Photo credit: Ray Flotat
Wednesday’s Television Critics Association’s press conference received a sprawling presentation from the ViacomCBS-owned streaming service, Paramount+ (currently known as CBS All Access). Among the many titles revealed, the platform announced new series from Yellowstone creator and screenwriter, Taylor Sheridan (Sons of Anarchy, NCIS: Los Angeles).
According to the ViacomCBS press release, Sheridan will script a new drama entitled Mayor of Kingstown with Jeremy Renner (Tag, Wind River) set to star. The series will center on the powerful McLusky family of a Michigan town where economic stability is forged by the “business of incarceration.” The show will explore themes of systemic racism, corruption, and inequality as new leaders aim to bring order and justice to Kingstown.
“I am excited to dig into the complex and rough-around-the-edges character of Mike McLusky (the Mayor of Kingstown),” said Renner via the press release. “In a world otherwise forgotten in society, Mike serves as a flawed system of checks and balances. Taylor has brought to life a layered and poignant universe that is not only incredibly intriguing but also more relevant than ever,” Renner said via the press release.
MTV Entertainment Studios and Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch Productions will produce the series along with 101 Studios, via the press release. Sheridan will executive produce along with famed film director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer 2). They are joined by co-creator Hugh Dillon (Flashpoint, Durham County), Renner, David Glasser (Lion, Narc), Ron Burkle (The Giver, 3 Days to Kill), Bob Yari (Crash, The Illusionist), and Michael Friedman (The Amazing Race, Down in the Delta).
“When Taylor told me about Mayor of Kingstown, I immediately wanted to be a part of it,” Fuqua said according to the press release. “The series offers a comprehensive look into the brutal prison system where sociopolitical issues run rampant. Prisons are a forgotten world to most of the population and yet represent a microcosm of society as a whole,” Fuqua stated in the press release.
According to the press release, Sheridan is set to script three more series exclusively for Paramount+ as part of his multi-year deal with MTV Entertainment and 101 Studios. The projects include two shows based in the universe of 2020’s most-watched cable series, Yellowstone.
The first series is a Yellowstone prequel titled Y:1883. Read the synopsis below:
Y: 1883 follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in America’s promised land – Montana. – via the press release.
Sheridan will serve as executive producer along with Glasser, Burkle, Yari, Art Linson (Into the Wild, The Untouchables), and John Linson (Lords of Dogtown, Great Expectations).
The second Yellowstone spinoff is tentatively called 6666 via the press release. Sheridan, the Linsons, Glasser, Burkle, and Yari are all attached to executive produce. Read the full synopsis below:
Founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 is where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing … The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world-class cowboys are born and made. – via the press release.
Land Man is the third series in development and has Glasser, Burkle, and Yari joining Sheridan to executive produce. Read the show’s synopsis below:
Set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas, Land Man is a modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs. The series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy, and our geopolitics. -via the press release.
According to the press release, Sheridan’s deal with ViacomCBS includes the development of scripted and procedural projects through five cycles per year. While all the content will be exclusive to the ViacomCBS brand, they could appear on any of the brand’s various platforms and networks.