Best tv shows like The Young Riders
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The Young Riders was an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War. The series premiered on ABC on September 20, 1989 and ran for three seasons until the final episode aired on July 23, 1992.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: juvenile, exciting, tense, serious, realistic, stylized
Best tv shows and movies like The Young Riders (1989):
Similar in 87%
Cimarron Strip (1967)
Plot Summary:
Cimarron Strip is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from September 1967 to March 1968. Starring Stuart Whitman as Marshal Jim Crown, the series was produced by the creators of Gunsmoke. Reruns of the original show were aired in the summer of 1971. Cimarron Strip was one of only three 90-minute weekly Western series that aired during the 1960s, and the only 90-minute series of any kind to be centered primarily around one lead character. Cimarron Strip was set in the Oklahoma Panhandle, which comprises, east to west, Beaver, Texas, and Cimarron counties in Oklahoma. The show is set in 1888, just as the continuous frontier of the West, which once ran from the Canadian to the Mexican border, was closing. In less than five years there would no longer be that "continuous frontier," only pockets of undeveloped land. This was the late "Wild West" that Marshall Jim Crown was called to defend.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 462
Genere: Western
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Virginian (1962)
Plot Summary:
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. It was a spin-off from a 1958 summer series called Decision. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series. Immensely successful, it ran for nine seasons—television's third longest running western. It follows Bonanza at fourteen seasons and 430 episodes, and Gunsmoke at twenty seasons and 635 episodes.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Western
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 81%
Peacemakers (2003)
Plot Summary:
Peacemakers is an American crime fiction television series about forensic science in the Old West. It was filmed in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. The series premiered July 30, 2003, on the USA Network. The show was cancelled after one season of nine episodes.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 682
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Western
Country: Canada, USA
Duration:
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, tense, suspense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Strange Empire (2014)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1869 Alberta-Montana border country, “Strange Empire” is a Western whose heroes are women. With most of their men gone, and those who remain battling for control, the women struggle to survive, to find their independence, and to build a life in which to thrive and raise families.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, suspenseful, realistic, period drama
Similar in 78%
Lonesome Dove: The Series (1994)
Plot Summary:
Set in the small western town of Curtis Wells, Lonesome Dove: The Series follows first the romance and later the marriage of Newt Call and Hannah Peale, and the obsession that Clay Mosby, who owns most of the town, has with young Hannah, who looks remarkably like his late wife, Mary. In addition to the talented regular Canadian cast of Scott Bairstow, Christianne Hirt, and Eric McCormack, the show also featured the recurring players of Dennis Weaver as legend Buffalo Bill Cody, Diahann Carroll as innkeeper and widow Ida Grayson, Paul Johansson as newspaperman and family member Austin Peale, and Paul Le Mat as Hannah's father and the editor of the local paper.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 765
Genere: Western
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: costume drama, exciting, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 84%
Gunslingers (2014)
Plot Summary:
American Heroes Channel's new series Gunslingers reveals the infamous tales of survival and courage from the Wild West. Exposing little-known facts about America’s first villains and heroes, the six-part series features the stories of Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok, John Wesley Hardin and Tom Horn. Juxtaposed with vivid reenactments, expert commentary is layered throughout each episode to ensure the authenticity and historical accuracy of each story. Contributors include: David Milch, the creator of Deadwood; Bob Boze Bell, the executive editor of True West Magazine; and actor Kurt Russell (Tombstone).
