Lawmen: Bass Reeves is Paramount+’s most-watched series premiere of the year, according to Deadline. The series is an anthology produced by Taylor Sheridan (Special Ops: Lioness, 1883) and 101 Studios.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves debuted on November 5, 2023, with the first two episodes gaining 7.5 million views globally on both Paramount+ and on CBS broadcast, according to Paramount Global, Deadline reports. This is over double the 3.55 million views it received during the live and same-day on CBS on November 12. The CBS premiere of the two episodes followed an episode of Yellowstone.
Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness also premiered on Paramount+ to a large audience this year on July 23.
David Oyelowo (Selma, Silo) stars in Lawmen: Bass Reeves as the titular Bass Reeves, along with Lauren E. Banks (City on a Hill, Canoe Poems) as Jennie Reeves, Dennis Quaid (The Parent Trap, The Day After Tomorrow) as Sherrill Lynn, and Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, Pride & Prejudice) as Judge Isaac Parker.
The cast also includes Barry Pepper (The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan) as Esau Pierce, Demi Singleton (King Richard, Godfather of Harlem) as Sally Reeves, Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy, The Tutor) as Garrett Montgomery, Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant, How to Blow Up a Pipeline) as Billy Crow, Shea Whigham (Perry Mason, Boardwalk Empire) as George Reeves, Dale Dickey (A Love Song, Winter’s Bone) as Widow Dolliver, and Grantham Coleman (NCIS, Power Book III: Raising Kanan) as Edwin Jones.
Season one of Lawmen: Bass Reeves follows Reeves as he rises from enslavement to law enforcement and becomes “the first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississipi,” Deadline reports. Reeves wrestles with the spiritual and moral cost the badge carries.
The series was created and executive produced by Chad Feehan (Ray Donocan, Banshee), who also serves as showrunner. Six more episodes will be released weekly on Paramount+ on Sundays until the season finale on Decemner 17.