3 Western TV series to watch if you love old Clint Eastwood movies ‣ Diverse Daily

Chances are, if you’re a fan of Clint Eastwood’s Westerns, you’ve already seen many of the classics, such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Pale Rider, and Unforgiven, the latter of which earned Eastwood two Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Eastwood’s Westerns, and whenever I see one pop up on TV or a free streaming service, I usually find myself watching it one way or another. There’s just something about those dusty Wild West towns, morally questionable characters, and stories where you never quite know who to trust that makes so many of Eastwood’s movies a thrill to watch.

But if you’re looking for more Westerns that capture that same feeling while giving you a much bigger story to sink your teeth into, these three TV series are well worth checking out.

Deadwood

Timothy Olyphant leads this gritty Western series

I think it’s fair to say HBO was on a generational run in the early 2000s, delivering standout series such as Band of Brothers, The Sopranos, The Wire, and, notably, Deadwood. The Western series premiered in 2004 and ran for three seasons, totaling 36 episodes.

Set in the 1870s, the show unfolds in Deadwood, an illegal mining camp deep in Native American territory that lies outside US jurisdiction. At the center of the series is Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), a former lawman who arrives in Deadwood seeking a fresh start by opening a hardware store, but reluctantly takes on the role of sheriff to help bring law and order to the town. Bullock forms an uneasy alliance with Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), an outspoken saloon owner, to help Deadwood survive as it transforms from a mining camp into a real community on the verge of being annexed by the United States.

The series reminded me a lot of Eastwood’s Pale Rider, particularly because of its mining camp setting. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the Western world of Deadwood, all three seasons are available to stream on HBO Max. Alternatively, you can pick up the complete series on Blu-ray if you’d prefer to own it.

Deadwood

Release Date: 2004 – 2006-00-00
Network: HBO Max
Showrunner: David Milch
Writers: David Milch

1883

The prequel series to Yellowstone

1883 is one of my favorite Western series from the last few years, and it’s a 10-episode miniseries that serves as a prequel to the Western series Yellowstone. But don’t worry — if you’ve never seen Yellowstone, you can still watch 1883, and one reason I enjoyed it so much is that its post-Civil War frontier setting reminds me a lot of some of Clint Eastwood’s work, particularly Unforgiven.

The series follows Civil War veteran James Dutton (Tim McGraw), his wife Margaret (Faith Hill), and their daughter Elsa (Isabel May) as they leave Texas in search of a better life. They join a wagon train heading west to Montana, led by a rugged cowboy named Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott), but the journey quickly proves to be anything but easy as the group faces dangerous bandit encounters and the unforgiving realities of the frontier.

If you’d like to check out 1883, the entire 10-episode miniseries is available to stream on Paramount+, along with Yellowstone, the series it’s a prequel to. And if you’d prefer to own 1883, the miniseries is also available on Blu-ray from Amazon.

1883

Release Date: 2021 – 2022-00-00
Network: Paramount+
Showrunner: Ron Burkle
Directors: Ben Richardson, Christina Alexandra Voros, Taylor Sheridan

Faith Hill

Margaret Dutton

Hell on Wheels

One of Anson Mount’s best performances

Last but not least is the Western series Hell on Wheels, which premiered on AMC in 2011 and ran for five seasons, totaling 57 episodes. The series has plenty of parallels to Eastwood’s Western film The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), as both take place in the aftermath of the Civil War and follow protagonists carrying deep trauma.

With that in mind, Hell on Wheels follows Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), an ex-Confederate soldier who heads west in search of the Union soldiers responsible for his wife’s death. His journey eventually leads him to a frontier town that’s constantly on the move, following the construction of the transcontinental railroad across the Great Plains. There, Bohannon sets aside his revenge as he gets involved with railroad bosses, workers, and outlaws, all aiming to survive and get rich.

Every season of Hell on Wheels is available to stream on AMC+ and Paramount+. However, if you’d prefer to own it, you can pick it up the complete series on Blu-ray from Amazon.