Tulsa King
Tulsa King is an American crime drama television series created by Taylor Sheridan for the streaming platform Paramount+. The series stars Sylvester Stallone as Dwight "The General" Manfredi, an American Mafia caporegime who has been recently released from prison in New York and is sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he begins to set up a criminal organization. It is Stallone's first leading role in a scripted television series.
The series also stars Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Jay Will, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, A. C. Peterson, Garrett Hedlund, and Dana Delany. After receiving an early premiere in theaters on October 29, 2022, the series was released on Paramount+ from November 13, 2022, to January 8, 2023. Shortly after premiering, Tulsa King was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 15, 2024 and concluded on November 17.
Terence Winter was the showrunner for the first season, but due to differences with Sheridan, he was demoted to head writer before the second, while director Craig Zisk produced the second season. Dave Erickson took over as showrunner for the third season. The first season was largely filmed in Oklahoma City, but primary production on the second season relocated to Atlanta after the cast and crew complained. Annabella Sciorra, Tatiana Zappardino, Frank Grillo, and Neal McDonough joined the second-season main cast. Paramount later confirmed the third season renewal by announcing the start of production. A fourth season as well as a spin-off series called NOLA King which will star Samuel L. Jackson, have both been ordered. The third season premiered on September 21, 2025.
The series has proved to be a success by providing a television ratings boost during its broadcast on Paramount Network and setting viewership records on Paramount+. Critics have given Tulsa King generally positive reviews. Many have praised Stallone's performance, but some criticized the dialogue and overall story arc. In 2023, Tulsa King was nominated for a Primetime [Creative Arts Emmy Award].
Premise
Dwight "The General" Manfredi is the American Mafia capo from New York City who has just finished serving a 25-year prison sentence. Upon release, Dwight's boss sends him to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to establish criminal operations there. Dwight, who does not know anyone in the area, seeks a new crew to help him establish his empire. He first meets taxi driver Tyson Mitchell, whom he recruits as his personal driver, and acquires financing by threatening and later befriending Lawrence "Bodhi" Geigerman, the owner of a local dispensary. While attempting to grow his enterprise, Dwight gains many more associates, including Mitch Keller, who owns a bar Dwight frequents. Dwight initially remains in contact with the syndicate in New York but later begins to despise them. Dwight and his crew become enemies with the outlaw biker gang The Black Macadams. During this time, Dwight experiences personal and family problems as a result of his actions. Stacy Beale, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent and Dwight's love interest, investigates Dwight's actions and those of his crew.Cast and characters
Main
- Sylvester Stallone as Dwight "The General" Manfredi, a capo in the Invernizzi family who is sent to Tulsa after serving 25 years in prison, and forms his own syndicate
- Andrea Savage as Stacy Beale, Manfredi's love interest in season 1 and a senior ATF agent. She is transferred to Alaska as punishment for failing to secure a conviction of Dwight in season 2.
- Martin Starr as Lawrence "Bodhi" Geigerman, a marijuana dealer who Manfredi recruits to help finance his syndicate, associate of the Manfredi family
- Jay Will as Tyson Mitchell, Dwight's driver, associate of the Manfredi family
- Max Casella as Armand "Manny" Truisi, a former Invernizzi soldier who made a new life in Tulsa working at Fennario horse ranch. He joins Manfredi's crew as a soldier
- Domenick Lombardozzi as Don Charles "Chickie" Invernizzi, underboss and later boss of the Invernizzi family
- Vincent Piazza as Vince Antonacci, Chickie's top capo, and later consigliere and boss
- A. C. Peterson as Pete "The Rock" Invernizzi, the ailing boss of the Invernizzi family
- Garrett Hedlund as Mitch "the Stick" Keller, ex-convict and bar owner who is an associate of the Manfredi syndicate
- Dana Delany as Margaret Devereaux, the owner of Fennario horse ranch.
- Tatiana Zappardino as Tina Manfredi-Grieger, a Brooklyn florist and Dwight's estranged daughter
- Annabella Sciorra as Joanne Manfredi, Dwight's younger sister
- Neal McDonough as Cal Thresher, corrupt businessman
- Frank Grillo as Bill Bevilaqua, boss of the Bevilaqua family of Kansas City
- Chris Caldovino as Dennis "Goodie" Carangi, long-time capo and consigliere of the Invernizzi family who joins Manfredi in Tulsa
- McKenna Quigley Harrington as Grace, associate of the Manfredi family
- Mike "Ca$h Flo" Walden as Michael "Bigfoot", associate, enforcer and bodyguard of Manfredi family
- Beau Knapp as Cole Dunmire, Jeremiah's son and Mitch's rival
- Robert Patrick as Jeremiah Dunmire, the so-called "tyrant of Tulsa", the leader of the Dixie Mafia
- Bella Heathcote as Cleo Montague, the rebellious daughter of Theodore Montague and Mitch's old flame
- Kevin Pollak as John Musso, the special agent in charge of handling Dwight as an asset following his detainment
- Gretchen Mol as Amanda Clark, a Tulsa politician.
