Taylor Sheridan went on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” and told Hollywood exactly what he thinks of it: studio executives know “nothing” about story, the critics get rage-baited on purpose, and awards were never part of the plan.
“You’re not going to win no Emmys with me, but I’m not trying to win Emmys. That’s not my goal,” Sheridan said (via Variety). “My goal is to sit somebody on their couch and move them, make them think, make them laugh, scare the s—t out of them, excite them. That’s what I want to do, because that’s what I want from a show.”
On Wednesday, the Television Academy took him at his word.
Landman and The Madison were completely shut out of the 2026 Emmy nominations, with Sheridan’s entire slate — one of the most-watched programming empires on television — reduced to a single nomination: stunt coordination for Tulsa King.
This Was Supposed To Be “His Year”
Per The Hollywood Reporter, awards watchers actually convinced themselves the Academy would finally break down this time.
Landman came into the race with a best drama ensemble nomination at the Actor Awards and a Critics Choice nod for Billy Bob Thornton.
The Madison is fronted by Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, about as much star power as you can put on a poster.
Combined Emmy nominations between the two shows: zero.
Now look at what the Academy did reward. The Pitt led the field with 25 nominations, and Ryan Murphy’s All’s Fair — a show THR itself describes as “critically panned” — landed two.
All’s Fair: 2. Taylor Sheridan: 0. That’s the Television Academy in one line.
Sheridan Called His Shot
The whole podcast plays like Sheridan wrote Wednesday’s snub in advance.
He told Simmons he knew exactly what the critics would say about Demi Moore spending Landman Season 1 by the pool — and that Moore knew the plan from day one before taking over the oil company in Season 2.
“The critics are going to come after me. I’m underutilizing [Moore], can’t write for women, all this nonsense,” Sheridan said. “The critics and me — I don’t care what they think, and it annoys the s—t out of them that I don’t care. I’ll be the first to tell you that there are things that I do that rage-bait them a bit, and this is one of them. F— ’em, honestly.”
His assessment of the people running the studios was even rougher.
“The studio executives and the network executives — these are marketing executives, for the most part. Or maybe they studied law or whatever,” he said. “Then, through attrition, they find themselves the head of development. Well, what do you know about developing story? You know nothing.”
Which is why his Paramount deal works the way it does: “This is not a democracy. There’s no committee. You’re going to pay me and you’re going to give me a bunch of money and I’m going to deliver you these shows. I’m pretty common and I’m going to tell stories that common people are going to understand. That’s most of America.”
He Took A Shot At Marvel, Too
Sheridan also singled out Marvel as Exhibit A for what’s broken in Hollywood storytelling, saying its films lean on characters delivering “information dumps that you have to follow to get to the action rather than actually moving plot with action.”
It’s the same complaint fans have been hammering the MCU with for years, except this time it’s coming from the guy responsible for the most-watched shows on television.
The Scoreboard That Matters
None of this is new. Yellowstone spent its entire run as the biggest show on TV while the Academy pretended it didn’t exist. Landman is Paramount+’s flagship drama, and Wednesday’s message from the Academy was the same one it always sends: make shows for the industry, not the audience, if you want the hardware.
Sheridan makes shows for the audience. The audience keeps showing up by the tens of millions. And his answer to everyone else was already on the record before the nominations were even announced:
“F— ’em, honestly.”
