Fire Country premiered in October 2022, and four years later, the action drama remains a hit for CBS and Paramount+. The series’ fifth and latest season debuted on October 9, and within three days, it ranked as the seventh most popular show on Paramount+, outperforming Criminal Minds, Tracker, and Taylor Sheridan’s latest hit, Marshals. The series’ success was so significant that it spawned a spin-off series, Sheriff Country, which is now carving out its own place in the franchise.

Because audiences couldn’t get enough of the small-town drama in Fire Country, Sheriff Country is a direct spin-off that takes place in the same universe, expanding upon the world established by the original series. Fire Country and Sheriff Country are both set in the tight-knit town of Edgewater, California. Fire Country aptly focuses on Station 42 of Cal Fire and its convict firefighters, while Sheriff Country focuses on local law enforcement and the Edgewater County Sheriff’s Office. The two series share a creative team consisting of co-creator and executive producer Max Thieriot, who also stars as Bode Leone in Fire Country, along with Joan Rater, Tony Phelan, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

With both series taking place in the same location, there are bound to be connections. Mickey Fox, Edgewater’s interim sheriff in Sheriff Country, is played by Morena Baccarin (Deadpool) and is also the stepsister of Cal Fire Division Chief Sharon Leone, played by Diane Farr in Fire Country. Family ties run deep in the Fire Country and Sheriff Country universes, as Mickey is also Bode Leone’s aunt. Helping establish the groundwork for a spin-off early on, Baccarin’s character, Mickey, was introduced in the Season 2 backdoor pilot of Fire Country​​​​​​. Characters from both shows frequently cross over into each other’s episodes as they work together during local emergencies. With such a natural setup for a spin-off within an established franchise, it’s no wonder the two shows complement each other so well — and the ratings reflect that.

Rank

Program Name

Network/Streamer

P2+ (Millions)

1

MARSHALS

CBS

15.14

2

TRACKER

CBS

13.86

3

60 MINUTES

CBS

10.71

4

NCIS

CBS

10.59

5

SHERIFF COUNTRY

CBS

10.52

6

BELOW (SRS 2026)

Netflix

10.31

7

NCIS: NEW YORK

CBS

10.25

8

DANCING WITH THE STARS

ABC

8.95

9

FBI

CBS

8.93

10

CHICAGO MED

NBC

8.86

Exclusively reported by Variety, Sheriff Country reached a series high of over 10.5 million viewers in its second season, marking a 27% increase over its first season, which premiered just last year. The CBS drama is in good company, joining NCIS, which returned for its 24th season with 10.6 million viewers. However, Sheriff Country’s success is hardly new. According to Deadline, Season 1 averaged around 6.24 million viewers per episode during its Friday nighttime slot.

Baccarin stars alongside Christopher Gorham, Michele Weaver, Matt Lauria, and W. Earl Brown in Sheriff Country, which follows Mickey as she balances the demands of law enforcement with the complexities of motherhood, community politics, and a past that refuses to stay in the past. The first season of Sheriff Country is available to stream on Paramount+, while new episodes of Season 2 air weekly on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and Paramount+.

Release Date

October 17, 2025

Network

CBS

Showrunner

Matt Lopez