Lawmen: Bass Reeves is an American Western television miniseries created by Chad Feehan, who also serves as showrunner, and executive produced by Taylor Sheridan, Feehan, David C. Glasser, David Oyelowo, Jessica Oyelowo, David Permut, Christina Alexandra Voros, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, and David Hutkin. It is based on the life of one of the first African American Deputy U.S. Marshals west of the Mississippi River, Bass Reeves as well as on the first two books of Bass Reeves trilogy written by Sidney Thompson. The series premiered on Paramount+ on November 5, 2023, with back-to-back episodes.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main
David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves: A federal peace officer of the "Indian Territory" based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, who captured over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded.
Lauren E. Banks as Jennie Reeves: Bass' wife
Demi Singleton as Sally Reeves: Bass' eldest daughter
Forrest Goodluck as Billy Crow: A young Cherokee man with an affinity for dime store books and gaudy style.
Barry Pepper as Esau Pierce: The leader of the 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles
Dennis Quaid as Sherrill Lynn: A Deputy U.S. Marshal
Grantham Coleman as Edwin Jones: An extremely persuasive man who has a clear vision and a promise for the future, to those who will listen.
Donald Sutherland as Isaac C. Parker: An imposing and commanding judge in the Fort Smith Courthouse, known as the "Hanging Judge".
Recurring
Joaquina Kalukango as Esme
Lonnie Chavis as Arthur Mayberry
Rob Morgan as Ramsey
Justin Hurtt-Dunkley as Ike Rogers
Sekou Goodson as Newland Reeves
Saveah Goodson as Alice Reeves
Sanaya Goodson as Harriet Reeves
Heather Kafka as Florence Hammersley
Production
Development
It was announced in September 2021 that Taylor Sheridan was developing a television series based on Reeves, with David Oyelowo set to star in the role. In May 2022, the series was ordered at Paramount+ and was temporarily named 1883: The Bass Reeves Story. It was initially described as a spinoff of the series 1883, itself a prequel to Yellowstone, but has since been confirmed to no longer take place in the Yellowstone universe. The show is heavily based on the first two books of The Bass Reeves Trilogy by Sidney Thompson: Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves, and Hell on the Border.
In April 2024, series creator Chad Feehan stated that if the series were renewed it would become an anthology and focus on historical lawmen other than Reeves.
Casting
Dennis Quaid joined the cast in January 2023. Forrest Goodluck, Lauren E. Banks and Barry Pepper were cast in February, with Grantham Coleman and Demi Singleton added the following month. Garrett Hedlund was also cast. In April, the series was retitled Lawmen: Bass Reeves in order to expand the series to depict other prominent lawmen, with Donald Sutherland (in his final television role), Joaquina Kalukango, Lonnie Chavis, Rob Morgan, Ryan O'Nan, Justin Hurtt-Dunkley and Shea Whigham joining the cast in recurring roles.
Filming
Filming for the series began in Fort Worth, Texas in October 2022. In January 2023, Quaid stated he had begun filming for the series. Filming wrapped by early June 2023.
Release
Lawmen: Bass Reeves premiered on Paramount+ on November 5, 2023. The first two episodes of the series then aired on CBS on November 12.
Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 81% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "With David Oyelowo capably stepping into the stirrups of Bass Reeves, this gritty procedural is slow to the draw but hits its mark nonetheless." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".