'Yellowstone' Episode From More Than Five Years Ago Dominates Sunday TV Ratings

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"Yellowstone" is such an unstoppable machine that episodes that aired during the Donald Trump presidency crush the rest of scripted TV.

The hit western series with Kevin Costner is currently on a mid-season break for season five, and with new shows not being produced because of the strike, the decision was made to air old "Yellowstone" episodes on CBS in primetime.

The original series premiere aired Sunday night on CBS, and put up unbelievably impressive numbers considering it first aired June 20, 2023.

"Yellowstone" is an incredibly popular show. (Credit: Paramount Network)

"Yellowstone" puts up huge numbers on CBS.

"Daybreak" averaged 6.56 million viewers on CBS (via TheWrap.com), which made it by far and away the most-watched scripted show on broadcast TV yesterday.

The only two things that beat it were the NFL and "60 Minutes," neither of which are fictional shows, obviously. The 2018 episode was also " the most-watched entertainment program of the week" in the Nielsen data, according to the same report.

Yes, an episode of "Yellowstone" that aired in 2018 is more popular than everything else on broadcast TV that's not the news or sports.

"Yellowstone" puts up big ratings on CBS. (Photo Credit: Kevin Lynch for Paramount)

The Taylor Sheridan-created series remains unstoppable.

"Yellowstone" might be ending with season five, but the numbers from Sunday tell you everything you need to know.

Most of what Hollywood pumps out is woke garbage that's not entertaining at all. It's largely unwatchable. What makes Taylor Sheridan so impressive is that he crafts stories that are dark, gritty, unnerving, captivating and doesn't feel the need to inject any nonsense into the storylines.

If there are messages that are shared, it feels organic and not forced. People love "Yellowstone" because it feels like it's authentic and not preachy.

Now, in the year 2023, old episodes are destroying everything else on TV that's not the NFL or major news.

When will "Yellowstone" return? (Photo Credit: Kevin Lynch for Paramount)

Will the rest of Hollywood start following Sheridan's lead? They should certainly try if they want to have the same success.

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David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.