Yellowstone Spinoff Marshals Premiere Ratings Luke Grimes

'Yellowstone' Spinoff 'Marshals' Rides to Record 9.5M Viewers in CBS Debut

Luke Grimes returns as Kayce Dutton in the franchise's first broadcast procedural, delivering the network's biggest scripted premiere in eight years.

Sofia Chen

Mar 5, 2026, 11:34 AM PT · 2 min read

Luke Grimes reprises his role as Kayce Dutton in the CBS procedural spinoff 'Marshals.'

THE RUNDOWN

Marshals premiered March 1, 2026, on CBS and Paramount+ with 9.52 million viewers.
Luke Grimes reprises his role as Kayce Dutton in the police procedural sequel.
The debut marks CBS's highest-rated scripted premiere without football since 2018.
The series follows Kayce joining an elite U.S. Marshals unit in Montana.
Original Yellowstone stars Gil Birmingham and Mo Brings Plenty return for the spinoff.

The Yellowstone universe has successfully transitioned to broadcast television with the massive premiere of Marshals. Starring Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, the series debuted March 1, 2026, drawing a staggering 9.52 million viewers to CBS and Paramount+. According to Nielsen data reported by TV Insider, the premiere stands as the most-watched scripted series debut without a football lead-in since 2018, outperforming current hits like Tracker.

The new procedural follows Kayce Dutton one year after the events of the Yellowstone series finale. Following the off-screen death of his wife Monica, Kayce is recruited by his former Navy SEAL teammate Pete Calvin, played by Logan Marshall-Green, to join an elite U.S. Marshals unit in Montana. "Beyond [his son], we find a really lost man," Grimes told TheWrap regarding his character's state at the start of the series. The show also features Yellowstone veterans Gil Birmingham and Mo Brings Plenty, alongside franchise newcomers Arielle Kebbel and Ash Santos.

While the ratings signal a commercial triumph, critical reception has been more mixed. CBR reported that the series debuted with a 43% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics describing the shift to a "formulaic" procedural as a departure from the flagship show's sprawling western mythology. Showrunner Spencer Hudnut, known for his work on SEAL Team, leads a traditional writers' room for the series, a first for the Taylor Sheridan-produced franchise which previously favored Sheridan's solo-scripted format.