After Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan has developed another gripping drama for Paramount, titled Landman. The series premiered on November 17, 2024, and has been liked by the audience for its authentic portrayal of the oil business.
The show is set in the world of oil rigs in West Texas and revolves around various laborers and billionaires as they navigate the oil boom. The plot is centered around Tommy Norris, played by Billy Bob Thornton, a landman who works for Monty Miller, played by Jon Hamm, a tycoon in the oil industry.
The series realistically portrays the trials and tribulations faced by the roughnecks, while also showcasing the oil boom’s impact on the world’s climate, economy, and politics. This gives rise to the question: Is Landman based on a true story? While the plot of the series is fictional, the show’s setting is inspired by the real world.
Is Landman based on a true story?
Landman features a fictional plot and is not based on a true story. The show’s storyline has been written by Taylor Sheridan. However, the series does take inspiration from the podcast Boomtown, created by Christian Wallace in 2019.
Wallace has also been credited as a co-creator of the TV series. He was brought up in Texas, where he worked as a roughneck on oil rigs after college. Using his experiences, Wallace made the podcast to share stories about life during the modern oil boom in the Permian Basin.
The podcast talks about how the boom changed the economy, environment, and lives of people in the area. For example, it explores the dangers of working on oil rigs, the rise in greenhouse gas emissions, and overcrowded schools caused by families moving to the area.
Sheridan used Boomtown as a starting point for the show but also added his own ideas and characters. He mixed the elements of the podcast with an original story to create the series. Talking about how Sheridan got inspired by Boomtown, Wallace told Entertainment Weekly:
“Taylor had a lot of his own ideas coming into it and already had some characters and things he wanted to do. So we just combined some elements of the podcast with a story and the family that he already had in mind and it worked out really, really well.”
Landman’s setting is inspired by a real-world oil field
The oil rigs seen in the show are inspired by The Permian Basin, a region in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, which has been a major oil producer for over 100 years. An oil strike took place in the region in the early 1900s which brought wealth to a number of individuals and changed the face of Texas.
The towns and cities surrounding the area saw great progress and it became the center of US oil production. In 2019, another oil boom was seen in the region, which inspired the creation of both the Boomtown podcast and Landman.
This boom boosted economic activities; however, it also caused problems, like environmental damage and risks for workers. These real-life issues and challenges are explored in the show.
The characters seen in the series are also fictional but can be called a representation of various real-world personalities. For example, the lead character, Tommy Norris, is a combination of all the roughnecks who work at the oil rigs, especially during the boom.
Similarly, Monty Miller is a representation of the business tycoons who benefit from the oil production business. Hence, Landman is a fictional drama, which feels realistic due to detailed research and real-life stories from Boomtown.
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For instance, the first episode shows a deadly rig explosion, inspired by a real-life incident where three generations of a family were lost. At the same time, the show includes some dramatic moments to keep viewers entertained.
Landman airs new episodes on Paramount+ on Sundays.
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