After the much acclaimed first season that premiered back in 2022, the crime comedy drama series Tulsa King, starring Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone in his debut television leading role, is back on our screens from September 15.
The Paramount+ original series is created by another Paramount production Yellowstone co-creator, Taylor Sheridan and also features Martin Starr, Max Casella, Andrea Savage, Vincent Piazza, Domenick Lombardozzi, Dana Delany, A.C. Peterson, Garrett Hedlund and Jay Will in leading roles.
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Tulsa King revolves around Dwight Manfredi, a Mafia lieutenant, who gets released from New York Prison after serving a 25 year sentence and moves to Tulsa, Oklahoma to set up a mafia empire as per the instructions from his boss in New York.
The only catch - he has to start everything from scratch in Tulsa, including his crew. What follows is Dwight’s attempts to create a criminal empire while dealing with his personal relationships with his daughter and ATF agent Stacy Beale, who is in pursuit of Dwight and the local biker gang The Black Macadams.
Meanwhile, Dwight also gets embroiled into schemes and machinations of the locals in an unfamiliar terrain. The show debuted with impressive ratings, which was credited largely to Stallone and his towering screen presence.
What impressed the critics and the audiences most was the surprising yet effective mixture of comedy amidst the criminal proceedings, which makes the show unique in the current environment of content saturation.
However, since the show is premiering one episode at a time and will end its 10 episode run on November 17, here is a list of shows that you can watch to fill the forthcoming and inevitable Tulsa King shaped vacuum in your lives.
1. The Sopranos
Plot: The very first show that comes to one’s mind with regards to Tulsa King is the HBO classic series The Sopranos. Created by David Chase, The Sopranos stars James Gandolfini as the New York based Italian crime boss Tony Soprano along with an award winning ensemble.
The show deals with Tony’s attempts to balance between his personal life (which includes his equal parts devious mother and sister, his teenage children, his not so bright nephew and his many extra-marital affairs leading onto therapy sessions) and his life as a violent mob boss.
Similarities with Tulsa King: The show blends the comedy and the elements of crime effortlessly and can remind one of Tulsa King in that aspect, although Soprano’s comedy is much more subtle and layered.
Although revolving around mafia families, the show presents a deglamorized look on criminal activities and delves deep into the intricacies of the dirty business. Similarly, Tulsa King also deals with intricacies of crime families and internal politics, albeit in a more proclaimed manner.
Interestingly, the showrunner for the first season of Tulsa King was Terence Winter (now demoted to writer in the second season), who worked as a writer and executive producer for five seasons of The Sopranos.
Where to watch: The Sopranos is available to stream on HBO and Jio Cinema.
2. Godfather of Harlem
Plot: Starring Academy Award winner Forest Whittaker in a career best performance as dreaded real life mafia boss and drug dealer Bumpy Johnson, the MGM+ show is a gripping depiction of the drug trade in Harlem, New York, set in the early 1960s.
The show begins when Johnson comes back from the prison after ten years and discovers that the neighborhood that was under his control is now ruled by the Italian mafia, headed by the Genovese Crime Family.
Throughout the show, Johnson gets embroiled with opposition from both sides of the law and the narrative crux revolves around mostly how he retains control of Harlem.
Similarities with Tulsa King: Apart from the obvious similarities with regards to genre and depiction of mafia families, the show also shares a similar premise as Tulsa King, as the narrative kick starts after the lead character comes back from prison after a substantial amount of time.
The struggle to retain his control and his position in the gang and among the local residents becomes a recurring theme in both the shows which makes them an interesting companion piece to one another.
Where to watch: Godfather of Harlem is available to stream on Hulu.
3. The Gentlemen
Plot: Another show that is borrowed from a Guy Ritchie film of the same name, the 2024 Netflix hit is also created by Guy Ritchie and serves as a spinoff of the earlier film.
The show stars a varied range of actors including Theo James, Daniel Ings, Joshua McGuire, Vinnie Jones, Giancarlo Esposito, Kristofer Hivju and Ray Winstone among others.
The Gentlemen follows Edward Horniman after his unexpected inheritance of 15,000 acres of estate as the new Duke of Halstead as proclaimed in the last will of his deceased father.
