Missing ‘Deadwood’ 20 Years Later? 9 Other TV Shows to Check Out

Dan Clarendon August 27, 2026, 8:00 am

Ian McShane as Al Swearengen and Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock in ‘Deadwood,’ Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in ‘Justified,’ Merritt Wever as Mary Agnes and Michelle Dockery as Alice Fletcher in ‘Godless,’ and Ian McShane as King Silas Benjamin in ‘Kings’ — HBO/Courtesy: Everett Collection, Prashant Gupta/FX Network/Courtesy: Everett Collection, James Minchin/Netflix/Courtesy: Everett Collection, Eric Liebowitz/NBC/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Despite its standing as one of HBO’s best-reviewed TV shows — an opinion we share — Deadwood was nearly dead in the water in 2006. That’s when HBO opted against renewing the Western series for a full fourth season and creator David Milch decided to call it a day.

And so the series ended with its third season finale 20 years ago on August 27 — though HBO eventually did right by fans and got the gang back together for a 2019 TV movie.

Deadwood, which is also our pick for the best TV Western of all time, is a dramatization of the law and disorder of late-19th-century Deadwood, South Dakota, with characters including real-life frontier figures like Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Wyatt Earp. And we reckon fans of that show would take a liking to the similar shows below…

Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in ‘Justified’ — Prashant Gupta/FX Network/Courtesy: Everett Collection

*Justified*

After playing the real-life U.S. Marshal Seth Bullock on *Deadwood*, Timothy Olyphant played the fictional deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on this neo-Western. Like Bullock, Givens is an outsider in a small town — an Appalachian mining community, in this case — but unlike Bullock, Givens is returning to his hometown. **Currently streaming on Hulu.**

Jonathan Scarfe as Sydney Snow in ‘Hell on Wheels’ — Chris Large/American Movie Classics/Courtesy: Everett Collection

*Hell on Wheels*

Picture the town of Deadwood on the move — and following the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, specifically — and you have this Western drama, set on the American frontier around the same time as *Deadwood*’s story. And like *Deadwood*, *Hell on Wheels* is also based on and named after a real-life community. **Currently streaming on AMC+, Howdy, Lionsgate+, Paramount+, Philo, The Roku Channel, and Spectrum.**

Merritt Wever as Mary Agnes and Michelle Dockery as Alice Fletcher in ‘Godless’ — James Minchin/Netflix/Courtesy: Everett Collection

*Godless*

From Scott Frank, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of *Logan* and Emmy-winning screenwriter of *The Queen’s Gambit*, comes this Western miniseries. Jeff Daniels and Jack O’Connell play outlaws who bring trouble to a New Mexico mining town maintained by women played by the likes of Merritt Wever and Michelle Dockery. **Currently streaming on Netflix.**

Tim McGraw as James Dutton and Faith Hill as Margaret Dutton in ‘1883’ — Emerson Miller/Paramount+

*1883*

*Deadwood* fans might warm to the TV Western *Yellowstone*, but we think this prequel miniseries, another Taylor Sheridan production, is a closer analog. *1883* follows Dutton ancestors, played by husband-and-wife country acts Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, as they make a perilous wagon journey from Texas to Montana. **Currently streaming on Paramount+.**

David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves in ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’ — Lauren Smith/Paramount+

*Lawmen: Bass Reeves*

Sheridanverse-inclined *Deadwood* fans can also check out this other series, which Sheridan executive-produced and which follows another historical U.S. marshal. David Oyelowo portrays the real-life titular character, who escaped enslavement to become one of the first Black U.S. Marshals west of the Mississippi. **Currently streaming on Netflix and Paramount+.**

Preston Mota as Devin Rowell, Taylor Kitsch as Isaac, and Betty Gilpin as Sara Rowell in ‘American Primeval’ — Matt Kennedy/Netflix/Courtesy: Everett Collection

*American Primeval*

Debates about its historical authenticity abound, but what’s indisputable is that *American Primeval* has all of *Deadwood*’s grittiness and bloodshed. Netflix calls this depiction of the Utah War — a miniseries scripted by *The Revenant* scribe Mark L. Smith — a “violent collision of culture, religion, and community,” which sounds similar to what happened in a certain South Dakota town. **Currently streaming on Netflix.**

Indira Varma as Niobe and Kevin McKidd as Lucius Vorenus in ‘Rome’ — Franco Biciocchi/HBO/Courtesy: Everett Collection

*Rome*

What? A series about Ancient Rome? We’re not among the people who think about the Roman Empire once a day — we just see plenty of parallels between *Deadwood* and this other ambitious HBO series with high-budget recreation of a historic place, a sprawling cast of characters, and a portryal of a world undergoing violent change. **Currently streaming on HBO Max.**

Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson in ‘Boardwalk Empire’ — Christopher T. Saunders/HBO/Courtesy: Everett Collection

*Boardwalk Empire*

As faithfully as *Deadwood* and *Rome* captured their respective settings, *Boardwalk Empire* brought Prohibition-era Atlantic City into focus for modern-day viewers. Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi, is like the Al Swearengen of 1920s New Jersey, a man who covertly pulls all the strings in his community. (And if you look closely, you’ll see *Deadwood*’s Molly Parker in a photo of Nucky’s late first wife.) **Currently streaming on HBO Max.**

Ian McShane as King Silas Benjamin in ‘Kings’ — Eric Liebowitz/NBC/Courtesy: Everett Collection

*Kings*

We started with Timothy Olyphant’s *Deadwood* follow-up, and we’ll end with Ian McShane’s, a series of which we’ve already sung the praises. *Kings* is a canceled-too-soon retelling of the David-versus-Goliath tale, with McShane playing the monarch of a fictional modern-day kingdom. And as with McShane’s *Deadwood* character, this king is threatened by the arrival of a virtuous newcomer. **Currently streaming on The Roku Channel.**

Conversation

Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.