Taylor Sheridan Managed To Create Tulsa King In An Impossible Amount Of Time

The pace at which Taylor Sheridan comes up with new ideas and creates shows is not normal, to say the least. Since he launched his first series, the recently concluded Paramount Network hit “Yellowstone,” in 2018, Sheridan has produced over a half-dozen more in less than seven years. But establishing the Sylvester Stallone drama “Tulsa King” in under a week still probably takes the cake in terms of sheer creative speed.

In speaking with Variety in 2022, Sheridan revealed how quickly “Tulsa King” came to life. “I was talking with a producer, and it’s COVID. Everyone’s kind of going stir-crazy. He was asking me about ideas,” explained the series creator. “I said, ‘Look, all you need, in my opinion, to have an interesting TV show is take a really fascinating character and drop them in a world that we don’t know anything about.'” After taking his comment to heart over the next two days, Sheridan called that producer back with a script. “‘Hey, I wrote that thing we talked about,'” he explained.

That pilot script launched “Tulsa King” as a bona fide hit after it impressed Stallone, who Sheridan called personally to offer the role. Together, they sold the series to Paramount, and the rest is history. “This volume of work is not sustainable for a long period of time,” the series creator admitted, but that hasn’t stopped him from grabbing every chance he can get.

Despite knowing the unsustainable nature of his workload, Sheridan seems to have no intention of loosening his schedule based on the ongoing and upcoming projects he continues to pursue. While that can sometimes affect the quality of his writing, other times he continues to live up to his own standards with banger shows like “Landman.” In most cases, however, Sheridan knows how to find the golden ticket to the audience’s heart.

In addition to Sheridan’s continuing shows like “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Lioness,” and “Landman,” the actor-turned-filmmaker is also working on four brand-new “Yellowstone” spin-offs that will likely hit the small screen in 2026. These include “The Madison,” which will feature Kurt Russell; the Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser-led “Dutton Ranch” sequel series; the CBS drama “Marshals,” following Luke Grimes’ Kayce Dutton; and the upcoming prequel “1944,” which may be a “1923” follow-up.

No matter what happens with these projects as Sheridan leaves Paramount for NBCUniversal, one thing is clear: he won’t ease up on bringing us gripping television in the next few years. The fact that “Tulsa King” has been renewed for a fourth season on Paramount+ is a good indicator of that.