Dutton Ranch season 2 is already in trouble before even being greenlit — Chad Feehan's exit as showrunner proves why 'unhappy' Taylor Sheridan should stay in charge

• Dutton Ranch showrunner Chad Feehan exits Yellowstone spinoff three weeks before show's launch
• Reports suggest Taylor Sheridan "wasn't happy," clashes with main cast
• Season 2 hasn't been confirmed by Paramount+ as of writing

Just weeks before Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch launches on Paramount+ on May 15, there's a problem.

The series showrunner Chad Feehan, who was also behind Lawmen: Bass Reeves, has exited three weeks before the release date, and will not be returning for a second season if picked up.

A TV Line report confirmed "alleged behind-the-scenes friction with series stars Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly, as well as 'other key players.'"

Puck News went onto expand this further, adding, "Feehan finished the
first season but has been told he won’t return for the second, per three sources. (I think the feeling was mutual and Feehan likely would have bailed anyway.)

"This was less of a pure creative issue, I’m told — the scripts were good, and after some work on the cut, Paramount is confident in the show — and more about how Feehan ran the production."

It continues, "He clashed on set with stars Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly and other key players, many of whom have been working on Yellowstone for nearly a decade. Sheridan, producer David Glasser, and the stars weren’t happy, so Feehan’s out, and Sheridan and Glasser will likely elevate another season 1 writer to the showrunner gig."

However, it's this last part, speculating that Sheridan will promote an existing writer to showrunner status, that I'm the most interested in.

Opinion: Taylor Sheridan needs to be the sole showrunner of Yellowstone spinoffs like Dutton Ranch

Dutton Ranch | Official Teaser | Paramount+ - YouTube

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If you've been following along with other Yellowstone spinoff Marshals, you'll know that fans haven't been overwhelmingly happy there either.

Following Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) as he leaves his ranch life behind to join an elite unit of the US Marshals, viewers quickly complained that Marshals took a chunk out of Yellowstone's story and made it into a formulaic CBS police procedural.

Though Marshals has already been renewed for a second season — and I suspect Dutton Ranch will too purely down to the amount of fan appetite — I think both spinoffs being underwhelming early on proves that Sheridan can't afford to stray too far.

While he's been the showrunner of other hit series like Lioness, Landman and, most recently, The Madison, he's only an executive producer on the two Yellowstone spinoffs.

On previous Yellowstone spinoffs 1883 and 1923, Sheridan served as their creator, writer and producer (and in the case of 1883, its director). The difference? Both shows were highly acclaimed, and are thought of by fans as fondly as the main series.

Making a direct Yellowstone spinoff that didn't involve Sheridan in any immediate capacity was always going to be a risk... and that risk already seems to be coming back to bite Paramount.

My advice? To get Dutton Ranch where it needs to be and confirm season 2, Sheridan should either drop some of his many creative projects altogether (e.g. the Call of Duty movie) or relax his involvement on his standalone shows.

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