The show’s creator and showrunner left the series in April, before its launch on Paramount+, and the lead stars opened up about his departure.
‘Dutton Ranch,’ the ‘Yellowstone’ spin-off series, has proven itself as a worthy successor to Taylor Sheridan’s Western drama. The series continues the story of the fan-favorite couple, Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), as they move to South Texas to start anew. The spin-off premiered on May 15 on Paramount+ and is set to air its finale on July 3. The series became hugely popular after its release, and it was renewed for a second season on June 24. Unlike the original ‘Yellowstone,’ Sheridan is not serving as the showrunner for the spin-off. It was created by Chad Feehan, based on characters from the ‘Yellowstone’ universe created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson. However, he exited as showrunner in April, shortly before the show’s premiere.
The show’s lead stars, Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the series premiere in May. They also addressed the showrunner shakeup, which fueled speculation about behind-the-scenes drama. Hauser attributed the shakeup to the nature of show business, “Showrunners change all the time. This business is about adapting. We’ve been doing this for a long time. Things change. People move on,” he said. His co-star, Reilly added, “We finished [season one] with Chad beautifully. We finished this season together. It was a really difficult but really satisfying show to make. And so was Yellowstone.”
Feehan collaborated with Sheridan on 2023’s Western drama ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves,’ which the latter executive produced. However, their relationship allegedly turned sour while working on ‘Dutton Ranch.’ In April, reports alleged that Sheridan, David Glasser, and the two leads were unhappy with Feehan’s handling of the production. But the lead stars didn’t confirm the rumors, instead calling the crew shakeup a part-and-parcel of show business. In May, the show’s executive producer, Christina Voros, who directed the pilot and finale of ‘Dutton Ranch,’ spoke to ScreenRant about Feehan’s abrupt exit. Although she didn’t offer a clear reason for his departure, Voros praised Feehan for doing “an exceptional job building a world of adversaries for Rip and Beth” in the spinoff series and for “creating a world for these characters to move into.”
Sheridan’s other shows, like ‘Tulsa King,’ ‘Lioness,’ and ‘Frisco King,’ have also faced similar changes. The Sylvester Stallone-led ‘Tulsa King’ had different showrunners for each of its four seasons. Terence Winter took over the reins of Season 1, but he was replaced by Craig Zisk in Season 2 and by Dave Erickson in Season 3. Moreover, Erickson was also attached as showrunner for the Samuel L. Jackson-led spinoff originally known as ‘NOLA King,’ before creative changes led to it becoming ‘Frisco King.’ For ‘Frisco King,’ Sheridan took over the script for all eight episodes of the first season.