Yellowstone was introduced to a larger audience than ever before when it made its television debut on Sunday.
The hit Western melodrama made its series premiere on CBS on September 17 – just days before star Kevin Costner settled his bitter divorce – after previously airing on Paramount Network.
But the move from a cable channel to one of the big three networks means the series will have to undergo some significant changes.
According to Country Living, “Yellowstone” is now airing in an edited version that cuts out some of the more extreme or offensive moments that originally signaled the show’s edgy style.
The show originally received a TV-MA rating for nudity, profanity and violence, which required a toned down version of the show to get past censors.
New Version: “Yellowstone” will air in an edited, censored version after re-airing on CBS begins Sept. 17, Country Living reports; Kevin Costner seen in Yellowstone
Despite Yellowstone’s massive popularity, CBS claims a whopping 80 percent of its viewers still haven’t seen the show, according to Variety.
Since broadcast television has a much larger audience than niche cable channels, this means that many more viewers may end up watching the neutered version of the show than the original uncensored version.
In addition to concerns about standards issues related to offensive language, nudity and violence, broadcasting standards also restrict the way drug and alcohol use can be depicted on television.
A CBS representative confirmed to Country Living that “Yellowstone” has been edited to be acceptable for broadcast on CBS.
However, they claimed that the cuts were only “minor” and would not jeopardize the “integrity” of the original series, which was largely written and directed by showrunner and creator Taylor Sheridan.
Films and television shows that require censoring of swear words and other offensive terms are often subject to Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR).
Confusingly, the process is not automated and requires an actor – ideally the original star – to go into a sound booth to re-record dialogue that can be dubbed over the lines that need to be dropped.
Instead of this usual technique, CBS will simply mute inappropriate words instead of dubbing them. However, it is unclear whether this decision was a stylistic one or whether the original actors were unavailable to correct their dialogue (or whether the network did not want to). to pay them to return).
Clean Up: The show originally received a TV-MA rating for nudity, profanity and violence when it aired on cable channel Paramount Network, which required a toned down version of the show to get past censors
A CBS representative confirmed to Country Living that “Yellowstone” has been edited to be acceptable for broadcast on CBS. Curse words will be muted but will not be recorded again
Toned down: Instances of graphic violence, sexual content and even nudity will also be cut, but the CBS representative claimed the “integrity” of the show will not be compromised
In addition to the easily missed muted words, CBS will also require some visual changes, such as moments of extreme violence on screen.
Overly sexual scenes also need to be toned down. Because the series originally aired on cable television, “Yellowstone” also features occasional nudity, which must be completely removed to meet broadcast standards.
Despite the changes, the hit show will likely still be too adult for many younger viewers, and its CBS broadcasts now have a DSLV rating of TV-14, indicating that it contains suggestive dialogue, foul language, sexual situations or actions, and intense contains violence.
Sunday’s Yellowstone series premiere will give fans and curious viewers a glimpse into the editing of the series. Subsequent episodes air Sunday nights at 8:30 pm EST on CBS.
However, the network is opting out of airing Sunday night’s show with an NFL doubleheader, noting that it may be time to forego football broadcasts as well.
Shortly before Yellowstone began its new run on CBS, it was reported that its star Kevin Costner – who will not be returning for the second half of season five – and his representatives spent much of his downtime over the summer amid ongoing WGA and SAG concerts . AFTRA is negotiating with Paramount and showrunner Taylor Sheridan to bring him back to the show.
According to Puck News, the 68-year-old actor – who has been going through a brutal divorce from Christine Baumgartner in recent months – even wanted to stay on the series for a possible sixth and seventh season if Sheridan, who has written every episode of the series since the third Staffel, was willing to give him another chance.
But Costner’s stormy negotiations reportedly collapsed after he made a series of demands in a disastrous phone call with Sheridan.
The breach of contract requirement was allegedly to give him veto power over Sheridan’s scripts, which the showrunner was unable to comply with, although Costner also reportedly has a “moral death” clause in his Yellowstone contract that regulates the manner in which how he plays the role of John Dutton could be killed off.
Fatal mistake: Kevin Costner, 68, negotiated a return to Yellowstone’s 5B season amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes, but his request for script veto power ended any chance of a return, Puck News reported last week; still from Yellowstone
Not Backing Down: Showrunner, writer and director Taylor Sheridan clashed with Costner and refused to relinquish the creative control he had acquired over the years on the hit series; seen in Las Vegas in 2021
Earlier this year, Costner negotiated with Paramount to shorten his work schedule for Season 5 of Yellowstone because he was set to direct the first installment of his four-part western film series, Horizon, around the same time.
