Sylvester Stallone is back as exiled mobster Dwight “The General” Manfredi in the third season of mob dramedy Tulsa King
Throughout the history of television, various producers have left their distinctive marks on the culture at large through their TV creations. From Norman Lear (All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons) to Aaron Spelling (The Love Boat, Charlie’s Angels, Beverly Hills, 90210) to Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, NYPD Blue) to Dick Wolf (the Law & Order, Chicago and FBI franchises), they managed to attract viewers by capturing the zeitgeist of various eras.
Undoubtedly, the producer of the moment is Taylor Sheridan. In the wake of Yellowstone’s massive success, Sheridan unleashed a stunning run of hit shows, including prequels 1883 and 1923, along with Mayor of Kingstown, Special Ops: Lioness, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Landman and Tulsa King.
The latter series returns this week with its third season, furthering the exploits of exiled New York mobster Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) as he cements his control over the criminal underworld in Tulsa, Oklahoma, via a local — and entirely legal — marijuana dispensary.
When we last saw Dwight in the second season’s finale, he’d just been abducted by masked gunmen. And while details remain scarce as to how that particular cliffhanger will be resolved, the new season’s synopsis offers some clues: “As Dwight’s empire expands, so do his enemies — and the risks to his crew. Now, he faces his most dangerous adversaries in Tulsa yet: the Dunmires, a powerful old-money family that doesn’t play by old-world rules, forcing Dwight to fight for everything he’s built and protect his family.”
Meanwhile, the new season will also introduce a new character: Russell Lee Washington, Jr., played by Samuel L. Jackson. Russell befriended Dwight while they served time in prison together, but that friendship is understandably strained when Russell is hired by New York’s Renzetti crime family and sent to whack Dwight. That job, however, takes an unexpected detour that sets up an upcoming spinoff series, NOLA King, which begins production next year.
“Inspired by what Dwight created in Tulsa and impressed with the possibilities of second chances, Washington returns to New Orleans, the home he abandoned 40 years ago, to rekindle his relationship with his family, friends, and to take control of the city he left behind,” reads the logline of the spinoff. “In so doing, he incurs the wrath of his former employers in New York, and makes himself vulnerable to old NOLA foes, both criminal and cop.”
As for Tulsa King, details about the new season are being kept under wraps, but Martin Starr — who plays dispensary owner Bodhi — shared a brief tease in an interview with Collider. “This new season is going to be a lot of fun,” he said, revealing at that point he’d just read scripts for the season’s first two episodes. “It looks already like there’s going to be a lot of action, and there are some loose ends that may or may not get tied up.”
With Stallone pushing 80, Tulsa King has provided a juicy late-career role for the septuagenarian star, who knowingly mocks his big-screen action-hero persona in a series that melds mob drama and deft comedy. In fact, Stallone told IndieWire that playing Dwight was an “easy” fit for him. “It seems funny and natural because that’s what my real voice is,” Stallone said.
That was by design; when Stallone came onboard, it wasn’t just as an actor, but also as an executive producer and writer, which allowed him to tweak the role so it fit him like a glove. “I tried to make it as close to my personality as possible,” Stallone said. “The idea is: They come up with an idea, a concept, but if you’re a writer, you know how to tailor things to your strengths and deflect your weaknesses.”
The season premiere of Tulsa King, begins streaming on Sunday, September 21, on Paramount+