per-181

Any new show with the always uber-cool Billy Bob Thornton in the lead will automatically be interesting. Landman starts out in a promising way, making me hope for another experience on a Fargo or Goliath level.

And as long as the focus stays on the gritty oil business, Landman is that great - and it stays that way for a good part of the first season, before it turns into a daytime soap. Suddenly it's all long heart-to-heart talks (in typical Taylor Sheridan fashion) and extremely annoying characters galore, starting with the stir crazy ex-wife and the incredibly stupid daughter. Plus, there is way too many really bad songs with even worse lyrics (another Sheridan trademark). My rating is based on Billy Bob's performance, without him it would be three stars.

All in all, I think it's time for Taylor Sheridan to slow down a bit. Too many shows going at once makes the quality suffer.

This show is a weird but sometimes entertaining mix of brutal violence and comic relief, with highly implausible storylines and ditto characters. Plus some of the worst acting ever seen on screen. Stallone can't move his face anymore, and he sounds punch drunk all the time, but he's not the only culprit. Dana Delany just stands there with a strange constant plastic surgery smile, and Sly's daughter wouldn't even get a job in catering on any other show. But the final nail in the coffin is the wooden Neal McDonough, who is worse than all daytime soap actors combined. Totally unconvincing, as he always is.