Soon, he becomes aware of the fact that the land was actually a part of a blooming weed cartel headed by Susie Glass.
How Edward gets enmeshed within this world of crime and drug mobs and how he can save his family from related dangers becomes the crux of the 8 episode action comedy show.
Similarities with Tulsa King: The show, like Tulsa King, is a masterful blend of comedy and crime related thrills and drama and in its core, deals with a man’s struggle to save his loved ones and his own self.
Where to Watch: The Gentlemen can be streamed on Netflix.
4. Snatch
Plot: Based on the 2000 Guy Ritchie crime comedy film of the same name, Snatch deals with a group of 20 something hustlers who accidentally come across a truck filled with stolen gold.
Chaos ensues as they get embedded within the world of organized crime. With plenty of eccentric characters in the film like Lily Hill and Sonny Castillo, the film spans across countries and continents.
The show stars Harry Potter alum Rupert Grint as one of the gang members and is based on a real life heist.
Similarities with Tulsa King: Like Tulsa King, the show also deals with the inner mechanics of a mafia gang and their organizational intricacies with plenty of double crosses and car chases thrown in.
The Crackle original show also has an underlying comic tone going for it and also revolves around multiple cities like Tulsa King, which makes the show more ambitious in its scope which was amiss in the original film.
Where to watch: Snatch can be streamed on Apple TV.
5. Lilyhammer
Plot: Starring The Soprano alum Steven Van Zandt in the lead role, the first original Netflix show Lilyhammer deals with an ex- New York gangster Frank Tagliano. He has to run away to Lillehammer, Norway in a witness protection program after testifying against his gangster boss Aldo Delucci.
He takes on a new alias of an immigrant named Johnny Henriksen and decides to lay low but soon enamors the locals with his charm and skills which includes killing a wolf among others.
Similarities with Tulsa King: Apart from the similar premise, the tone of the show is also that of a dramedy, where the lead character gets embroiled in various schemes and scams with the local Norwegian residents.
Besides, the show is also regarded by many critics as an unofficial spin-off of The Sopranos, with the lead character being an extension from the original show.
Where to watch: You can stream all the three seasons of LilyHammer on Netflix.
6. Florida Man
Plot: Starring Edgar Ramirez in the lead role and created by Donald Todd, this 2023 Netflix limited series revolves around troubled ex-cop Mike Valentine, who has to forcefully return to his home state Florida. He has to track a Philadelphia based gangster Moss Yankov’s girlfriend-on-the-run.
As the show progresses, Valentine gets embroiled into a treasure hunt involving Spanish gold and dreadful family secrets in a state that he had long abandoned. Going back to Florida, also means for Mike to deal with his family and its secrets which were the reason for his leaving in the first place.
Similarities with Tulsa King: An interesting subversion of the fish out of water dramedy trope, very much like Tulsa King, this show also has a roster of eccentric characters like Sonny Valentine and Delly West who makes this seven episode journey fun and memorable for the audience.
Like Tulsa King, the show also deals in depth with the titular state with sharp commentary on the current condition of the Sunshine state and jokes on the clichés associated with it including alligators, which in a way roots the series into its surroundings.
Where to watch: Florida Man can be streamed on Netflix.
7.The Lincoln Lawyer
Plot: The popular Netflix series based on a series of Michael Connelly books revolves around Mickey Haller, an idealist lawyer based in Los Angeles. He takes on a variety of cases from the back of his Lincoln Navigator vehicle after being sidelined from the legal scene due to an accident.
The acclaimed legal drama, which is coming up with a third season in October, stars Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in the lead role with Becki Newton, Angus Sampson, Jazz Raycole, Neve Campbell, Christopher Gorham and Angelica Maria forming the talented ensemble.
Similarities with Tulsa King: Besides being a show dealing with legal intricacies, The Lincoln Lawyer also deals in detail with his personal life which focuses mostly on his coming to terms with fatherhood.
