Why I Don't Watch Yellowstone
A Peak Cable Show Living in the Peak Streaming Era
“Do you watch Yellowstone?”
It’s a question that came up multiple times over the holidays. While I’d love to join the Sheridan-hive as they follow the Dutton family across time and platforms, I find myself in this weird moment of knowing too much about how the sausage is cooked.
If I start, when will it actually end…will it ever end? Definitely not for years…and it’s already been on for five seasons. That’s a serious commitment to serialized programming without any indication of ever receiving the commonly expected HBO-style finale payoff.
People like to compare Yellowstone to Succession, which makes sense in terms of the family dynamics on both shows, but it’s not Succession, it’s The Walking Dead, the rare cash cow with a huge linear cable audience that Paramount needs to run until it can’t run any more. Prior to streaming, successful broadcast TV dramas used to air in what seemed like perpetuity (think NBC’s Blacklist [Spader FTW]). Over the last decade, streaming has conditioned us that shows naturally conclude after no more than five seasons (often less than that). Because of Yellowstone’s linear roots, streaming mess, and Paramount’s corporate needs, there’s a unique situation where concluding the show anytime soon makes no sense. It would be financial malpractice for Paramount to not continue creating seasons of their biggest hit show. Ironically, because they’re continuing to make more of it, I’m less inclined to watch.
With ratings like this, Paramount has a verified old-school cable hit. Unfortunately for Paramount, years ago they licensed the streaming rights to Peacock, which makes linear even more important. As long as Paramount needs Yellowstone financially, it won’t end and ultimately, it’ll become Paramount’s own version of The Walking Dead, an insanely popular show with audiences from coast-to-coast, hugely popular with advertisers because it’s on cable but also one in which the quality of the storytelling inevitably diminished over the years. Still, these are good problems to have!
There’s a reason the Sheridan-verse has rapidly expanded. Taylor Sheridan knows how it write compelling stories for massive audiences who aren’t just in NYC/LA really fast. He’s got “It” and Paramount knows it. He’s their strategy, complete with a never ending supply of the Duttons and a side of Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingstown.
In addition to the modern Dutton Yellowstone series, Paramount smartly launched what will likely become a never ending line of premium limited series focused on the family’s lineage. When movie stars like Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and Sam Elliot are drawn to the "Dutton-verse" with limited series like 1923 and 1888, it’s a strong indicator of more to come. I fully expect many, many more of these limited-run Dutton stories for Paramount+. Why? Because Paramount+ doesn’t have the streaming rights to their own flagship show! It’s a fascinating dynamic.
Paramount and Sheridan should be commended for creating such strong original IP and not resting on their laurels. It’s remarkable how much they’ve produced in such a relatively short amount of time considering how many successful shows don’t get spin offs. While I commend Taylor Sheridan for his exceptional showrunning skills and commend Paramount for their success in creating and executing on the “Dutton-verse,” I’m going to have to sit this one out, which is a bummer because I want to engage in more shows that hit the zeitgeist like Yellowstone.
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