Actor Dennis Quaid will star in Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan's 1883 spinoff television series, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story. Quaid began his career in the mid-1970s with small roles in film and television before his career took off following his work in Peter Yates' award-winning 1979 coming-of-age bicycle racing comedy, Breaking Away. The actor subsequently landed roles in prominent films, including The Right Stuff, and soon became a household name.

Now, per Deadline, Quaid is set to join Sheridan's expanding Yellowstone franchise in the 1883 spinoff series, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story. 1883 centered on the first members of the Dutton family to settle on the land that would become the Yellowstone ranch, the sprawling property at the center of the drama in the popular Yellowstone series. The Bass Reeves spinoff series will see Quaid join the cast as a Deputy U.S. Marshall named Sherrill Lynn.

What We Know About 1883: The Bass Reeves Story


Inspired by a real American West figure, the upcoming 1883 spinoff show will see Selma and The Water Man star David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves, the first Black deputy of the U.S. Marshals who served west of the Mississippi River. Reeves was born into slavery in 1838, but later escaped when the American Civil War broke out, and lived with several indigenous tribes until he became a farmer following the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. In 1875, he was later recruited as a deputy U.S. Marshall to oversee multiple territories that housed large populations of Native Americans, due to his ability to speak a number of their languages. During this time, it is recorded that Reeves had arrested over 3,000 outlaws, killing 14, without ever suffering any serious injury.

Revealed in September 2021, initially as a project separate from Yellowstone, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story was later announced to be a spinoff of 1883 in May 2022. The upcoming Western is slated to be a six-episode limited series, with Sheridan, Oyelowo, and his wife Jessica Oyelowo producing alongside Chad Feehan, David C. Glasser, David Permut, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari and David Hutkin. The show will be produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios with Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch Productions and Oyelowo’s production company, Yoruba Saxon.

Penned by Sheridan, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story is currently filming in Texas. Sheridan will reportedly direct the first two episodes of the show, with the remaining episodes to be directed by top Black filmmakers. The series is slated to stream on Paramount+. How 1883: The Bass Reeves Story pertains to Yellowstone has yet to be revealed.