Sheriff Country has gotten a major update. The upcoming show is a spinoff from CBS’ Fire Country starring Morena Baccarin as Sheriff Mickey Fox, who is the sister of ex-Division Chief Sharon Leone (Diane Farr), the mother of the flagship show’s lead character Bode (Max Thieriot). The upcoming Sheriff Country was given a backdoor pilot in the season 2 episode “Alert the Sheriff,” which aired on April 12 and introduced the character ahead of her show’s launch in the 2025-2026 season.
Per TVLine, a major update has come in during pre-production of Sheriff Country, which has already been ordered straight to series. Matt Lopez has officially been appointed as the executive producer and showrunner of the spinoff. Now that this appointment has been made, it seems that other behind-the-scenes roles will be filled out in short order, including fleshing out a writers room. While it will still likely be some time before any more on-camera talent is announced, the ball is now rolling and more announcements are likely coming soon.
What Matt Lopez Has Done Before Becoming The Sheriff Country Showrunner
The Creator Has Many Titles Under His Belt
Before joining the Fire Country spinoff, Matt Lopez – not to be confused with Red, White, & Royal Blue director Matthew López – was likely best known for creating the show Promised Land. The family drama show, which starred John Ortiz and Cecilia Suárez, had a tortured production history, with its first five episodes airing on ABC before the final five premiered on Hulu and the show was cancelled altogether after one season. Beyond that short-lived series, Lopez has a wealth of experience as a writer, largely on projects featuring prominent Latinx characters.
Indeed, Lopez has already penned two Latinx-inflected approaches to major IP titles. The first was the remake of Father of the Bride starring Andy García, which premiered on HBO Max (now Max) in 2022, and the second is the upcoming Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip, a Disney+ release which will star Thom Nemer, Eva Longoria, Jesse Garcia, and Cheech Marin. Before writing those titles, Lopez primarily penned blockbuster family movies including 2009’s Race to Witch Mountain and 2010’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Road Trip will be a sequel to the 2014 children’s book adaptation Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day that centers a Latinx family.
Lopez’s other TV work includes creating the Chris Noth crime drama Gone, which also only lasted one season. While the creator’s television track record has been short-lived, the fact that Sheriff Country is attached to an already successful show could help it thrive and become his longest-running show yet. Especially in the wake of the exciting Fire Country season 2 ending, interest in the spinoff could boom if Lopez and his future collaborators play their cards right.
