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Q: Is "Yellowstone" going to return? It was exceptionally well scripted and had a great cast.

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

The newly rebranded Paramount Network (formerly known as Spike, and before that The Nashville Network) placed a big bet on "Yellowstone," renewing the costly prestige drama midway through its debut season. That bet paid off for the network, and it will pay off for fans, too, but we don't know when yet.

All we know about the upcoming season is that production got underway around the time the first season was wrapping up in August, that the season will be 10 episodes long, and that it will premiere sometime in 2019. That's a pretty big window, of course, but it will most likely be June, since that's when the first season premiered.

I say the bet paid off for the network because the Season 1 finale in August, which came weeks after it was already renewed, was the show's most-watched episode since its premiere. And that's saying something since it was already a hit -- it was the second-most-watched drama on ad-supported cable (behind "The Walking Dead").

But that success does come at a cost. It's an expensive show to produce, thanks to it being made on location in Montana and Utah, and thanks to a star-studded cast toplined by bona fide film great Kevin Costner.

If the show keeps producing those sorts of numbers, though, it's money well spent. The show is also a flagship of sorts for the network, one of the first originals it produced under the new brand.

 

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