While Yellowstone fans still have several reasons to be excited over the character of Beth Dutton and her husband Rip Wheeler receiving their own spin-off, there’s also been a shakeup in its development that has left them feeling worried. It turns out that Sheridan’s creative involvement with this particular series is going to be much more limited, as he’s instead giving up duties as showrunner. Sheridan has been at the helm of the Yellowstone franchise for over seven years, and even though he’s immersed his audience in the Dutton family’s past by exploring their history in a set of prequels, knowing that he’s no longer fully determining their future has me and many others quite worried as to what that might mean for a spin-off.
For Over 7 Years, Taylor Sheridan Has Ruled Over TV with His Yellowstone Franchise
About once every decade or so, there comes one or perhaps maybe two shows that are considered to be groundbreaking, helping to usher in a whole new era of scripted television and giving influence to many of the other shows that would spawn from them. In the same vein as what Twin Peaks did in the 1990s or what Breaking Bad did in the mid-to-late 2000s, Yellowstone‘s premiere in 2018 helped set the stage for the advancement of TV in the 2020s. It not only renewed the TV audience’s interest in the Western genre, but it also managed to capture and hold their attention for five full seasons with its memorable characters and highly effective, intense drama.
Of course, the Yellowstone franchise isn’t the only thing keeping Sheridan busy, as he’s also directly responsible for several other series that have been massive hits for Paramount, also serving as the current showrunner for a total of four standalone series: Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Landman, and Lioness. With all this in mind, it’s certainly understandable that Sheridan, with his hands being as full as they are at the moment, would want to give up show-running duties to give himself even the slightest bit of relief. Still, I can’t shake a feeling of concern over seeing him walk away from a show that is essentially meant to serve as a definitive sequel to his all-time greatest accomplishment.
Who is Taylor Sheridan Giving Up His Showrunning Duties on the Latest Spin-Off to?
Even though Sheridan’s creative influence on the Beth and Rip spin-off won’t be nearly as great as it has been on every other show in the world of Yellowstone, it does seem that he has found the one person he can trust the most to keep it afloat in his absence. Chad Feehan has had his hands in the writing for such acclaimed series as Ray Donovan, as well as in films like Paranormal Activity 4, but he has also served as showrunner for one of Sheridan’s other side projects. Feehan himself was the main driving force behind the 2023 miniseries Lawman: Bass Reeves, but he also had some assistance from Sheridan in getting it off the ground, who served as an executive producer.
This miniseries was completely Feehan’s own original vision, but those who have seen it will admit that it’s hard to deny just how much inspiration it drew from Sheridan’s own unique brand of storytelling. Although it holds no connection to Yellowstone, it gives off the impression that it could very well be a creation of Sheridan’s, as it’s practically riddled with his fingerprints in the way it carries a similarly gritty tone to its Old West setting and tells a thrilling and captivating story with a charismatic leading man.
The World of Yellowstone Needs Taylor Sheridan, and I’m Worried That It Won’t Function as Well Without Him
Looking back on the Breaking Bad prequel series, Better Call Saul, it’s shocking to think that Vince Gilligan gave up co-writing and showrunning duties after Season 2, given just how well his co-creator, Peter Gould, was able to maintain the same spirit and tone practically all on his own. Examples like these are incredibly rare, however, and it remains to be seen whether Feehan can do justice to Sheridan’s work and pull off what Gould was able to accomplish in staying true to the world that Gilligan originally created.
Although Sheridan’s Executive Producer credit doesn’t give him much control over the direction of the show, there is still some comfort to be found in knowing that he’ll still be overseeing the show’s production to a certain extent. The fact that Kelly Reilly has remained on board to reprise her role as Beth Dutton is especially meaningful given the conditions that she had initially put in place. Back in 2024, Reilly spoke to Entertainment Weekly about her potential participation in the then-rumored spin-off, claiming that she would only commit to the series “if Taylor wants to write it”, while also admitting that she knew that it would need to be “a little different” than what came before.
If Taylor wants to write it, I would want to do it. That’s it. Because he’s the one that’s written every single line I’ve ever said. She came from his imagination. But we’re both in agreement that there’s a shift that has to take place. Because you can’t keep telling the same story. This story is ending. Yellowstone as we know it is ending, but if there is more story to tell with some of the characters, it’s going to be a little different.
This is something that The Walking Dead spin-off shows like Dead City and Daryl Dixon have done wonderfully, with each having a different showrunner while still feeling very consistent and connected to the same ever-expanding universe. Much like those shows, however, even if the Rip and Beth series does manage to stay true and live up to Sheridan’s predecessors, it certainly won’t be the same without him at the helm of it all.
