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FX, Color Force to Develop Series Based on New Yorker Article About National Park Volunteer Rescue Squad (EXCLUSIVE)
FX has acquired the rights to develop a television series based on a New Yorker article about volunteer rescuers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The project would dramatise the work of a specialist team that helps rangers find and aid lost or injured visitors in remote terrain, highlighting the pressures created by America’s busiest national park.
The article, by Paige Williams, was published online in January 2026 as “The Backcountry Rescue Squad at America’s Busiest National Park”. The trained volunteers, known as BUSAR, support search-and-rescue operations; no writer is attached yet. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson’s Color Force will executive produce alongside The New Yorker Studios, with FX Productions producing.
In short
- FX is developing a drama about volunteer wilderness rescuers.
- It is based on a New Yorker article.
- No writer has yet joined the project.
Explained simply
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is America's most visited national park, drawing millions of visitors annually to its sprawling, mountainous terrain. When visitors become lost or injured in the backcountry, a team of trained volunteers called BUSAR assists rangers in locating and rescuing them. The New Yorker published an article in January 2026 by journalist Paige Williams documenting this specialist rescue work.
BUSAR operates across vast stretches of remote, difficult terrain, performing physically demanding search-and-rescue operations. The volunteer team faces significant pressures as the park's high visitor numbers create constant demand for rescue services. The New Yorker article captured the human stories behind these operations, showing how unpaid volunteers navigate the dangers and emotional weight of rescue work.
The article's focus on the volunteers' experiences has attracted the attention of television producers. Dramatic adaptations of real-life rescue and emergency service stories have become increasingly popular on television in recent years.