Like most aspects of the modern world, the entertainment industry is evolving at breakneck speed. The advent of streaming platforms and the corporate ownership of said platforms has resulted in a sea change for the ways in which we view movies and shows. While the big fish continue to swallow up the smaller fish and the independents continue to flex their somewhat limited influence, the viewers/consumers are left with a multitude of choices from which to select their movie and television viewing options. As confusing and confounding as it can sometimes be, it is nonetheless a wonderful new frontier of options for those watching.
One
of the new developments in this dynamic is that many new platform entities are
now financing and producing their own content in movies and shows; bypassing
the traditional Hollywood pipeline. The
fact is that many of the new movies today premier not in theatres, but on
television screens. Big screen, high def
televisions are very affordable these days and the streaming possibilities are endless.
One of the most successful entrepreneurs
in this movement is Taylor Sheridan.
Sometimes in life, a person just happens to be in the right place…at the
right time…with the right idea…and the courage to take a chance on what they
believe. Sheridan has done just that and
the perfect storm of his efforts has resulted in monumental personal and
professional success. I keep expecting that soon there will be a
Taylor Sheridan streaming channel.
Among
the many great shows Sheridan has created are two that I want to highlight…The Madison and Dutton Ranch. I am watching
both shows and thoroughly enjoying them; although I am still troubled over the
distasteful habit of liberally seeding the dialogue with f-bombs. I simply do not understand why there seems to
be a need to feature profligate profanity…especially
this particular expression…in so many of the new shows and movies. It almost seems like they complete production
of the show, go through the final editing process, and then decide that they
need some more profanity. So…they simply
go back through and strategically insert a few more obscenities. I am no prude and I realize that the language
of average America has coarsened considerably over the last couple of
decades. But nonetheless, I remain
puzzled why shows that are clearly high quality entertainment without the excess profanity…feel the
obvious need to liberally sprinkle it throughout.
Anyway…back
to the two shows I mentioned. In The Madison, Michelle Pfeiffer plays the
role of Stacy Clyburn. She is an
accomplished actress and her performance in this show is typical of her
enormous talent. In Dutton Ranch,
Annette Bening plays the role of Beulah Jackson. Like Pfeiffer, she nails it perfectly. But here is the observation I wish to float
to you…I think the shows would be even
better if Pfeiffer and Bening were reversed; Pfeiffer playing Jackson and
Bening playing Clyburn. I know, I
know….what the hell do I know about casting and how dare I question the obvious
competency of Sheridan putting the right people in the proper roles.
But
talk about an embarrassment of riches? To
me, Pfeiffer has a somewhat sharper edge in a malevolent sense, while Bening can more effectively exhibit that softer and more sympathetic touch. As good as the two shows are in their current
context, I wonder how much better they might be if this switch had
occurred. I think the disquietingly evil
aspect that Pfeiffer is capable of bringing would be must better suited to the
Jackson role, while Bening might bring a bit more empathy to the Clyburn
role.
It
must be awfully nice to essentially be able to pick and choose who you want to
include in your shows; like moving chess pieces around in a game you know you
can’t lose. I suppose that the type of
success Sheridan is experiencing brings with it that type of control.
Whatever…both
shows are highly entertaining, far better than average, and Sheridan continues
on his hot streak of turning everything he touches into gold. And as for the evolution of the average
consumer’s entertainment options…you got
to love capitalism.
- - - - - - -
As the Iran conflict creeps towards some version of a conclusion, Cuba appears to be queued up
for the next chapter in American foreign policy adventures…or misadventures.
https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/24/out-on-a-limb-but-unmoved-trump-will-finish-the-job-in-iran/
https://newsletter.amitsegal.net/p/its-noon-in-israel-the-art-of-a-bad
https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/22/trumps-cuba-gambit/
https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/24/against-a-cuba-intervention/
Education…Education…Education
https://jamesgmartin.center/2026/05/the-three-year-degree-makes-sense/
https://jamesgmartin.center/2026/05/learning-to-code/
The
Democrats are not the only ones struggling with leadership issues as the
mid-term elections approach.
https://reason.com/2026/05/22/the-republican-party-is-nothing-more-than-a-cult-of-trump/
How
does/should our government influence our daily lives?
https://americanmind.org/memo/restoring-affordability-from-the-bottom-up/
Is
our government remaining true to the constitutional ideals that created it?
https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/25/the-progressive-senate-and-its-discontents/
FISA
will simply not die. I remain convinced
that this legal provision simply gives our government…and its members…TOO MUCH
autocratic power that HAS BEEN USED to abuse the liberties of the private
citizen. Power corrupts…and absolute
power corrupts absolutely.
The
Democrats’ House Minority Leader might want to choose his battles more
carefully.
I
think this is a phenomenon that we all realized was occurring, but the actual
numbers help to put it in perspective.
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