Yellowstone’s prequel 1883 is rising to success, breaking records and satisfying fans’ desires
for more western drama. But how did it all get started? Which celebrity couple stars
in the show? Can you watch it without seeing Yellowstone first? Keep watching to find out.
The "Yellowstone" 4th season premiere "Half The Money" gave viewers a tantalizing glimpse
into the history of the Dutton family and the Yellowstone ranch. An extended flashback saw
John Dutton's great-great-grandfather, James Dutton — along with two sons.
The ancestral Duttons encounter a group of Native Americans who are seeking to bury
their own ancestor on the Dutton ranch that was once their home. Unexpectedly,
the elder Dutton accepts their request and even offers them a calf to help get them through the
rough winter. It's an intriguing insight into the beginnings of the Dutton family and gives
backstory to some important "Yellowstone" moments. Notably, John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner,
has spoken of his family's six generations on the ranch and how they had vowed to never let it go.
Paramount and Taylor Sheridan took that flashback and expanded it to create
"1883" — the "origin story" of "Yellowstone." The new series introduces James Dutton again,
this time 10 years before the scene we witnessed in "Half The Money." Here, James has a daughter
and just one son — with the other yet to be born — and we see them beginning the long journey north
to what will eventually become their home in Montana. It remains to be seen if we will see
more direct connections to "Yellowstone" beyond the early Dutton pioneers. However, given the
history of the region we've heard from the likes of John Dutton and Chief Rainwater on that series,
it's hard to believe we won't. We've already seen some moments in "1883" that mirror, parallel,
and give added context to what we've seen on "Yellowstone," and we suspect that will continue.
Speaking to Deadline, actor Tim McGraw said it was the flashback scenes shot for "Yellowstone"
that got the ball rolling on the spin-off. After shooting the scenes, he received a
call from series creator Taylor Sheridan, who suggested the studio wanted a prequel.
But Sheridan wasn't given a long lead time. On the contrary, Sheridan says the studio
was so impressed by the flashback to James Dutton that they wanted the new series off
the ground and airing by the end of 2021. They fast-tracked the series so it could
debut not long after the relaunch of the studio's streaming service, now rebranded as Paramount+.
Sheridan told Deadline,
"The studio read it April 12, and I was flying out May 2 to go film another TV show in another
country. [ViacomCBS executive] Keyes [Hill-Edgar] calls and says, 'We can hang our hat on this,
launch our streaming service with it.' I say, 'That's great.' He says, 'We need it
this year.' I said, 'Keyes, that's not possible, I can start production in February, maybe.' He said,
'No Taylor, we need it to air this year.'" Sheridan wasn't happy about the way the studio
was rushing production and pushed back, saying he needed more time.
"It was impossible to have something air in seven months that wasn't cast,
with no locations, and no other scripts."
To make it happen, Sheridan made demands of his own, saying,
"I need the toys, I need the cast, I need the team. ... And I did not hear the word no, at all."
The two central characters at the start of "1883" are widower Captain Shea Brennan and
the dedicated Pinkerton Agent Thomas. They are the two men who are hired by a group of German
settlers to help them travel north to find a new home. But by the end of the opener, we meet the
two real stars of the series, the ancestors of "Yellowstone" protagonist John Dutton.
Delivering a pair of powerful performances, you'd think the two leads were Hollywood veterans.
However, those in the know recognize them as country music stars and husband and wife team
of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. While actor Sam Elliot as Brennan brings the veteran acting
leadership to the cast, McGraw and Hill bring a crossover celebrity to the series, as both have
individually become icons in the music world. Though both have dabbled in front of the camera
with bit parts here and there, "1883" marks the first time each will star in a leading role.
In an interview with Us Magazine, Hill spoke about what drew them to the series,
comparing the decision to their musical careers, saying,
"If the song is right, then you don't give it a second thought, because writing is a real craft
that should be respected. We read the material, and we were like, 'How can we not do it?'"
According to Hill's husband, Tim McGraw, the married couple was always a package deal.
Their latest album, 2017's "The Rest of Our Life," was their first joint musical effort,
and "1883" is the first time they team up on the screen.
“I’ma build you a house so big you get lost in it.”
“Deal.”
More than just a spin-off of a hit network drama, "1883" is a sprawling western epic
that stands on its own. The connections to its parent series "Yellowstone" are definitely there,
and fans of both series will be enriched by watching them side by side. Even still,
"1883" is more than anything a self-contained series about a family of pioneers looking to
make a new life for themselves on the American frontier. Though centered on the post-Civil War
ancestors of the "Yellowstone" family, the series also stars Hollywood legend Sam Elliott as Shea
Brennan, a man with no connection to the prior series. At least, none that we've seen thus far.
To his credit, series creator Taylor Sheridan has crafted an origin story for his prior series that
requires no knowledge of "Yellowstone." It can be enjoyed all on its own as a new period western.
Set more than a hundred years before "Yellowstone," there's enough of a time
gap that we won't be seeing any familiar faces. The world of "1883" is a very different one, too,
with a lawless land of outlaws and gunslingers. Although tonally, these elements may recall shades
of the neo-western "Yellowstone," they offer up very different opportunities for drama.
The political landscape is also a stark contrast to "Yellowstone," with the West largely unexplored
and no corporations or big business interests looking to seize land from the Duttons just yet.
Indeed, "1883" has proven to be a very different series, more somber Western than family drama.
That said, it's hard to deny that watching both series won't help weave a richer tapestry.
