Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone Finally Receiving Overdue Honor
Kevin Costner and Yellowstone are finally receiving a long-overdue honor. It's about time for a series that's become one of television's hits
After four seasons on Paramount, Kevin Costner and Yellowstone have seen massive growth in the viewing numbers and the franchise is only growing around stories from this world. Now, to go along with the uptick in eyeballs watching the Dutton family, there is more good news coming from the series. It’s finally landing in some awards circles as well. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Yellowstone was just nominated for a SAG Award for best drama ensemble. It’s a testament to the staying power of the series as well as the storytelling that it’s finally being recognized by others in the industry as one of the better programs out there.
Joining Kevin Costner and Yellowstone in the drama ensemble category for SAG will be a number of other notable series. These include HBO’s Succession, Netflix’s Squid Game, Apple TV’s The Morning Show, and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. This is a solid group of series and it will be interesting to see where Yellowstone lands. It’s worth noting that though the show was nominated in best ensemble, none of the individual actors or actresses from the series were put up for awards in those categories.
Yellowstone follows the story of the Dutton family, the owners of the largest contiguous ranch in Montana. Kevin Costner is the patriarch of the family, John Dutton who lords over his kingdom with a heavy hand. Included in the cast are Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, Kelly Reilly as Beth Dutton, and Wesley Bentley as Jamie Dutton. Plus Cole Hauser plays Rip Wheeler, John’s muscle. These are just a few of the bigger names, but the cast has grown in size and scope over the first four seasons.
Kevin Costner and company have seen major ratings upticks in the series over the first four seasons. And this last one was the biggest yet, shattering records for Paramount as easily the network and streamer’s biggest offering. While the show started off with around two million-plus viewers, this last season saw the numbers nearly quadruple. The season four premiere saw viewers near 8.5 million and the finale topped everything with more than nine million people tuning in. This is nearly unprecedented growth over a show’s timeline.
The success that Kevin Costner and series creator Taylor Sheridan have found with Yellowstone has helped to spur other projects in and around this world. 1883 was launched on Paramount Plus late last year and is a prequel to the main series. It follows the first Duttons to make their way across the frontier in order to establish what is now the family ranch. There is also another series in the works, 6666, which will follow the story of another ranch, this one in Texas, during the current series’ timeline.
Whether this SAG Award nomination for Kevin Costner and Yellowstone means we see it land in Emmy nomination consideration remains to be seen. But in all, it’s great recognition for one of the better shows out there. The Dutton family remains as intriguing a group as has come along in some time.