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 246
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, rough
Similar in 90%
Buffalo Girls (1995)
Plot Summary:
Wild. Untamed. Legendary. In this made-for-tv movie, Buffalo Girls celebrates the bold escapades of tough-talking Calamity Jane Canary and her illustrious cohorts. It's the waning days of the Wild West and Jane, the rough 'n' rugged cowgirl, is searching not only for her long-lost daughter, but the Wild West she once knew. Jane traverses plains, mountains and continents until she finally discovers the answer to her problems: Dora, the vivacious, gold-hearted madam who's been her one true friend all along.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 922
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: realistic, semi serious, exciting, sentimental, rough, suspenseful, historical drama
Similar in 82%
Huckleberry Finn and His Friends (1979)
Plot Summary:
Huckleberry Finn and His Friends was a 1979 television series documenting the exploits of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, based on the novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by American writer Mark Twain. The series was made up of 26 episodes and was a Canadian/German coproduction. Huckleberry Finn is played by Ian Tracey who is also the narrator. Tom Sawyer is played by Sammy Snyders. Directed by Jack B. Hively and Ken Jubenvill, this mini-series was broadcast in many countries such as Germany, UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Venezuela and many other Latin American nations. The series was re-shown many times during the 1980s to early 1990s and has grown somewhat of a cult following. Even though Mark Twain originally wrote the books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as separate units, this mini-series conjures up both literary works as only one story. Therefore, it places greater importance on Huckleberry's character without putting aside Tom Sawyer's. In 2007, the complete series was released as a 4 DVD box set by Fabulous Films in the UK. It contains many extras including a 12 page color booklet and a 30 minute 'making of' documentary featuring interviews with many stars of the series including Sammy Snyders, Ian Tracey, and Blu Mankuma.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 542
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Canada, West Germany
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, sincere, uplifting, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 86%
A Gunfight (1971)
Plot Summary:
Will Tenneray and Abe Cross are two aging, famous gunfighters, both in need of money. Cross rides into town, having failed as a gold prospector. His reputation is such that everyone expects him to shoot it out with Tenneray, who capitalizes on his legend by working at the saloon to "sucker fools into buying drinks." To the town's surprise, Tenneray and Cross take a liking to one another. There is no hostility between them whatsoever.Tenneray is desperate for money, however. He comes up with the idea to stage a duel to the death in a bullfight arena, with the ticket proceeds going to the winner. Unfortunately, by killing Cross, he reasons to Nora, his wife, "I could lose my best friend." The actual gunfight is shot in a low-key and unromanticised fashion, and is over in a couple of seconds. In an extended fantasy sequence near the end, the widow of the defeated gunfighter imagines what might have happened if her husband had won.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: exciting, atmospheric, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 90%
Bordertown (1989)
Plot Summary:
Bordertown is a television western-drama series that aired from 1989 to 1991. It depicts the town formerly known as Pemmican that was later renamed Bordertown when the western border between the United States and Canada was surveyed in 1880, dividing the town.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 238
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: France, Canada, USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
Dead Man's Walk (1996)
Plot Summary:
Dead man's Walk is the beginning of the Lonesome Dove Saga. Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call are just starting out in the Texas Rangers and have no idea of what they are doing for Call it's Duty above all else. For Gus it's the thrill of adventure. Both men don't know just how much danger and death await for them on their first patrol. Jonny Lee Miller and David Arquitte do a fine job as Gus and Call. Miller in particular carries the movie on his shoulders his portrayal of Call is very good. the rest of the cast is outstanding Keith Carradine deserves special mention for his role as Bigfoot Wallace he adds to the movie greatly. A outstanding movie which adds and enhances the Lonesome Dove saga This is a fantastic beginning to an legendary tale of heroes and incredible story telling.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Western
Country: USA
Duration: 272 min
Plot tags: detective, exciting, sincere, rough, touching, epic, serious, realistic, suspenseful, crying
Similar in 83%
Streets of Laredo (1995)
Plot Summary:
Captain Woodrow Call, now retired from the Rangers, is a bounty hunter. He is hired by an eastern rail baron to track down Joey Garza, a new kind of killer, only a boy, who kills from a distance with a rifle. Joined by his old compadre Pea Eye, it is a long ride to south Texas and the Mexican side of the border, where the past, in the form of Maria Garza, Joey's mother, haunts Call.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, atmospheric, rough, realistic, period drama
Similar in 89%
Return to Lonesome Dove (1993)
Plot Summary:
