Noah Reid Set To Lead CBS's 'Sheriff Country' Medical Spinoff

CBS has quietly built one of broadcast television’s most reliable hit factories out of a single small town in Northern California. What started as a straightforward firefighter drama has steadily expanded into a sprawling universe, with each new offshoot finding its own dedicated audience rather than simply riding the coattails of its predecessor.

That expansion strategy has worked well enough that the network is now moving forward with its third series set in the world of Edgewater. Following the success of ‘Fire Country’ and its spinoff ‘Sheriff Country,’ CBS has been developing a medical drama set in the same universe for months, with details slowly trickling out about who might anchor the new show.

That search has now reached its conclusion. Noah Reid has been tapped to headline the still-untitled ‘Sheriff Country’ medical spinoff, joining Max Thieriot and Morena Baccarin as a lead figure within the growing CBS franchise, according to an exclusive report from Deadline.

The ‘Schitt’s Creek’ alum will first appear in one episode of ‘Sheriff Country’s’ upcoming second season, playing Dr. Hudson “Hud” Henshaw. That guest appearance comes attached to a series regular option, meaning Reid would move directly into the lead role of the spinoff if CBS officially greenlights the project.

Reid’s character serves as Chief of Emergency Medicine at Edgewater Memorial Hospital, informally nicknamed “Edge Med” within the franchise. Hud is described as charming and quick-witted but rough around the edges, a doctor shaped by growing up in the outlaw stretch of Edgewater known as Deadwater.

According to his official character description, Hud is the son of convicted felons who refused to use his family’s drug money to fund his medical education. He’s portrayed as deeply committed to the community that raised him, embodying his medical oath while still being the kind of guy who won’t shy away from a bar fight when the situation calls for it.

This isn’t the first time CBS has used this exact strategy to launch a spinoff within the franchise. Baccarin’s Sheriff Mickey Fox followed a nearly identical path, first appearing as a guest star on the original ‘Fire Country’ before headlining her own successful series once the network decided to move forward.

The prospective medical drama would mark the third series in a franchise that began with ‘Fire Country’ in 2022, which followed Thieriot’s character Bode Donovan-Leone as a convict working through a Northern California firefighting program. Franchise co-creators Max Thieriot, Tony Phelan, and Joan Rater remain attached to the new project, alongside executive producers Jerry Bruckheimer and KristieAnne Reed.

Reid’s casting also comes after what Deadline described as a lengthy search for the right actor to anchor the role, suggesting the network was being particularly selective about who would lead its next major expansion. Given how much weight Baccarin’s introduction carried for ‘Sheriff Country’s’ eventual success, that careful approach tracks with how seriously CBS is treating this next chapter.

Reid brings a fairly eclectic résumé to the role, best known for playing Patrick on ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ a performance that earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award alongside his castmates and multiple Canadian Screen Award nominations. More recently, he’s appeared in Prime Video’s ‘Outer Range’ opposite Josh Brolin and Imogen Poots, as well as the third season of ‘Interview With the Vampire.’

With CBS clearly committed to expanding this world rather than starting from scratch with new concepts, Reid’s casting feels like a natural next step in an increasingly ambitious television universe. Whether the medical spinoff can replicate the success of its predecessors will likely depend on how well Hud’s introduction lands with ‘Sheriff Country’ viewers this season.