Netflix: The Ranch

If you missed some of the cast from That 70s Show, you can get your fill with tonight's premiere of The Ranch on Netflix.  Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson from the earlier show paired up for this new series and took their act in a new direction far from the burbs. 

Here is the situation:

Set in the present day on a Colorado ranch, THE RANCH stars Ashton Kutcher as Colt, a failed semi-pro football player who returns home to run the family ranching business with his older brother Jameson “Rooster” (Danny Masterson) and father Beau (Sam Elliott), whom he hasn’t seen in 15 years. Debra Winger stars as Colt’s and Rooster’s mother, Maggie, who runs the local town bar.

Here is a trailer as well.

It is a top-rate cast and we will see if it holds together.  In the previews, Ashton seems to have an accent whereas the rest of the family does not. Maybe this will be explained. 

However, I mostly look forward to the interplay between Elliott and Winger. The last series I watched starring Elliott was the final season of Justified. As always, his low-key performance was overwhelming.

Update: The series was better than expected. I watched the first two episodes and plan to watch more. I never did care for Two and a Half Men, so I missed his performance there. Yet his new role on a better show works, particularly with Elliott and Masterson there to feed him lines or knock him down, whichever comes first. It also feels more like a play than a regular television show, adding to its appeal. 

While it is not in the same league as Friday Night Lights, it still has some of that feel of a small town, the let downs of life, and the value of family. Certainly worth your time.