Taylor Sheridan & Sylvester Stallone’s Underrated Crime Series Begins Season 4 Production With Major Shake-Up

Tulsa King season 4 is now underway, but the Taylor Sheridan series just experienced some big creative changes. Premiering in 2022, the hit Paramount+ show stars Sylvester Stallone as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, an ex-con putting together a new criminal empire in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Though Tulsa King has been a big hit so far, Variety now reports that season 4 started production with a major crew shakeup. In total, 26 crew members were fired and replaced only a week before cameras started rolling in Atlanta. This shakeup has included production starting without a showrunner.

The Sheridan show has a spotty history with showrunners. Unlike with Paramount’s Yellowstone, Sheridan himself created Tulsa King but was never a showrunner on it. Terrence Winter served as showrunner on season 1 but left before season 2. Though season 2 didn’t have a showrunner in the formal sense, producer and director Craig Zisk is reported to have largely taken on these duties.

Dave Erickson stepped up to become showrunner on Tulsa King season 3, but the Variety report notes that there was creative friction between Erickson and Stallone. Now, Erickson is out as showrunner and Winter is back, though only as head writer and executive producer.

Sylvester Stallone as Dwight Manfredi in Tulsa King, episode 10, season 3

Freddie Poole, who served as stunt coordinator on Tulsa King until he was let go along with 25 others, tells the publication that show producer 101 Studios is essentially serving as showrunner. “[101 Studios executive Scott Stone] said, ‘We’re not going to have a showrunner,” Poole recalls. “101 is the showrunner.’ And I raised an eyebrow at that. That was the writing on the wall for me. I knew at that point I better start looking out for myself.”

The more than two dozen crew members fired for Tulsa King season 4 worked across departments like sound, transportation, stunts, and hair and makeup. Variety reports that none of those who were fired had deals in place to return for season 4.

According to Poole, how affected crew members found out could have been handled better. “The manner in which this was done was just unprofessional and unnecessary,” he says. “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.”

It’s not necessarily unusual for shows to experience major crew turnover between seasons, but it is unusual for a studio executive like Stone to be essentially filling the role of showrunner. The reason behind the shakeup at the show still hasn’t been made clear.

Exactly how this affects Tulsa King season 4 remains to be seen. A showrunner is responsible for largely shaping the direction a show takes, both in terms of creative vision and day-to-day production, and it’s not clear how the new episodes will fare without this central figure.