- ‘The Madison’ was first announced two years ago as ‘2024.’
- The show was initially billed as a modern-day ‘Yellowstone’ spinoff.
- Now that the series is streaming on Paramount+, fans are wondering how the shows are connected.
If you’re streaming the first episodes of The Madison and wondering how the new series is connected to the rest of Yellowstone, you’re not alone! After all, there’s a lot to keep up with in the Taylor Sheridan universe at the moment—from Marshals airing on Sunday nights to the Dutton Ranchspinoff on the horizon, so it stands to reason that the Montana-based shows are related.
But despite early reports, the shows are not connected.
There’s a good reason for the confusion. When the show was first announced in August 2024, it was called a modern-day Yellowstone spinoff. Michelle Pfeiffer was attached early on, and it was originally billed as 2024—a continuation of the Dutton family saga.
Instead, The Madison tells an all-new story about the Clyburn family, who travels from Manhattan to Montana as they navigate grief. Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer star in the series along with Beau Garrett, Patrick J. Adams, Elle Chapman, Amiah Miller, Matthew Fox, and more.
Yellowstone and The Madison share the stunning Montana backdrop, but the new series is an all-new storyline. It’s unclear why the change was made, but we can imagine that Taylor Sheridan felt the Yellowstone universe had enough going on at the moment with the Kayce Dutton spinoff airing now and Beth and Rip series coming soon.
Taylor famously finds actors first and then develops a script around them. He told Michelle that he was building the storyline around her, so it is possible that after their meeting he found her to be a better fit for a non-Dutton role. In an interview with CBS Mornings, Michelle said that Taylor told her, “I don’t write. I want to cast this part first before I write it; I want to write it around the actress.”
The first three episodes of The Madison are streaming now on Paramount+. The remaining three episodes will be available to watch on March 21.
Katie Bowlby is Digital Director at Country Living, where she covers pop culture news including country music, Yellowstone, and all things HGTV, plus gift guides and product reviews. She has been with Country Living for more than 11 years. Before that, she worked for Southern Living. The Indiana University grad also stitches up the cross-stitch pattern for every issue of the magazine.
