Quentin Tarantino might be the world's most famous cinephile, but he's also a TV aficionado with an encyclopedic knowledge of the medium. He has said that the 1970s, in particular, were a great decade for TV and that his generation was greatly influenced by television. His own movies, with their myriad references and deliberate collapsing of the boundaries between genres, reflect a storyteller who grew up watching films on TV, where the line between highbrow movies and exploitation fare first became blurred.
Tarantino's movies even at times imitate TV tropes, like the incredible pre-credits opening of Pulp Fiction. Unsurprisingly, the director has gushed about dozens of series over the years and included nods to many of them in his films. Some are beloved classics or big hits, but a few might be rather obscure. QT fans in search of something new to binge need look no further.
'Gunsmoke' (1955-1975)
The longest-running Western series in US history, Gunsmoke follows Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness), a lawman trying to keep the peace in the violent Dodge City. In each episode, he wrestles with the challenges of frontier life, like drunken brawls, land theft, cattle rustling, and, of course, no-good gunslingers. Arness is joined by supporting cast members including Amanda Blake and Burt Reynolds.
Tarantino has alluded to Gunsmoke many times in his work. Samuel L. Jackson's character in The Hateful Eight is named Marquis Warren, a reference to Gunsmoke creator Charles Marquis Warren. Similarly, Tarantino actually cast Burt Reynolds as Randy (the role that ultimately went to Kurt Russell) in Once Upon a Time a Hollywood. However, Reynolds passed away before shooting began.
'Billions' (2016-)
Billions is a slick comedy-drama about obscene wealth à la Succession. It follows the rivalry between district attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and shady hedge funder manager Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis). QT ended up casting Lewis in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as actor Steve McQueen - a role he nails.
According to the show's creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien, Tarantino wrote to tell them that he was a big fan. This ultimately led to Tarantino doing the narration for Koppelman and Levien's series Super Pumped about former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
'Speed Racer' (1967-1968)
This iconic anime follows Speed, a teenage race car driver, as he gets into numerous adventures with his girlfriend and his brothers. At the same time, he tries to save innocent people from the villainous Car Hater. It was one of the first anime shows to find a big audience in the USA, drawing roughly 40 million viewers during its initial run.
A fan of the franchise, Tarantino considered directing a Speed Racer movie in the mid-'90s. On the Nerdist podcast, he said producer Richard Donner was trying to get the film made based on a screenplay written by J.J. Abrams. QT says that the script was superior to the Wachowskis' Speed Racer adaptation from 2008. "It really did capture the comic book," he said. "[Abrams] cracked it."
'The Queen's Gambit' (2020)
The Queen's Gambit was one of the standout shows of 2020, a 1960s throwback about a prodigious but damaged young woman (Anya Taylor-Joy) who dominates competitive chess. She struggles with addiction, mental health issues, and the weight of her past growing up in an orphanage. Taylor-Joy gives a powerhouse performance, and the cinematography by Steven Meizler is gorgeous.
Along with by Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House, The Queen's Gambit is one of Tarantino's two favorite Netflix shows. On The Ringer's Rewatchables podcast, he praised the series, describing it as a 7-hour film. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to.
'Bonanza' (1959-1973)
Another classic Western show, Bonanza centers on the wealthy Cartwright family in Nevada in the years before the Civil War. They defend their ranch from all manner of threats and try to help the local townsfolk. Bonanza stands apart from most other Westerns of its time because it focuses more on family dynamics and social issues as opposed to shootouts and action.
Bonanza was a major inspiration on The Hateful Eight, in particular. Tarantino has said that Bonanza features several episodes where the villains take control of the heroes' headquarters and the characters are trapped together in a single location. This influenced the characters in The Hateful Eight being confined to Minnie's Haberdashery due to a blizzard.
'The Newsroom' (2012-2014)
This political drama provides a behind-the-scenes look at the staff of a fictional CNN-like news channel. Jeff Daniels leads the cast as news anchor Will McAvoy, alongside Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher Jr., Allison Pill, and Dev Patel. Tarantino named David Fincher's The Social Network as the best film of the 2010s, so it's no surprise that he enjoyed The Newsroom, another project penned by Aaron Sorkin.
"I love 'Newsroom," he told MTV. "That writing, every week, is just so exciting." Speaking to French publication Premiere, Tarantino described Sorkin as “the greatest active dialogist”. The Newsroom doesn't rise to the heights of Sorkin's earlier show The West Wing, but it still contains enough witty repartee to justify a viewing. Watching it, one can't help but be struck by how much tamer politics and news seemed to be just a decade ago.
'How I Met Your Mother' (2005-2014)
CBS's How I Met Your Mother aired almost 200 episodes between 2005 and 2014, and was indisputably the dominant sitcom of that era. The show follows Ted Mosby's (Josh Radnor) misadventures with his pals leading up to him meeting the mother of his kids. The show is essentially Friends for the mid-2000s but remains fresh thanks to great performances from the leads and an abundance of quotable lines ("Legen - wait for it - dary!")
"Hands down, my favorite show is 'How I Met Your Mother,'" QT said in an interview with MTV News. "I've been watching that since the very first episode, so that's the one show that I always keep watching." While not groundbreaking, How I Met Your Mother remains first-rate feel-good TV.
'Kung Fu' (1972-1975)
Kung Fu is a mash-up of a Western and a martial arts story, revolving around Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine), a Shaolin monk who travels the American frontier in search of his half-brother, Danny Caine (Tim McIntire). Its influence on Kill Bill is easy to see. In fact, Carradine - the star of Kung Fu - plays Bill.
The film is also referenced in Pulp Fiction when Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) tells Vincent (John Travolta) that he intends to walk the earth "like Caine from Kung Fu." The show holds up surprisingly well fifty years later and should appeal to Tarantino stans.
'Lancer' (1968-1970)
This Western series follows Murdoch Lancer (Andrew Duggan) and his polar opposite sons, Scott (Wayne Maunder) an educated veteran of the Union Army, and gunslinger Johnny Madrid (James Stacy). Murdoch enlists them to protect the family ranch from various enemies seeking to destroy it, but the biggest challenge might be maintaining an alliance between the brothers.
Tarantino recreates an episode of Lancer in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood when Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) makes a guest appearance on the show. He and cinematographer Robert Richardson went to great lengths to capture the feel of Lancer, and they absolutely pull it off. Another connection between the show and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood comes in the character of George Spahn, played by Bruce Dern who also appeared in Lancer.
'Then Came Bronson' (1969-1970)
Then Came Bronson stars Michael Parks as a disillusioned reporter who becomes a vagabond after the suicide of his friend Nick (Martin Sheen). Bronson sets out on a journey of self-discovery on Nick's old motorcycle, like a modern-day lone cowboy. Along the way, he crosses paths with an assortment of characters, both changing them and being changed in the process.
The show succeeds in merging road movie tropes with the 1960s counterculture of the time. Parks's performance is terrific and is the main reason to watch it. The show put Parks on the map, leading Tarantino to cast him decades later in From Dusk Til Dawn, Kill Bill, Grindhouse , and Django Unchained.