There appears to be plenty of drama within Taylor Sheridan’s “Tulsa King,” and it just goes to show the serious entitlement issue within the entertainment industry.
“The Sopranos” veteran Terence Winter is apparently returning to “Tulsa King” despite initially bailing on the series after the first season. Though we didn’t miss the news that Winter originally bailed and returned to the Sylvester Stallone-led series, we didn’t realize just how much of a big deal this was in the context of Taylor Sheridan’s other shows. Winter’s return as one of the main writers and executive producers to “Tulsa King” was almost reported as a quiet side note in the ongoing saga of Sheridan’s series. But in reality, it seems like part of a pattern.
Winter apparently had issues with the “creative direction” of the series, as The Hollywood Reporter revealed. The new position will allow Winter to work closely with Stallone while avoiding Sheridan, sources told the outlet. But why are entertainment veterans so anti-Sheridan’s approach to his work?
Rumors Erupt Over Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Tulsa King’ But It’s Not What It Seems | @DailyCaller https://t.co/U2lqJjUOhz
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Sheridan’s flagship series “Yellowstone” is on some type of hiatus despite Paramount executives saying it’ll return in November. Almost all of the drama surrounding “Yellowstone” actually comes from the show’s lead, Kevin Costner.
Costner, like Winter, reportedly doesn’t like the direction that Sheridan is taking the show. To this, I just have to say: who cares? You’re paid to be an actor, not to run the entire show.
While no one who works full-time in entertainment should be applauded for their work (it is a very easy, plush career that helps no one in any practical way), Sheridan has single-handedly come up with a whole host of ideas that’ll guarantee these entertainment types work, a paycheck and residuals for potentially decades to come.
LOS ANGELES: Writer Terence Winter, winner for Outstanding Writing on a Drama Series for “The Sopranos”, poses with his Emmy backstage during the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 19, 2004 at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 13: (L-R) Dana Delany, Garrett Hedlund, Terence Winter, Andrea Savage and Jen Chaney attend New York Magazine’s Vulture Festival 2022 at The Hollywood Roosevelt on November 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for VOX Media)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: (L-R) Terence Winter, Andrea Savage, Garrett Hedlund and Dana Delany speak onstage at The Tulsa King Has Arrived Presented by Paramount+ during New York Magazine’s Vulture Festival 2022 at The Hollywood Roosevelt on November 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Vox Media)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: (L-R) Terence Winter and Andrea Savage speak onstage at The Tulsa King Has Arrived Presented by Paramount+ during New York Magazine’s Vulture Festival 2022 at The Hollywood Roosevelt on November 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Vox Media)
And while I absolutely understand how icky it can be to put your name to something you’re not exactly proud of, it’s part of working in the modern world. Winters, Costner and anyone else who has a problem with Sheridan’s approach to work needs to understand that.
However these difficult relationships play out, Winter, Costner and Sheridan all win when it comes down to it. They all get well overpaid to do almost nothing to actually help humanity. And if they’re all too childish to learn how to get along, some other studio will pay them to do nothing meaningful on a completely different project. (RELATED: ‘Tulsa King’ Reveals Major Casting Update)
But we the fans? We’re the ones who lose because we actually uphold the shitty world these men use to create their fiction. All we’re asking for is for them to put their egos aside and tell us a story so we can switch off our brains for 40 minutes a week.
Is that so hard to do?