This aspect is also duly explored in Tulsa King, although from a different perspective. Operating from different legal spectrums, both the characters of Dwight and Mickey are driven by certain uncompromising ideals coupled with characteristic smart one-liners which makes their personal lives eventful and filled with tension, thereby making The Lincoln Lawyer another interesting show to watch for admirers of the character of Dwight.
Where to watch: The Lincoln Lawyer can be streamed on Netflix.
8.Gangs of London
The British action thriller series, based on a 2006 video game, is co-created by one of the most innovative contemporary action directors, Garth Evans. The show deals with power struggles between international organized crime syndicates for the control of one of the most multicultural and vibrant cities of our time, London.
Gangs of London begins with the brutal murder of the leader of the influential Wallace Crime Syndicate, Finn Wallace. His son Sean, becomes the leader of the syndicate following the tragic incident.
What follows is a roller-coaster thrilling ride involving multiple gang leaders and crime syndicates which is to be seen to be believed. The show stars Joe Cole, Lucian Msamati, Michelle Fairly, Sope Dirisu, Colm Meaney, Brian Vernel and Asif Raza Mir among others.
Similarities with Tulsa King: On a tertiary look around, the show bears no resemblance to Tulsa King in its tone or its theme apart from the obvious generic inclinations, but Tulsa King is also concerned with internal riffs between mobsters and the inherent power struggle that comes with it which is expanded to a global scale for the Sky Atlantic Series.
Very much like Tulsa King, as is most prominently revealed in the flashback sequences, the show also deals with double crossing and back stabbing among mafia leaders and how that is a necessary code of survival for the gangsters.
Moreover, the usage of brutal violence by different characters of the series is similar to what Dwight does to his adversaries in The Tulsa King. Both seasons of the show are available for streaming on AMC+ for the United States audience.
Where to watch: Gangs of London can be streamed on AMC+.
9. Get Shorty
Plot: Based on a 1990 novel by acclaimed crime writer Elmore Leonard, this American crime comedy series stars Chris O’Dowd and Ray Romano in lead roles.
It takes the basic trope from the novel, which deals with how the lives of a gangster named Miles Daly, who gets interested in film production and a down on his luck movie producer Rick Moreweather, who has debts with the mafia. Both get intertwined in a twisted tale of crime, deceit and dark comedy.
Similarities with Tulsa King: Get Shorty follows a similar fish out of water premise as of Tulsa King, as Miles attempts to enter the glamorous world of showbiz in LA after leaving his past criminal associations with a lethal crime syndicate in Nevada. He does this for his daughter once he meets Rick to recover debts.
As one might expect, this leads to a wide range of darkly comic scenarios much like Tulsa King. The show also follows a similar visual style, which can be largely attributed to the fact that veteran TV director Allen Coulter directed the pilot episodes of both the show. This further attests to the fact that the admirers of Tulsa King will be very much in tune with this underrated show.
Where to watch: All the two seasons of Get Shorty are available to stream on MGM+.
10.Vincenzo
Plot: A Korean-language show which follows a similar trope, the 2020 show centers around Park joo-hyung, who is adopted by an Italian crime lord Don Fabio, the head of Cassano Crime Family. Park grows up to work as a consigliere for the family.
But, things go awry when the son of the mafia boss attempts to murder Park and he has no option but to run back to his motherland of South Korea.
However, once he reaches there, he finds himself getting embroiled in another conflict concerning gold, pharmaceutical conglomerates, politicians and police.
The 20 episode series stars Song Joong-Ki, Ok Taec-yeon, Jeon Yeo-been, Kwak Dong-yeon and Kim Yeo-jin in the lead role and has been bestowed with a lot of accolades in South Korea including winning big at the Seoul International Drama Awards.
Similarities with Tulsa King: Like Tulsa King, Vincenzo also revolves around a similar premise where the main character has to leave his home turf for reasons beyond his control and had to unwillingly resume their businesses in new terrains.
Although everything seems to be against them, the lead characters still attempt to create their own fortunes with their own might and will regardless of tough situations.
With a tense storyline and thematic similarities, fans of The Tulsa King will undoubtedly be engrossed in the murky world of crime and gangsters as depicted in Vincenzo.
Where to watch: The show is available to stream internationally on Netflix.
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