The WGA writers strike has completely upended the TV industry, with dozens of projects being suspended or put on hold, including the second season of Paramount+’s historical drama 1923. However, there’s still no word on what’s going on with Kevin Costner and Yellowstone’s final season, which was presumed to be going back into production this summer ahead of a November return. Costner’s reported scheduling issues behind the scenes are believed to be the cause for the initial delay, but the actor hasn’t directly spoken about the show at length in quite a few months, with his other projects always taking focus. But with 1883 currently bringing in a new wave of fans with its linear run on Paramount Network, it seems more clear than ever that this franchise isn’t beholden to John Dutton’s existence.
Kevin Costner’s Latest Posts Are All About His Music And Movies
By all means, there’s nothing wrong with Costner putting the spotlight on both his musical endeavors, which are firmly rooted to his group Kevin Costner & Modern West, and his movie promotions, which are firmly rooted in his multi-feature western saga dubbed Horizon. But ever since the reports came out pointing to drama behind the scene, the actor has rather purposefully avoided giving Yellowstone the same amount of attention that he had previously. To the point where the post below is a pretty run-of-the-mill offering from Costner these days, despite the fact that fans are downright rabid to learn when the Duttons will be back to close out the fifth and final season.
So first, he’s promoting the anniversary of a three-year-old album that has Yellowstone in its title, even if it might be referring to the setting and not the series. Then he talks about being in movie mode at the moment, as he’s reportedly been filming in Utah for months now while also in the midst of a divorce from Christine Baumgartner and dealing with her reported refusal to move out of their family home. And then he talks about getting back into a more musical state of mind with the band. But not a word about when he might be back on the Dutton ranch.
Then there’s his actual most recent post, which is also about the Tales from Yellowstone album, and features a lyric-accompanied video for the track “Heavy Like the Rain,” which talks about having regrets, about trouble finding its way into life, and the like.
I’m not saying he’s directly trolling Yellowstone and co-creator Taylor Sheridan there, but this IS the same dude who finally won a Golden Globe for playing John, and then shared a recorded-from-home acceptance speech that completely omitted any mentions of the show. So I absolutely think it's possible that his whole "let's ignore Yellowstone" push on social media is an intentional way to get under others' skin. But has this kind of showboating become unnecessary now that the franchise has grown much bigger than just John Dutton?
Meanwhile, 1883’s TV Run Is Already Killing It
With a two-pronged push to both counter-program against the writers strike and to get the spinoffs in front of more fans' eyeballs, Paramount Network execs made the decision to bring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's prequel 1883 to linear TV after it was previously only available in full for those with Paramount+ subscriptions. The first two episodes were aired back to back on Sunday, June 18, and immediately made it obvious that viewers are hungry for this franchise in any form.
Parmaount Network reports that the spinoff brought in 3.8 million viewers on the night, which already made it the biggest cable TV premiere in three years, in terms of scripted content. (It also brought in a 285% increase in total viewership compared to the average at that time slot for Paramount Network.) The episodes airing linearly are also combined with extra featurettes to keep viewers engaged, and it looks like it worked.
To be sure, 1883 technically already proved itself to be a linear TV winner back in 2021, when it aired its premiere and second episodes on Paramount Network on Sunday nights following new episodes of Yellowstone. At that time, the premiere ep brought in slightly fewer than 5 million viewers, making it the biggest cable debut since Fear the Walking Dead's arrival in 2015.
Clearly, this show's success is already locked in place, and while the number of viewers doesn't actually match what Yellowstone's viewership was most recently, it's a sure sign that the future is bright for Sheridan's characters even when Kevin Costner's John Dutton isn't in the mix at all.
For now, 1883 will continue airing the remainder of its first-season episodes Every Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. ET on Paramount Network. So tune in and prove to the powers that be that the Dutton family is still interesting even when it's not just one family member pulling focus.
