How Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton Kept ‘Yellowstone’ From Finding A Home On HBO

Can you imagine what Taylor Sheridan’s universe of shows could have looked like on HBO?

There’s an alternate universe out there where shows like Yellowstone and Landman are welcomed into audiences’ homes with HBO’s signature static intro. The Home Box Office is known for its stellar, original programming (like The Sopranos, The Wire, Game Of Thrones), and for being able to include more cursing and nudity with little to no limitations.

With adult themes more prevalent on HBO, it’s fun to imagine how different some of Taylor Sheridan’s show would look underneath the subscription channel’s umbrella.

According to Sheridan, Yellowstone was in the running to air on HBO, but he and the network couldn’t agree on some of the show’s characters. When the Yellowstone creator spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, he explained that HBO executives were hung up on Beth Dutton specifically.

Taylor says that the network gave him the green light to develop the show, but they weren’t fully on board and had some suggestions. One of the things they wanted to change was Beth Dutton, because they felt as though women wouldn’t be able to relate to the matriarch of the Dutton family (who would eventually be played by Kelly Reilly).

Sheridan could not have disagreed with HBO more:

“(They said things like) ‘We think she’s too abrasive. We want to tone her down. Women won’t like her.’ They were wrong, because Beth says the quiet part out loud every time. When someone’s rude to you in a restaurant, or cuts you off in the parking lot, Beth says the thing you wish you’d said.”

But Taylor Sheridan was trying to land his show on HBO, so he probably softened up his stance and said that Beth Dutton could be modified, right? Wrong. The Yellowstone creator stood his ground, and much like Beth Dutton would in the hit show, he spoke what was on his mind with no filter at all:

“So I said to them, ‘Okay, everybody done? Who on this call is responsible for a scripted show that you guys have on the air? Oh, you’re not? Thanks.’ And I hung up. They never called back.”

In other words, HBO missed out on the hit show (and the lucrative collection of spinoffs) because they couldn’t imagine a woman speaking her mind and being “abrasive.” Considering Beth became a beloved character, I’d guess that whoever at HBO officially decided to pass on Yellowstone no longer has their job.

Now, to be fair, Taylor Sheridan has received a ton of criticism for how he writes these bad*** female characters, like Beth, and a number of fans of the show didn’t care for Beth, but she garnered just as many loyal fans as she did haters. And what’s more, Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton not only put on an incredible performance in the flagship series… she’s getting her own Yellowstone spinoff alongside Cole Hauser’s Rip Wheeler called The Dutton Ranch.

All signs were pointing towards Dutton Ranch premiering in late 2025 between September and December. Every piece of information that had come out in late 2024 and early 2025 had Paramount releasing the spinoff in 2025’s “Q4.” However, in Paramount’s earnings call for Q2, they clarified that the spinoff focusing on Beth and Rip would actually find itself premiering in 2026.

It stinks that we could have already been watching The Dutton Ranch if they would have stuck to the original release schedule, but it should be coming out in the earlier portion of 2026. And just to clarify again, when it does air, it’ll be on Paramount… not HBO.