TV Talk: Sylvester Stallone crowned ‘Tulsa King;’ effective ‘Virulent’ premieres on WQED-TV
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It’s a big weekend for brand-name writer/director Taylor Sheridan: His “Yellowstone” returns for a two-episode fifth season premiere at 8 p.m. Sunday on cable’s Paramount Network and his latest series, “Tulsa King,” premieres its first two episodes Sunday on streaming service Paramount+.
More entertaining than Sheridan’s morose “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Tulsa King” benefits from dark humor imbued in the script by Sheridan and showrunner/writer Terrence Winter (“Boardwalk Empire,” “The Sopranos”) that’s delivered with natural ease by Sylvester Stallone. (I’m probably the only person who remembers, let alone liked, Stallone’s flop 1991 comedy “Oscar,” but he’s good with a one-liner!)
Stallone stars in “Tulsa King” as New York mafia capo Dwight Manfredi, who’s kept his mouth shut during a 25-year prison sentence.
How is Dwight rewarded when he gets out? He gets exiled to Tulsa, Okla., where he has to set up shop, beginning with strong-arming a marijuana dispensary that doesn’t need protection from gangs (there are none) or the FBI (it’s legal, the owner says).
“Tulsa King” is by no means great television, but it’s better than average thanks to Stallone’s world-weariness and the presence of actress Andrea Savage, best known for the comedy “I’m Sorry.” Savage’s Stacy meets Dwight in a bar and in the first two episodes seems like she’ll be a strong comedic foil for Dwight to bump up against. (Dana Delany will also be part of the show, but she doesn’t appear in the first two episodes.)
“Tulsa King” leans too hard into obvious jokes about Dwight’s age and Dwight’s cluelessness about modern tech. Someone has to explain an ATM card to him, but ATMs pre-date when Dwight entered prison in 1997. And because this is a show from Sheridan – by definition macho, politically incorrect – Dwight rants about pronouns when he’s high.
But, “Tulsa King” benefits from a few surprise plot turns, Stallone’s comic timing and a winning supporting cast, particularly the aforementioned Savage and Martin Starr (“Freaks and Geeks”) as the poor pot shop owner Dwight sets his sights on.
After this week, “Tulsa King” episodes will debut weekly on Sundays on Paramount+. The first episode of “Tulsa King” will air as a one-time special Nov. 20 on cable’s Paramount Network after “Yellowstone.”
‘Virulent: The Vaccine War’
I was skeptical about the next original documentary to air on WQED – not skeptical of its topic, the benefits of vaccines, but skeptical of what kind of impact “Virulent: The Vaccine War” (7:30 p.m. Nov. 17, WQED-TV) can have. My guess is most WQED viewers are not vaccine hesitant and for those who are, would they watch this program?
But “Virulent,” produced by Laura Davis and Tjardus Greidanus (“Burden of Genius: Dr. Thomas Starzl’s Journey Into Organ Transplantation”) in association with WQED and Steeltown Entertainment Project, does such an effective job combatting vaccine skepticism on so many different fronts that I wound up feeling similarly to a former vaccine skeptic interviewed in the film who says, “You never know what’s gonna flip someone’s switch. When you get wrong information and you have to change [your mind], you just have to own up to it.”
“Virulent” does an excellent job rebutting many bad arguments, including the idea that vaccines are a conspiracy of big pharma. As the film points out, there’s much less money to be made in vaccine development than other prescription drugs — and a lot of money to be made by anti-vax grifters.
The film explores the political fight over vaccines, which started as a far-left issue and mutated into a far-right issue, and the way in which vaccines have proved so effective as to become questionable.
“Mother nature has been trying to kill us ever since we crawled out of the ocean onto land,” says Dr. Paul Offit, professor of pediatrics at Penn Medical School. “The only reason we live 30 years longer now than we did 100 years ago is we fought back. … The only reason, frankly, that we now question them is at some level vaccines have become victims of their own success.”
Local ties in the film include a University of Pittsburgh professor/UPMC doctor who’s interviewed and a look at how times have changed since Dr. Jonas Salk was cheered (not jeered) in his development of the polio vaccine in Pittsburgh.
More IATSE training
In a follow-up to summer’s grips training program put on by IATSE/Pittsburgh Film Office/Reel Works, the organizations have re-teamed for studio mechanics electric training and entertainment hair stylist training, which teach participants skills and give them the credentialing needed for union careers in film/television production upon graduation.
Applications close for the hair stylist program Nov. 20 and for the electric training Nov. 21. Both programs are free, pay participants a stipend and will begin in January 2023.
For details or applications, email info@mediamkrs.org.
Kept/canceled
It took a while, but Netflix renewed “The Sandman,” co-starring Point Park University grad Mason Alexander Park, for a second season. Netflix also ordered two more installments of “Monster,” focused on serial killers other than Jeffrey Dahmer, and a second season of “The Watcher.”
Apple TV+ renewed “Bad Sisters” for a second season.
Amazon Prime Video’s “Carnival Row” will end with its second season, premiering Feb. 17, 2023.
ABC’s “A Million Little Things” will end with its fifth season, premiering at 10 p.m. Feb. 8.
HBO Max canceled “Westworld” after four seasons.
Adult animated comedy “Tuca and Bertie” has been canceled again, this time by Adult Swim.
A “Degrassi” reboot in development at HBO Max has been scrapped as the streamer looks to rethink its kids and family programming and save money.
CNBC canceled Shepard Smith’s newscast, effective later this month, replacing it with an hour of business news in early 2023.
Star Colin Mochrie says the current version of The CW’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will end with a 12th season that begins filming in January.
Channel surfing
Peacock launched a Hallmark hub, giving Peacock subscribers access to Hallmark Channel simulcasts, on demand programming and a library of Hallmark holiday films. … CNN’s Jake Tapper, who began a prime-time try-out in September, will return to afternoons, 4-6 p.m., in the coming weeks. … Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the Oscars on ABC (March 12, 2023). … ABC will finally pair “The Rookie” (8 p.m.) and “The Rookie: Feds” (9 p.m.) on Tuesdays beginning Jan. 3.