FACT OR FICTION?
How accurate is Landman and what parts of the storyline are based on real events from the podcast?
See what the co-creator of the show has to say about its authenticity
LANDMAN is a fictional show that was inspired by the factual podcast Boomtown.
Here we investigate which parts of the oil industry TV series are based on real life events.
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What is Landman?
Landman is an American TV drama created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, based on the podcast Boomtown — which was hosted by the latter.
The show is set in the world of West Texas oil fields, exploring the lives of people from all walks of life seeking their fortune in the industry.
The series premiered on November 17, 2024, exclusively on Paramount+, with subsequent episodes released weekly every Sunday.
The first season consisted of 10 episodes.
The show has been a major success, ranking as the third most-watched original streaming series in 2024, according to a report released by Luminate.
How accurate is Landman?
Landman draws heavily from real-life events from the Texas oil industry.
As co-creator Christian told : "A lot of it is very accurate.
"Some of it we had to kind of squeeze together to make it make sense for our characters.
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"And it’s funny, it depends on who you ask.
"My uncle who works in the oil field for the last 30 years will nitpick every little thing.
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"But I think for the most part, it’s safe to say you get a decent sense of what it’s like working in oil and gas out there."
Drug cartels
When questioned about how real the show's drug cartels are, he replied: "I didn’t address the cartel issues very much in the podcast, but it is a real issue as far as the drug trafficking through that region.
"There’s oil theft, there’s equipment theft. It is kind of the wild west in certain ways out there. And so that part is accurate.
"The relationship between the cartel and [the fictitious oil business] M-Tex is fictional, but I suppose it’s in the realm of possibility."
Asked about which elements of the podcast made it onto the screen, Christian said: "There are things throughout the entire show that are little call-outs from parts of the podcast.
Bikini-clad baristas
Christian admitted: "We’ve had a ton of people asking me if there are really bikini-clad baristas serving coffee to guys on their way to work in the oil field.
"And the answer to that is, yes, there really are. We actually had an episode of the podcast where we spoke to some of these baristas.
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"Sex work is a huge part of any boom town that is a part of the economy.
"It’s part of what happens, and then there are the deaths on the rigs in the oil field.
"Those are things that really happened.
"We touched on that in the podcast. We went deep into some of the oil field accidents and safety."
'Real story'
The show's co-creator went on to say: "Some of the scenes are directly from that, such as the pipe crushing scene. That’s a real story that I heard from my uncle growing up.
"It was a pipe rack that fell on him and not pipes, but he really did call his wife before he passed away."
Christian added: "Some of the things that almost seem unbelievable are actually based on reality.
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So even though Landman is a fictional series, it strives for authenticity in its portrayal of the Texas oil industry.
It combines real events, experiences and industry practices with dramatized storylines to create a compelling narrative that gives viewers a "decent sense" of what it was really like.
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