One of the most popular television shows in America returns today, but there’s a catch

On By Littum

It’s been almost two years since the wildly popular modern western drama Yellowstone last sent an episode. Season 5, Part 1 ended with its 7th episode in December 2022. Episode 8 is out today.

It’s a long, awful wait, y’all. I’m allowed to write those kinds of sentences because I’m from the place where this show takes place: Bozeman, Montana, born and raised. This is where I rode my first horse, although I didn’t do any bronc riding and I can’t lasso to save my life. I can hit the side of a barn with a rifle, but I’m no John Dutton.

In fact, “no John Dutton”. speaking of because Kevin Costner will not appear in this half-season of the series. The movie star and creator of the show had a very heated dispute with mega-producer Taylor Sheridan over how long he should be on set. Costner was – and still is – in the process of making his epic four-part western series Horizon: An American Saga, and his attention was too divided to remain a part of Yellowstone melodrama.

(I rather liked Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, and I’m excited to see Chapter 2 later this year).

In any case, the story of the Dutton family continues on Paramount Network tonight at 8 PM ET and 10 PM ET on CBS (a special broadcast).

The big “catch” in the title of this post is that this is the only way to see unless you wait for the streaming release on Peacock months later. That’s not quite right. You can too buy the season on Prime Video and watch episodes online faster. But the only way to keep up with Beth (Kelly Reilly), Rip (Cole Hauser), Kayce (Luke Grimes), Monica (Kelsey Asbille), Jamie (Wes Bentley), Jimmy (Jefferson White) and all the rest of the scattered cast of cowboys and their antagonists, must have traditional cable television.

Are you watching? Yellowstone still? I know a lot of fans have been unhappy with the show’s trajectory over the last few seasons, but it’s still a wildly popular soap opera (I call it a soap opera, just like I considered Sons of Anarchy to be a soap opera, but you may disagree). Let me hear your thoughts on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also, be sure to subscribe my YouTube channel and follow me here on the blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more entertainment and culture reviews and commentary.

For more shows and movies out this weekend, check out my weekend streaming guide. Netflix also just dropped the final season of one of its best shows, though it’s about as different from Yellowstone that you can get.