Why The Yellowstone Spin-Off Dutton Ranch Fired Its Showrunner After One Season
It hasn't even premiered yet, but the "Yellowstone" spin-off "Dutton Ranch" is already the center of controversy. Weeks ahead of the show's May 15 debut, series creator and showrunner Chad Feehan has been fired from the project and will not return if a second season is greenlit.
Per Puck News, the problem was that "Dutton Ranch" marked Feehan's first time running a TV program. While he has years of experience in producing and writing for television under his belt and the scripts for the show were said to be in good shape, Feehan apparently came into conflict with members of the cast and crew during filming. That included series leads Kelly Reilly (Beth Dutton) and Cole Hauser (Rip Wheeler), who also have executive producing credits on the modern Western.
Puck News added that Feehan's relative newness to the "Yellowstone" empire was also a factor; he's only participated in the creation of one Taylor Sheridan universe series before this, "Lawman: Bass Reeves," where he was an executive producer as well as a creator and writer. In any event, Sheridan himself apparently disapproved of how Feehan did things, leading to a parting of ways.
Will Taylor Sheridan return to helm Season 2 of Dutton Ranch?
It's worth noting that Taylor Sheridan was not as hands-on with "Dutton Ranch" as he typically is with the majority of his shows; as is the case with the other "Yellowstone" spin-off currently airing, "Marshals," Sheridan's involvement extends to a "created by" credit and his status as an executive producer. He didn't write any of the nine scripts greenlit for "Dutton Ranch," nor did he direct any of the episodes as of this writing.
Might Sheridan return to run Season 2 of "Dutton Ranch"? Apparently that won't be the case. Instead, should the show move forward, another member of the Season 1 writer's room will get a promotion and spearhead the production. But first "Dutton Ranch" will have to pass the ultimate test and please the viewers at home. While Paramount executives seemingly feel that Season 1 accomplishes that goal, getting a quality outing in the books has already cost them one showrunner.