By Michaela Gordoni
Neo-western series MARSHALS already has the greenlight for Season 2.
The YELLOWSTONE spinoff had CBS convinced it would do well after airing only two episodes — which is extremely rare for a network to do. The premiere episode on March 1 was the most-watched original series premiere since YOUNG SHELDON in 2017, Deadline reported.
CBS also renewed TRACKER for Season 4, MATLOCK, ELSBETH, FIRE COUNTRY, GEORGIE & MANDY’S FIRST MARRIAGE, BOSTON BLUE, FBI, GHOSTS and SHERIFF COUNTRY. CBS is yet to decide whether WATSON and DMV will be renewed.
Starring Luke Grimes, MARSHALS’ premiere gained over 9.52 million viewers. The next seven days saw a total of 20.6 million viewers.
Related: Will CBS Pick Up a New YELLOWSTONE Spinoff?
“MARSHALS delivered a breakout performance, capturing a massive audience across platforms and quickly establishing itself as one of TV’s most powerful new series,” said Amy Reisenbach, president, CBS Entertainment. “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.”
The show’s synopsis reads, “With the Yellowstone Ranch behind him, Dutton joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana. Kayce and his teammates — Pete Calvin, Belle Skinner, Andrea Cruz, and Miles Kittle — must balance the high psychological cost of serving as the last line of defense in the region’s war on violence with their duty to their families.”
Despite the high network views, the show only has a 31% audience score and 47% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
TRACKER and SURVIVOR have also gotten a lot of viewers recently. TRACKER had 14.4 million views over seven days, and the SURVIVOR 50 premiere had 9.1 million viewers. SCRUBS had 9 million, The Hollywood Reporter said.
While Taylor Sheridan created the YELLOWSTONE universe, Spencer Hudnut was given the reigns for MARSHALS. Sheridan was still available if needed but wasn’t heavily involved.
“Taylor wants this show to stand on its own,” said Hudnut. “He wants Kayce’s journey to not be tied to the YELLOWSTONE universe too heavily but continue the themes that resonated with his audience. There’s enough for YELLOWSTONE [fans] — and people who haven’t visited the universe yet can jump in.”
Grimes said he enjoys the thoughtful aspects of his character’s development.
“The fact that he doesn’t want to be like his father and wants to set a new example for his son is special,” Grimes said. “Tate is becoming his own man. Kayce has to realize, ‘What is that for him?’ A few times he’s like, let’s figure out where you want to go because that’s just as important to me as where I’m going.”
The next episode comes out on March 22 on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.
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