Costner, who has now completed principal production on that film, had also wanted more control over the scripts, particularly with regards to his character’s storyline.
However, 101 Studios, which produces Yellowstone, and Paramount, its distributor, ended negotiations in May of this year, only announcing that Costner would not be returning for Season 5B.
Instead, the series will reportedly transition into a retitled sequel, with Matthew McConaughey taking on a new lead role.
After Costner was dropped from the second half of season five, his producing partner Rod Lake contacted Keyes Hill-Edgar, COO of Paramount Media Networks and MTV Entertainment Studios, to request an urgent meeting in New York, according to two sources .
Lake made it clear that Costner was eager to end his original appearance on the series and give fans what they were asking for, although he also reportedly saw his return to Yellowstone as a way to promote his Horizon films, which he was working on Warner Bros. shot .
Lake apparently made some progress with Hill-Edgar and convinced him to call Sheridan Costner to resolve their differences.
Sheridan had already written scripts for Season 5B detailing Costner’s character, but he was willing to rewrite them after the strike if he and the star could reach an agreement.
The two reportedly spoke on the phone in early July, but the call strained their already strained relationship.
Costner – who reportedly “spoke in a friendly tone” – reportedly demanded more money and less filming time.
However, it was his demand to see Sheridan’s scripts in advance and either approve or possibly veto them that made the writer-director’s blood boil.
Negotiations: Costner’s producing partner reportedly arranged a meeting with Paramount in NYC over the summer to call Sheridan and Costner and negotiate a deal; still from Yellowstone
Pushed Too Hard: But Costner told Sheridan he wanted more money, less time on set and veto power over his scripts. Paramount supported Sheridan and withdrew from negotiations; seen in November 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas
This is all she wrote: The straw that broke the camel’s back was reportedly Costner’s claim that he might sue over Season 5B wages during a hearing in his divorce dispute with his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner; seen in March 2022
Although Sheridan has been criticized for allegedly pushing himself too hard with multiple shows for Paramount and Paramount+, most of which he writes, directs and hosts himself, he was unwilling to cede that creative control to his star.
Paramount reportedly sided with Sheridan and ended talks shortly after the counterproductive phone call.
However, sources claimed that Paramount Media Networks CEO Chris McCarthy was still open to finding a way for Costner to return, and he hoped they could come to an agreement if the writers and actors’ strikes dragged on.
However, Costner lost all goodwill with the network when he raised in court during a divorce hearing on September 1 that he might sue for the wages he was expected to receive for Season 5B.
However, sources claimed that he had already been paid for both halves of season five and that he was possibly referring to two more possible seasons that he wanted to film later.
Costner reportedly felt that Paramount had committed a breach by offering him a package that would allow him to stay for seasons 6 and 7, although a source close to the production claimed that the studio had made his offer “official” completed.
Costner’s team now apparently believes that Sheridan’s plans to kill off his character could violate his contractual “moral death” provision.
The clause states that his character John Dutton cannot be killed in a way that brings shame to his character’s family, which would presumably also embarrass the JFK star.
However, sources close to the show denied that Sheridan would violate the clause and said Costner never read details about how the showrunner planned to send Dutton.
Although Paramount’s “moral death” clause was described as an outlier, other movie stars have previously tried to ensure their characters are seen in the most positive light possible.
Sticking point: Costner has a clause in his contract that says John Dutton cannot be killed in a way that would shame or embarrass his character (or himself), and he feared Sheridan might violate it; still from Yellowstone
Back and forth: But sources claimed that Sheridan didn’t violate this with Dutton-free scripts for Season 5B, and they said Costner never read how his character would be written off; Sheridan seen in February in Austin, Texas
Back in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fast & Furious stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham all have clauses in their contracts that require their on-screen fights not to be too one-sided in favor of the villain and The filmmakers are not allowed to show the seriously injured actors, probably for fear of hurting their pride and macho image.
Despite its desire to keep Costner on board, Paramount has apparently gotten used to the idea of a series without John Dutton. Viewer studies conducted by the network throughout the show’s run reportedly showed that Costner and his character were major topics of discussion on social media, but that these had dwindled significantly in later seasons, which also coincided with the addition of more supporting characters to the ensemble melodrama .
Another obstacle to Costner’s return is that Matthew McConaughey is reportedly ready to join the group, even though he hasn’t signed an official contract for the new show.
Sheridan already has a number of scripts for Season 5B without John Dutton, so the series could move quickly into production once the writers and actors’ strikes against the AMPTP are resolved.