3 March, 2024 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 3 categories

Genre: Drama, and Western, Created by Chad Feehan, Based on "Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book One" by Sidney Thompson, and "Hell on the Border: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book Two" by Sidney Thompson, Starring: David Oyelowo, Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck, Barry Pepper, Dennis Quaid, Grantham Coleman, Donald Sutherland, with Theme music composer: Chanda Dancy, Country of origin: United States, Original language: English, No. of episodes: 8, Executive producers: Ron Burkle, Chad Feehan, David Glasser, David Hutkin, David Oyelowo, Jessica Oyelowo, David Permut, Taylor Sheridan, and Bob Yari, Running time: 32–57 minutes, Production companies: Catch Fire, Yoruba Saxon, Bosque Ranch Productions, 101 Studios, and MTV Entertainment Studios, Original Network: Paramount+ (2023)

The Untold Story of the Greatest American Lawmen…

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 the one of the first African American Deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River, Bass Reeves.

Chad Feehan attends Oprah Winfrey Hosts Special Los Angeles Event For Paramount+'s "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" at Sunset Tower Hotel on December 01, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Taylor Sheridan attends the world premiere of "1883" at Encore Beach Club at Wynn Las Vegas on December 11, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

(L-R) David Oyelowo and David Glasser attend "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" Los Angeles Party at Sunset Tower Hotel on December 01, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Paramount+

David Oyelowo attends "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" Los Angeles Party at Sunset Tower Hotel on December 01, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Paramount+

Jessica Oyelowo attends Oprah Winfrey Hosts Special Los Angeles Event For Paramount+'s "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" at Sunset Tower Hotel on December 01, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

David Permut attends "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" Premiere at DGA Theater Complex on October 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Paramount+

Christina Alexandra Voros attends the premiere of 'Lawmen: Bass Reeves' during the 30th Austin Film Festival at the State Theatre on October 29, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images

(L-R) EP David Glasser and Ronald Burkle attend "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" Premiere at DGA Theater Complex on October 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Paramount+

Bass Reeves (left) with a group of marshals in 1907. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Bob Yari attends the Los Angeles premiere of "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" from Paramount + at Directors Guild Of America on October 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images

David Hutkin attends "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" Premiere at DGA Theater Complex on October 25, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Paramount+

Bass Reeves (July 1838 – January 12, 1910) was an enslaved Manservant, runaway slave, gunfighter, farmer, scout, tracker, Railroad Agent and Deputy U.S. Marshal. He spoke and understood the Five Civilized Tribal languages including Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek. Bass was one of the first African-American Deputy U.S. Marshals west of the Mississippi River mostly working in the deadly Indian Territory. The region was saturated with horse thieves, cattle rustlers, gunslingers, bandits, bootleggers, swindlers, and murderers. Bass made more than 3,000 to 4,000 arrests in his lifetime, only killing twenty men in the line of duty. Bass was born into slavery in Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas. His family were slaves belonging to Arkansas state legislator William Steele Reeves. During the American Civil War, his owners fought for the Confederacy. At some point, Bass escaped and fled to Indian Territory where he learned American Indian languages, customs, tracking and survival skills. He eventually became a farmer and rancher. By 1875, Bass was hired as a Deputy U.S. Marshal along with other individuals. He was 37 years old. Bass was well acquainted with the Indian Territory and served on their land for over 32 years as a peace officer covering over 75,000 square miles, now part of Oklahoma. He was a victim of several tragedies during his lifetime. He accidentally shot his cook, William Leach, which led to the court case United States vs. Bass Reeves, for which he was acquitted, his first wife Jennie died in 1896 and in 1902 he had to arrest his son Benjamin "Bennie" Reeves who was charged with murdering his wife Castella Brown. Bennie was convicted and found guilty by a jury on January 22, 1903, in Muskogee. The presiding judge was C. W. Raymond. Bennie was sentenced to the U.S. prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for his natural life. His son was released after eleven years in prison and lived out the rest of his life as a model citizen. Bass encountered some of the most ruthless outlaws of his day. His weapons of choice were the Winchester Models 1873 and 1892. They were guns that conveniently fit dual-purpose handgun/rifle cartridges. He also briefly used the 1873 Colt Single Action .45 caliber Peacemaker. He tracked and killed notorious outlaw Jim Webb. Webb murdered over eleven people. Another notorious desperado Bass encountered was murderer and horse thief Wiley Bear. Bass rounded him up along with his gang which included John Simmons and Sam Lasly. Bass was in a gunfight with the Creek desperado Frank Buck whom he shot and killed. Bass was immortalized in the popular media including TV shows, films, novels, poems, and books. He was also inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame. A bronze statue of Reeves was erected in Pendergraft Park in Fort Smith, Arkansas and the Bass Reeves Memorial Bridge in Oklahoma, was named after the legendary lawman. Photo Credit: Google Images

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 2023, the series was retitled Lawmen: Bass Reeves in order to expand the series to depict other prominent lawmen.

David Oyelowo in the 1883 spin-off series Bass Reeves premiereing this fall on Paramount+.

