Taylor Sheridan appears to have an author ally in the entertainment industry.
It’s no secret that Taylor Sheridan has a large fanbase that follows him to whatever show he’s behind. And it’s safe to say that fans love that Sheridan keeps his shows on a regular schedule, releasing new seasons every single year (with the exception of Yellowstone) in an age where other programs have two or even three year gaps between seasons.
Despite the love that Sheridan gets from fans, the writer and director rarely ever gets the credit he deserves from critics. That trend unfortunately continued with the latest Emmy nominations. Of all the shows he currently has on television (minus Dutton Ranch… it didn’t air in the time span to be eligible), Sheridan shows received an insulting one nomination across the board.
Landman, Lioness, Mayor of Kingstown, The Madison and Marshals were completely snubbed, receiving zero combined nominations. The mafia drama series Tulsa King got a nomination for “Outstanding Stunt Coordination for Comedy Programming,” which they seem to collect every year (and never end up winning).
Think of all the great acting throughout all of the Sheridan shows. Are you thinking about it? Well get this… no actor or actress in a Taylor Sheridan show was nominated for an acting award. And there are some big names that would certainly like a word. Michelle Pfieffer undoubtedly should have scored a “Best Actress” nomination for her work in The Madison, yet the drama received no love at all.
That’s nothing new. The Yellowstone creator isn’t shown much love by the award shows. But if it makes him feel any better, one of the great storytellers of our time – Stephen King – has his back. He took to X recently (albeit a couple of months after Emmy nominations were released) and had this to say about one show in particular not receiving any nominations.
King must have just finished up his Landman binge:
“I don’t understand why ‘LANDMAN’ didn’t get nominated for Emmy awards. Particularly Billy Bob Thornton for best actor and Stephen Kay for best director. Is it politics, or what?”
It’s interesting that Stephen King brings up politics there, both because a) that’s probably what it is and b) the author and Sheridan don’t share the same political beliefs. King is pretty well known for incessantly tweeting about Donald Trump and the Republican party.
But I guess despite that… King still recognizes good art when he sees it, and joins the ranks of fans who are upset (and have been for years) that Sheridan doesn’t get the awards he deserves.
However, in typical King fashion, he followed it up by saying the show is “full of dumb blondes,” while only praising Mexican-American actress Pauline Chavez:
“That’s true. The show is full of dumb (and avaricious) blondes. They succeed as eye-candy, but not much more. The exception is Ariana, played by Pauline Chavez. She’s a great strong woman.”
King was right to call out the lack of nominations for Billy Bob Thornton’s acting, considering the man behind oil fixer Tommy Norris has received nominations for his role from the Critics Choice and Golden Globes.
The good news is that Taylor Sheridan doesn’t care one bit about awards. In a recent interview on The Bill Simmons Podcast, the creator, director and writer straight up said he’s not seeking out awards:
“You’re not going to win no Emmys with me, but I’m not trying to win Emmys. The critics and me, I don’t care what they think, and it annoys the shit out of them that I don’t care.”
Even though Taylor Sheridan has recognized that himself, Stephen King still believes that the prolific writer and director should be getting some praise.
It’s cool to see someone like King call out the politics of it all, even when he and Sheridan probably don’t stand on the same side of the aisle.
