Not all is yee and haw in the world of “Yellowstone.” Star Kevin Costner has been voicing his intention to sue Paramount over pay issues with the fifth and final season of the flagship show, and that fifth and final season is taking a long time to reach the finish line. Split into two parts, it premiered back in November 2022 and Variety reports that the final episodes are now slated for November 2024.
A TV season taking more than two years to get from its premiere to its finale might be unprecedented, but “Yellowstone” has had no shortage of troubles. Costner chose to exit the series after the decision was made to split season 5 into two parts, since filming the show twice a year clashed with Costner’s plans for his multi-film Western epic, “Horizon: An American Saga.” Obviously the Writers Guild of America strike, which began at the start of May and wasn’t resolved until the end of September, was a factor, as is the still-unresolved SAG-AFTRA strike that currently has almost all productions on hold. But the reasons behind the long hiatus for “Yellowstone” season 5 are complicated, with no shortage of finger-pointing.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, sources claim that showrunner Taylor Sheridan’s progress on the final season has been waylaid by him taking on a number of “Yellowstone” spinoffs, plus non-“Yellowstone” shows like “Tulsa King,” “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Special Ops: Lioness,” “Land Man,” and the upcoming “Lawmen: Bass Reeves.” Sheridan-created series now make up a significant percentage of Paramount’s TV originals, and they show no signs of slowing. In fact, Paramount has just officially greenlit two more “Yellowstone” spinoffs.
From 1944 to 2024
A quirk of the “Yellowstone” spinoff series that distinguishes them from other shows in the Sheridan-verse is the trend of number-titles. So far we’ve had the prequel miniseries “1883” and the first half of two-season prequel series “1923.” Coming up is the spinoff series “6666” (sadly not a sci-fi show set in the distant future, but a series based around the Four Sixes Ranch that appeared in “Yellowstone” season 4), which is slated to join the flagship show on Paramount Network.
Paramount has now officially greenlit “1944,” a follow-up to “1923” that was first announced in February 2023. Per Ravalli Republic, the series will be set at the Dutton family ranch and will presumably revolve around another generation of Duttons in the titular year. The other spinoff is titled “2024,” and was reported on earlier this year when it was still-untitled, with Matthew McConaughey in talks to star. The show was originally planned for a December 2023 premiere before the strikes began. According to Variety, “2024” will feature “new cast members and locations with some crossover characters as well.”
This fits with the “Yellowstone” formula of centering shows around a high-profile star: Sam Elliot in “1883,” Harrison Ford in “1923,” and of course Costner in the mothership show. Don’t be surprised if a big name gets announced for “6666” soon as well. What’s Tommy Lee Jones up to these days?
