While the past two seasons of HBO‘s “True Detective” didn’t measure up to the first, the show still cements Nic Pizzolatto as one of the better TV writers out there. But Pizzolatto isn’t part of the upcoming “True Detective: Night Country,” so what’s his next project? Well, THR reports that he’s at work with Amazon on a new series that may be Prime Video‘s answer to Taylor Sheridan‘s “Yellowstone” behemoth.
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That’s right, Pizzolatto’s next show will be a Western drama that follows a classic genre plot. The series follows a former outlaw who sets out on an epic journey to reckon with a threat from his past to keep the life and family he’s worked so hard to build. Along the way, there will be the usual tropes, but Pizzolatto-style: outlaw gangs, shoot-outs, romance, the whole deal.  So maybe this series is “The Grass Rifles,” the populist Western Pizzolatto said he had in development last summer.
Amazon’s head of wholly owned US series and development Nick Pepper has Pizzolatto’s next show on fast track. He’ll also pen the series, with “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” producer Mark Johnson on board to executive produce. It’s another show for Johnson to work on, who’s already busy creatively with AMC‘s “Interview With The Vampire” and “Mayfair Witches.”  
But back to Pizzolatto. This Western is his first project since he left behind his first look deal with FX and Touchstone Television in January 2021. Before this, Pizzalatto was set to reunite with “True Detective” star Matthew McConaughey for “Redeemer,” an FX show based Patrick Coleman‘s novel “The Churchgoer.” But McConaughey dropped out of the project, which caused FX to pass on the series altogether. And since Pizzolatto isn’t creatively involved with “Night Country” at all (Barry Jenkins and showrunner Issa Lopez have the creative reins there), this new Western series is now his main attraction.
Pizzolatto doing a Western feels like a good fit, but he and Amazon will need to reckon with a TV landscape inundated by Taylor Sheridan’s influence. Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” (and its many spinoffs) remain some of TV’s most popular series. Does Pizzolatto have something original enough to overcome the “Yellowstone” influence? And is there an audience for a Western of the classic variety (Amazon’s “The English” did well with critics but barely made a ripple with audiences)? Time will tell.