TikTok Comedian Realizes 'Yellowstone' Is Just a Hallmark Christmas Movie in Disguise

One Yellowstone fan on TikTok has had his whole world rocked, thanks to his Hallmark movie aficionado wife.

Comedian Graeson McGaha posted a video last week about how his wife had betrayed him by telling him that his favorite show, Yellowstone, was "nothing but a Hallmark Christmas movie for dudes," with storylines like, "Big-city daughter comes to save her aging father's ranch, falls in love with a cowboy from her past." Series creator Taylor Sheridan? He's just a guy who's watched a lot of TV movies and knows how to tell a story about a city slicker with a troublesome past who discovers horses can change his life, or an old-school, meat-loving rancher falling in love with a vegan environmental activist.

McGaha goes on to describe Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) as "every cowboy that has ever been in any Hallmark movie," explaining, "He's got the darkest backstory ever, but the manliest man ever you've met. If they did a cinematic version of Yellowstone, Rip would be played by Ryan Reynolds."

View post on TikTok

Ryan Reynolds might be an odd choice for a character without a single sarcastic bone in his body, but the point stands: Yellowstone is, at its heart, just a cheesy TV movie, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Cheesy TV movies are vital to the fabric of society, especially when there's an opportunity for someone to discover the deeper meaning of something, whether it's a holiday or a majestic plot of land.

To prove that what this TikTok comedian's wife is saying is correct, here's a list of storylines from Yellowstone that are indistinguishable from the TV movies that dominate the holiday season.

A beautiful, old family ranch is threatened by corporations trying to build a resort and an airport, so an aging widowed rancher enlists the help of his grown children to save the ranch from greedy villains.

Only daughter Beth is a brash, workaholic, big-city bank executive who has left the ranching life behind, but when she comes home to help her father, she reunites with old flame Rip Wheeler, a rough-and-tumble rancher with a secret heart of gold. As Beth relearns the ways of the ranch, they rekindle their love.

Kayce left the ranch behind when he fell in love with his wife, Monica, an outspoken Indigenous woman. They raised their son, Tate, on the reservation until Kayce's older brother was killed (by his own brother-in-law), and he had to return to the ranch. Now he's torn between the cultures of his father and the family he's built for himself.

Jamie, the black sheep middle son of the family, isn't so great with horses, so he uses his ruthless charm to become a politician who uses policy to protect the ranch. Then, when he discovers he was actually adopted (and also finds out he got his assistant pregnant), he has to figure out what family really means to him.

John is a fearsome, conservative aging cowboy who finds his entire lifestyle threatened by people who want to ruin his pristine land. When he meets an environmental activist named Summer during a protest, it turns out they have some common ground: the literal ground. They both believe in preserving the land and nature, but they disagree on how to go about it. Soon, their disagreements become learning opportunities, and despite the fact that she ends up on house arrest in the home of her new boss, a love story begins to blossom... at a county fair.

A young country singer says she will never date a cowboy. Then, in a classic twist of fate, she falls in love with a cowboy who works as a ranch hand for the governor.
An accident-prone troublemaker named Jimmy gets roped into working as a ranch hand as a way of paying off his debts and becoming a better person. His life is changed by both horses and a pretty young vet tech at one of the biggest, strictest, most successful horse ranches in the U.S.

Don't even get us started on the plots of 1883 and 1923. Just add a few Christmas trees and baking competitions, and you've got yourself a Christmas movie jackpot, with just a little more murder than usual.

Happy Holidays from the Duttons! See you next year.

All episodes of Yellowstone are available to stream on Peacock. The final episodes are set to air in late 2024.

TikTok Comedian Realizes ‘Yellowstone’ Is Just a Hallmark Christmas Movie in Disguise

A TikTok husband was rattled by his wife's realization about the biggest show on TV — and here's more proof that she was right