Production on the elaborate period Western wasn't an easy one,
and everyone knew it going in. Actress Faith Hill told The New York Times,
"Once we committed to the show, we spent a lot of time speaking to Taylor [Sheridan],
and he was adamant about this fact: 'This is going to be really,
really hard. We're not afraid of hard work, but wow, he was not joking."
It was a challenging five-month shoot that was still ongoing when the third episode premiered
on Christmas Day. The production headed to Texas and Montana for much of the filming,
which took place mostly outdoors and forced the cast to endure harsh conditions, brutal winds,
and long hours. In August, they had to contend with a 100-degree heatwave,
while in Montana, it was a single-digit freeze. Despite the rough conditions,
series lead Tim McGraw had no regrets, telling Entertainment Weekly,
"It's super dusty and super hot. There's no way around it. At the same time,
it's like every kid's fantasy to do something like this, to put your chaps on, your cowboy hat,
and your gun holsters every day. Then you get on a horse and try to survive this journey."
“We warned ya.”
Actor LaMonica Garrett, who plays Pinkerton Agent Thomas,
told Deadline about the difficult situations they were in while filming, saying,
"There's a reason they don't try things like this that often and why 'Lonesome Dove' was
one of the last ones. It's difficult. You're traveling with all these wagons,
these weather conditions, the wind, the river-crossing, the horses."
But all seems to have gone smoothly for the cast and crew, with Sheridan saying,
"Fortunately, no one got hurt. But it was a pretty dicey deal."
Its parent series "Yellowstone" has been a big hit, and the first spin-off "1883" was one of the
most highly anticipated streaming dramas of the year. Now, the numbers for Paramount+ can back up
lofty claims made about the spin-off. "1883" launched on the streaming service on Sunday,
December 19, 2021, with the first two episodes releasing the same day.
The "Yellowstone" sequel blew away all previous debuts for the service,
setting a new record for a Paramount+ original series premiere. According to a press release,
"1883" proved to be the most-watched debut for a new original. It more than
doubled the previous record holder in terms of viewership across the service's platforms.
The series premiere was also broadcast following the week's new episode of "Yellowstone"
as a standard network broadcast and drew an additional 4.9 million estimated viewers.
Paramount's parent company ViacomCBS was clearly pleased with the launch, too.
Tanya Giles [JIE-ulz], ViacomCBS Streaming programming chief, shared,
"The results of '1883's' debut are truly phenomenal.
The Day 1 streaming numbers coupled with the results of the linear sampling effort,
and social response from our audience show the tremendous promise for this series.
We look forward to continuing on this epic journey with our subscribers."
With "Yellowstone" proving a big hit and "1883" off to a fast start,
it seems Taylor Sheridan's Western expansion may prove to be his own manifest destiny.
“Well, I guess we ‘bout to find out, ain’t we?”
Sam Elliott has had roles in old classics like Virgil Earp in the
90s western crime drama "Tombstone," and the lead in "The Quick and the Dead."
So why would a big-screen gunslinger like Elliott want to strap on the holster for a TV series?
Talking to Deadline, the actor had a pretty straightforward answer, telling them it was,
quote, "Taylor's script." Series creator Taylor Sheridan had made a
name for himself in Hollywood with some of the best thrillers in recent years.
Elliott was well aware of his reputation in front of and behind the camera. He said,
"I knew his work as an actor, and because of his films. ... The guy
writes brilliant stuff. I love his dialogue."
When initially approached, Elliott wasn't without some concerns,
mainly of his continued typecasting in westerns, saying,
"You got to be careful, I guess, how many westerns you do,
or they're going to think that's all you can do."
Still, Elliott was able to overcome that concern thanks to Sheridan, and the sterling
script he received more than won him over. He told The New York Times in another interview,
"His writing is very spare. That's a joy to work with. When you have
dialogue that sounds like people talk, it's a lot of fun to do it."
So far, Elliott has been impressed with the finished product, telling
Esquire Magazine that the end result has been something special. He shared,
"I've never seen one that has looked anything like this on television,
for sure. It looks like a motion picture on the big screen."
Filming on location was important to Taylor Sheridan to preserve the
realism of the visuals on screen. He told Deadline,
"We're not in studios. It's not five wagons that,
you know, they CGI into 25. They're traveling with us."
For Sheridan, authenticity was key to the production.
Veteran costume designer Janie Bryant talked to The Hollywood Reporter about her experiences and
how they made the cast believably dirty, worn, and tired to look their parts.
Bryant has worked on several period dramas, including "Mad Men" and "Deadwood,"
and those programs were both good practice for her experiences in "1883." She added,
"The actresses are all in corsets ... riding horses or driving wagons,
and the men are all in wool with the heat and the elements, and you can really feel how taxing
it was. Think about a hundred-degree weather and wearing a camisole, corset, bloomers, bustle pad,
petticoat, and then putting a costume on top of that. I applaud them… for going with it."
Even the way they produce the show harkens back to days gone by. Sheridan told Deadline,
"Everywhere we go, we exhaust all the resources of whatever town we're in.
We have like 400 cast and crew. We're living on a ranch, no cable, no cell service, no wifi."
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Tim McGraw praised Sheridan's
dedication to the look and feel of the series.
"Taylor is a stickler for authenticity. Even to the way you ride ... down to the
set design and the costume." For Sheridan, if it wasn't a
believable world for the actors, it wouldn't be for the audience either.
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