'Justified' renewed for second season; writers tell Kentucky paper they want to visit the state

Season one of FX's Kentucky crime drama Justified still has two episodes remaining, but the show has already been picked up for a second season. The show is supposedly set in Kentucky, mostly in Lexington and Harlan, but the creators didn't have time to visit the state before filming season one. The writers are planning a trip to Harlan later this summer, Jason Edwards of The Harlan Daily Enterprise reports. "We will see if FX and Sony will give us any money to go," executive producer Graham Yost told Edwards.

If the trip is approved, writers would spend a few days with the U.S. marshal's office in Lexington, where the show's protagonist Raylan Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant, above) works, then visit Harlan. "You know, giving this sort of newer era where a lot of people have got TiVO and stuff like that, we feel pretty good about our opening (season), and I think our numbers (ratings) have been creeping back up," Yost said. "The best part is we got a second season. So, we get to tell more stories."

Author Elmore Leonard, who created Givens, is also working on a new short story set in Kentucky, Edwards reports. You can read the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues' review of the show here on the "Rural Representations and Reviews" page. (Read more)