Kevin was last seen on TV in Yellowstone; his character was killed off amid a highly-publicized feud with Taylor Sheridan

Kevin Costner will mark his return to TV with a new documentary that follows the “extraordinary” journey of Mary and Joseph before the birth of Jesus Christ. The Yellowstone actor will host the one-off episode, as part of ABC’s Christmas scheduling, that will see him “exploring the extraordinary journey of Mary and Joseph as they navigate the hardships, trials and triumphs surrounding Jesus Christ’s birth, offering an inspiring way to experience the true meaning of Christmas”. The two-hour-long program will air on Tuesday, December 9, 8/7c.

Kevin grew up in the Baptist faith and intentionally included scripture in his 2024 movie series Horizon, sharing that “faith is what guided people out there to the unknown”. Horizon: An American Saga is set in 1859 and follows several families as they discover “the lure of the Old West as they settle in territories from Wyoming to Kansas. Meanwhile, a gruff cowboy soon finds himself on the run with a prostitute and a young boy after killing a fellow gunman”.

“They just leaned on it,” he told ChurchLeaders.com of the Americans who moved west and kept their faith strong. “There was this promise but, you know, the [American] promise was not enough. You had to go on faith, and people brought their religion with them west”.

“Church has always been a part of my life so I don’t mind it bleeding into a movie,” he added, but shared that he never forced it into the movie. “When I think about why people went west, when they said goodbye to people back east—they never saw them again—there was some kind of trust that people needed to lean on because they were often in situations where they didn’t even know what they were doing.”

ABC’s Christmas programming will also include The Wonderful World of Disney: Holiday Spectacular on December 1, followed by a Dancing with the Stars holiday special, and CMA Country Christmas, which will be filmed in Nashville and feature one-of-a-kind musical performances of festive classics from country music’s biggest stars such as Megan Moroney, Jordan Davis, Riley Green, Lady A, Little Big Town and Parker McCollum; Jordan and Lauren Daigle will host.

© Josh Brasted/CMA

Several ABC shows will also air holiday-themed episodes, including Celebrity Family Feud (December 4); America’s Funniest Home Videos (December 7); Shifting Gears, Abbott Elementary, and Shark Tank (December 10); and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (December 11).

The Great Christmas Light Fight returns for its 13th season on December 4, with the finale scheduled for December 18. The series will follow families from across America as they decorate their homes with elaborate Christmas displays. The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2025 airs on December 17, and the annual Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade is set for Christmas morning.

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Yellowstone concluded earlier in 2025 after Kevin’s character, John Dutton, was killed off. The 69-year-old Hollywood legend exited the hit series amid a much-publicized rift with showrunner Taylor Sheridan.

The Yellowstone finale was met with mixed emotions from fans, many of whom felt blindsided by John’s fate. Initially, the show revealed his death as a suicide, a twist that most viewers refused to accept. It was later clarified that John’s death was orchestrated as part of a murder-for-hire scheme, staged to appear as self-inflicted.