Sheriff Country: Everything We Know About the Upcoming Fire Country Spinoff
Fire Country Season 2 planted an ember that ignited a spinoff series.
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Inspired by Max Thieriot’s experiences growing up in Northern California, CBS’ Fire Country stars the SEAL Team alum as Bode, a young convict who sought redemption (and a shortened sentence) by joining the Three Rock prison-release firefighting program, where he and other inmates are partnered with Cal Fire to extinguish wildfires across the region.
What Bode was not expecting was to be stationed in his hometown of Edgewater, where five years prior he (figuratively!) “burned down everything in his life” and then got outta Dodge, harboring a secret regarding the details of his sister’s death in a car crash where he’d been behind the wheel.
The red-hot success of Fire Country‘s freshman run was the big story coming out of the 2022-23 TV season, so all eyes were on the episode that teed up the series’ first offshoot. Here is everything we know about the Sheriff Country spinoff….
Why Might Fire Country Get a Spinoff?
Um, hello, did you see its freshman numbers…?
Season 1 of the Max Thieriot-led firefighter drama averaged 8.4 million total viewers and a 0.8 demo rating (with Live+7 playback), ranking fifth in audience among the 14 dramas CBS aired last TV season while tying FBI for No. 1 — No. 1! — in the demo.
Fire Country also easily reigned as the 2022-23 TV season’s most-watched and highest-rated freshman series.
What Is the Fire Country Spinoff About?
As your friendly neighborhood TVLine was the very first to report back in November, the hit freshman drama’s first offshoot will be “sheriff-centric.”
In the Fire Country episode “Alert The Sheriff” (which aired April 12), after a fire camp inmate escaped from Three Rock, deputy sheriff Mickey Fox — who came bearing a “surprising connection” to the Leone family — was called to investigate.
The offshoot’s official synopsis tells us that Morena Baccarin “stars as straight-shooting sheriff Mickey Fox, the stepsister of Cal Fire’s division chief Sharon Leone (Fire Country‘s Diane Farr), who investigates criminal activity as she patrols the streets of small-town Edgewater while contending with her ex-con father and a mysterious incident involving her wayward daughter.”
Matt Lopez (Promised Land) will serve as showrunner.
Who Will Star in the Spinoff?
Back in mid-December, CBS/CBS Studios began the process of casting a female sheriff character who will first appear in a Season 2 Fire Country episode.
On Jan. 23, it was reported that Morena Baccarin (Gotham, Homeland) will pop up on Fire Country as a guest star, with an option for a series regular role in the spinoff if Sheriff Country (the title we’ve heard bandied about) winds up being ordered to series.
Baccarin will guest-star in the April 12 episode of Fire Country as Mickey Fox, a sheriff’s deputy with 15 years of experience, and who is fiercely protective of her Edgewater, California turf.
Is This Sheriff Spinoff Definitely Happening?
Yep!
As part of its full 2024-25 TV schedule reveal on May 2, CBS announced that the Morena Baccarin-led Fire Country spinoff has been officially ordered to series — but it won’t debut until the 2025-26 TV season.
In a TVLine poll, 63% said that they would “definitely” watch Sheriff Country, as the series is officially titled, while 25% said “maybe” (depending on who else gets cast). The other 12% were a big nope.
Could There Be More Fire Country Spinoffs?
As the Magic 8-Ball we played with as kids would sometimes say: “Outlook good.”
CBS CEO Cheeks first teased Fire Country offshoots back in June 2023, saying the network would be “doubling down” on a show that “completely lends itself to building out a whole new universe.”
Coming off of best-of-freshman class ratings and a highly engaged audience, “It became very clear that not only was [Fire Country] special, it really felt like this could be a great example of us building together a franchise from scratch,” Cheeks said. “And so I’m like, ‘You guys, congratulations, you got your [full-season order]. Now let’s start talking about ideas for new extensions.’ They’ve already come up with some great ones,” plural.
Would All Fire Country Spinoffs Air on CBS?
The sheriff-centric offshoot described above is earmarked for broadcast on CBS, during the 2025-26 TV season. But CBS president and CEO George Cheeks, when first teasing spinoffs back in June 2023, allowed for other possible destinations.
“We’re not necessarily looking at [launching the first spinoff in 2024]; we’re looking when they’re ready,” Cheeks said. “That’s the beauty of the gestation process. We know that we’re doubling down on this one, so let’s get it right. And whether that that means three years down the road, or whether that means a Paramount+ original or a CBS original, we’ll see where it lands.”
Want scoop on CBS’ Fire Country, or for any other TV show ? Email InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
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