We discuss 10 shows like Tulsa King you must watch. Check out these excellent recommendations to add to your watch list.
Paramount Plus is a new streaming service with plenty of programming that no one really expected.
It has become a platform with great franchise films and new series. Tulsa King is the latest series to hit the platform, with Sylvester Stallone as the lead.
We haven’t seen Stallone since the last Creed film, so it came as a surprise to see him in a television series now.
As per the synopsis on IMDB, the series follows mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi and his release from prison. He is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he builds a criminal empire with a group of unlikely characters.
The series was created by Taylor Sheridan, who is most well-known for Yellowstone and Terence Winters, who was executive producer of The Sopranos is also behind this series. To have these two creators behind this show with Stallone as a mob boss is something audiences didn’t know they needed.
The following series on this list all have some type of mafia boss who has their hands in every place in the city. They all show the connections that these bosses have with their friends and family. But more importantly, they show loyalty and sometimes betrayal within their crew.
10 shows like Tulsa King you must watch
The Sopranos (1999)
If you have been a fan of mafia films and enjoy watching mob bosses get a bit dirty, then The Sopranos is the best series you can manage. Audiences got to meet a New Jersey mob boss named Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini). Who deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life that affect his mental state. Normally, we never see this side of a capo, but in this series, Tony goes to therapy. We get to see two different sides of his persona and get to know him on a more intimate level than his own family and the people who work for him.
Peaky Blinders (2013)
Mafia bosses aren’t only Italian and Peaky Blinders explores a different perspective entirely. As per the synopsis on IMDB, a gangster family epic set in 1900s England, centering on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy). Audiences don’t realize how brutal the Brits can be until they watch this series and understand how it was back then. This cast is also incredibly intimidating and works together so well to bring this story to life.
The Wire (2002)
While The Sopranos was running on HBO, The Wire had a following of its own and tapped into a different side of city life. As per the synopsis on IMDB, the Baltimore drug scene is shown through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement. At the time, this series was an exploration of a racial divide between the police and the community within Baltimore. It is still a relevant topic today and that’s why The Wire is held in such high regard.
Sons of Anarchy (2008)
To this day, it is still unknown if people actually watched the show because it was so compelling, or because Charlie Hunnam as Jax was just so gorgeous to look at. We meet a biker who struggles to balance being a father and being involved in an outlaw motorcycle club, as per the synopsis on IMDB. It’s a fairly interesting dynamic to explore as a father navigates who he used to be and who he presently is. The biker gang is also an untapped community of people that is rarely explored on screen, so that’s why this worked for as long as it did.
Yellowstone (2018)
Paramount Plus and Amazon Prime did not know how big of a hit Yellowstone would be, and it has become a silent killer from Taylor Sheridan. There are two ranching families in Montana who face off against each other over territory. The series is intense and the characters have surprisingly gotten worse with each betrayal that happens. Anything that puts Kevin Costner back in the saddle is a show worth watching and Sheridan knows how to craft a good old Western story.
Better Call Saul (2015)
Legal dramas haven’t been this well-received in a while and Better Call Saul is a spin-off of Breaking Bad. No one really knew how big the world would have gotten, but for it to have two shows that last more than five seasons, they were both special. As per the synopsis on IMDB, the series follows the trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) in the years leading up to his fateful run-in with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). This prequel filled in the gaps that Breaking Bad fans so desperately wanted to know.
Breaking Bad (2008)
Breaking Bad is an unconventional story that highlights a chemistry teacher spiraling into madness over his own inoperable lung cancer diagnosis. He turns to manufacturing and selling meth with a former student in order to secure his family’s future, as per the synopsis on IMDB. The concept is original and the characters in the show are unlike any we’ve seen before. The show has a career-best performance by Cranston who will forever be known as Walter White.
Narcos (2015)
Each series in this list has its own mob boss who lives by his own rules. In Narcos, we see a chronicled look at the criminal exploits of Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar as well as the many other drug kingpins who plagued the country through the years, as per the synopsis on IMDB. The standout in this series is Pedro Pascal who plays Javier Peña, he goes above and beyond in this role and it is the reason he had gotten more recognition.
Boardwalk Empire (2010)
Naturally, no one knows mobsters like Martin Scorsese, so when he developed a series on HBO called Boardwalk Empire people were excited. During the Prohibition era, an Atlantic City politician plays both sides of the law by conspiring with gangsters, as per the synopsis on IMDB. Much like Peaky Blinders and Sons of Anarchy, the series dives into areas of communities that haven’t been explored before. There are unique perspectives in all of these shows, and that’s why people have been drawn to them.
Queen of the South (2016)
A newer series that has gained its own following because of word-of-mouth is Queen of the South. The series follows Teresa (Alice Braga) as she flees Mexico after her drug-runner boyfriend is murdered. Settling in Dallas, she looks to become the country’s reigning drug smuggler and to avenge her lover’s murder, as per the synopsis on IMDB. It’s a thrilling series that is female-led, which makes it all the more reason to watch. Having a woman take control of situations including becoming a “capo” of some sort is something that should be explored more often.
Do you have any other recommendations for shows like Tulsa King? Let us know!
