Tulsa King is a crime drama series starring Sylvester Stallone about a mobster who heads to Tulsa and starts his own criminal empire. The series is streaming on Paramount+.
Tulsa King tells a story from a criminal perspective and involves turf wars, dealings in drugs and other illegal paraphernalia, emotional bonds that are occasionally affected by the darker side of things, and multiple encounters with the law.
The streaming landscape is filled with several series of similar ilk that evokes similar reactions from their audiences. Here is a list of 9 shows like Tulsa King on Netflix, Paramount+ & more:
1. Mayor Kingstown (2021 – present)
Available on: Paramount+
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Dianne Wiest, Hugh Dillon, Tobi Bamtefa, Taylor Handley, Emma Laird
In the town of Kingstown, Michigan, incarceration is a booming business, and Mike McLusky and his family are closely involved in the goings-on of the system. Mike is thrust into the position of “mayor” of the town, much to his reluctance and he must ensure that order is maintained.
The series portrays themes of institutional corruption, systemic racism, and social inequality with gritty determination and continues to tell its story.
2. Sons of Anarchy (2008 – 2014)
Available on: Hulu
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, Kim Coates, Maggie Siff, Johnny Lewis
Sons of Anarchy follows Jackson “Jax” Teller, the vice president and later president of the “Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club”, based in the fictional town of Charming, California.
Jax is a loyal member until he finds a manifesto belonging to his late father that changes his perspective on the life that he leads. He begins to question his decisions and is at odds with the people closest to him.
The series ran for 7 seasons and spawned a spin-off titled Mayans M.C.
3. Ozark (2017 – 2022)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Julia Garner, Sofia Hublitz, Skylar Gaertner
Marty Byrde is a financial advisor who falls into trouble with a Mexican drug cartel after some poor decisions from his business partner. In a bid to save his life, Marty offers to launder money for the cartel in the Ozarks region of Missouri.
Slowly but surely, Marty builds a name for himself while trying to keep the cartel at bay and remains on the good side of the authorities. His family has mixed feelings about his dealings and their lives are not without immense risk.
There are magnificent performances and a real, hard-hitting narrative that makes this series highly entertaining.
4. Peaky Blinders (2013 – 2022)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Sam Neill, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Annabelle Wallis, Iddo Goldberg
Set in post-World War I Birmingham, Peaky Blinders revolves around the titular street gang and their notorious activities as they are led by their calculating leader, Thomas Shelby. Shelby’s family is also involved in the trade and his ultimate goal is power.
He makes connections and rises through the ranks of society while fighting off the threats he faces along the way. He also falls in love and finds new allies and enemies throughout his journey.
The sixth season was the final season of the series with a feature-length film announced in place of a seventh season.
5. Narcos (2015 – 2017)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal, Joanna Christie, Maurice Compte
Narcos chronicles the rise and eventual fall of Pablo Escobar in this dramatized retelling of his life and the various drug cartels that operated in Colombia. It also focuses on the efforts of the DEA to put an end to these operations with violent results.
Following the death of Escobar, the story shifts toward the Cali Cartel, his main competitor who moved to occupy the spot of the most powerful drug lords at the time. The top brass of the cartel tries to get out of the business with their reputations intact but they all meet gruesome endings.
6. Top Boy (2011 – present)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Ashley Walters, Kane Robinson, Shone Romulus, Giacomo Mancini,
Top Boy focuses on two young men who deal drugs from within a summerhouse estate in East London. As time moves on, they manage to make lucrative careers out of dealing drugs but it is not without trouble.
They have to constantly fight tooth and nail to remain on top and their partnership goes under severe pressure. They spend time apart and eventually come back together to do what they do best.
Following the first two seasons, the series was revived by Netflix in 2017 and the third season aired in 2019, 6 years after the second. A fifth and final season has been announced for some time in the future.
7. Queen of the South (2016 – 2021)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Alice Braga, Peter Gadiot, Veronica Falcón, Hemky Madera, Joaquim de Almeida
Teresa rises from nothing to become one of the most successful drug lords in the country in this adaptation of the telenovela La Reina del Sur which itself is an adaptation of a novel of the same name written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
In Queen of the South, Teresa flees from Mexico into the United States and soon expresses a proficiency in the cartel business as she rises through the ranks and builds her own empire, attracting the attention of rivals, and the government authorities.
8. Gangs of London (2020 – present)
Available on: Prime Video
Cast: Joe Cole, Colm Meaney, Lucian Msamati, Sope Dirisu, Michelle Fairley
The various gangs of the London underworld vie for power in this crime drama series and at the center of it, is Sean Wallace, the son of Finn Wallace who has to take over the family criminal empire following his father’s death.
Finn’s death rocks the core of the underworld and opens up opportunities for rivals to make moves against the Wallace family and move themselves to the top of the food chain.
9. Godfather of Harlem (2019 – present)
Available on: Hulu, Prime Video
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Nigél Thatch, Jason Alan Carvell, Ilfenesh Hadera, Giancarlo Esposito, Vincent D’Onofrio
Bumpy Johnson was a notorious gangster that operated out of Harlem in the 1960s and his activities coincided with the rise of Malcolm X as the two of them worked together even if their goals didn’t necessarily align.
Bumpy faced competition from the Italian mob while also dealing with rampant racism and oppression of African Americans during that period of the USA. The series is a prequel to the movie, American Gangster starring Denzel Washington.