The “Yellowstone” universe continues to expand, as does creator Taylor Sheridan’s bank account, it seems. That’s because a brand new spin-off set in the same universe as Sheridan’s wildly popular Western TV show is in development. Mind you, this is not the “Yellowstone” sequel series centered on Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler. Rather, this new show will be bringing back a different member of the Dutton family.
According to Puck reporter Matthew Belloni, Luke Grimes is set to return as Kayce Dutton in a new series. “CBS is developing a spinoff series starring Luke Grimes. This is a procedural and separate from the Cole Hauser/Kelly Reilly spinoff that is now in pre-production,” Belloni said on Twitter. This opens up a whole host of questions. For the moment, we have precious few answers.
While CBS has yet to confirm the report, Belloni is as solid as they come as far as these things go. To that end, he’s suggesting that this will be more of a procedural drama, one that might be made for CBS as opposed to Paramount+, Paramount Network, or even Peacock. Given that CBS is under the larger Paramount corporate umbrella, that would make some sense. But it would also further splinter an already very splintered franchise.
The Yellowstone universe just got a little more complicated
“Yellowstone” started life, somewhat unsuspectingly, on Paramount Network. It was an upper-tier cable channel that few people paid much attention to. But that show put it on the map, becoming the biggest series on all of cable TV. To get in on the goods, NBCUniversal struck a deal for the streaming rights to the show, which went to Peacock. That’s why, to this day, “Yellowstone” is streaming on Peacock and not Paramount+.
At the same time, Sheridan’s spin-offs such as “1923” and “1883” have gone directly to Paramount+, without “Yellowstone” in the titles. Paramount undoubtedly wants to keep the franchise in-house. So what about this Kayce Dutton spin-off? If they put “Yellowstone” in the title, does that then have to go to Peacock? These are important, possibly expensive questions. “Interesting fodder for legal question of what is a ‘spinoff’ and thus goes to Peacock not Par+,” Belloni added, raising a very good question for some lawyers to hash out.
As for the specifics of the show, nothing has been confirmed, save for Grimes’ involvement. “Procedural” also implies that this might be more of a “plot of the week” show, rather than something that is heavily serialized, which would make sense for a network like CBS. Meanwhile, Sheridan is busy expanding his empire, with another spin-off titled “The Madison” also in the works. The franchise grows, from cable, to streaming, and now, quite possibly, to network television.