'Captain' Call has just buried Gus at Lonesome Dove and plans to head back to his ranch in Montana. Looking at a herd of wild Mustangs, he decides to drive them north with the help of Isom and Gideon Walker. Gideon hires Agostina Vega and Mexican Cowboys to run the Mustangs. Call leaves the drive for Nebraska and runs into Cherokee Jack and a group of Indians, which almost costs him his life. In Montana, Newt and Jasper get into a shoot out in the local bar and wind up in jail. The odds of them surviving the lynch mob are slim until Dunnegan has them freed. However, Newt and Jasper will have to work for Dunnegan to keep their freedom. Newt has mixed emotions about working for Dunnegan who helps him in any way, because he also has respect for Call - who may or may not be his true father. Dunnegan has big plans for his cattle and the future. Those plans do not include those who do not throw in with him and the Hat Creek Cattle Company is not interested in Dunnegan.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 322 min
Plot tags: sentimental, atmospheric, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, wild
Similar in 80%
Guns of Diablo (1964)
Plot Summary:
Bronson and Russell are up against some bad guys who run the town to which the pair have gone for supplies. Bronson runs into an old girl friend, Oliver, who is now married to his enemy Merlin. Bronson had long ago broken Merlin's arm, and now the man wants revenge.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 850
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 80%
Dawson's Creek (1998)
Plot Summary:
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series created by Kevin Williamson which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. Filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, at EUE/Screen Gems studios and on location around Wilmington, Southport, and Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Many scenes were filmed at UNCW, including William Randall Library and Alderman Hall, which served as the facade of Capeside High School. Other college scenes in the fifth and sixth seasons were shot at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. It portrays the fictional lives of a close-knit group of teenagers through high school and college. The program, part of a new craze for teen-themed movies and television shows in America in the late 1990s, catapulted its leads to stardom and became a defining show for The WB. The series ended on May 14, 2003.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, teen, soap opera, light, sweet, sitcom, sex comedy, serious
Similar in 79%
Picnic (2000)
Plot Summary:
The son of the richest man in town wants to marry the town's beauty queen, but she meets a more interesting stranger who just got off the train.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, tense
Similar in 89%
Mister Sterling (2003)
Plot Summary:
Mister Sterling is an American television serial drama created by Lawrence O'Donnell that ran from January to March in 2003. It starred Josh Brolin as an idealistic United States Senator, and featured Audra McDonald, William Russ, David Noroña, and James Whitmore as members of his staff. Despite mostly positive reviews, the show, which aired on NBC on Friday nights, was cancelled after 10 episodes after the show only ranked 58th in the yearly ratings Although it had numerous similarities to The West Wing in style and tone, it was not set in the same universe as O'Donnell's other political show. It is unknown if a cross-over would have ever occurred had Mister Sterling not been cancelled; however Steven Culp played presidential aspirant Sen. Ron Garland on Mister Sterling and House Speaker Jeff Haffley on The West Wing, and Democrats appeared to be in the majority in the US Senate on Mr Sterling, while in The West Wing consistent Republican control of both Houses of Congress was a key plot point. James Whitmore was nominated for a 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for playing former Governor Bill Sterling, the senator's father.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 179
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, psychological, atmospheric, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 76%
Monte Walsh (2003)
Plot Summary:
Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins are long-time cowhands, working whatever ranch work comes their way, but "nothing they can't do from a horse." Their lives are divided between months on the range and the occasional trip into town. Monte has a long-term relationship with prostitute Martine Bernard, while Chet has fallen under the spell of the widow who owns the hardware store. Camaraderie and competition with the other cowboys fill their days, until one of the hands, Shorty Austin, loses his job and gets involved in rustling and killing. Then Monte and Chet find that their lives on the range are inexorably redirected.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, tense, period piece, sentimental, gloomy, surprise ending, wild
Similar in 88%
The Showdown (2009)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 93
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, captivating, suspense, exciting, rough, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice (1994)
Plot Summary:
After his mother is killed in a wagoncoach robbery a young man pursues the gang responsible. Matt Dillon goes after him hoping to stop him before the gang can kill him. Dillon is joined by Davis Healy, a businessman, who is hiding a few secrets of his own.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 390
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 89%
El Dorado (1966)
Plot Summary:
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Hara. Together with an old indian fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: talky, tense, suspense, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, spaghetti western, entertaining
Similar in 75%
Trigger Fast (1994)
Plot Summary:
A feisty woman struggles to keep her ranch from being stolen by a greedy and unscrupulous land-baron named Malick. A trio of young men comes to her aid Dusty Fog, the "Kid," and Miguel. They are later joined by a fourth man named Mark, who switches allegiance away from Malick, and then by the local Sheriff who's finally forced to stand up to the local tyrant.
