John Powers

America, it's often said, is a nation of addicts. We're addicted to sugar, to sports, to drugs, legal and illegal, and, of course, to our many screens. Yet our deepest, most powerful, and most pervasive addiction is to oil, the black gold that keeps our society going.

America, it's often said, is a nation of addicts. We're addicted to sugar, to sports, to drugs, legal and illegal, and, of course, to our many screens. Yet our deepest, most powerful, and most pervasive addiction is to oil, the black gold that keeps our society going.

This addiction serves as the backdrop to Landman, a new Paramount Plus series from Taylor Sheridan, best known for creating Yellowstone, and Christian Wallace, whose hit podcast Boomtown served as a loose basis for the series.

This addiction serves as the backdrop to Landman, a new Paramount Plus series from Taylor Sheridan, best known for creating Yellowstone, and Christian Wallace, whose hit podcast Boomtown served as a loose basis for the series.

This addiction serves as the backdrop to Landman, a new Paramount Plus series from Taylor Sheridan, best known for creating Yellowstone, and Christian Wallace, whose hit podcast Boomtown served as a loose basis for the series.

Set in the petroleum-rich Permian Basin around Midland, Texas, where the Bush family once went to get rich, this drama centers on an oil company fixer who spends his time solving crises and dealing with his family, who seem to have parachuted into West Texas from a nighttime soap. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Tommy Norris, a once-flush oil man who went broke.

Set in the petroleum-rich Permian Basin around Midland, Texas, where the Bush family once went to get rich, this drama centers on an oil company fixer who spends his time solving crises and dealing with his family, who seem to have parachuted into West Texas from a nighttime soap. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Tommy Norris, a once-flush oil man who went broke.

Set in the petroleum-rich Permian Basin around Midland, Texas, where the Bush family once went to get rich, this drama centers on an oil company fixer who spends his time solving crises and dealing with his family, who seem to have parachuted into West Texas from a nighttime soap. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Tommy Norris, a once-flush oil man who went broke.

He now works as a so-called landman for a billionaire, Monty Miller, played by John Hamm in his handsome reptile mode. Tommy's job includes overseeing roughnecks, making sure the wells pump enough, fending off the local drug cartel, and handling assorted calamities, like when one of his company's jets gets rammed by an oil truck. Meanwhile, he's got family issues.

He now works as a so-called landman for a billionaire, Monty Miller, played by John Hamm in his handsome reptile mode. Tommy's job includes overseeing roughnecks, making sure the wells pump enough, fending off the local drug cartel, and handling assorted calamities, like when one of his company's jets gets rammed by an oil truck. Meanwhile, he's got family issues.

He now works as a so-called landman for a billionaire, Monty Miller, played by John Hamm in his handsome reptile mode. Tommy's job includes overseeing roughnecks, making sure the wells pump enough, fending off the local drug cartel, and handling assorted calamities, like when one of his company's jets gets rammed by an oil truck. Meanwhile, he's got family issues.

Even as his college-age son has decided to work for him as a roughneck, he joins a Latino crew handpicked by his dad. He's being visited by his 17-year-old daughter, whose idea of higher learning is sleeping with a star quarterback. Yes, we're in the Texas of Friday Night Lights.

Even as his college-age son has decided to work for him as a roughneck, he joins a Latino crew handpicked by his dad. He's being visited by his 17-year-old daughter, whose idea of higher learning is sleeping with a star quarterback. Yes, we're in the Texas of Friday Night Lights.

Even as his college-age son has decided to work for him as a roughneck, he joins a Latino crew handpicked by his dad. He's being visited by his 17-year-old daughter, whose idea of higher learning is sleeping with a star quarterback. Yes, we're in the Texas of Friday Night Lights.

The presence of the kids leads his ex-wife Angela, that's Allie Larter, to fly into Midland too, bringing with her an array of skimpy outfits, party girl whoops, and though she's remarried, quiet hopes of rekindling their romance. As if that weren't enough, Tommy wonders if he's being set up to take the fall for some recent accidents.

The presence of the kids leads his ex-wife Angela, that's Allie Larter, to fly into Midland too, bringing with her an array of skimpy outfits, party girl whoops, and though she's remarried, quiet hopes of rekindling their romance. As if that weren't enough, Tommy wonders if he's being set up to take the fall for some recent accidents.

The presence of the kids leads his ex-wife Angela, that's Allie Larter, to fly into Midland too, bringing with her an array of skimpy outfits, party girl whoops, and though she's remarried, quiet hopes of rekindling their romance. As if that weren't enough, Tommy wonders if he's being set up to take the fall for some recent accidents.

He's wary when his boss sends out a brisk young lawyer, played by Kayla Wallace, who's like a barracuda that bills $900 an hour. She seems to find Tommy, indeed the whole oil business, crude. Here, they visit the site of an oil pump explosion. And as often happens on Landman, Tommy explains how things actually work.

He's wary when his boss sends out a brisk young lawyer, played by Kayla Wallace, who's like a barracuda that bills $900 an hour. She seems to find Tommy, indeed the whole oil business, crude. Here, they visit the site of an oil pump explosion. And as often happens on Landman, Tommy explains how things actually work.

He's wary when his boss sends out a brisk young lawyer, played by Kayla Wallace, who's like a barracuda that bills $900 an hour. She seems to find Tommy, indeed the whole oil business, crude. Here, they visit the site of an oil pump explosion. And as often happens on Landman, Tommy explains how things actually work.