Kevin Costner Battled Bill Paxton In This Acclaimed Civil War-Era Western Series

In May 2012, The History Channel did something different. Instead of airing documentaries, the cable network premiered a limited drama series starring two A-list movie stars in Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton. Though somewhat forgotten over a decade later, the "Hatfields & McCoys" miniseries was a gigantic ratings and awards sensation.

Airing as a trio of two-hour episodes, the Western miniseries dramatized the infamous historical feud between the titular families. For three decades in the late 1800s, the Hatfields of West Virginia fought with their Kentucky rivals the McCoys over grudges, land disputes, and an escalating series of revenge killings that left more than a dozen members of the families dead by the end of it. Costner played Hatfield patriarch William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield while Paxton played Randolph "Randall" McCoy.

Costner, a history buff who told Collider that he "probably knew a little bit more about this story than the average bear," loved how the miniseries explored the messy aftermath of the Civil War. He came aboard as a producer, too. Reviews for "Hatfields & McCoys" were fine, but hardly amazing. Many critics found it overly violent and a bit of a slog. Nevertheless, the prospect of major actors in a prestige miniseries drew impressive ratings. Some 13.9 million viewers tuned in to the May 28 premiere, a record for the History Channel and the most-watched non-sports, non-news cable broadcast of all time. It was an awards success, too, nabbing 16 Emmy nominations.

It's easier to understand why "Hatfields & McCoys" was so popular when you remember that big movie stars like Kevin Costner and Paxton weren't always commonly seen on television. Sure, audiences today are used to seeing the "Yellowstone" star on the small screen, but prior to "Hatfields & McCoys," Costner's only real TV credit was a 1985 episode of Steven Spielberg's buzzy NBC anthology "Amazing Stories." This was normal for established movie stars. Season 1 of "True Detective," which starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, is often remembered as the start of a wave of prestigious series starring A-listers like Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, and Michael Keaton. "Hatfields & McCoys," however, came out two years before "True Detective" premiered on HBO.

"Hatfields & McCoys" also marked a change for the History Channel, which has since rebranded as just History. The network had already started to move away from documentary programming in favor of reality television like "Ice Road Truckers." This star-studded drama miniseries was a more prestigious version of this pivot. ("Hatfields & McCoys" is technically not History's first drama series; the network produced a Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes-led series about the Kennedys but in 2011 opted not to air it in the United States).

History has aired several scripted series or miniseries since "Hatfields & McCoys," including "Project Blue Book" and "Vikings," though that latter finished its run in 2020 while the spin-off streamed on Netflix.