At the end of season 4 of “Yellowstone,” Paramount Network’s wildly popular drama, bumbling but endearing ranch hand Jimmy (Jefferson White) is absolved of his debts. He’s still a branded man but he has the freedom to leave the Yellowstone Ranch. And he chooses to stay at the 6666 Ranch in Texas; he’s met a nice girl in Texas. John Dutton (Kevin Costner) lets him go. And we didn’t hear much from Jimmy for the first part of season 5 of “Yellowstone,” until events in the mainline series coalesced to set up a new spinoff (yes another one!)
That’s right, “6666” is coming very soon and if you want to know all of the details, including how “Yellowstone” season 5 sets up the new series, look no further!
What is “6666?”
Unlike the other, similarly numerically titled “Yellowstone” spinoffs “1883” and “1923,” “6666” isn’t a year but the name of a ranch – the Four Sixes Ranch, located in King County, Texas. This is a contemporary spinoff as well, taking place at the same time as the mainline “Yellowstone” series. The new series was announced in 2021 and was confirmed to be happening in 2022.
Is there a release date?
Not yet. But the show is set to air sometime in 2023.
Where will “6666” air?
Unlike “1883” and “1923,” both of which stream exclusively on Paramount’s direct-to-consumer platform Paramount+, “6666” is set to debut on Paramount Network just like “Yellowstone.” That’s right, linear programming returns!
Who will star in “6666?”
The cast has yet to be finalized or officially announced but the show will undoubtedly center around former Yellowstone cowboy Jimmy and his girlfriend, 6666 tech vet Emily (Katherine Kelly). And there could be more familiar faces too …
How does “Yellowstone” Season 5 set up “6666?”
In the first part of Season 5 (because, remember, it’ll be back this summer for Part Two) we check in with Jimmy, who seems to enjoy his life on the new ranch. He’s still dating Emily and seems to be getting along with the new bunch of cowboys (none of them have a brand on their chest or have been directly implicated in criminal activity, we imagine). But it was more than just a “let’s see what Jimmy’s up to” interlude, as the show introduced a new threat to the cows of Yellowstone: brucellosis, a highly contagious zoonosis (a disease that can jump from humans to animals or vice versa) that caused several buffalo calves to come out stillborn. The threat is so great that Rip and the rest of the cowboys, under the consultation of John Dutton, agree to move the herd down south, away from the pasture and any potentially sick animals (at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars). While they haven’t explicitly mentioned where they’ll be traveling, it’s pretty clear that there’s one ranch big enough and southern enough to get the job done – that’s right, the 6666.
That means there’s a unique opportunity to introduce the new show more fully when “Yellowstone” returns this summer and/or have characters from “Yellowstone” crossover more frequently or stick around the new show. Remember, Estelle Getty appeared as her “Golden Girls” character on “Empty Nest” after the original series (and the weak-tea, one-season spinoff) ended. It’s not that “Yellowstone,” the most popular show on television, is ending. But adding a familiar cowboy or two wouldn’t hurt the new show’s popularity. There’s also the possibility that whatever happens when the Yellowstone crew visits the 6666 will be the jumping off point for the drama of “6666” (since things seem pretty placid and tension-free at the moment). Those branded cowboys are always stirring something up!
Are there any other connections between “6666” and “Yellowstone?”
There is! The history of 6666 was that it was founded back in 1900 and has been passed down, through family members, ever since. That is, until early 2020, when the last remaining heir and owner to the ranch passed away. In accordance with her will, the ranch went up for sale in December 2020 for nearly $350 million. In 2021 the ranch was purchased and a Fort Worth paper, in early 2022, revealed who the buyer was: none other than Taylor Sheridan, the creator of “Yellowstone,” its spinoffs and “6666.” Parts of the show (and the spinoffs) have been shot at the ranch and the ranch supplies the various series with their horses. In a way, “6666” could end up being the most personal project Sheridan has written.
