Nowadays, when folks think about “Western television,” most minds wander to the entertainment powerhouse that is Taylor Sheridan. Best known for “Yellowstone” and its subsequent offshoots, Sheridan was also a driving force behind the historical “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” and the contemporary “The Madison.” But when it comes to the filmmaker’s own favorite cowboy adventure, look no further than Larry McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove,” the basis for the very best Western miniseries ever made.
2025 year was the 40th anniversary of the novel’s original publication, and as such, Simon & Schuster re-released the Western epic with a new foreward by Sheridan himself. “I first read ‘Lonesome Dove’ in the spring of 1989,” the “Yellowstone” co-creator recalled. “To say it enthralled me, shocked me and sparked my imagination before it shattered me is an understatement.” The novel, a hefty 864 pages in this edition, is a sprawling epic about the decline of the Old West and those who bled and died to secure it. But for many, the 1989 miniseries is really the biggest triumph.
“In August of that year, the television adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s transformative novel first aired,” Sheridan added. “[Writer] Bill Wittliff’s adaptation of McMurtry’s novel was handled with the reverence of a monk transcribing the Bible, which is to say — it is arguably the most literal and faithful adaptation to the screen in cinematic history.” Starring Robert Duvall as Augustus “Gus” McCrae and Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow F. Call, the miniseries perfectly captures the atmosphere of McMurtry’s prose, with brilliant performances that anchor the material to the American West.
Lonesome Dove remains perhaps the most formative Western tale
Sometimes referred to in its own marketing as an extended television film, this four-part miniseries set a high standard for not only for faithful book-to-screen adaptations, but Western productions as a whole. Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall breathed new life into the dying on-screen genre, and the cinematic efforts of those involved inspired a course-correction in Taylor Sheridan’s life.
“Upon watching the film, I reread the novel again,” Sheridan continued. “This is easily the most formative event in my life. My plan to pursue the family businesses of law enforcement and cattle raising was destroyed. In its place was an unquenchable thirst for storytelling.” That is the effect of “Lonesome Dove,” whether you experience the novel or the miniseries. Sheridan would go on to name his own son “Augustus” after Duvall’s character in the film.
Unsurprisingly, the 1989 adaptation swept at the Emmys, with 18 nominations and six wins, including “Outstanding Directing In A Miniseries Or A Special” for director Simon Wincer. “Lonesome Dove” helped define the Western genre on television, and remains the standard for many when it comes to televised horse operas. No doubt, it helped inspire Sheridan’s 10-part Texas-to-Montana journey in “1883.”
The six-hour miniseries was so popular that it spawned a sequel, “Return to Lonesome Dove,” which in turn sparked “Lonesome Dove: The Series.” Further adaptations of McMurtry’s literary saga, including the true sequel “Streets of Laredo” and prequels “Dead Man’s Walk” and “Comanche Moon,” would follow. In 2026, Netflix ordered a “Lonesome Dove” reboot from “East of Eden” showrunners Zoe Kazan and Jeb Stuart.