Yellowstone's Beth And Rip Spinoff Adds A Doozy Of A New Cast Member, But It's The Behind-The-Scenes Addition I'm Genuinely Surprised By

With a lot still left to be learned about Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming western drama The Madison and other in-development spinoffs, the lineup of upcoming Yellowstone series is currently fronted by Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser’s Beth and Rip series arriving on Paramount+ near the end of the 2025 TV schedule, and Luke Grimes’ Y: Marshals drama that’ll get a midseason debut on CBS. Though updates about those shows have also been few and far between, we finally have some huge cast and crew additions.

Annette Bening Has Joined The Yellowstone Universe

First and foremost, at least when it comes to on-camera talent, the always excellent Annette Bening was revealed to be the first major new cast member joining the Yellowstone-verse. It marks the latest in a relatively recent embrace of TV projects for the esteemed actress, with 2024’s miniseries adaptation Apples Never Fall being her debut as a small-screen lead. She’ll next be seen opposite Anya Taylor Joy and Timothy Olyphant in the miniseries Lucky, also.

It’s going to take more than luck to keep Bening’s character out of Beth’s crosshairs in the upcoming series. Thankfully the initial description shared by Deadline indicates she’ll be no slouch when audiences meet her.

Her name is Beulah Jackson, and I already cannot wait to hear Beth saying Beulah on a semi-regular basis. She’s the head of a giant ranch in Texas, which grants her quite a bit of power and influence, and she deals equally in charm and guile, which no doubt keeps her friends and enemies alike on their toes.

Beth And Rip's Spinoff Has Added A Showrunner Who Isn't Taylor Sheridan

As the co-creator and main face of Yellowstone and its numerous prequels and spinoffs, not to mention non-Dutton projects like Mayor of Kingstown and Tulsa King, Taylor Sheridan is the kind of writer who has long chosen to take the reins with as much creative control as possible. As such, I fully expected him to continue leading the charge as the showrunner for the Beth and Rip-led series.

Instead, however, the producers brought in Chad Feehan to guide things behind the scenes as showrunner. Feehan, previously a writer/producer on shows such as Rectify and Banshee, is no stranger to working with Sheridan, at least. He handled showrunning duties on the David Oyelowo-starring western Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which was a top-notch series all around in my book when it comes to story, production aesthetic, casting and more.

So while I'm indeed surprised by this turn of events, I'm not worried or turned off by any means. I'm eager to see how Feehan handles a modern-day Sheridan series. Especially one that's adding Annette Bening to the trio of returning stars Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser and Finn Little. The only plot information at this point just kind of notes that Beth and Rip will be aiming to make sure Carter becomes a proper man, which of course.

No release date has been set just yet for the new show, but the thought is that it'll be available to stream via Paramount+ subscription in November.