Taylor Sheridan's TV Formula Is Being Rewritten On Paramount+

Taylor Sheridan will be leaving Paramount for NBCUniversal in a couple of years, and Paramount+ is planning to rewrite the TV creator’s formula following his exit.

Sheridan is best known for the hit Western Yellowstone and has created several other shows for Paramount and its streaming service. However, his TV deal with them ends in 2028, and he’s already announced a five-year partnership with NBCUniversal, which will see him creating TV shows and movies for the media and entertainment company beginning in 2029.

Now that almost a year has passed since that surprising development, Paramount+ executives have decided to make a pivot by “building a female-forward wheel” that expands the platform’s brand and reach “beyond what it’s probably best known for, which is the Taylor Sheridan fare,” according to an agent who spoke to THR.

“They’re building a female-forward wheel that is attempting to expand the brand’s reach beyond what it’s probably best known for, which is the Taylor Sheridan fare.”

When Paramount found success with Sheridan, the company really leaned into his brand with Westerns like 1883, 1923, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Landman, Marshals, The Madison and Dutton Ranch, and the crime thrillers Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King and Lioness. Sheridan has been the heart of Paramount’s TV output in recent years.

Last summer, after the merger of Paramount and Skydance, Jane Wiseman was chosen as Paramount+’s new head of originals, and her vision for its future involves moving away from the typical content that Sheridan made while leaning into certain aspects that the popular TV creator found success with, as will be seen in the upcoming shows Laird and 9/12.

Aside from the fact that Paramount+ won’t have Sheridan to lean on in a couple of years, Paramount is making an attempt at broadening its appeal to women and fans of genre shows to try to catch up to streamers with a lot more subscribers, like Netflix and Disney+.

Paramount+ could merge with HBO Max if Paramount’s current acquisition of Warner Bros. is successful (increasing the subscriber count), but executives are starting to get the metaphorical ball rolling now, especially since that deal may not close for a while.

As an unnamed executive put it, “The green lights have to have that core evangelizing audience that’s hopefully slightly different than the core seen before, but in success, they’re supposed to capture multiple audiences.” That’s the goal of Paramount’s decision to broaden its brand and audience.

“The green lights have to have that core evangelizing audience that’s hopefully slightly different than the core seen before [on Paramount+], but in success they’re supposed to capture multiple audiences.”

One sticking point preventing Paramount+ from truly competing with the likes of Netflix is the amount of money they’re willing to spend to create a large quantity of shows.

On this front, another agent explained that Paramount+ has a “very small team, and they are not looking to replicate the ascension that Netflix had when [direct-to-consumer chair] Cindy [Holland] was there in terms of volume. They’re taking very specific shots—and not a lot of them.”

“The thing that popped out to us is the streamer is a very small team and they are not looking to replicate the ascension that Netflix had when Cindy was there in terms of volume. They’re taking very specific shots — and not a lot of them.”

Even though Paramount+ is unable to produce the same volume of content, what executives have been greenlighting lately reveals their new “female-forward” vision in a post-Sheridan version of the streaming platform.

For example, Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning will star in an A24 legal thriller called Discretion. Anne Hathaway, who has five movies coming out just this year alone, including the already-released The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, has signed on to a true-crime show called Fear Not.

Just the other day, Paramount picked up a Clueless sequel series with Alicia Silverstone reprising her iconic character Cher Horowitz, and Oscar winner Viola Davis is coming over to the streamer for the thriller Ascent. There are also dating and reality shows in the works.

Executives want to work with big names, like they’re doing with Davis and the Duffer Brothers, to help with their marketing push, but they are still trying to be “cost-conscious,” according to an anonymous production company executive.

“They are cost-conscious, although they’re looking for big names to drive marketing.”

The future of Paramount+ will have everything from female-led dramas, romances, serialized thrillers, YA series, genre shows (including sci-fi and fantasy) and microdramas. Another reason for the move away from Westerns during the Sheridan era is to appeal to international audiences.

Some of these new shows will debut around 2027 before Taylor Sheridan‘s departure so that Paramount+ subscribers can get used to the new vision while the streamer works to engage potential new subscribers.