Full Head of Steam - Hell on Wheels Debut

By Bennett Owen

Credit: AMCTV

Despite scathing reviews, Hell on Wheels had one of the strongest debuts ever on AMC, attracting 4.4 million viewers last night.  It’s a post Civil War yarn about a revenge seeking gunslinger who takes a job on the railroad as it pushes westward.  It sounds like a great premise to me, but one critic described it as ‘a humorless Blazing Saddles.’

AMC points out that the young adult demographic was particularly strong. I read that to mean, ’20 something’ guys. Alright, so maybe this isn’t the series that will re-launch the TV western, but it is further proof that the genre is making a comeback.  Although… let’s just not mention Cowboys & Aliens.

Credit: AMCTV