In the crowded landscape of prestige television, Taylor Sheridan has built an empire measured not by a single standard but by many — audiences, executives, and critics each keeping their own score. A Rotten Tomatoes ranking of his series invites a quieter question beneath the numbers: what does critical approval actually reveal about a creator whose commercial confidence far outpaces any consensus? The variance across his shows suggests that a singular creative voice does not guarantee a singular reception, and that the distance between popular success and critical favor remains one of televis
Taylor Sheridan's TV Empire Ranked: 'Tulsa King' and 'Mayor of Kingstown' Top Charts
Critical approval is a separate metric entirely from commercial success
So what's actually being measured here? Is this about whether critics think his shows are good, or is it something else?
It's the critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes—the aggregate of professional reviews. So yes, it's a measure of whether critics think the work is good, though it's worth noting that's different from whether audiences do.
Right, and we should be clear: the source material here is extremely thin. We have a ranking, but we don't have the actual scores, we don't have how many reviews went into each score, and we don't have any explanation of why one show ranked higher than another.
So we're essentially told that Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingstown are at the top, but we don't know by how much or what the gap looks like between them and the rest.
Correct. And we don't know what "the rest" even is—how many shows are we talking about? Five? Ten? The source doesn't specify.
Which is a significant gap in the reporting. You can't really understand the shape of Sheridan's critical reception without knowing the full picture.
Does it matter that Tulsa King is lighter in tone than his other work? Is that why it scored higher?
That's a reasonable hypothesis based on what we know, but the source doesn't actually make that argument. We're inferring it.
And we shouldn't present inference as fact. The source tells us these shows ranked highly, but it doesn't tell us why critics preferred them. That's the real story that's missing.
So what we actually know is: Sheridan makes a lot of TV, some of it scores better with critics than others, and Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingstown are among the higher-rated ones.
That's the honest version, yes.
And that's worth reporting, but it's also worth acknowledging that this ranking is a snapshot of critical opinion at one moment, not a definitive statement about the quality of his work.
Le Pouls
- Sheridan's output has grown so rapidly that the question of quality control has become impossible to ignore — not every show can carry the same creative weight.
- Critics and audiences are increasingly diverging in their verdicts, with some series earning passionate viewership while leaving professional reviewers cold.
- Tulsa King's lighter, character-driven humor has emerged as a rare point of convergence, winning both critical scores and popular affection.
- Mayor of Kingstown holds its own on the critical scorecard by complicating its moral landscape rather than flattening it — a sign that darkness, when earned, still lands.
- The aggregate rankings expose a creator whose commercial machinery runs independently of critical validation, raising the question of whether reviews matter at all when networks keep greenlighting.
In the crowded landscape of prestige television, Taylor Sheridan has built an empire measured not by a single standard but by many — audiences, executives, and critics each keeping their own score. A Rotten Tomatoes ranking of his series invites a quieter question beneath the numbers: what does critical approval actually reveal about a creator whose commercial confidence far outpaces any consensus? The variance across his shows suggests that a singular creative voice does not guarantee a singular reception, and that the distance between popular success and critical favor remains one of television's most enduring tensions.
Taylor Sheridan has assembled one of television's most expansive creative portfolios, spanning crime dramas, westerns, and character studies across networks and streaming platforms alike. As his output has grown, so has the question of how his work actually fares with professional critics — a metric that does not always move in step with audience enthusiasm or network investment.
A ranking by Rotten Tomatoes scores reveals meaningful variation across his series. Tulsa King, the fish-out-of-water comedy-drama set in Oklahoma, has emerged as a critical standout — its lighter tone and character-driven humor offering a counterpoint to Sheridan's darker instincts, and reviewers have responded accordingly. Mayor of Kingstown, which maps the tangled intersection of crime, politics, and power in a fictional Michigan town, has also performed well, earning praise for its moral complexity and ensemble depth.
Beyond these two, the rest of Sheridan's catalog lands at scattered points on the critical spectrum — some earning solid approval, others facing divided or lukewarm receptions. The pattern is instructive: his creative formula does not translate uniformly, and critical consensus remains stubbornly unpredictable even when a show finds passionate defenders.
What the rankings ultimately illuminate is the gap between two different kinds of success. Sheridan's commercial track record — measured in renewals and greenlit projects — reflects enormous confidence from the platforms backing him. Critical reception, however, operates by its own logic, rewarding the shows that balance his signature darkness with genuine character work and, occasionally, a willingness to be funny. As he continues expanding his franchises, that balance may prove to be the quietest variable in his formula.
Taylor Sheridan has become one of television's most prolific creators, building a sprawling portfolio of series across multiple networks and streaming platforms. The question of which of his shows actually resonates with critics—as opposed to audiences or network executives—has become increasingly relevant as his output has grown. A ranking by Rotten Tomatoes scores offers one lens through which to examine how the critical establishment has received his work over the past several years.
Sheridan's television empire spans crime dramas, westerns, and character studies, each with its own tonal signature and narrative ambition. Some of his series have landed solidly with reviewers, earning scores that reflect broad critical approval. Others have divided the critical community or struggled to gain traction with the gatekeepers who aggregate reviews on platforms like Rotten Tomatoes. The variance is instructive: it suggests that Sheridan's formula—whatever elements define his creative voice—does not translate uniformly across all projects or all audiences.
Tulsa King, his fish-out-of-water comedy-drama about a New York mobster relocated to Oklahoma, has emerged as a critical favorite. The series, which premiered on Paramount+, found an audience by leaning into character-driven humor and the fish-out-of-water premise, with star James Bagnell anchoring the show's tone. The critical reception reflected appreciation for the show's lighter touch compared to some of Sheridan's darker work, and the Rotten Tomatoes score reflects that approval.
Mayor of Kingstown, another Sheridan creation starring Hugh Dillon and Hugh Grant, has also performed well on the critical scorecard. The series, which explores the intersection of politics, crime, and power in a fictional Michigan town, has drawn praise for its ensemble cast and willingness to complicate its moral landscape. The show's critical standing suggests that Sheridan's ability to construct intricate narratives around flawed characters remains a strength, even when the subject matter grows darker.
Beyond these two standouts, Sheridan's other series have registered at different points on the critical spectrum. Some have earned respectable scores that indicate solid craftsmanship and audience engagement, while others have faced more mixed or lukewarm receptions. The variation reflects the inherent unpredictability of critical consensus—a show that finds passionate defenders may still not achieve a high aggregate score if reviewers remain divided on its merits.
What emerges from examining Sheridan's body of work through the lens of critical reception is a portrait of a creator whose instincts do not always align with what reviewers value. His commercial success—evidenced by the sheer number of projects greenlit and renewed—suggests that audiences and network executives have confidence in his ability to deliver compelling television. The Rotten Tomatoes rankings, however, reveal that critical approval is a separate metric entirely, one that does not always correlate with viewership or longevity.
As Sheridan continues to develop new projects and expand his existing franchises, the question of critical reception may matter less to the networks backing him than it does to the critics themselves. Yet the rankings offer a useful snapshot of how his work has been received at a particular moment in time, and they suggest that his most successful shows—at least in the eyes of professional reviewers—are those that balance his darker instincts with character work and, occasionally, humor.