David Oyelowo in the 1883 spin-off series Bass Reeves premiering this fall on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Paramount+

Genre: Western, Created by Taylor Sheridan, Starring: Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen, James, Landry Hébert, Noah Le Gros, Narrated by Isabel May, Original Network: Paramount+ (2021)

Series Season 1 poster for the Paramount Network original series Yellowstone featuring Kevin Costner as John Dutton III, created and written by Taylor Sheridan. Photo Cr: Paramount Network © (2018-) MTV Entertainment Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Thompson received his B.A. in English from the University of Memphis, his M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Arkansas, and his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. Writing within the Southern and Southwestern traditions, he draws his themes and characters from history in ways that have been compared[by whom?] to Larry McMurtry and R.E.M. His major works include Sideshow: Stories, recipient of the 2006 Foreword INDIE Silver Award for Short Story Collection of the Year, and a trilogy of historical novels about the African-American deputy U.S. marshal Bass Reeves. Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book One is the recipient of the 2021 International AAHGS Book Award for Historical Fiction: Event/Era, a finalist for the 2021 Spur Award for Historical Novel by Western Writers of America, the 2021 Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, the Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction, the 2021 Next Generation Indie Award for Historical Fiction (Pre-1900s), and the Peacemaker Book Award for Best First Western Novel by Western Fictioneers, and was named a 2020 Arkansas Gem by the Arkansas Center for the Book. Follow the Angels includes the chapter "Thataway," which received the Creative Writing Award in 2018 from the Western Literature Association. Hell on the Border: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book Two was a finalist for the 2021 National Indie Excellence Award for Historical Fiction. Both of the first two books of the trilogy were used as source material for the Paramount+ limited series, Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Photo Credit: Google Images

2022 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist for Western Fiction 2021 International Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society Book Award for Historical Fiction in Event/Era 2021 Phillip H. McMath Post Publication Book Award Finalist for Prose 2021 Oklahoma Book Award Finalist for Fiction from the Oklahoma Center for the Book 2021 Spur Award Finalist for Historical Novel from the Western Writers of America 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist for Historical Fiction (Pre 1900s) 2021 Will Rogers Medallion Award Finalist for Western Fiction 2021 Peacemaker Award Finalist for Best First Novel 2020 Arkansas Gem from the Arkansas Center for the Book Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves is an origin story in the true American tradition. Before Bass Reeves could stake his claim as the most successful nineteenth-century American lawman, arresting more outlaws than any other deputy during his thirty-two-year career as a deputy U.S. marshal in some of the most dangerous regions of the Wild West, he was a slave. After a childhood picking cotton, Reeves became an expert marksman under his master's tutelage, winning shooting contests throughout the region. His skill had serious implications, however, as the Civil War broke out. Reeves was given to his master's mercurial, sadistic, Moby-Dick-quoting son in the hopes that Reeves would keep him safe in battle. The ensuing humiliation, love, heroics, war, mind games, and fear solidified Reeves's determination to gain his freedom and drew him one step further on his fated path to an illustrious career. Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves is an important historical work that places Reeves in the pantheon of American heroes and a thrilling historical novel that narrates a great man's exploits amid the near-mythic world of the nineteenth-century frontier. Photo Credit: Amazon.com

2022 Oklahoma Book Awards Finalist for Fiction from the Oklahoma Center for the Book 2021 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist for Western Fiction 2021 American Book Fest Award Finalist for Historical Fiction Set in 1884, Hell on the Border tells the story of Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves at the peak of his historic career. Famous for being a crack shot as well as for his nonviolent tendencies, Reeves uses his African American race to his strategic advantage. Along with a tramp or cowboy disguise, Reeves appears so nonthreatening that he often positions himself close enough to the outlaws he is pursuing to arrest them without bloodshed. After a series of heroic feats of capturing and killing infamous outlaws--most notably Jim Webb--and an introduction to Belle Starr, Reeves finds himself in the Fort Smith jail, charged with murder. This second book in the Bass Reeves Trilogy investigates what really happened when Reeves made the greatest mistake of his life on the heels of his greatest achievements. Photo Credit: Amazon.com

Lawmen: Bass Reeves stars David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves, a US Marshal 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 co-stars as Jennie Reeves, Bass’ wife, along with Forrest Goodluck as Billy Crow, Dennis Quaid as Sherrill Lynn, and Donald Sutherland as Judge Isaac Parker.

David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves in "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" (2023) Photo Credit: Paramount+

Lauren E. Banks as Jennie Reeves in "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" (2023) Photo Credit: Paramount+

Forrest Goodluck as Billy Crow in "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" (2023) Photo Credit: Paramount+

Dennis Quaid as Sherrill Lynn in "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" (2023) Photo Credit: Paramount+

Donald Sutherland as Judge Isaac Parker in "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" (2023) Photo Credit: Paramount+

The series consisted of eight episodes directed by Christina Alexandra Voros, and Damian Marcano. Lawmen: Bass Reeves premiered on Paramount+ on November 5, 2023, with back-to-back episodes. The first two episodes of the series then aired on CBS on November 12. The last episode aired on December 17, 2023.

Damian Marcano at the Los Angeles premiere of "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" held on December 1, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Elyse Jankowski/Variety via Getty Images

Lawmen: Bass Reeves is the Featured Television Blog of the Month for March! You can expect a detailed critique with a summary of series episodes, and history of Bass Reeves. There is also a detailed recommendation of the series. There is also a detailed review of The Bass Reeves Trilogy by Sidney Thompson: Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves, and Hell on the Border, that was the basis for Lawmen: Bass Reeves. For the interview, Executive Producer/Actor David Oyelowo discusses Lawmen: Bass Reeves moderated by Ava DuVernay. There is also a Top Ten List, and for Lawmen: Bass Reeves, the list is My Top Ten US Marshal Series. Last but not least, the Featured Television Blog of the Month includes an Official Trailer for the featured series!