JuicyTalk
Paramount+‘s 6-part contemporary Western series proves that Taylor Sheridan doesn’t need critics, placing the acclaimed Yellowstone creator in a rare category. With 10 original series and counting on Paramount+, Sheridan has cemented himself as one of the modern streaming era’s most prolific creators, joining industry giants such as Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, Chuck Lorre, Dick Wolf, and Greg Berlanti. While some of his series have received strong reviews from critics, such as his Yellowstone prequels and the Sylvester Stallone mob drama Tulsa King, even his most critically panned series always find their intended audiences.
The Madison only received a 63% critic score and 72% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it still raked in more than 8 million viewers in its first 10 days. It was Taylor Sheridan’s second-biggest Paramount+ series launch ever after Dutton Ranch hit nearly 13 million in 7 days earlier this year, surpassing the likes of other hit shows Landman, Mayor of Kingstown, and Lioness. The Madison easily hit #1 on Paramount+’s worldwide viewership chart despite mixed reviews. This is on brand for nearly all of Sheridan’s shows dating back to Yellowstone, proving his fanbase is so strong, he’s nearly immune to critics.
Why The Madison’s Critic Reviews Missed The Point
The Madison is one of Taylor Sheridan’s lowest-reviewed original series, barely making the cut for Rotten Tomatoes’ “fresh” meter with a score of 63%. While not as poorly rated as the Yellowstone spinoff Marshals at 48%, which Sheridan notably did not create but did executive produce, The Madison marks a low point for the celebrated creator in terms of critical reception, just barely surpassing Mayor of Kingstown’s 64% score. In retrospect, critics have been kinder to Sheridan’s expansive library of Western or military-themed original shows, but The Madison in particular received the most analytical pushback.
The Madison checks nearly every box in what would theoretically be a great streaming series in this day and age. A star-studded cast led by Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russel, and Matthew Fox, an easy-to-binge format with only six episodes, an A-list creator whose name alone can draw viewership, and a neo-Western feel set mostly across the gorgeous Montana landscape. These features worked well for more than half of the 52 critics who reviewed The Madison, including ScreenRant’s Ana Dumaraog, who gave the series 9/10 stars, noting, “The Madison season 1 is a great way for Sheridan and his growing TV franchise to expand beyond its established formula.”
A handful of top critics, however, felt that The Madison was ineffective, repetitive, and even mundane. Renowned critic Peter Travers wrote that the series will “bore you breathless,” while The Hollywood Reporter claimed it had some of “the laziest writing” Sheridan has ever put to screen. Despite these harsh criticisms, The Madison has already been renewed for two additional seasons, and the series remains one of Sheridan’s most tonally ambitious projects, stepping outside his traditional subgenres of crime and thriller. In fact, The Madison proved Sheridan can expand outside his typical target audience, becoming his most popular series debut ever for women aged 35 and older.
Michelle Pfeiffer Is The #1 Reason The Madison Works
The Madison is truly a Taylor Sheridan show unlike anyone before it because it goes deeper into heavy personal themes, particularly loss and grief, more than any other of his generally plot-driven shows ever have. Yellowstone was built on legacy, power, and violence, while Mayor of Kingstown hardly takes a breath from the chess-like action to dive into what’s really ticking beneath the surface. Landman switches between modern family drama and high-stakes thriller, and only recently added a palpable emotional depth in its second season with the addition of Sam Elliott’s melancholic character.
The Madison, however, exists in a category of its own as a true drama that doesn’t rely on shootouts, fist fights, and death threats to keep the plot moving. When some critics call it “boring,” perhaps it has to do with the fact that it’s such a deviation from what viewers have come to expect from Sheridan’s catalog, even though he has never shied away from soapy TV. The material calls for highly trained and experienced actors to wrangle some of the heaviest emotions any human being can feel, which is why Michelle Pfeiffer was such a perfect casting choice as a shattered, grieving wife in The Madison.
What’s more, The Madison is a meditation not only on how to privately combat immense loss, but also on how little room there is in modern society to allow these deep emotions to breathe. It comments on the materialistic, workaholic attitudes of life as we know it, in which showing emotion too often is considered a display of weakness. Critics may have missed the point with The Madison, but thanks to Pfeiffer and company’s elevation of Sheridan’s 6-part script, it further proves that the TV industry phenom is fully in the driver’s seat.
The Madison
- Release Date
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March 14, 2026
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Taylor Sheridan
- Directors
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Christina Alexandra Voros
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Michelle Pfeiffer
Stacy Clyburn
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