Why Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone Was Almost Canceled After Season 2
Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" franchise is a golden goose that keeps on giving. In fact, the main series is so huge that it inadvertently caused real-life devastation due to outsiders flocking to the actual Yellowstone in their hordes, ultimately destroying its environment and property market. That success also led to hit spin-offs in the form of "1882" and "1923," which chronicle the struggles faced by the Dutton family throughout history. With more "Yellowstone" spin-offs on the way from Sheridan, the franchise shows no signs of riding off into the sunset — and to think that it was almost canceled two seasons in.
As documented by Bloomberg, "Yellowstone" wasn't an instant cultural behemoth. Before finding a home with the Paramount Network, the neo-Western series was rejected by HBO, which must have frustrated Sheridan. Then, after being greenlit by Paramount, Sheridan clashed with executives of the studio's parent company Viacom, who wanted him to change elements of the story. Sheridan wasn't willing to compromise his creative vision and butted heads with his higher-ups, which almost made him call it quits and walk away.
What's more, the show also made Viacom hemorrhage money early on. Despite being one of the top-performing series on cable — averaging $6.9 million viewers during its first two seasons — the company lost $50 million. As such, Viacom was prepared to cut its losses and move on, but the Duttons' adventures were saved by some powerful guardian angels who supported Sheridan's vision of a cowboy utopia.
Yellowstone was saved by a Paramount executive who believed in Taylor Sheridan
A couple of factors led to "Yellowstone" surviving Viacom's budget-slashing plans. The first was 101 Studios backing Taylor Sheridan's Western — with the support of a very wealthy businessman, Ron Burkle. Both parties agreed to spend the big bucks to keep the series on the air, but that just bought "Yellowstone" more time. Viacom still saw the neo-Western as a large expenditure, and it took Chris McCarthy, Paramount's co-chief executive officer, stepping in to save the horse being put out to pasture.
After meeting with Sheridan and understanding the showrunner's vision, McCarthy moved "Yellowstone" from a Wednesday night fall time slot to Sundays during the summer. This led to the show's ratings increasing quite significantly, with 12 million more viewers tuning in for "Yellowstone" season 4. The rest is, as they say, history.
"Yellowstone" is no longer bleeding money, with the franchise generating billions in revenue and proving that some risks are worth taking. That said, "Yellowstone" arguably lost its way when it became more successful, proving that great ratings aren't always a reflection of a show's quality. Then again, even the worst "Yellowstone" moments are still highly entertaining, and millions of people around the world are happy that the franchise still exists.