Netflix Orders a New Lonesome Dove Series: Zoe Kazan and Jeb Stuart Reunite After East of Eden

Netflix has ordered a straight-to-series adaptation of Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Western novel. Zoe Kazan and Jeb Stuart are writing the series and will serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. The two previously ran the streamer’s East of Eden limited series together. Netflix announced the order on September 8 and has not revealed casting or a premiere date.

A man wearing a cowboy hat and brown vest sits next to a woman in a white blouse, both relaxed on a picnic blanket in a grassy area. — LONESOME DOVE, THE MAKING OF AN EPIC, from left: Robert Duvall, Anjelica Huston, (aired May 25, 1992). ph: ©CBS / courtesy Everett Collection

The show adapts the first book in McMurtry’s series, published in 1985. In the novel, former Texas Rangers Augustus “Gus” McCrae and Woodrow Call leave the Texas border town of Lonesome Dove for one last cattle drive to Montana. Netflix’s description has the pair chasing a dream they may have already outlived.

In a joint statement, Kazan and Stuart said they come to the book “with love and respect” and “can’t wait to hit the trail with Gus and Call.” They signed off with “Yee-haw.” Jinny Howe, Netflix’s head of scripted series for the U.S. and Canada, called Lonesome Dove “one of the great American stories.” She said the streamer wanted to follow the pair to whatever they did next.

East of Eden premieres October 1. The show is Kazan’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel and stars Florence Pugh. Netflix committed to Lonesome Dove before audiences have seen a single episode of the duo’s first series. Kazan’s grandfather, Elia Kazan, directed the 1955 East of Eden film starring James Dean.

Four cowboys in Western attire engaged in conversation while mounted on horses in a rural outdoor setting.

CBS first brought Lonesome Dove to television in 1989 as a four-part miniseries. Robert Duvall played Gus and Tommy Lee Jones played Call. The cast also included Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Anjelica Huston, Robert Urich, Rick Schroder, Chris Cooper, Steve Buscemi, Frederic Forrest, and Glenne Headly. The miniseries won Emmy and Golden Globe awards. Duvall died in February at 95.

McMurtry followed the original with Streets of Laredo (1993), Dead Man’s Walk (1995), and Comanche Moon (1997). Each became its own miniseries, in 1995, 1996, and 2008. CBS also aired Return to Lonesome Dove in 1993, a sequel that was not based on a McMurtry book. The syndicated Lonesome Dove: The Series ran from 1994 to 1996, and its second season was retitled Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years. When Teton Ridge acquired the rights, it said development would begin with Lonesome Dove and continue through the rest of the books.