Lawmen: Bass Reeves Was a Canceled Yellowstone Spinoff, But Dodged the Bullet
Yet another Western series from Paramount+ was meant to become a spinoff for Taylor Sheridan’s 1883, but eventually got a story of its own. Here’s what happened and why it’s actually for the best.
Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone franchise is still pretty far from wrapping things up, potentially getting several more spinoff series with some of those now being in the works.
Even before the flagship show had its chaotic finale back in 2024, Sheridan has been exploring the Dutton family’s origins for a while, introducing two prequel series titled 1883 and 1923 — though he actually had in mind one spinoff, this time deriving directly from 1883.
However, there was a plan change that never allowed the series to become a part of Yellowstone’s franchise – instead, it turned into a hit of its own.
Lawmen Is a Western Hit Initially Planned as a Yellowstone Spinoff
- On Rotten Tomatoes, Lawmen: Bass Reeves holds scores of 79% and 93% from critics and audiences
- On IMDb, the series is rated 7.4/10
A hidden gem in Paramount+’s library of Westerns, Lawmen still connects directly to Sheridan who helmed the show as one of the producers, though this connection was supposed to be even tighter.
Upon the official production announcement, Lawmen was initially introduced as a spinoff for Sheridan’s 1883 which, in its turn, derives from Yellowstone.
It’s fair to say the original series’ prequels did a good job in building their own world in the Wild West, so no wonder Sheridan and co wanted to dive even deeper into its secrets.
However, at some point everything stopped going according to plan, with Sheridan remaining as one of the helmers, but nothing more than that.
Chad Feehan’s idea eventually turned into a completely different show that would focus on a specific character and for this reason would get a new title Lawmen: Bass Reeves.
Lawmen Might Become an Anthology
The show’s first season, released back in 2023, was a raving success, proving that Lawmen would be doing just fine without any connection to Sheridan’s Yellowstone.
In fact, the series still has solid chances for another season which, according to Feehan’s idea, would explore a different, but not less compelling character.
“If there is another season of Lawmen, it will focus on a new lawman or law woman. There are several figures in history much like Bass who deserve their day in the sun”, the creator revealed in an interview with Deadline back then.
In the meantime, Sheridan’s own Western universe doesn’t seem to be suffering much from the loss, considering that Yellowstone is about to get at least a couple of new spinoff series which are currently in production.
