Yellowstone has become one of the most popular series on American television today. Due to the fantastic story, the great acting, and the unique themes, according to Rotten Tomatoes, Yellowstone is rated 83% as of 2018. Due to Yellowstone‘s popularity, Director Taylor Sheridan gained enough clout to develop several other shows based on or loosely connected to the Yellowstone universe.
Sheridan is an American actor, writer, and director from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who got attention for his roles on the television series Veronica Mars and Sons of Anarchy. He found tremendous success behind the scenes, though, with popular TV shows such as Yellowstone, 1923, and 1883, which can be streamed on Prime Video. His new series, Landman, is set outside of the Yellowstone universe.
For anyone who wants to get to know the generations of Yellowstone’s Dutton family, here is a guide to the three related series.
The single season of 1883 shows the beginning of all the prequels in the entire Yellowstone universe, taking place more than 100 years before the main events of Yellowstone. This series first aired in 2018 and features country singer and actor Tim McGraw as James Dutton. It looks back on the entire Dutton family, the prominent family of the Yellowstone series. The ranch at the time in this series is not called the Yellowstone Ranch because, in 1883, the family is still trying to find a way to settle down and survive. Focusing on the time before they founded the Yellowstone ranch, 1883 is about the Duttons finding a way to escape destitution while trying to explore the unsettled Montana.
Following 1883 is 1923, the sequel series, which premiered in 2021. These two seasons follow a new generation of Dutton family members, focusing on Brandon Sklenar as Spencer Dutton and Julia Schlaepfer as Alexandra. Spencer is the son of James Dutton, who served as a soldier during World War I. After the war, he was a skilled hunter in Africa until he met his wife, Alexandra, from Britain. The turning point of these characters’ lives is when Spencer gets a letter from his aunt. Played by Helen Mirren, Cara Dutton writes that Spencer needs to come home. At this point, their ranch is under attack by Donald Whitfield, who wants to turn it into a tourist destination. This series shows the Duttons through various hardships, including Prohibition and the early stages of the Great Depression.
Yellowstone, the main series created by Sheridan, was released in 2018 and is set in the present time. Over five seasons, it follows the same Dutton family bloodline. The difference is that the family has escaped destitution and runs the biggest ranch in the United States. Season 1 of Yellowstone introduces the present-day Dutton family, which includes John Dutton and his four children, Lee, Jamie, Beth, and Kayce. The series explores the Dutton children’s different qualities, lifestyles, and beliefs; they all have opinions about how the ranch should be run.
Season 2 of Yellowstone does an excellent job building from the first season. This part of the story might be what has made the series most popular. It strengthens the gripping family drama and power struggles against the background of Montana’s rough landscape. The series blends Western features — such as the Yellowstone National Park’s extraordinary collection of hot springs, geysers, mudpots, and fumaroles — with current issues, exploring the complexities of land ownership and cultural conflicts. While Season 1 focuses more on introducing the Dutton family and the problems of the largest ranch in the country, Season 2 explores each character’s issues.
Season 3 of Yellowstone untangles the tensions, friends, and rivals. It explores John Dutton’s desire to ensure the ranch stays within the family legacy. In Season 4 of Yellowstone, John Dutton becomes the new governor of Montana. This gives him more control over the entire state, allowing the whole family to help with the ranch and crush their enemies, even though it puts a significant mark on John’s back. Kayce is expecting the birth of his second child with Monica, and Kayce is on a personal quest to make sense of his life.
Coming up, 6666 is another spin-off series based on the entire Yellowstone universe. There’s no confirmed release date for 6666 yet. The development of the show was delayed in 2023. Despite an earlier listing claiming it’d drop in 2025, according to Dexerto. In reports from “Yellowstone 6666: All the latest news on Taylor Sheridan’s spinoff,” Cameron Frew says that 6666 will explore the story of the Four Sixes ranch that Sheridan bought in real life.
Sheridan told these stories in reverse order, starting with Yellowstone and ending with 1883. But now anyone new to the Duttons’ story could try starting with 1883 and follow the family into 1923 and Yellowstone.
