Whet Your Western Appetite with Today’s Wild West on PBS and YouTube
By Delores Kuhlwein
Yellowstone. 1883. 1923. America’s Last Cowboy. Longmire. Justified. Joe Pickett.
It seems modern viewers can’t get enough of the Western lifestyle, thanks to the rekindled love of the American West brought to us by today’s television and film producers.
It’s time to add another binge-worthy show to your list: Today’s Wild West, a three-time winner of the National Cowboy Museum’s Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Western Lifestyle TV Show.
The American West is still out there, promises Producer Mark Bedor, ready to fulfill your cowboy and cowgirl dreams documentary-style, every week, via Today’s Wild West.
“I post clips from my shows twice a week – Tuesday and Thursday – on YouTube – and post a full episode on Friday,” Bedor explains. The show, which originally debuted on Wyoming PBS in 2017, boasts 45 half-hour episodes (and counting) and now airs on PBS in 91 markets in 32 states. “I have a growing audience on YouTube, and also air on Tubi and a number of other channels and platforms. The best/easiest way for people to see my show is at todayswildwest.com.”
A few of the wildly popular episodes and clips to whet the Western appetite (find them all here: Today’s Wild West – YouTube):
- Matthew Quigley Buffalo Rifle – posted more than once – has over a million views:
- Crazy Horse Memorial – 393,000 views
- The preserved California ranch of the late actor Joel McCrea – approaching 200,000 views on YouTube.
- The South Dakota Buffalo Roundup, debuting on television this year:
Viewers can also find episodes about places and events they’ve only dreamed of experiencing as horsemen! Experience the Chief Joseph Trail Ride, U.S. Cavalry School, the Great American Horse Drive, the Rose Parade, and much more on the website:
Featured People & Places | Today’s Wild West TV Show
Best of all, says Bedor, viewers can get ready to meet down to earth, salt of the earth, creative, enterprising people who live in the West because they love it. “We’re all imperfect people. But Westerners still believe in and aspire to those timeless values embodied in the Code of The West – like keeping your word, working hard, treating people right. And it’s just FUN!!! I love being horseback in the West. It’s my favorite place to be.”
Speaking of down to earth people, Bedor “interviewed 89-year-old Bob Lantis this past September – who still rides and co-leads the South Dakota Buffalo Roundup… which I got to ride in on one his horses 12 years ago (See the picture taken 9-27-2012).” He exclaims, “I want to be Bob when I grow up!”
Popular episodes, including views as of January 2025.
About the Producer
Mark Bedor grew up wanting to be a cowboy, watching the original How The West Was Won as young boy, but like it does for most of us, life happened. So as he journeyed into the careers of TV news anchor, newswriter, and an actor throughout adulthood, he built an impressive array of skills and vast knowledge of learning to appeal to the public.
But his lifelong passion for the American West never waned, and one day, it altered his path, he explains. “I’m burned out working overnights, and my supposed acting career is going nowhere. Then I saw a short story about an upcoming college rodeo in the newspaper,” he says. “Somehow, I got an idea to write a magazine story about the event, finagled a press pass, and rented a really good camera I had no idea how to use. This was back in the film days, and none of my pictures turned out! But a photographer I met at the rodeo let me use his. And an obscure magazine known as Grit bought my story. First time I was ever published! Exciting!”
The trajectory of his life changed forever, and his love for the West blossomed as he wrote about dude ranches, horse trips, and all things Western, all while his freelance TV newswriting job kept him fed. Collections of his magazine stories and photography fill two coffee table books still sold today dubbed, Great Ranches of Today’s Wild West and Great Rides of Today’s Wild West
“But the TV show idea never left me alone,” says Bedor. He produced the first pilot in 1999, then it debuted eight years later on Wyoming PBS in 2017. “PBS has a distribution affiliate that, if they like your show, then offers it to all 350 PBS stations in the country… which is how I am now on 91 stations in 32 states. Each station chooses the day and time to air the show – so we’re on different times in different markets.”
His rich history in journalism and the western lifestyle, however, isn’t what ultimately prepared him for this role. It was, he says, “faith in Jesus Christ.”
Bedor reveals, “In the late 80’s, early 90’s, my life was a wreck. I’d quit my anchor job in Chico – where I wasn’t making any money… gone into sales, broken up with my fiancé… I thought my life was over. And then a pastor told me God could take the wreckage of a life and weave together a new one. And He did. I’ve been given a very unique set of skills and interests… so God took my experience doing TV News stories and my life-long passion for the West and combined them to create this show – and continues to motivate me to keep doing it – which is time consuming and challenging in many ways – but very rewarding. It’s not a Christian or religious show. But it’s a God honoring show – that’s action packed, fun, inspiring, exciting, adventurous – and G rated – so kids can watch – and be inspired to become cowboys and cowgirls and learn to ride and experience all the cool stuff of the American West – horse, mountains, saddle makers, hat makers, Native American culture, historic sights, Western art, artisans, movies, cowboy music, rodeo…. and more!!”
Explore all here: Today’s Wild West TV Show | Cattle Drives, Wagon Trains, Horseback Adventures, Dude Ranches
PS – Shorty’s Caboy Hattery fans, you’ll find Bedor has visited there, too, in his adventures in OKC:
