Taylor Sheridan seemed like he was everywhere in 2025, as he continued to draw record-breaking viewership for Paramount+ with the new

seasons of Landman, Tulsa King, and Mayor of Kingstown. Additionally, news of his new deal with NBC Universal to make shows for the

Peacock streaming service was a major shakeup for the industry at large and provided insight into the developments of Skydance’s merger

with Paramount. Although it would be fair to characterize his work as divisive, Sheridan earned the best reviews of his entire career for the second season of 1923, the epic period series that serves as a prequel to Yellowstone. Not only does 1923 have the greatest scope of Sheridan’s shows, but it also touches upon important issues while balancing a robust ensemble cast.

1923 is unique from Sheridan’s shows because it tells a complete story with a definitive endpoint; although there were too many characters to feasibly wrap up the narrative in only one season, the two volumes of 1923 were planned from the beginning. Sheridan can occasionally get accused of doing too much wheel-spinning in order to extend his shows past their period of relevance, but the tightness of 1923 feels closer in line with the films that he has written. At the same time, 1923 needed to be told in a serialized way because of the depth given to all the characters. Not only is Sheridan trying to explore the ideals and independent philosophies that came to define the Dutton family throughout the 20th century, but he also provides a perspective on why the decade was so fraught for Americans leading up to the stock market crash of the 1920s. Despite often being nicknamed “the Roaring Twenties,” it was a ten-year span in which flyover states struggled due to the hardships of natural weather events, Prohibition, and a growing alienation towards the establishment.

Shows like Landman and Tulsa King are centered around a singular protagonist who often serves as a mouthpiece for Sheridan’s own ideologies, but 1923 is a true ensemble show with a global scope. It says something about the reach that Sheridan has that he was able to lure the likes of Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren to a television project that reunited them for the first time since the 1986 classic The Mosquito Coast. Ford and Mirren star as Jacob and Cara Dutton, respectively, who oversee the family’s ranch in Montana. Although their nephew, Spencer (Brandon Sklenar), whom they raised as their own, spends much of the first season in Europe and Africa during his romance and marriage to Alexander (Julia Schlaepfer), this year finally allowed the entire family to reunite as they fought to protect their home and territory from the cruel business tycoon Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton). The restraint that Sheridan showed in biding time with these storylines pays off, as seeing Spencer search for his wife in America and finally reunite with his family is tremendously emotional.