Recurring
- Miles Mussenden as Hendricks, the Assistant Special Agent in Charge or ASAC of the ATF Tulsa Bureau office
- Steve Witting as Donnie Shore, a car dealership owner
- Dashiell Connery as Clint, associate of Manfredi family
- Justin Garcia-Pruneda as Fred, associate of Manfredi family
- Michael Beach as Mark Mitchell, Tyson's father
- Emily Davis as Rochelle "Roxy" Harrington, Manny's co-worker and an informant for Stacy
- Glen Gould as Jimmy "the Creek", associate of Manfredi family, marijuana producer and distributor
- Juliette Jeffers as Angie Mitchell, Tyson's mother
- Scarlet Rose Stallone as Spencer, a former caretaker at Margaret's ranch employed as a bartender by Dwight
- Loren Dunn as Emory, Tina's husband
- Ritchie Coster as Caolan Waltrip, the Irish boss of the outlaw biker gang Black Macadams MC
- Robert Walker Branchaud as Carson Pike, member of the Black Macadams gang
- Stephanie Kurtzuba as Clara, Armand's wife
- Joseph Riccobene as Jerry Izzo capo in the Invernizzi family
- Guy Nardulli as Johnny the Zip, capo for the Invernizzi family
- Ron Castellano as Nicky D, capo for the Invernizzi family
- Rich Ting as Jackie Ming, a Chinese triad gangster
- Stephen Shelton as Cowboy Art, one of Bevilaqua's top enforcers, who gets into conflict with Bodhi
- James Russo as "Quiet" Ray Renzetti, an Italian mob boss
- Dallas Roberts as Dexter Deacon, a hitman specializing in explosives
- Tim Guinee as A.G. Sackrider, the attorney general of Tulsa, who is in Dunmire's pocket
Notable guests
- Barry Corbin as Babe Keller, Mitch's elderly dad
- Alan Autry as Brian Gillen, former owner of Fennario Ranch and Margaret Devereaux's ex-husband
- Jonathan Joss as "Bad Face", associate of Manfredi family
- Josh Fadem as Elliot Evans
- Jelly Roll as himself
- Graham Greene as Old Smoke, the Native American chieftain
- Brett Rice as Theordore Montague, the owner of a large distillery and Cleo's father
- Jayson Warner Smith as Walden Eustice, a licensed liquor distributor
- Frank Roberts as Jonny Wednesday, an old contact of Dwight's in Shreveport
- Mary Ann Hermansen as Anna Sackrider, the attorney general's wife and Margaret's friend
- Samuel L. Jackson as Russell Lee Washington Jr., a crafty veteran hitman from New Orleans, who served time with Dwight
Production
Development
On December 6, 2021, it was reported Taylor Sheridan and Terence Winter were developing a series titled Kansas City for the digital streaming platform Paramount+. The series was created by Sheridan, who had signed a multi-year contract with ViacomCBS to create new series during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series would be centered around Sal, an Italian-American mobster from New York City who is tasked with returning the mafia to Kansas City, Missouri. Sheridan, Winter and series-star Sylvester Stallone were announced as executive producers alongside Braden Aftergood from Stallone's banner Balboa Productions which was served as co-producer for the series along with Sheridan's company Bosque Ranch Productions; and David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle and Bob Yari from the production company 101 Studios who would also be serveed as co-producer. Winter was also the series' showrunner, as MTV Entertainment Studios will be producing the upcoming television series as producer.Sheridan wrote the pilot episode in a week. Winter moved the show's setting to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to give the characters a more-remote setting. In 2022, Deadline Hollywood stated the show was given a straight-to-series order under the title Tulsa King to reflect the change in location. Stallone involved himself in several aspects of the production. Winter noted: "With Stallone, you're getting a writer, a director, a producer, an editor"; and Glasser said Stallone was "heavily involved in the editing process".
