Why Landman Can't Be Completely Realistic, According To The Show's Co-Creator

Taylor Sheridan's "Landman" was inspired by a podcast that digs into the real-world Texas oil industry, exploring its impact on everything from politics to the environment. The show itself, however, is comparable to Sheridan's Western "Yellowstone" in the sense that it applies a sense of authenticity to an otherwise heightened drama. "Yellowstone" is all about organized crime on a ranch, but the scenes involving actual ranching are true to real-life cowboying. Similarly, "Landman" is full of gangsters and chaos, but it is respectful of life on oil rigs.

Speaking to UPI, co-creator Christian Wallace — who also hosted the podcast "Landman" is loosely based on and spent a year drilling on oil rigs — revealed that viewers shouldn't go into the series looking for a fact-based examination of the oil industry. At the end of the day, the goal is to create an entertaining drama with high-stakes storytelling. However, he hopes that real-life oil workers resonate with the show's characters, as he tried to ensure their everyday experiences were accurately portrayed:

"We're not making a documentary. So, I always felt beholden to them to do my absolute best, to make it so that when they watch that, they see themselves and [the] truth about that place. So, that's who I was trying to make the show for."

Wallace added that he and Sheridan want to create fully realized characters with families, lives, and experiences that extend beyond their jobs. Not only that, but they feel that it's also important to differentiate between the wider industry and the regular workers who need it to pay their bills.

"Landman" explores every facet of the oil industry. Billy Bob Thornton's character, Tommy Norris, is an executive for one of Texas' biggest companies, so he spends his time dealing with lawyers and politicians whenever he isn't being physically tortured by the cartel. Meanwhile, his son, Cooper Norris (Jacob Lofland), just wants to pay his dues on the rigs, which brings him into contact with the blue-collar workers who give the industry its heartbeat while also exposing him to some pretty deadly explosions.

Christian Wallace is more concerned with giving the underdogs their moment in the sun, and he hopes the show changes some people's pre-conceived notions of the industry at large. As he told UPI:

"I think when people think about oil and gas, what they tend to think about is 'Big Oil,' which is the companies and the suits and the massive industry, which is this amorphous, complex thing. What this show does is it brings it down to the humans, the people, the men and women who actually engage with the elemental substance of crude oil."

With "Landman" season 2 on the way, Wallace and Taylor Sheridan will have an opportunity to explore these ideas even further. The oil drama is yet another hit for Paramount, and it seems that Sheridan's momentum can't be stopped — especially with all of the upcoming "Yellowstone" spin-offs currently in development.

"Landman" is currently available to stream on Paramount+.