Sylvester Stallone has his first major television role in Tulsa King. Dwight “The General” Manfredi is a vital 75-year-old New York City mobster and ex-con rudely tasked by his Invernizzi crime family with starting a new operation in Oklahoma. That’s the drama driving this new original drama (conceived by Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan) and, this being a mob story, half the fun early on is watching Manfredi assembling his oddball crew.
The other half: “We go back and forth between [Tulsa and] New York. These [Invernizzi] guys are a great source of conflict,” says executive producer Terence Winter, creator of Boardwalk Empire and a writer on The Sopranos.
The mafioso actors are seasoned tough guys from Winter’s previous shows “who play really well against Sly.” Watch especially for three Boardwalk vets: Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, and Max Casella, the last of whom plays ambitious criminal Armand Truisi in Tulsa. Says Winter, “He and Sly together are gold.”
As for Manfredi himself, Stallone previously told us of his sly mobster found his “philosophical side” during his time in the slammer, prompted by a fall from grace. Now, he’s not sold on this life of crime he’s returning to. Still, he’s expecting a more welcoming wagon than he receives.
He teased: “Dwight Manfredi has a dark side, but he’s also witty and a real tactician. He was at the top of his game until he took the fall for someone else. During 25 years in prison, he goes through a revival and finds his philosophical side. Dwight has regrets and remorse, but it’s the only life he knows. Upon his release he returns to that life, expecting a reward, but instead has been exiled to Tulsa, almost as a punishment, to start a mob.”
Dwight hits the ground running with his less than ideal circumstances in Oklahoma, where he’ll meet some of the western caricatures similar to those in Yellowstone.