"Landman" TV show reflects oil industry's renewed swagger

Driving the news: The American Petroleum Institute is backing a seven-figure ad campaign featuring real landmen during Paramount+ and CBS broadcasts of "Landman."

What they're saying: "'Landman' reflects a pivot point of how the industry is viewed and the necessity of how it's seen by the American people," API President Mike Sommers told Axios in an exclusive interview.

State of play: You'd expect to hear that from the oil industry's top lobbyist. But Sommers has a point.

• More Americans across the ideological spectrum support offshore drilling and hydraulic fracturing today compared to 2020, according to June polling from Pew Research (though it's still under 50%).
• Democratic politicians are also acknowledging fossil fuels — two from just last week: Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) of gas-rich Pennsylvania pulled out of a regional climate initiative, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) approved a contested natural gas pipeline.

Between the lines: "This kind of show is part of the Joe Rogan zeitgeist," said Dominic Boyer, a Rice University anthropologist. It's "where men can be men, out in the oil fields."

Reality check: Having an amorphous zeitgeist in your favor doesn't mean reality is smooth sailing.

• The industry is grappling with tariffs, middling oil prices, fluctuating production and general Trump administration chaos.
• What's more, this zeitgeist is uniquely American and doesn't necessarily reflect attitudes in other parts of the world.

Catch up fast: "Landman," created by Texan Taylor Sheridan of "Yellowstone" fame, dramatizes Lone Star State oil life with cinematic flair:

• Well blowouts (rare in reality, Sommers says).
• Drug cartel battles (totally fictional, Sommers says).
• A few punches at climate change and renewable energy (more on that in a moment).
• Women characters portrayed in unflattering and sexualized ways (Boyer's wife stopped watching the show because of it).

Flashback: API did a smaller advertising run with the first season, focused on safety.

• "We entered into the first campaign with a little bit of skepticism on how the show was going to go," Sommers said. "We realized very fast that this was a very positive portrayal of the oil and gas industry."

Friction point: A clip of Thornton's character Tommy Norris doing a massive — and in many ways misleading — takedown of wind power has 1.3 million viewers on YouTube.

The other side: "Like all compelling misinformation, Billy Bob's rant was 39% true," said Jason Grumet, head of the American Clean Power Association, picking a random percentage that was nonetheless not zero.

• "This is the most dangerous kind of rant. If it's zero percent true, the idiocracy doesn't sell."
• A Texas-based clean energy trade group issued a point-by-point rebuttal to the clip.

"The biggest sin of the show is that it suggests we don't have alternatives, because we do," Boyer said.

The intrigue: The wind clip and a couple other comments by Thornton's character mirror API's talking points, but Sommers says his group wasn't involved.

• "I have no idea where the Billy Bob speech came from," Sommers said.
• Sommers tried to offer consulting to the show, particularly on safety, but so far they "haven't taken us up on it yet."

What's next: Sommers said this shift isn't a temporary pendulum swing, but instead a permanent and positive realignment in Americans' view on oil and gas, given soaring demand by AI and other drivers.

Tommy Norris may not agree.

• In the Season 1 finale, Thornton's character shares a moment with a drug cartel kingpin played by Andy Garcia. "There's no future in the product you sell," a severely bloodied Thornton tells the drug dealer.
• After a puff on his cigarette, he adds: "Mine's running out of future, too."

What we're watching: Season 2!