How a 51-year-old magazine is winning the adaptation game by focusing on true crime storytelling and expanding their industry contacts.
It’s been a little over two months since viewers saw a new episode of the gritty oil drama Landman, created and written by Sheridan. The series’ second season ended in January, but the show has remained a streaming powerhouse on Paramount+ for the past several weeks. However, current streaming data from FlixPatrol shows that Landman has lost its grip on subscribers, as it’s no longer in the top ten. This drop is to be expected as new shows and seasons debut on the platform. Ironically, the series has been dethroned by more popular Sheridan shows. The Madison and Marshals recently debuted, and their success has rendered Landman a thing of the past, at least until the series returns.
Is ‘Landman’ Coming Back?
Yes, Landmanwill indeed return for Season 3 following an early renewal. The decision was quite easy for Paramount+ after a record-breaking Season 2. The season’s premiere episode amassed over 9.2 million streaming views in its first two days on the service, marking a 262% increase over the pilot episode’s views. Additionally, Season 2 was a critical hit, with an 83% score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes compared to 78% for Season 1. “Further refining its brutish elements into addictive drama, Landman’s second season makes minor improvements in its treatment of female characters while continuing to benefit from Billy Bob Thornton’s hangdog swagger,” critics concurred about the season. Collider’s Jeff Ewing noted in his review of Landman Season 2 that while the show takes big swings this season, some things haven’t changed, but it has the potential. He explained:
Season 2 of Landman is ultimately showing signs of more promise after its first three episodes, with [Demi] Moore already delivering a strong performance for a complex character. While [Andy] Garcia’s still at the “mysterious character with hidden motives” point in the series, his presence is also clearly felt. Between his inclusion and a big new narrative for Cooper (Jacob Lofland), there are considerable opportunities for raised stakes, character growth, and fresh drama.
All that said, there’s a lot that remains the same and seems to have no visible trajectory for significant change. The oil industry is the oil industry, and Tommy (Thornton), Angela (Ali Larter), and Ainsley (Michelle Randolph) remain Tommy, Angela, and Ainsley. It’s impossible to say what Landman’s true trajectory will be this season, but it’s already a bit closer to a well that hits than it was the first time around. Now, it just has to stick the landing.
Both seasons of Landman are streaming on Paramount+ in the US. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
“He writes about murders and horrible things that have happened, but also manages to find a level of dark humor in the characters that come out of those stories and worlds,” says Megan Creydt, Texas Monthly’s executive producer for TV, film and podcasts.
The publication also made a concerted effort five years ago to evolve from a magazine into more of a “journalistic storytelling organization,” Creydt says, which included launching a podcast studio (Landman was based on a 12-episode show from 2019 titled Boomtown, hosted by Christian Wallace). There was also a representation shake-up, with Texas Monthly shifting to CAA under agent and Texas native Ann Blanchard. “She’s put together a whole team of scripted agents that we work with — we have a few feature agents and a couple of nonscripted agents,” Creydt notes. Such moves include making a first-look deal at HBO — where it helps that Max head of originals Sarah Aubrey is a former Texas Monthly intern.
And then there’s just the fact that the Lone Star State is arguably the most audaciously Americana state, one with a specific, larger-than-life personality. As the country’s second most populous state (behind California), it contains a wild mix of extreme wealth and dire poverty and dense cities and endless, scenic empty spaces. The result is a place that’s just a bottomless story generator for a publication that’s long been willing to give its talent months to work on a single piece (the writers and contributors also enjoy revenue sharing from stories that get picked up).
William Boyles Jr., the screenwriter behind such films as Cast Away and Apollo 13, co-founded Texas Monthly, so cinematic storytelling has always been part of the publication’s DNA. “It’s great narrative journalism,” Creydt says when asked to divulge the publication’s secret to its recent success. “There’s also an understanding in Hollywood that [it’s worth] paying attention to other parts of the country, and Texas is certainly its own world. There are so many rich characters and stories here you’re not going to find in a New York publication.”
The producer notes that part of Texas Monthly’s value isn’t just their newest stories, but their five-decade archive — the pieces that inspired Hit Man and Love & Death were 23 and 40 years old, respectively. “It’s really cool to be able to look at that archive and find stuff that resonates even now,” she says. “That’s a new thing for us — we have really dug into the archive to help keep things going.”