IMDB Rating: 2.7
IMDB Votes: 798
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, serious, realistic, stylized
Similar in 86%
Hell on Wheels (2011)
Plot Summary:
Hell on Wheels tells the epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on Cullen Bohannon, a Confederate soldier who sets out to exact revenge on the Union soldiers who killed his wife. His journey takes him west to Hell on Wheels, a dangerous, raucous, lawless melting pot of a town that travels with and services the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, an engineering feat unprecedented for its time.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 55000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 42 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, rough, serious, captivating, suspenseful, historical drama, tense, realistic, stylized, dramatic
Similar in 77%
Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990)
Plot Summary:
James Arness rides again as Matt Dillon, the US Marshal he made popular in the 1955-75 TV series. In this movie he goes after a renegade Apache named Wolf (Joe Lara) who has taken his daughter captive. As a bargaining chip, Dillon helps two sons of Apache chief Geronimo out of the fort stockade and offers them in trade. Dillon is aided by an Army scout, Chalk Brighton (Kiley). Written by John Sacksteder.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 459
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cult film
Similar in 90%
Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987)
Plot Summary:
Will Mannon, "product of the Devil's loins," is released from a frontier prison and promptly goes in search of the people who put him there some 12 years ago -- Matt Dillon and Kitty Russell.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 636
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Comanche Moon (2008)
Plot Summary:
Comanche Moon, the prequel to McMurtry's bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Lonesome Dove follows Texas Rangers Augustus "Gus" McCrae (Zahn) and Woodrow F. Call (Urban), now in their middle years, as they continue to deal with the ever-increasing tensions of adult life--Gus with his great love, Clara Forsythe (Cardellini), and Call with Maggie Tilton (Banks), the young prostitute who loves him and bears him his son, Newt (Joseph Castanon). Kilmer plays Captain Inish Scull, a Yankee aristocrat and hero of the recently concluded Mexican War. Griffiths plays Inez Scull, the Captain's sexy wife who doesn't hesitate to fill her time with other men when he's away from home. Wes Studi plays Comanche Chief Buffalo Hump.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 360 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, suspense, exciting, sincere, detective, rough, bleak, epic, serious
Similar in 86%
Into the West (2005)
Plot Summary:
Steven Spielberg executive produced this TNT miniseries about American Westward expansion during the 19th century. Told from both the perspective of the white Wheeler family and the Native American Lakota tribe, the 12-hour epic follows the clans as they struggle to find their place in a country confounded by turmoil and change.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 552 min
Plot tags: epic, sincere, realistic, atmospheric, serious, educational, historical drama, contemplative, period drama, wild
Similar in 80%
Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Plot Summary:
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, and Karen Grassle, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, feel good, serious, retro, soap opera, juvenile, historical drama, realistic
Similar in 90%
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is an American Western drama series created by Beth Sullivan and starring Jane Seymour who plays Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn, a physician who leaves Boston in search of adventure in the American West and who settles in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The television series ran on CBS for six seasons, from January 1, 1993 to May 16, 1998. In total, 150 episodes were produced, plus two television movies which were made after the series was cancelled. It aired in over 100 countries. Since 1997, reruns have been shown in syndication and on ABC Family, Ion Television, the Hallmark Channel, gmc, Eleven, CBS Drama and INSP.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Family, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, touching, medical drama, soap opera, juvenile, period drama, telenovela
Similar in 82%
Lonesome Dove (1989)
Plot Summary:
Lonesome Dove is a Western television miniseries based on Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, Lonesome Dove was originally broadcast by CBS on February 5, 1989, drawing a huge viewing audience, earning numerous awards, and reviving both the television western and the miniseries.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 384 min
Plot tags: epic, touching, realistic, entertaining, anime, sentimental, captivating, contemplative, soap opera, serious