On November 30, 2022, Tulsa King was renewed for a second season. The following February, it was announced Winter had resigned as showrunner due to "creative differences"; a new showrunner was sought but Winter would remain as an executive producer of the show. It was later revealed Sheridan had dismissed Winter because of differences in writing style; Sheridan stated he preferred character-driven plots whereas Winter preferred plot-driven characters. In February 2024, Winter was re-hired as a writer after an opening in his schedule due to delays caused by the 2023 [Writers' Guild of America strike]. In his modified position, Winter is the series' head writer and works outside Sheridan's direct supervision. Sheridan chose not to use a conventional showrunner for the second season and instead decided to hire a director and executive producer to oversee day-to-day production. It was announced Craig Zisk would fill this role.
In November 2024, it announced that Tulsa King was on track to secure a third and fourth season renewal. Winter once again resigned from the series in order to work on the untitled Sammy the Bull series for FX. A third season was officially confirmed in March 2025. At this time, it was reported that Dave Erickson would fill the position of a traditional showrunner, with Zisk's status unknown. By August 2025, during the production of the third season, Paramount Television Studios had taken over production of the series following the merger of MTV Entertainment Studios' parent company Paramount Global with Skydance Media into Paramount Skydance.
Ahead of the season three premiere a fourth season was ordered; it was also said that if the program continued to be successful, it could run for a total of six seasons. Erickson departed the show before the season four entered production, stating that it was due to obligations on Mayor of Kingstown, another series by Sheridan, and that Winter would once again return in a head writer capacity. A later report indicated that Stallone and Erickson disagreed with each other on the creative direction of the show, and that Stallone personally requested that Winter return. As before, a showrunner was not hired with on-set oversight handled by Scott Stone, the executive in charge of production at 101 Studios, working with two unit production managers. Winter meanwhile, lead the writers' room from Los Angeles, and specifically had minimal on-set obligations worked into his contract. Crew members noted that a while studios are sometimes actively involved in production, that an executive having Stone's level of control on one of its series was unusual in the television industry.
Casting
At the time the series was announced, Sylvester Stallone was participating in negotiations to star as Tulsa King lead character Sal in his scripted television debut. Stallone's character was later renamed Dwight "The General" Manfredi. Stallone stated filming television was more difficult and time-consuming than the films in which he had starred. On March 24, 2022, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza and Jay Will were added to the cast; Casella, Lombardozzi and Piazza portray members of the Invernizzi family crime syndicate while Will stars as a recent college graduate who becomes a member of Dwight's crew. In May, A. C. Peterson, Andrea Savage, Garrett Hedlund and Martin Starr were reported to be starring in the series; they were followed in July by Dana Delany and Annabella Sciorra in August. Miles Mussenden also stars in the series. Stallone's daughter Scarlet appears in the series as Spencer, a barista and stable hand who is recruited to work with Dwight. Scarlet was originally considered for the role of Stallone's on-screen daughter but was considered too young for the role, which instead went to Tatiana Zappardino. Additional casting for minor characters and background actors occurred in May 2022.Before production of the second season, Sciorra and Zappardino were promoted to the main cast. Frank Grillo also joined the main cast, starring as Bill Bevilaqua, a mobster from Kansas City. On May 1, 2024, it was reported Neal McDonough would appear as Cal Thresher. Two days later, Rich Ting was cast in the recurring role of Jackie Ming. Jelly Roll, an American singer, songwriter, and rapper, made a cameo appearance as himself. He said he had been a fan of the series and is friends with Sistine, another daughter of Stallone's, who made the necessary connections. Casting for additional extras in the second season occurred in June 2024.
During filming for the second season, Stallone and an unnamed director were accused of making disparaging remarks about background extras. Stallone was allegedly heard calling certain background actors "ugly", "tub of lard" and "fat guy with a cane". Stallone also suggested the production should instead cast "pretty young girls to be around me". The Atlanta-based casting agency Rose Locke & CL Casting, which had been responsible for hiring extras, resigned from the production soon after. Zisk responded to the comments through TMZ by denying the statements were made and stating the casting agency had hired extras who were older than the requested age range. CNN reported Paramount was investigating the allegations and that no formal complaints had been filed. The actors' labor union SAG-AFTRA also responded to the allegations, saying its scope does not include background actors in Atlanta but that it would provide any requested guidance; it also issued a statement condemning such comments toward any actor. Thomas Mooneyham, a background actor on the series, stated he believed the comments were about him after he and another extra were replaced with younger people, one of which being Frank Cioppettini. Stallone did not respond to the allegations.
