Taylor Sheridan Is Handing Over the Reins—Is This the Beginning of the End for Yellowstone?

In 2015, Taylor Sheridan proved to the world that his talents as a writer far exceeded his skills as an actor when he wrote the screenplay for the critical and commercial hit thriller, Sicario. It wasn’t until 2018 that the creation of Yellowstone, where he proved that it was within the realm of television, where he truly belongs. Since then, Sheridan has practically become a household name, not just with a number of other hit shows for Paramount like Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingstown, but with expanding Yellowstone into an unexpected franchise with two prequel series and a few upcoming spin-offs. Part of what has made these shows so popular among audiences has mostly been due to the fact that he has been the creative driving force behind all of them, and the fact that he has been able to juggle showrunning duties on so many different ongoing series has made him one of the greatest creative talents in Hollywood.

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.

Starting in 2021, Sheridan expanded Yellowstone into a franchise, exploring the early history of the Dutton family with the prequel series 1883 and 1923. On top of that, Sheridan is also currently involved in the early stages of production for what is currently planned to be a set of five other spin-off series, indicating that he doesn’t have any plans to end the story of Dutton’s or the expansion of their world anytime soon.

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 KingstownTulsa KingLandman, 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.

If there is any kind of reassurance to be found in the creative shakeup of the highly anticipated spin-off, it’s that it’s at least in the hands of someone who has worked with Sheridan before. Whether he’ll be able to live up to Sheridan’s creative standards is one thing, but it is nice to know that the show is at least in the hands of someone who is familiar with the creator’s overall vision for the world of Yellowstone.

Who is Taylor Sheridan Giving Up His Showrunning Duties on the Latest Spin-Off to?

Beth and Rip take in a sunset on the ranch together in Yellowstone.Image via Paramount

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.

If Lawmen: Bass Reeves serves as any indication, it does appear that Sheridan and Feehan are operating on the same creative wavelength, which means that Feehan may very well succeed in helping to further expand Sheridan’s franchise with this new installment in a way that is still faithful to the aesthetic and remains consistent with how it further develops both the world and its characters. The fact that those characters are now in someone else’s hands, however, and that Sheridan no longer has full control of what it is that they say or do going forward, I fear that there is still the potential for the upcoming spin-off to go completely off the rails.

The World of Yellowstone Needs Taylor Sheridan, and I’m Worried That It Won’t Function as Well Without Him

Taylor Sheridan and Yellowstone ranch on the backgroundImage by Morena Perez Vitale

I can still remember the intense displeasure that was shared among the Sons of Anarchy fandom over just how much the level of quality within the spin-off series, Mayans MC, had fallen in their eyes after the controversial exit of co-creator Kurt Sutter. Despite the best efforts of co-creator Elgin James to carry out the initial vision that he and Sutter had mapped out, the fans could tell that something just wasn’t right without his direct creative influence. Of course, that’s not to say that it isn’t a complete impossibility for the Beth and Rip spin-off to avoid the same fate, as there have been other series that managed to stay afloat amidst such unfortunate developments.

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.

As compelling as his stories can be and as memorable as his characters are, one of Sheridan’s greatest strengths as a writer has always been the dialogue that he’s provided with, and the idea of having those characters say lines that he had no hand in writing is a little distressing to think about. There is also always a chance, however, that having a new creative vision come in for the next installment may just be the thing the Yellowstone franchise needs in order to feel more vibrant and fresh for the audience.

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.

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