5 Must-Watch Western TV Shows You Can Only Stream On Netflix

Turning on Netflix at any given moment can feel … overwhelming. There are so many options in front of you, and for years now, Netflix has been dominating the streaming landscape with a ton of original movies and TV shows. If you want to hone in on a more specific genre, though, how about Westerns, one of the most classic genres in storytelling?

Okay, say you’ve already seen most of or, somehow, every major Western film in existence. Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Netflix has a surprising number of great Western TV shows, ranging from miniseries to longer projects … and all of which are excellent and more than worth a binge-watch. By and large, we did our best to stick to Netflix originals for the purpose of this list — licensing deals change all the time, after all — but when all is said and done, you should check out these five great Western TV projects on Netflix if you’re ready to spend several episodes immersing yourself in the wild, wild West.

Little House on the Prairie (2026)

Ever since Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book series “Little House on the Prairie” started releasing in the 1930s, the story of her childhood growing up on the titular Midwest prairie with her Ma, Pa, and siblings has been adapted several times — including a beloved series that ran from 1974 to 1983. The latest, as of this writing, is Netflix’s original adaptation of the same name, which released in 2026 to acclaim and casts newcomer Alice Halsey as the headstrong, willful, and intelligent Laura.

Luke Bracey, known for projects like Baz Luhrmann’s wild technocolor biopic “Elvis” as well as “Hacksaw Ridge” and the “Point Break” reboot, plays Laura’s father Charles, an experienced farmer and jack-of-all-trades with an endlessly sunny attitude; his counterpart is perfectly represented by Crosby Fitzgerald (whom you might recognize from the Apple TV series “Palm Springs”) as Caroline Ingalls, who was a teacher before she had children and now enjoys a happy partnership and marriage with Charles. The cast is rounded out by Skywalker Hughes as Laura’s beloved sister Mary, Jocko Sims as local physician Dr. George Tann, Mary Holland as the town gossip Jemma James, Rachelle Lefevre as Laura’s kind schoolteacher Eva Beadle, and Native actors Meegwun Fairbrother, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, and Wren Zhawenim Gotts as farmer William Mitchell, William’s cynical wife White Sun, and their storytelling daughter Good Eagle.

This version of “Little House on the Prairie” features diverse casting, excellent storytelling, and an immersive world thanks to showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine … and it’s a great addition to the Western canon. If you loved reading or watching “Little House on the Prairie,” you won’t want to miss this version on Netflix.

Godless

It’s unfortunately somewhat unusual, within the world of classic Westerns, for the narrative to center around women. That’s what’s so great about “Godless,” an amazing Western miniseries created, directed, and written by Scott Frank for Netflix that debuted in 2017. “Godless” stars “Downton Abbey” veteran Michelle Dockery as Alice Fletcher, a widow with a sharp mind and sharper aim who runs a ranch outside of La Belle, New Mexico and takes care of both her mother-in-law Iyovi (Native actress Tantoo Cardinal) and her son Truckee (Samuel Marty). The action begins, though, when Marshall John Cook (Sam Waterston) starts searching for outlaw Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) and his crew; as Griffin’s gang created a path of destruction in the Midwest in their wake, we also meet Roy Goode (future “Sinners” and “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” star Jack O’Connell), who stole a fortune from Griffin and was wounded in the process.

When Roy encounters Alice’s ranch, he turns to her for help, and she works on his wounds with Iyovi … only for the town sheriff Bill McNue (Scoot McNairy) to arrest him. Throughout all of this, Bill’s sister and widow of the former mayor Mary Agnes McNue (the always-great, Emmy-winning Merritt Wever) grows suspicious of her brother’s actions while trying to hide her relationship with Callie (Tess Frazer). With the rest of the supporting cast rounded out by phenomenal performers like Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Marceline Hugot, and Kim Coates, you won’t want to miss a single second of any of the seven episodes of “Godless.”