Stallone signed a contract in November 2024 to star in a third and fourth season of the program. With this, he reportedly received a raise after making and per episode in the first two seasons, respectively. Chris Caldovino, McKenna Quigley Harrington, and Mike "Cash Flo" Walden were promoted to the main cast for season three. Robert Patrick and Beau Knapp also joined the show as series regulars to portray Jerimiah and Cole Dunmire, a father-son pair with influence in the alcohol industry. Additional performers joining the program in the same capacity included Kevin Pollak as FBI Special Agent Musso and Bella Heathcote appearing as Cleo Montague. James Russo was cast in a recurring role to play "Quiet" Ray Renzetti, a New York mob boss.
By September 2025 further negotiations with Stallone were underway to extend his contract through a potential sixth season. Gretchen Mol joined cast as a new series regular for the fourth season.
Production design
The series' costume designer Suzanne McCabe based many outfits on the Gambino crime family and Franzese Crew, as well as photographs from newspaper clippings in the 1980s; she cited John Gotti as an inspiration. McCabe also stated she tried to mostly use monochromatic colors for the show's costumes, using dark colors for the New York City-filmed scenes and softer colors for scenes in Oklahoma to represent that state's red soil. Sylvester Stallone was allowed to pick many elements of his own costumes, including bolo ties, jewelry and shoes. Production designer Todd Jeffery used a mix of soundstages and on-location filming for Tulsa King. The sets for "The Higher Plane" dispensary featured in the series was created in a former Texaco gas station. Mirrors were used in a scene that was filmed in a strip club to make the space appear larger. Location manager Patrick Mignanom was tasked with finding a dilapidated structure whose owner would be content with having it blown up. Saunder Jurriaans and Danny Bensi composed Tulsa Kings theme song.Filming
occurred over six months in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Bethany, concluding on August 31, 2022. Some filming occurred at Tulsa International Airport on March 29, 2022. Additional locations used in Tulsa include Center of the Universe and the Mayo Hotel. Other scenes were filmed on-location in Brooklyn, New York. The series interior scenes and production offices were housed at Prairie Surf Studios. Additional photography wrapped by October. Filming in Oklahoma boosted the state's economy by an estimated $56 million.It was later reported the show's second season would not be filmed in Oklahoma due to costs, and complaints from the cast and crew, who did not like the extreme temperatures there. Filming on the second season occurred in the Atlanta, Georgia, suburb Norcross, using Eagle Rock Studios for sound stages. Filming began on April 1, 2024, and was scheduled to run until July 31. Some filming also took place in Gainesville, Georgia. Jelly Roll's scenes were filmed in April while he was touring for his latest studio album Beautifully Broken and was in the area. Stallone improvised lines for this scene which featured Jelly Roll performing a rendition of his song "I Am Not Okay". A second unit filmed b-roll scenes in Tulsa in mid-June 2024. Filming for the second season wrapped on August 2.
Filming for the third season began in March 2025, with production taking place in Atlanta and Oklahoma. The first episode was directed by Jim McKay. Filming wrapped on July 2, 2025.
Shortly before filming for the fourth season began, 26 crew members were abruptly fired. Among these were stunt coordinator Freddie Poole, who was also Stallone's stunt double, and had been for the fourteen years prior. He was instead offered a role as Stallone's photo double, but turned it down. Another person stated that they only found out they would not be returning when they became aware that a job listing had been posted for the position they still believed they held, and that their replacement would be paid more a day than they had previously been compensated. Some of those fired had been also instructed to leave their equipment on-set after production on season three had concluded, and then were only informed of the decision a week prior just a few days before production began. Filming ultimately began on November 4, 2025.
