CJ Day
Staff Writer
Wyoming author C.J. Box, famous for his Joe Pickett series of novels about a fictional game warden, announced last week that ABC will produce a television series called The Big Sky based on his novel The Highway.
But both University of Wyoming students and residents of the state seem less than excited for the new show.
“It’s not really my thing, not really something that I care about at all,” said Aiden Russell, a junior who enjoys mystery novels. “It’s the sort of thing my grandma would care about.”
Russell said he is a big fan of mystery novels by other authors, but Box’s books have never appealed to him.
“They’re for old people to buy at the airport,” he said. “If I was on social security, I could see myself reading them.”
When asked about the new TV show, Russell seemed unimpressed.
“I didn’t even know it was happening,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll be taking the time to watch any of it.”
Unlike many TV shows nowadays, The Big Sky will not be streaming; instead, ABC plans to air it weekly on basic cable. While many people have switched over completely to streaming services from traditional television services, there is still an audience for weekly TV shows, and that audience tends to skew older than the average population.
“I guess I’ll just have to see how good it is,” said Gloria WIlliams, an avid reader of Box’s books who has not yet ditched her cable in favor of streaming services. “If I like it, I’ll keep watching, and if I don’t, then I won’t.”
Williams described herself as a big fan of Box’s work. She had read most of the 19 books in the Joe Pickett series, and some of Box’s one-offs and standalone novels. The new TV show will be based off of the first book in the Cassie Dewell novels, a series which WIlliams said she has not read yet.
This new series differs from Box’s usual work in one crucial way – the story takes place in Montana, not Wyoming. When Williams found out about it, her optimism about the show fell.
“If it was set in Wyoming, I’d watch it just to see what they got right,” she said. “But if it’s in Montana… Well, I just don’t care about it all that much.”
While Box has done his best to brand himself as a Wyoming writer, he has struggled to get out from under the shadow of Ucross-based author Craig Johnson, whose Longmire series of novels spurred a critically acclaimed Netflix show and a yearly celebration in Buffalo.
“The Longmire books are just a lot better than Box’s stuff,” said Russell. “It’s just more interestingly written, they don’t feel like they were written in a couple hours like Box’s books do.”
Box still has his devotees, however.
“When he puts a new book out, I’ll read it as soon as I get the chance,” said Williams. “I just don’t think I’m going to make time to watch this TV show.”
