'Tulsa King' Spinoff 'NOLA King' With Samuel L. Jackson In The Works

  Saaaaaalutations! If you thought Paramount+ nabbing Sylvester Stallone to star in Tulsa King said something about what television had become, hear this out: Tulsa King has a New Orleans-set spinoff in development, aptly titled NOLA King , and it’s set to star Samuel L. Jackson. