CBS has renewed Marshals, its latest Neo-Western series that also serves as a sequel to Yellowstone, for a second season. The news, albeit exciting for the Taylor Sheridan franchise, is surprising as the spin-off series debuted on March 1. Since it is rare for CBS to renew a project only two weeks after its release, the future for this Luke Grimes-led series looks bright.
The Yellowstone spin-off marks the return of Grimes’ Kayce John Dutton, the youngest son of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton and a former U.S. Navy SEAL and rancher, who joins a specialized group of U.S. Marshals tasked with protecting Montana. In addition to Grimes, the sequel series features many familiar faces from the flagship series, including Brecken Merrill as Kayce and Monica’s son Tate Dutton, Gil Birmingham as Thomas Rainwater and Mo Brings Plenty as Mo. Actress Kelsey Asbille, who played Kayce’s wife Monica in Yellowstone, did not return for the spin-off series. The Marshals premiere revealed that Monica died after the events of Yellowstone.
More on this in our story.
Marshals lands a Season 2 renewal at CBS after two weeks
The Yellowstone spin-off’s early Season 2 renewal comes after it became the most-watched network original series premiere since 2017. According to Nielsen’s live+same day data, Marshals drew 9.52M viewers for its series’ premiere, which grew to 20.6M multiplatform viewers over its first seven days, making it one of the top new original series at CBS for the current year.
In a statement to Deadline, CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach called the Yellowstone spin-off a ‘breakout performance,’ linking its success to fans’ continued interest in the overall franchise:
“MARSHALS delivered a breakout performance, capturing a massive audience across platforms and quickly establishing itself as one of TV’s most powerful new series. The overwhelming viewer response speaks to the strength of the Yellowstone world, the bold character driven storytelling from the creative team and the dynamic cast performances led by Luke Grimes.”
In addition to Grimes and the returning Yellowstone cast, the spin-off series also stars Logan Marshall-Green as Kayce’s friend Pete Calvin, Arielle Kebbel as Belle Skinner, Ash Santos as Andrea Cruz and Tatanka Means as Miles Kittle. Actors Brett Cullen, Ellyn Jameson, Chad Michael Collins and Loren Anthony also appear in recurring and guest characters.
The spin-off follows Kayce Dutton’s life after the events of the Yellowstone finale, which saw the siblings sell their titular family ranch to Chief Thomas Rainwater in a deal that will preserve the land from development. Rainwater and his tribe will also protect and preserve the ranch as a sacred land. However, Kayce finalized a deal with Rianwater that secured a home for him and his family at the East Camp in Montana. While this transition period marked a major loss for Kayce Dutton (with his wife’s death), Marshals positions itself as a new and exciting beginning for the character and a new era in the Yellowstone franchise.
Beyond this latest spin-off series, the Yellowstone franchise will expand with two upcoming spin-offs, The Madison (scheduled to arrive on March 14), starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, Patrick J. Adams & Matthew Fox in central roles and The Dutton Ranch, starring Kelly Reilly (Beth), Cole Hauser (Kip), Annette Bening and Ed Harris.
Marshals airs weekly episodes on CBS every Sunday. The episodes are also available to stream live on Paramount+ Premium and a day later on Paramount+ Essential.
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Edited by Aashna