Before Gene Roddenberry reached for the stars and created the iconic Star Trek, he was sowing the seeds of his storytelling mastery with an earthbound venture. Imagine this: it’s 1957, and young Roddenberry, still honing his scriptwriting skills, created a pitch for a historical drama that would become The Man From Texas on television, delving into the larger-than-life tale of Sam Houston.
Fast forward to today, and Gene-ology: A Roddenberry Podcast, delves into the Roddenberry Archives to unearth this earliest recorded pitch. As the podcast paints a picture of what could’ve been, we can’t help but fancy the idea of Hollywood’s own Taylor Sheridan breathing life into this unreleased gem. With his knack for exhilarating storytelling, couldn’t the Yellowstone mastermind be the perfect maestro to execute Roddenberry’s failed project?
Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan Can Resurrect Gene Roddenberry’s Failed Series?
As Taylor Sheridan rides high on the success of Yellowstone and the series prepares to say goodbye, we would like to suggest an audacious new project. Could the man who redefined the Western genre for a new era be the one to resurrect Gene Roddenberry’s forgotten television pitch, The Man From Texas? This untold chapter of television history, long buried in the Roddenberry Archives, might just find new life under Sheridan’s deft hand.
Before Roddenberry’s name became synonymous with Star Trek and its expansive universe, he was a rising star in the television landscape of the 1950s. Known for his roles as a writer on Highway Patrol and Mr. District Attorney, the late screenwriter was also an LAPD sergeant, juggling law enforcement with a burgeoning writing career. By 1957, Roddenberry had his sights set on a historical drama, pitching The Man From Texas, a series centered around the legendary Sam Houston.
As revealed by Gene-ology: A Roddenberry Podcast / Screen Rant, Roddenberry’s pitch for The Man From Texas was a grand vision. With dreams of a show that could stretch across 36 episodes a season—or even more—the series was intended to capture Houston’s heroic exploits in a manner that was both sweeping and serialized. This early endeavor was more than a simple Western; it was a historical epic with aspirations that eerily foreshadowed the serialized storytelling of later TV dramas.
Despite grand ambitions, the series never made it past the pitching stage. But Sheridan’s expertise in crafting compelling narratives set against the backdrop of the American West positions him uniquely to tackle a project like The Man From Texas.
After Yellowstone: The Madison Is Shaping the Future of Taylor Sheridan’s Western Saga
When it was announced that Yellowstone would conclude following its fifth season, fans were left holding their breath. But Taylor Sheridan, the creative cowboy behind the show, had a few more aces up his sleeve. With the end of the series, the torch has been passed to a new series, initially dubbed 2024 but now tentatively titled The Madison.
Kevin Costner, who played a pivotal role in Yellowstone’s success, has hung up his spurs to focus on his own project, Horizon: An American Saga. This departure left fans wondering if the spin-offs could hold a candle to the original. However, as the saying goes, when one barn door closes, another opens. Enter Kurt Russell, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Patrick J. Adams, who have answered Sheridan’s call to saddle up for The Madison.
Reported first by TVLine, The Madison is expected to follow matriarch Stacy Clyburn, presumably played by Pfeiffer, as she and her family relocate from the bustling streets of New York to the wide-open spaces of Montana. The transition from city slickers to ranchers will undoubtedly bring its own set of challenges and drama, ensuring fans that the high stakes and intense storytelling of Yellowstone will continue.
As the production gears up to start later this month, speculation is rife about whether original Yellowstone characters like Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), and Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) will make appearances in the new series.
As Yellowstone prepares to bow out with season 5 part 2, scheduled to premiere on November 10, 2024, fans can take solace in the fact that The Madison is on the horizon.
Yellowstone is available on Peacock Premium.
