TAYLOR SHERIDAN’S ‘LANDMAN’ TAKES A SWING AT ‘THE VIEW’ — AND CALLS ITS HOSTS “PISSED-OFF MILLIONAIRES” OBSESSED WITH TRUMP

It wasn’t subtle.
It wasn’t polite.
And it definitely wasn’t accidental.

Taylor Sheridan’s Landman just fired a shot straight across daytime television — and the target was The View.

In a moment that’s already igniting chatter online, Billy Bob Thornton’s character Tommy Norris drops a line so sharp it practically leaves a dent in the episode. While talking on the phone with Sam Elliott’s character, Tommy cracks that he should watch The View — then immediately slices into it with a brutal description:

A show full of “pissed-off millionaires” who do nothing but rage about Trump, men, and the world they claim to hate… while living better than most Americans ever will. (Decider)

It’s the kind of line you laugh at first — because it sounds like classic Sheridan grit.

Then it hits you.

Because the joke isn’t really a joke.
It’s a message.
And it lands like a jab wrapped in dialogue.

THE MOMENT THAT MADE VIEWERS SIT UP

The scene happens casually, almost like a throwaway. But Sheridan doesn’t write throwaways.

The insult comes during a phone exchange — the kind of “guys talking” moment Sheridan loves: blunt humor, sharp edges, and that unapologetic, hard-hat worldview his shows are known for.

Tommy doesn’t describe The View as a harmless talk show. He paints it like a luxury complaint booth — rich people yelling at each other about how angry they are… while Americans outside the studio worry about bills, gas, and jobs. (Decider)

And that’s why the scene is making waves.

Because it’s not just a TV dig — it’s a cultural one.

Sheridan isn’t arguing with The View.
He’s mocking what it represents.

AND THEN THE IRONY DROPPED LIKE A BRICK

Here’s where it gets even better — and way more awkward:

Billy Bob Thornton himself was on The View last year promoting Landman. (Decider)

So now fans are asking:

Was this Sheridan trolling the show…
or trolling the entire celebrity ecosystem — including his own star?

Because if Thornton sat on that couch smiling for the cameras, and now his character is basically calling the hosts pampered outrage merchants…

That isn’t just shade.

That’s a mirror.

WHY THIS HIT SO HARD — AND WHY SHERIDAN KNEW IT WOULD

Sheridan has built an empire by packaging culture wars into entertainment — without ever stopping the story to lecture.

His shows thrive on a certain kind of emotional electricity:

blue-collar resentment
elite hypocrisy
the feeling that “real America” is being talked down to
and the belief that the people with microphones don’t understand the people without them

Landman, set in the oil-driven pressure cooker of West Texas, is already steeped in themes of power, survival, and class tension — the perfect stage for a jab like this.

And Sheridan knows his audience.

This line wasn’t written for Twitter.

It was written for the guy who just worked a 12-hour shift, turned on the TV, and thinks:
“How do these people complain so much when they’ve got everything?”

THE VIEW: AMERICA’S MOST PROFITABLE BATTLEGROUND

The View has been on the air for decades. It’s built its identity on debate, outrage, moral certainty — and politics.

And yes, Trump is a recurring gravitational force.

That’s not speculation. It’s part of the brand.

The co-host lineup right now includes Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Ana Navarro, Sara Haines, and Alyssa Farah Griffin — a panel designed for ideological friction, big reactions, and viral clips. (Decider)

Sheridan’s line works because it hits a cultural nerve:

People have watched The View turn politics into entertainment for years — and many Americans are exhausted.

Sheridan didn’t just call them angry.

He called them millionaires.

And that’s the part that stings.

Because it reframes the entire show as a luxury product:
political outrage served by wealthy voices to an audience that is not wealthy.

“THEY HATE MILLIONAIRES… WHILE BEING MILLIONAIRES”

That contradiction is the fuel behind the insult.

Sheridan essentially points at a specific kind of modern hypocrisy:

being rich while performing moral rage about wealth and power.

It’s why the line doesn’t feel like random sarcasm. It feels like Sheridan is distilling a perception many viewers already have:

That some public figures have turned “activism” into a career…
and outrage into a brand.

And in Landman, a show centered around the oil industry — one of the most politically polarizing industries in America — that kind of commentary isn’t background noise.

It’s oxygen.

IS THIS SHERIDAN’S MOST DIRECT CULTURE-WAR MOMENT YET?

Sheridan has always been political, even when he pretends he isn’t.

Yellowstone played with government power, land control, class, indigenous identity, and urban elites.
Tulsa King turned organized crime into a commentary on modern systems.
Landman is already mixing energy policy, regulation, wealth, and collapse.

But this moment with The View feels different because it’s so specific.

Not “the media.”
Not “Hollywood.”
Not “coastal elites.”

It names a show.

And names a vibe.

It’s the kind of line that turns into headlines because it feels like someone finally said out loud what half the audience has been muttering at their TVs.

WHY IT WORKS: SHERIDAN DOESN’T STOP THE STORY

And that’s the key.

Sheridan didn’t write a speech.

He wrote one line.

A single insult tossed casually into a scene — which makes it feel even more authentic, because it’s how people actually talk when they’re irritated and tired and mocking something they believe is ridiculous.

That’s his trick:

He doesn’t preach.
He plants.

And he lets the audience do the rest.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

Will The View respond?
Will Whoopi take it personally?
Will Joy Behar go after Sheridan?
Will Thornton get asked about it on the next press tour — and squirm?

Because if you think Sheridan didn’t anticipate a reaction, you don’t know Sheridan.

This is a man who understands that controversy fuels conversation — and conversation fuels viewership.

And Landman doesn’t need to beg for attention right now.

The show is already a major Paramount+ hit and has even been renewed for a third season, cementing itself as another Sheridan juggernaut. (Houston Chronicle)

So Sheridan isn’t punching up because he’s desperate.

He’s punching because he can.

OFFHAND JOKE — OR A DELIBERATE STATEMENT?

That’s the question.

Was it just a spicy line tossed into a script?

Or was it Sheridan’s way of drawing a line in the sand — a reminder that he’s writing for the people who don’t sit on talk show couches, don’t live behind studio gates, and don’t have time to debate politics like it’s a sport?

Either way, one thing is clear:

When Landman called The View a group of “pissed-off millionaires,” it wasn’t just insulting a TV show.

It was challenging an entire media culture — one that Sheridan clearly believes is obsessed with Trump, addicted to outrage, and increasingly disconnected from the Americans it claims to speak for. (Decider)

And the wildest part?

He didn’t need a monologue to do it.

He just needed one line…
and the silence that followed.