Max Thieriot Ignites TV Screens with Back-to-Back Hits: Inside ‘Fire Country’ and ‘Sheriff Country

NEW YORK – Max Thieriot is swiftly becoming a prominent figure on Friday night television.

Thieriot takes center stage as the star, co-creator, and executive producer of CBS and Paramount+’s “Fire Country.” Additionally, he holds the roles of co-creator and executive producer for the new spinoff drama “Sheriff Country.” These shows dominate Friday evenings, securing the top two spots in television ratings.

Reflecting on his success, Thieriot admits, “It still feels a bit surreal.” He adds, “At first, I didn’t think I was as sharp as some writers, but I soon learned that the key is connecting with people. If you can move them, you have their attention.”

“Fire Country,” which emerged as the most-watched new series of the 2022-23 season and is now in its fourth season, along with “Sheriff Country,” are set in the fictional rural town of Edgewater, California. This close-knit community is where everyone seems to know each other’s business.

Both series blend elements of office romance with adrenaline-pumping action. “Fire Country” showcases thrilling firefighting scenes, while “Sheriff Country,” starring Morena Baccarin, tackles dramatic cases like a kidnapping linked to synthetic marijuana.

“That’s what these shows are — they’re grounded human stories centered in this small, rural community where life is complex, things aren’t black and white, and I think that’s relatable to a lot of people,” says Thieriot.

On Friday, his two shows will have their first crossover event as Edgewater’s sheriffs and firefighters team up to search for nine missing teens amid escalating chaos, a two-hour block where actors from both shows mingle.

“I love the episodes and it really plays like one, big, two-part incident,” he says. “It feels very fluid but we get to dive a little bit into the fun, too, like there’s moments of levity and moments of heart and some great intrigue.”

Thieriot knows this place

Thieriot grew up in the Sonoma County town of Occidental, a former logging hub nestled among towering redwoods, and watched many of his friends join the ranks of Cal Fire, California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Thieriot’s early acting gigs included “Bates Motel” and “SEAL Team” before he turned to writing. And when he did, he wrote what he knew.

“There’s a lot of things that people go through in their own personal life experiences or places they grew up that really could make for great television,” Thieriot says. “It almost takes somebody else looking at your crazy life to realize, ‘Wait a second, that sounds like a show.’”

Thieriot created the character of Bode Donovan, an inmate given the chance to join Cal Fire in exchange for a shortened prison sentence. Over the seasons, he’s faced drug dependency, a return to jail, family strains and heartbreak, in addition to harrowing wildfires.

Thieriot says he was deeply influenced by the show “Friday Night Lights,” which centered on a Texas town where the culture of high school football runs deep: “The thing that I loved about that show was you didn’t have to be a fan of football to like it. You saw how football was something in this community that brought everybody together, how life revolved around it.”

He hopes people tune into his show for the fires but stay for the characters. And with “Fire Country” a hit right out of the gate, Thieriot believed the town he created had more stories to tell. “We get to see one part of Edgewater in ‘Fire Country.’ Let’s bring the viewers the other part of Edgewater.”

Perhaps more than ruling Friday TV nights, Thieriot is proudest of creating jobs with his two shows: “One of the most gratifying things is knowing that between both shows there’s like 800 people that are getting paid every two weeks.”

Rural life

Running procedurals for two shows set in a working-class, rural community has its challenges. Unlike in a series set in an urban area, law enforcement and firefighters in Edgewater likely know the victims they race to help.

“There is something different about rolling up on a scene and it’s your friend or your neighbor,” says Joan Rater, who co-created both shows with Thieriot and her husband, Tony Phelan. “You know them as a whole person. And so you’re not going to come with certain assumptions you may come with if you didn’t know them.”

That means the writers need to play a long game — laying the groundwork for future drama by introducing and nurturing characters to weave in and out every week.

Phelan laughs that Thieriot is so plugged into his Northern California community that he always knows a buddy in firefighting or farming or law enforcement whom the writers can turn to for a storyline.

“Max is incredibly generous, but he also has a very clear idea of the story and the tone of the show and what feels true to him,” he says. “I think Max is really dialed into the audience of the show.”

Thieriot hopes the fictional community he’s created can help the real nation bridge some of its division. Neighbors in Edgewater might disagree but they’ve got each other’s backs and they need to stay civil because they’ll see them again real soon.

“I think it’s important to be reminded that we all live in the same country, we all bleed the same,” he says. “Obviously there’s differences between everybody, but that’s the great thing. It’s understanding those differences that makes us unique and special, not enemies.”

As for whether there’s another series in him, don’t bet against Thieriot. “My wheels are always turning,” he says, laughing. “I’m doing my best to add as much as I can to these two shows, but I’d be lying if I said if I wasn’t thinking about something else.”