Paramount Network's 68 Whiskey is getting a second life of sorts.
CBS All Access has licensed season one of the series from exec producer Ron Howard. All 10 episodes of the hourlong comedic drama will debut Friday on the ViacomCBS-owned platform. The series, which launched in January and became the most watched cable drama premiere since November 2018, follows a band of Army medics in Afghanistan who navigate a dangerous and sometimes absurd world. Sam Keeley, Jeremy Tardy, Gage Golightly, Cristina Rodlo, Beth Riesgraf, Lamont Thompson, Nicholas Coombe and Derek Theler star in the series from showrunner Roberto Benabib (Weeds, the Brink).
The series is exec produced by CBS Television Studios and Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine TV Studios.
The streaming deal with CBS All Access makes sense given that 68 Whiskey was produced in-house and as the larger ViacomCBS is making a greater push to bulk up its subscription platform to incorporate more originals from its vast portfolio.
ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish recently revealed plans to expand and rebrand CBS All Access, with "major" changes coming this summer. Included in that plan is for All Access to be the streaming home to more of the company's originals. (Paramount Network's mega-hit Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner, for example, was sold to NBCUniversal-backed streamer Peacock.)
The hope, per sources, is for 68 Whiskey to find a larger audience that could help bring back the series — which some say is a personal favorite of Howard's — for a second season.
