A bit of drama is surrounding the latest Taylor Sheridan… drama, Dutton Ranch.
It was a bit shocking to hear that the Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton-focused show lost its original showrunner before Season 1 ever premiered. Back in April, and just three weeks before Dutton Ranch was set to air on Paramount, it was announced that executive producer and creator Chad Feehan would be leaving the show. Now to be clear, it’s not out of the norm for a Taylor Sheridan series to have some turnover in the showrunner department. But the timing of this particular departure definitely raised some red flags.
One source did tell Puck that Feehan had clashes with the stars and executive producers of the show—Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly. And that outlet also floated that Sheridan may or may not have been happy with how Season 1 of the series turned out (I don’t know if that concern was really necessary… but Sheridan is a perfectionist).
However, we later learned that comments and complaints from Ed Harris, who plays horse and cattle veterinarian Everett McKinney in the series, may have very well led to the end of Chad Feehan acting as Dutton Ranch’s showrunner. Harris went pretty viral with some rather shocking comments he provided to Variety at the red-carpet premiere for Apple TV’s The Dink. The 75-year-old actor revealed that he signed up for two seasons of Dutton Ranch… but halfway through shooting the first season, he was ready to get out of there:
“Midway through the first season I was ready to say, ‘Get me the f** out of here’ to tell you the truth. I didn’t feel like I was being used. I felt a little bit misled. Prior to signing on for it, I was talked to quite a bit about what the season was, and what my character was going to do—and that I was one of the four main characters. And that wasn’t really the case.”*
Harris went on to say that he approached the higher-ups at Dutton Ranch and expressed his concern about his character not being featured more prominently. From what he says, they were surprised to hear him say that, and apparently promised to get him more involved in the show’s sophomore season:
“I said, ‘I’m feeling underused and inconsequential,’ and they kind of went, ‘Oh.’ We don’t start (filming Season 2) until February. I’m being told my character will have a little bit more to do. I was just a little frustrated, to tell you the truth.”
Harris also added that he was furious one particular scene of his was cut from Season 1, and that when he actually watched the show back… he didn’t think it was all that bad. But those “higher-ups” that Ed Harris went to? One of those was almost certainly Chad Feehan, and the issues that arose from not including Harris as much as the actor would have liked were apparently all it took for Feehan’s showrunner duties to crumble. Deadline has reported that moving on from Chad Feehan to Benjamin Cavell (known for his work on Justified and Homeland) was “largely related to how Harris’ character Everett McKinney was utilized—or rather underutilized.” It’s also interesting to hear that “Harris is said to have been involved in picking Feehan’s replacement.”
All that being said, where does Ed Harris get off? Don’t get me wrong, he’s a fantastic actor, but you’re not that high on the call sheet, buddy. You’re not Beth or Rip, the main characters of the series. You’re not the villain, or villains in this case, as we have the 10 Petal Ranch as well as some Mexican cartel implications. You’re not even the firecracker daughter of Beulah Jackson who plays Carter’s love interest. You’re a veterinarian that helps out the Duttons and has some history with Beulah… quite literally the least interesting or controversial character. And like I said, I really like Ed Harris as an actor, but get off your high horse (no pun intended) and do your job. Man, the ego on these Hollywood actors…
But you know who doesn’t respond well to ego… Taylor Sheridan.
Some might argue that it is because of his own ego, but Taylor Sheridan certainly isn’t one to coddle pampered actors. Regardless of what kind of A-listers he’s worked with (Sam Elliott, Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Billy Bob Thornton, Jeremy Renner, Sly Stallone… the list goes on), they all have been on record talking about how hard Taylor pushes actors to get the best out of them. And most have discussed at length how grueling the filming process can be… whether it’s the weather, environment, the schedule, or the physical riding and ranching. Sam Elliott said it almost killed him to film 1883.
Taylor famously made all the actors of Yellowstone participate in “Cowboy Camp” before each season… a real-life ranching boot camp at Taylor Sheridan’s house. Actor Jefferson White (Jimmy on Yellowstone) said he was in a saddle so much his backside was bleeding from saddle sores.
All of this to say, I suspected that Taylor Sheridan wouldn’t take too kindly to Ed Harris’ comments, and according to a new insider report from Daily Mail, I was right.
Taylor Sheridan Responds
According to the Daily Mail insider, Ed will be getting some more screen time in Season 2.
“Ed Harris will remain on the show and his role will get even bigger. He is getting more time even though he pissed Taylor Sheridan off with his comments. But Taylor does what he says he is going to do; a promise is a promise. He will give Ed more screen time like he initially said. So, Ed can shut up now.”
The source added that Harris clearly has a big ego:
“Made himself look like he has a really big ego, which he obviously does. He can be prickly. But he’s great on screen, so there’s that.”
Sounds like we all agree then?
The show has already been renewed for a second season, although it’s unclear when production will begin. We know that another Taylor Sheridan series, Landman, is looking at a delay for Season 3, so it’s safe to assume that Dutton Ranch probably won’t start production next spring, which means a fall 2027 premiere is a likely target. Ed Harris himself even said they were targeting February to start filming Season 2.
Either way, fans can’t wait to watch the Yellowstone spinoff continue.
Season 1 Recap
