'The Ranch' Season 3 Spoilers, Cast News: Ashton Kutcher's 'Old Buddy' Joins Series After Danny Masterson's Exit
"The Ranch" season 3 is bringing in Dax Shepard to the fold.
The actor booked a recurring role in the upcoming season of the Netflix series in the wake of the firing of Danny Masterson, who played the role of Rooster.
Deadline reported that Shepard will not portray the same character Masterson played in "The Ranch" season 3. Instead, he will be introduced as a new character — a former soldier named Luke Matthews.
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Luke comes to Garrison and immediately forms a bond with Colt (Ashton Kutcher) and his father Beau (Sam Elliott). Sadly, he has a secret that would put this newfound friendship at risk — and it has something to do with the Iron River Ranch.
While the new "The Ranch" character would rather keep this on a lid, he could only run from it for so long, putting his relationship with the father and son in jeopardy.
Masterson was fired from the show last year after sexual assault allegations against him came to light. At that point, however, he has already taken part in filming the first half of "The Ranch" season 3, which will have 20 episodes. Shepard is set to appear in half of the remaining installments, which are currently being filmed.
Shepard's "The Ranch" stint allows him to reunite with Kutcher, who was his partner in crime in playing practical jokes on celebrities in the MTV prank series "Punk'd."
The latter commemorated their reunion by sharing a photo of him with his "old buddy" from the set of the Netflix series.
Shepard is slated to star in the single-camera Fox pilot "Bless This Mess," so those hoping to see him in "The Ranch" as a regular should not get their hopes up at the moment.
The first 10 episodes of "The Ranch" are set to premiere later this year on Netflix, but an exact release date is yet to be announced. Either way, it will be a while before Shepard will make his debut.
