Since then, he’s made his name as a writer and director. He won acclaim for his screenplays for films like Sicario, before making his directorial debut with 2017’s Wind River. Sheridan’s Yellowstone and its many spinoffs have become a sprawling Western saga in itself, and it also stands in stark contrast to his Western debut back in 1997.
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Was Taylor Sheridan’s First Western TV Series
Back during his days as a working actor, Sheridan amassed many credits with one-off appearances in shows like V.I.P., Star Trek: Enterprise and Party of Five. One of his earliest credits came with a 1997 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, playing the role of Corporal Winters in “A Matter of Conscience.”
In truth, there’s not much to say about Sheridan’s work in Dr. Quinn. While he gets a few lines and some decent screentime, it’s the definition of a bit role. He certainly seems comfortable in the show’s Western milieu (which should come as no surprise) but he doesn’t have much to work with.
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is still notable for being Sheridan’s first Western project, and this shows how much it has evolved since the 1990s. Now, Sheridan can put together big-budget miniseries like 1883 or Bass Reeves that portray all the ugliness and moral ambiguity of the Old West, whereas Dr. Quinn was very much fit for the whole family.
Dr. Quinn Is The Tonal Opposite Of Taylor Sheridan’s Own Westerns
That’s not to knock Dr. Quinn, which was a huge series in its day and tackled issues like gender politics and racism. Still, this was often done in a heavy-handed, preachy manner, and it could never get too grim. Sheridan takes the opposite approach with his work, which explores the same topics but with a much darker perspective.
Both Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and 1883 are post-Civil War shows that examine the fallout from that conflict, but the latter lacks any kind of gloss. It tests its main character’s mental, physical and moral strength to the limits, where good people can die horrible deaths for no reason, while outlaws thrive.
That’s not to say Sheridan can’t get sentimental or overegg the drama, but with 1883 or Bass Reeves, he tends to take an unvarnished approach to the Old West. In short, Dr. Quinn herself would be unlikely to survive Sheridan’s despairing vision of the West.
His Neo-Westerns like Yellowstone or Wind River, are much the same way in outlook. Given that Taylor Sheridan has become the modern-day king of the genre, it’s fascinating to think he essentially launched his career with the type of Western he’d never produce. Still, these early projects – good or bad – helped shape the storyteller he became.
-
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
- Release Date
-
1993 – 1998-00-00
- Directors
-
Chuck Bowman, James Keach, Gwen Arner, Alan J. Levi, Terrence O’Hara, Bethany Rooney, Jerry Jameson, Victor Lobl, Bobby Roth, Gabrielle Beaumont, Carl Binder, Steve Dubin, Harry Harris, Lorraine Senna, Michele Lee, Reza Badiyi, Richard T. Heffron
- Writers
-
Josef Anderson, Toni Graphia, Andrew Lipsitz, Chris Abbott, Melissa Rosenberg, William Schmidt
-
Jane Seymour
Michaela Quinn
-
-
Jim Knobeloch
Brian Cooper
-
Orson Bean
Matthew Cooper
-
- Birthdate
-
May 21, 1970
- Birthplace
-
Cranfills Gap, Texas, USA
- Notable Projects
-
Sicario, Wind River, Hell or High Water
