‘Rez Dogs’ creator Sterlin Harjo and Ethan Hawke’s drama pilot picked up at FX

FX is heading back to Oklahoma. The network has picked up a drama pilot from creator Sterlin Harjo (“Reservation Dogs”) and star Ethan Hawke to series, Variety first reported and Gold Derby can confirm.

The series’ plot details are being kept under wraps, but it’s described as “a Tulsa noir about a guy (Hawke) who knows too much.” It’s a reunion of sorts for Harjo and Hawke, as the latter guest-starred in the second-to-last episode of Harjo’s FX comedy series “Reservation Dogs.” Harjo created the new series and directed the pilot and will serve as executive producer. Hawke will also serve as executive producer. Garrett Basch (“Reservation Dogs”) is also an EP.  

The pilot, which was ordered in February with the working title “The Sensitive Kind,” filmed in Oklahoma in April and May. The pilot’s cast includes Keith David, Siena East, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tim Blake Nelson, Scott Shepherd, Tracy Letts, Kyle Maclachlan, and Macon Blair, with an additional cast including Killer Mike, Kaniehtiio Horne, Cody Lightning, Michael Hitchcock, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong.

Harjo is best known for the Peabody Award-winning dramedy series “Reservation Dogs,” which is arguably the best comedy series to be under-recognized by the Emmys in recent years, though it was finally nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) for its third and final season this year. Harjo co-created the series with Taika Waititi and served as showrunner, and also directed numerous episodes. He was just announced as a 2024 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, also known as the “genius grant.” 

Hawke is a four-time Academy Award nominee known for a wide variety of films, from “Reality Bites” to “Training Day” to “Boyhood.” He has moved into television in recent years, writing and starring in the limited series “The Good Lord Bird” in 2020 and playing the villain in the 2022 Marvel series “Moon Knight.”