Earlier this month, it was revealed that Taylor Sheridan would be moving from Paramount Television to NBCUniversal after Skydance‘s David Ellison, who acquired the company in a recent merger, reportedly failed to offer Sheridan an extension deal allowing him to leave to start a new wave of shows there. In the wake of that announcement, one of the Sherdian shows, “Tulsa King,” is said to be still moving forward with a fourth season, but the problem there they’re currently without a formal showrunner to get production going in a timely fashion, leading to crew members losing work and waiting for word of when cameras will roll.
A new report from Variety details that the folks behind “Tulsa King,” starring Sly Stallone as a New York City ex-con and Italian mobster looking to expand a criminal empire in Oklahoma, have 101 Studios (Sheridan’s production banner) executive Scott Stone acting as a “de facto showrunner” by trying to work closely with unit production managers Rebecca Rivo and Christian Agypt in an attempt to running the popular gangster series.
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Veteran TV writer Terrence Winter oversaw Season 1. Winter contributed to Season 2 but went on without a formal showrunner. Dave Erickson of “Mayor of Kingstown” was previously assigned to tackle Season 3, but doesn’t look to be returning after talk of having creative differences with Stallone.
The problem with that is they’ll eventually need an actual showrunner with a looming filming start expected to take place in Atlanta. Mind you that the trio doesn’t either direct or write the series, making it harder to move forward into production without one, and with those folks alone at the helm, despite the goodwill attempt to keep the creative juices going without one.
However, Freddie Poole, a series stunt coordinator, told the outlet of his reading of the situation, “[Stone] said, ‘We’re not going to have a showrunner. 101 is the showrunner.’ And I raised an eyebrow at that,” Poole says. “That was the writing on the wall for me. I knew at that point I better start looking out for myself…The manner in which this was done was just unprofessional and unnecessary,” Poole added. “Some of these people … were told to leave their equipment at the stages [after Season 3], and then told a week before shooting that they don’t have a job. I think it was really disheartening.”
A potential red flag or sign that perhaps the show may be in more trouble than if an executive thinks they’re going to take over creative reins without writing or directing experience on the project. Then again, as mentioned above, Season 2 was able to go ahead without a seasoned showrunner.
Hopefully, Paramount TV and 101 Studios can find someone to take to do the actual work needed as there is a good chance that some of these Sheridan shows (have been reportedly called “too expensive” by the new Paramount brass given the high-profile lead actors tasked to be the faces of these programs to better market them), such as “Tulsa King,” could have an expiry date as Paramount may decide the costs and revolving showrunner drama could be too much of a headache to sustain over time.
Samuel L. Jackson, who made a guest appearance in Season 3, is going to reprise his character in a spinoff series called “NOLA King,” and as you’d expect, it will be set in New Orleans. So, there is a good chance that “Tulsa King” might be able to chug along, given what seems like an investment in expanding that world with more shows and future crossover storylines that could help promote each other.
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