After being delayed for one year, Sheriff Country finally premieres this fall.

Since Fire Country came out swinging in 2023, it was only a matter of time before CBS tried to capitalize on this success.

Television history has taught us that just because one show is successful, it doesn’t mean its spinoffs will be.

Viewers are usually apprehensive about being manipulated into dedicating their time to a subpar show, just because they like its predecessor.

Sheriff Country has the potential to flop, joining a myriad of spinoffs that never took off, such as The Blacklist: Redemption, The Rookie: Feds, and Freeridge, among others.

But conceptually, Sheriff Country is a great idea, and the more I read about the show, the more I’m convinced that it’ll be better than Fire Country.

The Side of Edgewater Never Before Seen

Small towns often present a particular image, where everything is slow, people enjoy life, they enjoy each other, and are very kind.

However, anyone who has lived in one knows that, while they might not be as frequent, these towns also experience the darker side of humanity.

Fire Country has explored conflict in Edgewater, but not in the manner that Sheriff Country promises to.

“It is very much a salute to small towns,” showrunner Matt Lopez said in an interview with TV Insider. However, it’s not just about the happy, shiny image that small towns project.

“I don’t discount the focus on community, but starting in Episode 2, one of the things we will do in Sheriff Country is show viewers some of the darker corners of Edgewater that [viewers] may not have seen before on Fire Country,” he added.

While Fire Country delivers some of the best stories based on emergencies, the nature of emergencies doesn’t allow for an exploration of intent because many are accidents.

Sheriff Country is a police drama that, in combination with its small-town setting, explores unique stories from small-town America. For example, one of the earliest cases Sheriff Mickey works on involves a massive conflict between two brothers who have just lost their mother.

This allows for deeper, more human stories that Fire Country can never achieve.