I had no intention of watching either show, even though I like Kevin Costner.
Then Paramount was was showing a marathon of
1883 one weekend and I happened upon the first episode as I was channel surfing. I was intrigued that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were starring in it together, so I started binge watching. It turns out to be more centered on the daughter (who is a dead ringer for Jennifer Lawrence,) than about their characters, but I was still hooked.
Then I binge watched
Yellowstone. It actually took me a bit to get adjusted to the jump in time and that
Yellowstone is a modern day version of
Dallas except with much more violence. Costner as the patriarch is great. I couldn't stand Beth for the first couple of seasons, but when they explained her back story more, I came to understand her. I love her and Rip.
In case people don't know, the guy who plays Travis, the rodeo guy, in the later seasons, is Taylor Sheridan, the writer/creator of the
Yellowstone series.
There is a third series, written to be in between
1883 and current day
Yellowstone, called
1923. It stars Harrison Ford & Helen Mirren. I watched part of it, but noticed it is just filled with gratuitous violence. More so than the other two series. I can handle a lot of violence, but the extreme,
continual violence and torture were way, way beyond anything necessary. It seemed that Sheridan put it in more for effect than to move the story along. So, I stopped watching
1923. (I think around this point in time, even Costner had decided out of continuing in
Yellowstone as he didn't like how that series had changed so much. Publicly, he says Yellowstone conflicts with a new project he's working on.
I think there are plans to make another series in between
1923 &
Yellowstone, as it would complete the generations who owned the Dutton ranch. But, I have no interest in it if it continues to be just a tortuous slaugherfest as
1923 is.