I'm going to ignore Indigo's Win-Lose westerns... Gun Smoke, TV Star Trek, everything John Wayne was in...

Originally Posted by chris1234
One of the 2 or 3 plots that are the basis of all storytelling, "A stranger comes into town", makes up a lot of western story telling.

Right so that covers works like the Sergio Leone "reboots" of Kurisawa and Clint Eastwoods critically acclaimed "Unforgiven" which are more lose-lose works.

There are also the more ambiguous works. Another of the great recurring plots in literature... "The honorable man who lives by a code and the terrible consequences thereof". McMurty's Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Lonesome Dove" is full of appealing but flawed characters. It is down right Arthurian in the multitude of triangles that get set up between the characters. Should Gus and Cord hang their life long partner for "one" evil act... these are deep questions.

I don't particularly like westerns but I think they are a fine genre to explore big issues and worthwhile plot lines.