Taylor Sheridan critics may be in for a surprise with his Yellowstone spinoff The Madison already being applauded for its apparent “female-gaze-oriented” vision.
Star Kurt Russell, who filmed two seasons of the upcoming Paramount+ series, praised Sheridan’s ideas, telling Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday, January 28, “I really like what The Madison is. It’s a smart show.”
Russell, 74, referred to Sheridan, 55, as a “really good writer.”
“Taylor’s excellent, and Michelle [Pfeiffer]’s great, and she’s really great in this show. Talking about awards — I think they’re going to be looking Michelle’s way,” he noted. “They’re all really good, but it is [Sheridan’s] writing that is so compelling.”
Russell continued: “I think that it’s a very different show for Taylor in that it’s a very female-gaze-oriented show. And I think it’s extremely well written, it was fun to play. It was really fun to do. I just had a good time.”
The Madison premieres Saturday, March 14, on Paramount+ with viewers being introduced to the fictional Clyburn family. After originating from New York City, the Clyburns relocated to the Madison River valley of southwest Montana for emotional recovery following a tragedy that shattered the family.
Pfeiffer, 67, and Russell lead the cast of the highly-anticipated series, which also includes Patrick J. Adams, Elle Chapman, Matthew Fox, Beau Garrett, Amiah Miller, Ben Schnetzer and Kevin Zegers. Rebecca Spence, Alaina Pollack and Danielle Vasinova make up the rest of the cast — with a guest appearance from Will Arnett.
According to Russell, the show has already filmed two seasons — all thanks to his busy schedule.
“I did the second season of Monarch [Legacy of Monsters], the Apple TV show, and unfortunately for me, the timing was when Madison came around,” Russell explained. “And I said, ‘There’s just no way to do it,’ because I was working on this show.”
Sheridan and Pfeiffer, who both serve as executive producers on the series, came up with a way to delay shooting Russell’s season 1 scenes.
“Michelle Pfeiffer and Taylor were able to get together with the people at Paramount+ and said, ‘Well, let’s do two seasons instead of just one,’” Russell recalled. “‘And then before we start the second season next year, instead of doing that, we will start with Kurt’s stuff. We really do want him to play the guy. And we’ll get his first season out of the way first, and jam all that in there, and then go into the second season and do that.’ And so we were able to do that.”
While no official announcement has been made about season 2, Russell’s costar Chapman revealed on social media that production wrapped last month. Russell, meanwhile, confirmed that The Madison has six episodes slated per season.
The Madison has also been promoted as a spinoff to Yellowstone, but it remains to be seen how the show will correlate. Paramount Network officially greenlit an untitled Yellowstone follow in May 2023 after announcing the OG show’s end in the midst of Yellowstone lead Kevin Costner not returning for the second half of the final season amid a falling out with Sheridan.
ViacomCBS president Chris McCarthy confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the spinoff would star Matthew McConaughey.
The McConaughey spinoff was titled 2024 — with Yellowstone stars Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser and Luke Grimes potentially reprising their roles. One year later, the project was dead and got replaced with The Madison.
Reilly, 48, and Hauser, 50, are now expecting to be at the center of Paramount’s Dutton Ranch. CBS, meanwhile, has its own spinoff with Grimes, 42, titled Marshals, which premieres on March 1. Amid various delays and changes, Yellowstone fans are also still waiting for the previously teased 6666 spinoff — which was set to follow Jimmy Hurdstrom (Jefferson White) during his time at the Four Sixes ranch in Texas.
The Madison premieres Saturday, March 14, on Paramount+.
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