Release
Streaming
The series premiere episode of Tulsa King received an early promotional screening with the fifth-season premiere of Yellowstone in AMC Theatres on October 29–30, 2022. Tulsa King began its weekly release schedule on Paramount+ from November 13. The series' first two episodes were broadcast on Paramount Network on November 20 and 27, serving as a lead-out for episodes of Yellowstone. Season one concluded on January 8, 2023. In Japan, the series was launched in a Paramount+ hub on the streaming service Wowow. The first season received another linear broadcast, this time on CBS, with episodes being broadcast weekly from July 14 to September 8, 2024. Season two released weekly in the United States from September 15–November 17, 2025, with international releases beginning on September 16, while the third season began on September 21, 2025 and concluded on November 23.Home media
The first season received a home-media release on DVD and Blu-ray on June 6, 2023; an alternative SteelBook Blu-ray release accompanied the main release.Reception
Viewing figures
Season 1
On Paramount+, Tulsa Kings first season was Taylor Sheridan's fourth-most-watched series with 3.36 billion minutes viewed. In its first broadcast on Paramount Network, the series brought in 3.7 million viewers, exceeding the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon as "cable's highest-rated series debut" of 2022. It is also credited with the "biggest new sign-up day in history". The first season broadcast on CBS averaged million viewers.Season 2
The second-season premiere on Paramount+ was seen by two million people within 24 hours, with the number rising to 5.4 million households within its first seven days. This also set a new record on the streaming service for largest number of viewers on a series' premiere day. Social media engagements for season two also rose 943% when compared to that from the first season. Tulsa King was ranked tenth on The Wraps "list of titles consumers are most excited about" for the week of September 22, 2024. Within 35 days of the second-season premiere, 10 million households had seen Tulsa King, beating the 9.5 million that viewed season one within the same time period by 8%. By this time, the series had eight times higher engagement and 17 times higher views than season one on social media platforms. In Nielsen data Tulsa King ranked within the top-10 streaming series during the fourth quarter of 2024.Critical response
Season 1
Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly described the series as "Grumpy Old Grand Theft Auto". CNN Entertainments Brian Lowery described the series as an "odd mix of attributes" but praised the series' use of time. Reviewing for The Guardian, Lucy Mangan praised the comedy aspect of the series but failed to see it innovating further. Los Angeles Times writer Robert Lloyd called the series "likeable", commending its use of comedy and character focus.Tulsa King was often compared poorly to Winter's and Sheridan's other series; Sheridan was overseeing eight other series at the time Tulsa King debuted. The Hollywood Reporters Daniel Fienberg wrote Sheridan's and Winter's main strength is not in comedy writing, despite the series being primarily marketed as a comedy. Fienberg goes on to state: "the first two episodes definitely give the impression of being something that Sheridan, Paramount+'s golden goose at this point, gestated between work on 15 different Yellowstone sequels and prequels". According to Anita Singh of The Daily Telegraph: "One of the writers, Terence Winter, has The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire on his CV, but this show is to The Sopranos what Paw Patrol is to the works of David Attenborough".
Writing for the National Public Radio talk show Fresh Air, David Bianculli compared the formula of Tulsa King to that of Yellowstone and noted the "sense of time passing and the importance of family". Stephan Lee with The Wrap said there is a "distinct straight-to-DVD quality to Tulsa King" but suggests the series stands on its own and is only poor when compared to Sheridan's and Winter's other works. Ben Travers of IndieWire described Tulsa King as "less serious" and a "breath of fresh air" compared to the seriousness and consequences in Sheridan's other series.
Stallone's acting received the highest praise from critics, although some criticized it for its lack of originality. Reviewing the first two episodes for Variety, Joshua Alston credited most of the series' success to Stallone, stating: "Tulsa King isn't a great show with him, but it would be far less interesting without him". Richard Roeper, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, said the series was written to Stallone's strengths. The A.V. Clubs Todd Lazarski also praised Stallone's acting but described the series as an "undercooked fish-out-of-water mob story". USA Today writer Kelly Lawler criticized both the overall concept and Stallone saying he is "probably the king of something, but it's certainly not Tulsa, Oklahoma", and called the show "bad Goodfellas fan fiction".
Season 2
Jeff Ewing with Collider wrote that the second season "introduced new threats, but struggles to find its tone", feeling that it started off with too many filler episodes before building exposition in the later episodes.Deciders Joek Keller stated that Tulsa King "has become less of a fish out of water story and more of a story about just what kind of absurd scheme Dwight and his motley crew can pull off". He further elaborated by saying that the first episode addressed too many storylines at one time and believing that it is becoming more focused on comedy than crime. Writing for EscribiendoCine, Emiliano Basile praised Stallone's acting, writing that he "gives his character the characteristic charisma and powerful phrases that have accompanied him since Rocky." Basile also applauded the series costume design, and highlighted Sheridan's views on cultural views in the United States.
The Quapaw Nation issued a statement during the broadcast of Tulsa Kings second season, criticizing its portrayal of fictional tribal leaders in criminal conspiracies. They stated that production members did not give the tribe the chance to review the potential use of a fictionalized portrayal of themselves and that it "constituted cultural appropriation". In a follow-up statement, they later declared that a "positive resolution" had been reached with Paramount.