When I think of the few current television shows I enjoy watching, it’s a pretty short list.
In fact, there are more old shows I missed the first time around that I’m watching now then there are current shows.
I’m in the third of six seasons of ’90s show “Chicago Hope,” which I remember liking a lot back in the day and the fourth of seven seasons of “Once Upon a Time.” I figure I’ll make it through “Hope,” but I’m running out of steam on the fairy tale show.
I have other shows I haven’t finished — “CSI,” “NCIS” and “House” — but if there’s one way in which my viewing habits have really changed, it’s that I don’t watch situation comedies anymore.
I watch “Yellowstone,” which just started its fifth season this week.
I started watching because I’m something of a fan of Kevin Costner, whose commitment to doing the show was what got it made. I watched the first three or four episodes a few years back and then put it away. But earlier this year, I tried it again and binged my way through the first four seasons.
It’s been called the most “red state” of all the shows, but to me that’s an oversimplification. I’ve lived in at least four red states and I’ve visited Montana twice, and Montana doesn’t fit some of the big red state categories.
The religious stuff, for example.
In fact, most of the culture war stuff.
“Yellowstone” is more libertarian than republican. It’s a pretty good bet patriarch John Dutton, Costner’s character, wouldn’t have had much use for Donald Trump. The phrase “all hat, no cattle” comes to mind.
Because while people would call John Dutton a “man’s man,” that’s one thing no one would ever call Trump.
Costner may be the star of “Yellowstone,” but he’s not the most interesting character and isn’t the center of attention most of the time. Dutton’s daughter Beth, played by Kelly Reilly, is as close to pure villain as anyone in the show. In fact, she might be the best female villain since Joan Collins as Alexis on “Dynasty” in the 1980s.
In fact, one of the wildest marketing gimmicks to come out of the show is sportswear — baseball caps and tee shirts — with the slogan “Don’t make me go Beth Dutton on you.”
It’s not that it’s a great show. It’s been called a “Western Sopranos,” but it’s not in the same league. In fact, one thing working against it is that “Yellowstone’s” last season saw it as the most popular show on television. Knowing the lowbrow tastes of American viewers, “Yellowstone” is a lot closer to “Dallas” or “Dynasty” than it is to “The Sopranos.”
That’s fine with me.Back in the day, I enjoyed those shows.
Nobody ever accused me of being a highbrow.