American Primeval

Years after they worked together on the beloved NBC series and binge-worth teen drama “Friday Night Lights,” original creator Peter Berg and star Taylor Kitch reunited for a very different series on Netflix. The series in question — a miniseries, actually, called “American Primeval” that was released in 2025 on the platform — is quite a bit darker and weirder, but absolutely worth a binge-watch. Berg smartly sets his fictional tale in the midst of the real Utah War, which took place from 1857 to 1858 and pit settlers from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints against the United States government and, incidentally, Natives living in the future state of Utah. “American Primeval” also depicts the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where said massacre was carried out by a Mormon militia.

In the thick of all this, Kitsch’s taciturn Isaac Reed, who was raised by Shoshone to be a mountain man and named Spotted Hawk in the process, grapples with the death of his wife and young son years prior; after wanted outlaw and suspected murderer (of her own husband) Sara Rowell, played by Betty Gilpin, arrives in Wyoming, Sara asks Isaac to help her and her disabled son Devin (Preston Mota) get to Crooks Springs to find Devin’s real father. “American Primeval” has a stacked cast that also includes Dane DeHaan, Jai Courtney, and Shea Whigham, but the real reason to binge all six episodes of “American Primeval” is the incredible dynamic between Kitsch’s Isaac and Gilpin’s Sara.

The Abandons

A handful of years after her time as Cersei Lannister came to an unfulfilling end on “Game of Thrones,” Lena Headey returned to our televisions in “The Abandons,” a series that wisely pits the powerhouse actress against another formidable presence: Gillian Anderson. On “The Abandons,” which premiered in 2025 under the purview of showrunner Kurt Sutter (also known for “Sons of Anarchy”), Headey plays Fiona Nolan, a woman who’s trying to survive in a small Old Western town in the 1850s alongside her adopted children Elias and Dahlia Teller (Nick Robinson and Diana Silvers), Albert Mason (Lamar Johnson), and Lilla Belle (Natalia del Riego). Fiona and her family suddenly find themselves at odds with the powerful silver mine owner Constance van Ness (Anderson), a widow with two adult children — Garrett (Lucas Till) and Trisha (Aisling Franciosi) — who says she has claim to Fiona’s land, setting up a bitter dispute between the two headstrong women.

There aren’t many actors who could convincingly face off against Anderson, a woman known for her steely, excellent performances in everything from “The X-Files” to “The Fall.” Unsurprisingly, Headey is more than up to the challenge. Across seven episodes in its first season, “The Abandons” charts the struggle between the two women, leading to a shocking and bloody conclusion. Sadly, “The Abandons” was canceled by Netflix after its debut season, so we won’t see what comes to pass next.

Dark Winds

Released in 2022, helmed by creator Graham Roland and showrunners Vince Calandra and John Wirth, and based on Tony Hillerman’s “Leaphorn & Chee” novels, “Dark Winds” is the only non-Netflix original on this list — it was an original production on AMC (and, if you have AMC+, you can also check it out there). “Dark Winds” is, as a refreshing change of pace, a rare Western that puts the entire focus on Native populations rather than making them supporting characters, just like in Hillerman’s books. In this adaptation, Hillerman’s three Navajo tribal police officers —Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and Bernadette Manuelito — are played by Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, and Jessica Matten, and we follow them as they attempt to solve local crimes in the “four corners” of the American Southwest in the 1970s. (For geography newbies, the “four corners” refers to the intersection of modern Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.)

Across four seasons, “Dark Winds” centers Leaphorn, Chee, and Bernadette and adds in a fantastic supporting cast that includes Rainn Wilson as a depraved missionary, Noah Emmerich as Chee’s FBI handler, and Native actors like Elva Guerra, Jeremiah Bitsui, and Eugene Brave Rock. “Dark Winds” is an unmissable western for several reasons, but again, it’s exceedingly rare for a Western to give such a spotlight to the Native population … so definitely give this one a watch.

If you enjoyed this article, sign up to our free newsletter for the biggest movie and TV news delivered straight to your inbox. You can also follow us or add us as a preferred search

Read the original article on Looper.