Culture 4 min read By Lauren Baxter
Taylor Sheridan's 'Frisco King' Starring Samuel L. Jackson Sets Paramount+ Premiere Date
Paramount+ has set a December 18 premiere for 'Frisco King,' Taylor Sheridan's 'Tulsa King' spinoff starring Samuel L. Jackson, who reprises his role as Russell Lee Washington Jr. in a new Texas setting.
Samuel L. Jackson is returning to the role of Russell Lee Washington Jr. in «Frisco King,» Taylor Sheridan's spinoff of «Tulsa King,» and Paramount+ has locked in a December 18 premiere date for the series. The streamer will launch the show with two episodes, according to the release plan announced alongside a first teaser for the project.
The new series moves Jackson's character out of Oklahoma and into Frisco, Texas, where the New Orleans gangster sets up a fresh operation in a suburban setting. The official logline describes Washington as establishing a new kingdom in the North Texas city, where he discovers a hustler running his business amid the affluent suburb. Recruiting an ambitious figure becomes part of the story's central conflict, though the teaser keeps the specifics of that partnership under wraps.
The teaser, released Thursday morning, offers the first footage of Jackson in the role he originated on «Tulsa King.» It frames the character as operating «outside the law» in his new environment, a shift that trades the gritty urban backdrop of the flagship series for the manicured lawns and strip-mall prosperity of one of the fastest-growing cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The tonal contrast between Washington's criminal instincts and Frisco's family-friendly reputation appears to be a driving element of the spinoff's premise.
«Frisco King» represents the first expansion of the «Tulsa King» universe, which Sheridan created and which became one of Paramount+'s most-watched original series. Sheridan, whose television output includes «Yellowstone,» «1883,» «1923,» «Mayor of Kingstown,» «Lawmen: Bass Reeves,» and «Lioness,» has built a sprawling portfolio of series rooted in the American West and its modern-day power struggles. The «Tulsa King» franchise extends that interest into organized crime and the politics of small-city influence.
Jackson's involvement gives the spinoff a marquee name at its center. The actor, whose career spans «Pulp Fiction,» «Jackie Brown,» the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and multiple «Star Wars» films, first played Russell Lee Washington Jr. in a recurring capacity on «Tulsa King,» where the character served as a mentor and foil to Sylvester Stallone's Dwight Manfredi. Promoting him to lead of his own series marks a significant vote of confidence from both Sheridan and the network.
The December 18 debut places «Frisco King» in a competitive holiday streaming window, when platforms typically push high-profile titles to capture viewers during extended downtime. Paramount+ has leaned heavily on Sheridan's productions as subscriber drivers, and the spinoff arrives as the flagship «Tulsa King» continues to draw a dedicated audience. Two episodes at launch, followed by a weekly rollout, follows the standard release pattern the service has used for its Sheridan-backed dramas.
Beyond the premiere date and teaser, details about the supporting cast, episode count, and production timeline remain limited. The series was announced as part of Paramount+'s broader strategy to build franchise extensions around its most successful originals, a model that has become increasingly common across streaming platforms seeking to retain subscribers with familiar intellectual property. Whether «Frisco King» can replicate the flagship's viewership without Stallone at the center will be one of the winter season's more closely watched questions in television.
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