Netflix's Western drama Ransom Canyon, seen as one of several attempts by streamers to replicate the success of Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone, is returning for its second season next week. The show is part of a wider trend of streaming platforms investing heavily in "oat opera" dramas—blending family saga and crime—after several networks originally passed on Yellowstone, which went on to become a defining hit for Paramount+ and spawned a lucrative franchise.

Netflix has backed multiple Western-style series in this vein, including American Primeval and a rebooted Little House on the Prairie, both already renewed for further seasons, though these draw more on Yellowstone's prequels 1883 and 1923 than the original. Not all such efforts have succeeded: The Waterfront, starring Holt McCallany, was cancelled after a single season. The renewal news also comes as Sheridan prepares to end his long association with Paramount to begin a new partnership with NBCUniversal.