Kurt Russell Thinks This Is The Secret Weapon That Makes Taylor Sheridan's Shows So Popular

Taylor Sheridan has quietly become one of the biggest showrunners of the 2020s. His TV empire began with "Yellowstone," which was one of the most-watched series in 2022, and totally changed Sheridan and his wife's lives. By 2026, Sheridan was producing 8 shows for Paramount at the same time and had many actors clamoring for a role in one of his shows.

And that's why the cast of "The Madison" looks so familiar. It's filled with well-known stars such as Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, who are making their debut in the Taylor Sheridan-verse. When the show premiered in March, it was Sheridan's biggest premiere ever, and Paramount has renewed the show for two more seasons.Russell believes the reason Sheridan's shows resonate so well with audiences is pretty simple. "You keep finding yourself saying, 'I know that moment,' or 'I know those people,'" Russell told Deadline in June 2026. "It's the silent majority."

Kurt Russell is one of the major movie stars of the 20th century, but some fans may not know that he wason TV as a child first. His first big break was actually starring in a Western series, "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters," at the age of 12. By the late 1970s, Russell was finding more success in film, so he moved to Hollywood and never looked back for many years while he and partner Goldie Hawn lived his wildly lavish life.

Then in 2023, Russell returned to TV to star in the King Kong and Godzilla Apple TV spin-off series, "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters." In the show, Kurt and his son, Wyatt Russell, played the same character in different time periods. Then in 2026, Kurt returned to the Western genre with "The Madison."

The back-to-back shows have put Kurt back in the public eye. "I'm 75 years old, and it was like all of a sudden, I was out there with things that people were enjoying and seeing at a large number," Kurt told The Upcoming at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival in 2026. "So that was really nice." But what really drew Russell to Sheridan's franchise was his story writing. "I've never done anything like 'The Madison' in terms of how it hits people," Kurt told Deadline.