Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Tease the Yellowstone Connections in 1883
'You'll see where the [Dutton] gene pool comes from'
If you've spent the past four seasons of Yellowstone wondering how the Duttons became the biggest landowners in Montana, boy are you in luck. This weekend, Paramount+ (which is not the home of Yellowstone, but that's neither here nor there) is debuting 1883, its new Yellowstone prequel starring none other than Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. They're usually known as one of country music's best couples, but they're about to be known to a new legion of fans as James and Margaret Dutton, the ancestors of John (Kevin Costner) and his endlessly complicated children. And here, they do not sing.
The show follows the Duttons and a group of immigrants across the wild United States in 1883, as they seek land to settle on. Sam Elliott plays Shea, the leader of the journey, and LaMonica Garrett plays Thomas, his right-hand man. Everyone is forced to make horrific decisions at every turn, and it quickly becomes clear that this is going to be no easy journey.
While 1883 has direct ties and a similar feel to its parent show, it can also be seen as a totally separate thing. Some cast members, like Elliott, haven't seen a single episode of Yellowstone, which should tell you that you don't actually need to know anything about the popular drama to find yourself completely invested. All you really have to know is that you should prepare yourself for a lot of blood, because it has never been easy to be a cowboy.
"They're two separate animals," McGraw, a Yellowstone fan since day one, told TV Guide. "You can watch this show and not have seen any Yellowstone and still get this show. But if you haven't seen Yellowstone and you watch the show, it will make you want to watch Yellowstone because you'll want to see where it goes."
And if you already are a big fan of the Duttons (as I'm guessing most 1883 viewers will be), McGraw promises there's plenty for you to love, too. "I think certainly you'll see where the gene pool came from," he said. "If you're a Yellowstone fan, you'll get the Duttons right away."
Surprisingly, at least the first couple of episodes of 1883 focus more on the Dutton women. The show is narrated by Elsa (Isabel May), the teenage daughter of James and Margaret, who is sort of caught between the rules that society has for women and the complete lack of rules to be found in the wilderness. If you know Beth Dutton at all, you know that Dutton women do not mess around.
"It originated somewhere," May said of the hardened nature of the women in that family, promising that we'll see the origins of that in 1883. "This idea that women at the time were only meek and reserved and supporting a husband, well that experience, that trek was so rigorous and so challenging that it was an equal playing field."
Hill said that in the first episode, Margaret tries to hold onto the rules she left behind on the other side of the country, but "once we hit the trail and we're in the wagon, that goes out the door."
"Forget about any social rule out there," she explained. "It was about survival, and if you'd never picked up a gun, too bad, you're gonna pick up one. You're gonna learn to use it, because there was no other alternative. Your life depended on it. Your family's life depended on it, and you would do anything to protect your family."
How to Watch the Yellowstone Prequel 1883 Premiere
And it's not just social rules that are being forgotten. The Duttons are traveling with a group of migrants who all bring different cultures and attitudes to the table, all with the same goal.
"You forget that just because you place someone in an environment that they're not used to, you expect them to immediately adjust and take on the Western experience, the American experience," Hill said. "But there's so many traditions that they had that that had to be addressed and respected in a certain way, but at the end of the day, again, you're either on the trail or you're not. This is how you go about surviving it, or not. And it's kind of black and white."
