills to fend off threats to the ranch.

Kelly Reilly portrays Beth Dutton, John's only daughter. Beth is a fierce player at one of Montana's largest banks. She is volatile and has a self-destructive streak.

Dave Annable is Lee Dutton. Never having left the ranch, Lee is content to follow his father's footsteps.

Luke Grimes plays Kayce Dutton, the fiercely independent youngest son. Having married an Indian girl and moved onto the reservation, he's torn between two worlds.

This is Paramount Network's first new original drama, and no expense has been spared. The series is lushly photographed in Utah and Montana, and has a real cinematic quality that showcases the West.

"A lot of what Yellowstone is about," Bentley adds, "is what the idea of the American West was and how that has changed. How do we preserve that -- is it right to preserve that? These are conflicting ideas that are somehow also all tied into each other."

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style on 06/19/2018

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