What Is the Future of <em>Yellowstone</em> Without Taylor Sheridan?

On Monday, Taylor Sheridan shook Yellowstone fans with major news about the future of the series. Not information about the upcoming spin-offs, sadly, but the announcement that he is leaving Paramount for NBCUniversal. Sheridan's contract with the longtime home network is up at the end of 2028, when the prolific TV creator will now create an entirely new fleet of shows and films for NBC and Peacock. So, does that mean Yellowstone has an expiration date?

Not entirely. According to Puck, Paramount owns all of Sheridan’s shows for the network. That list includes Landman, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness, and the entire Yellowstone franchise. These shows will presumably continue without Sheridan’s involvement, but only if Paramount decides to renew them all in 2029. Not many TV series even make it that long in today’s streaming landscape, even if Sheridan has already left much of Mayor and Tulsa King to other creatives. But by 2029, Kingstown will enter its eighth season, Tulsa King its seventh, and Landman its fifth. After the network shelled out massive contracts to the Stranger Things creators and South Park, it’s hard to imagine that Mayor of Kingstown season 8 will be at the top of CEO David Ellison’s to-do list—let alone, four Yellowstone spin-offs.

Still, those spin-offs—Dutton Ranch, The Madison, 1944, and Y: Marshals—are chugging along with casting announcements and early production updates. Kurt Russell just joined The Madison with Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox, which is set to usher in a new family outside of the Duttons to the Yellowstone area. Ed Harris is set to join former Yellowstone stars Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly on the tentatively titled Dutton Ranch sequel. Luke Grimes will receive his own task force spin-off for CBS in Y: Marshals, and 1944 will finish off the trilogy of Dutton family prequels. Yet, it’s important to note that Sheridan’s personal involvement with these spin-offs is unknown.

The unspoken possibility? After a rocky season 5 ending—mostly due to Kevin Costner’s departure—Sheridan may have already handed off the reins to the Yellowstone franchise. Chad Feehan (Lawman: Bass Reeves) is set to serve as showrunner on Dutton Ranch, while Spencer Hudnut (SEAL Team) will head duties on Y: Marshals. Sheridan is only listed as an executive producer on the spin-offs so far. After all, he created them—even if he doesn’t have much of a say in their future. Still, Sheridan may not even hand in writing these new projects.

I’ll wait to pass judgement until the spin-offs air, but Paramount is seemingly in no rush to fast-track the continuation of the franchise for its devoted fanbase. The network honestly doesn’t have a great track record with keeping its fans up to date on what's happening with the franchise. The Madison was originally supposed to air in 2025. There's no way that's happening now. When the Yellowstone sequels finally arrive, a spurned Paramount may even turn them into eight-episode limited series and call it a day. Plus, Sheridan has yet to comment on anything.

Without him? I wouldn’t be surprised if these new shows arrive feeling more like secondary epilogues than new beginnings. For now, Yellowstone fans are simply left in the dark once again.