horse opera

American  

noun

1. a television or radio program or motion picture about the Wild West, often presented serially and usually dealing with adventures of cowboys, gunmen, gold prospectors, etc.

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horse opera British  

noun

1. informal another term for Western

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Example Sentences

But also, because of the actor’s reliability, a figure that still felt rooted in the history of the horse opera.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2021

Alas, “Tumacho,” a horse opera featuring a chorus of cactuses, was the last we heard from the company.

From New York Times • May 13, 2021

“I met him on one of them horse opera TV deals. I was fascinated with what he was able to do as an actor. I’d never see anything like it.”

From Washington Post • Aug. 2, 2020

Since I saw X-Men, I have seen Captain America, a film about a mad Nazi scientist hellbent on the destruction of civilisation, and Cowboys & Aliens, a horse opera smorgasbord about a 19th-century extraterrestrial invasion.

From The Guardian • Aug. 11, 2011

Thought has never been so popular with mankind as horse opera, horse play, the main idea behind sheep's eyes.

From Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest, with a Few Observations by Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank)