Does Saturday Night Live‘s James Austin Johnson have a point here?
He’s not the first comedian – or person in general – to point out the somewhat repetitive nature of Taylor Sheridan shows. The writer, director and creator of shows like Yellowstone, its prequels 1883 and 1923, and his most recent hit Landman all have somewhat of a common theme.
The main character, and all of the supporting cast, are caught up with maintaining and expanding their territory.
SNL cast member James Austin Johnson described it another way while he was a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers:
“Oh man. I love watching these shows. I love a grumpy white guy standing on a bluff looking at a lot of land. Now they’ve got one called ‘Landman.’ Thank you for telling me what happens. He’s a land man, and it’s Billy Bob Thornton. What an MF that guy is.”
Billy Bob Thornton certainly is a “MF.”
The best part of the sit down interview was when Johnson rattled off a flurry of incredible impressions of Billy Bob Thornton, Sam Elliot, and Harrison Ford. Fans of the “Taylor Sheridan Universe” know that Thornton plays the main character of Landman, Elliot played an important role in 1883, and Harrison Ford continues to play Jacob Dutton in 1923.
James Austin’s seamlessly transitioned into each actor’s voice, first showing off his Billy Bob Thornton and talking about how he has to “go to a dinner with my daughter, who’s sexual and an adult.” Landman fans know that’s rather accurate. Then the comedian tried out his Sam Elliott impression, hilariously saying, “There’s not enough land for both of us to be on the land.” That could be the synopsis for almost every Taylor Sheridan show, right?
When Johnson tackled Harrison Ford, he did both Ford in 1923 and the beloved actor as Han Solo in Star Wars. If you ask me, both checked out. Though the voice was different (and right on the money) it was more of the same material poking fun at Sheridan, with the comedian acting as if he’s Harrison Ford uttering, “We ran out of land.”
Obviously, James Austin Johnson is just having a little fun with connecting a lot of the plots from the Taylor Sheridan Universe. He himself admitted that he loves watching them, and I don’t doubt it. To have those kinds of impressions, Johnson certainly had to study and pay attention to a lot of the source material.
Check it out:
He kind of nailed every Taylor Sheridan show right there, did he not?
Johnson certainly laid down some respectable impressions of all of Taylor Sheridan’s leading men (he was really only missing Kevin Costner), and many in the comments were quick and happy to admit that they were impressed by his impressions:
“Guy is a genius.”
“Best summary of ‘Landman’ I’ve ever heard.”
“James is so incredible with voices, and funny just riffing on his own.”
“I love when comedians just get in a loop and just f**king don’t stop.”
“Feels like at any point you could bump into this guy on the street and he’d already have a spot on impression of you in his back pocket.”
The post SNL’s James Austin Johnson Delivers Flawless Impressions Of Billy Bob Thornton, Harrison Ford & Other Taylor Sheridan Characters first appeared on Whiskey Riff.