The critics and audience disagreeing is a bit of zeitgeist of our times, and if you were to ask Yellowstone and Mayor of Kingstown creator Taylor Sheridan, he’s right smack dab in the middle of that spirited debate. Believe it or not, while critics are kinder to Yellowstone ahead of Season 5, Season 1 debuted to 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. The first season of Mayor of Kingstown is only at 35%. And Taylor Sheridan has a theory about why critics don’t seem to like the shows he’s putting out.
In a wide-ranging interview with Joe Rogan, Sheridan really got into depth about all kinds of topics, like the food supply chain during the pandemic and heart valve transplants. However, it got really interesting when he began talking about his career. In fact, he noted myriad articles have been written by the press questioning why the content is so popular and there's one outlet in particular that he feels really picks on his landmark TV series. Noting of critics, he told the Joe Rogan Experience:
They’re confounded by its success. They can’t get their head around it. The New York Times has done multiple, multiple articles where they’re doing this essay on ‘How is this shit so popular?’
If you were to ask him, apparently many of these critics who are (allegedly) watching the series with a Peacock subscription or on Paramount Plus but who hate the show, should hate the series. Sheridan used descriptors like “punk rock” to describe his TV projects. He straight up even told Joe Rogan he has been designing programs with "defiance" in order to show a POV that's maybe a bit out of the mainstream on TV.
Yellowstone’s the punk rock me. There’s a fair amount of, it has no plot really. ‘Don’t take my land. I want your land.’ And in that, I have a lot of opportunities to poke fun, but also point out different points of view and kind of really study a way of life and a world. But there’s a lot of defiance in the way that I do it. It’s not surprising that critics hate it, because it’s designed for them to hate.
Sheridan mentioned the critics versus audience scores on aggregators (though his numbers are a wee bit off) to explain why there's a disconnect between what people are really watching and what those who write about TV feel people should be watching.
I have a show called Mayor of Kingstown, which is all about literally the decay of an American city, and I think it’s at 21% on Rotten Tomatoes and 94% audience rating. Something like that, something bananas.
It's worth noting the critical view of Yellowstone has shifted into the positive over time as more and more people have caught the series. (The Season 4 finale nearly doubled in viewers from the same episode in Season 3.) In general too, plenty of people have been fans of the soapy-yet-serious drama from the start. CinemaBlend’s own Nick Venable had been championing the Montana-set series through Season 4's finale, and our staff had been championing Mayor of Kingstown to get Season 3 before its renewal.
I guess my point is, not all critics "hate" Sheridan's shows and reviews aren't the only way to show fandom in the TV realm. A lot of TV critics write weekly recaps and reactions to shows like these, particularly when there's plenty of speculation about what will happen next week.
To the creator's point, though, Yellowstone and Mayor of Kingstown aren't the critical darlings shows like The Bear or Succession are. It's certainly true that Yellowjackets gets more Emmys shoutouts than Yellowstone --though Kevin Costner did win a Golden Globe in 2023, so maybe that attitude is changing somewhat.
At the end of the day, Yellowstone in particularly has wildly achieved by many, many metrics and by Season 4 has nabbed a 91% fresh on RT. Mayor of Kingstown is creeping up in reviews and has done well enough Season 3 is coming; nab a Paramount+ subscription to catch up if you haven't. Things are really coming up Taylor Sheridan, no matter what his critics say.
