ABC’s Boldest 2025 Series Challenges the Popularity of Beth & Rip’s Yellowstone Spinoff md06

Beth and Rip’s Yellowstone spinoff is exciting, but ABC has premiered a new show that could be its perfect rival. It’s no secret that Yellowstone‘s cancelation on Paramount Network wasn’t because the show wasn’t pulling anymore viewers. The series remained popular until the very end, but the turbulent insider dynamic of the project, including the abrupt exit of Kevin Costner, led to its untimely wrap-up.

Knowing how popular the Yellowstone franchise continues to be, a few sequel spinoffs were eventually announced, including two separate shows following John Dutton III’s surviving children — Beth and Kayce. CBS will be going ahead for Luke Grimes’ Y: Marshals, while Kelly Reilly’s show is still in development with no clear release plan yet.

As the wait for Beth and Rip’s return to the small screen continues, ABC has debuted a brand new show that could beat them to satiate viewers’ desire to see the beloved couple again. If done right, the new show can even give the Yellowstone spinoff a run for its money.

9-1-1: Nashville Offers The Same Soap Opera-Style Of Storytelling As Yellowstone

ABC via MovieStillsDB

On the heels of 9-1-1: Lone Star‘s ending, Ryan Murphy didn’t waste time maintaining the first-responder procedural franchise. The Nashville-set installment just debuted as part of ABC’s 2025-2026 TV cycle. Spearheaded by Chris O’Donell, Jessica Capshaw, and LeAnn Rimes, 9-1-1: Nashville is formatted like the flagship and its Texan offshoot. That said, a major portion of its storytelling separates it from the rest of the universe.

Interestingly, 9-1-1: Nashville is more dramatic than its peers. At the center of its story is O’Donnell’s Don, whose ex-girlfriend, Rimes’ Dixie, re-enters his life with their accidental son. He is left to balance it out between making amends to his neglected child and making sure that his legitimate family doesn’t feel ignored. It doesn’t help that Don has decided to have both of his sons working with him in the firehouse. Meanwhile, his wife, Capshaw’s Blythe, deals with the conniving Dixie.

Like Yellowstone, ranch life is also incorporated into the ABC series, as the 9-1-1: Nashville pilot opens with a horse-riding event. While the central story of the series will likely still be about fire cases that Don and his squad will have to attend to, Blythe’s upper-class upbringing will also be a major part of its narrative.

Don & Blythe’s Dynamic Is Reminiscent Of Rip & Beth’s

ABC

While 9-1-1: Nashville as a whole is reminiscent of Yellowstone, what makes it the perfect alternative to the upcoming Beth and Rip spinoff is the dynamic between Don and Blythe. Not much is revealed about how they exactly met, but as already established, Dixie knew him long before he was married. She and Don got together during a break in his marriage that resulted in their son, Blue.

Sure, Rip and Beth don’t have this aspect in their love story, but the relationship between the no-nonsense, wealthy woman and the lower-class man feels similar. If anything, 9-1-1: Nashville’s story offers an alternate reality about what Beth’s course of action is if she ever ends up finding out that Rip has an illegitimate kid. That would definitely be dramatic, but it would be an interesting way to continue their story in their Yellowstone spinoff.