Who’s Directing Sheriff Country Season 1? Creator Spills the Answer

With Fire Country cemented as one of CBS’s biggest hits in years, it was only a matter of time before the universe expanded. Enter Sheriff Country, a brand-new spin-off launching this fall with Morena Baccarin stepping into the role of Sheriff Mickey Fox. The series will take audiences deeper into Edgewater, the small town setting of Fire Country, but this time through the lens of law enforcement rather than firefighters.

Collider’s Maggie Lovitt caught up with creator Tony Phelan during CBS’s Fall Press Conference, where he opened up about crafting the spin-off’s visual identity and what makes it stand apart, as well as revealing the line of directors who would be taking part.

“He [James Strong] directed the pilot of ‘Fire Country’ and did such a great job kind of setting the look of the show and giving it a really distinctive handheld, immediate feeling that we just knew that he would be the person we would want to give this show its own visual identity, and he’s done a great job so far. We’ve got Kevin Alejandro, Manny from ‘Fire Country,’ directs some episodes. I’ll be directing some episodes. We have a fantastic, producing director, Ed Ornelas, who has done some as well, Sarah Wayne Callies.

“We found that a lot of the a lot of the directors from ‘Fire Country,’ we’re bringing over to do this show because of the shared universe, but I think all of them have remarked about how the shows feel visually very different, and that’s been a fun challenge, I think, for everybody to kind of work with characters, some of whom have been on ‘Fire Country’ before but are existing within a world where mystery is a big component of it. So how do you bring the audience along on that mystery every episode?”

While Fire Country finds its conflict in nature itself, Sheriff Country shifts the focus to human beings. Showrunner Matt Lopez previously explained that the series explores what it’s like to police a community where everyone knows each other — and how that familiarity can be both Mickey’s greatest strength and her blind spot. “I don’t discount the focus on community, but starting in Episode 2, one of the things we will do in Sheriff Country is show viewers some of the darker corners of Edgewater that [viewers] may not have seen before on Fire Country,” Lopez said. “It is a crime show, it is a police drama. In Fire Country, the enemy or the adversary, if you will, are the elements, right? It’s fire. It’s fire and nature in many ways. Here, it is human beings. And as soon as you enter that into the equation, it takes you to some very interesting places.”

Will Fire Country and Sheriff Country Cross Over?

Fans won’t have to wait long for the two shows to collide. The Sheriff Country premiere will feature a cameo from Fire Country star Max Thieriot, and Lopez teased “some really fun crosses coming up” despite the two shows filming in different cities. The pilot episode puts Mickey front and center, as she handles multiple cases ranging from a child abuse victim to a tense conflict between grieving brothers — all while navigating a strained relationship with her ex-husband and daughter.

Sheriff Country debuts on Friday, October 17 at 9:00 p.m. ET on CBS, before moving to its regular slot at 8:00 p.m. beginning October 24. Fans can catch Fire Country right after at 9:00 p.m., keeping Edgewater’s twin dramas back-to-back on the schedule.