‘Fire Country’ Star and Co-Creator Max Thieriot on Firefighters Becoming the New ‘Heroes’ of Broadcast TV: ‘It’s an Anti-Political Thing’

variety.com:

Emily Longeretta Growing up in Northern California, Max Thieriot was keen on firefighters. So, as he starred on “Seal Team,” he started writing “Fire Country,” a drama that follows a young convict who joins a prison release firefighting program to help with wildfires.

When Bode Donovan (Thieriot) is assigned to work in his hometown, things become more complicated. “It certainly started from a purely firefighting CalFire standpoint and what that would look like, but the inmate firefighter program was always going to be something that would be involved in the show,” he tells Variety. “Because of growing up up in Northern California, it was normal, everyday life for me, seeing conservation camp crews work alongside the highway and on the fire lines driving around.

Then I realized folks that aren’t from up there, specifically, didn’t really know this was a thing a few years ago.” He also promises that the CBS show, which focuses a lot on the locals in Bode’s hometown and his immediate family, will also share the backstories of some of the other inmates. “Our launching point is really unpacking his history there and his history with all the people in this town,” says Thieriot. “Then the plan is to open up into a lot of these evolving character storylines.” The show’s large cast of series regulars and recurring cast members makes it “tricky,” Thieriot says, because “there’s only so many storylines that we can really service.” But, he adds: “We will be exploring the backstories of these inmates.” For years, cop shows were all the rave; now, it seems to be shifting into firefighting programs.

Fox has “9-1-1” and “9-1-1: Lone Star,” NBC has “Chicago Fire,” ABC has “Station 19” — and now CBS has “Fire Country.” For Thieriot, it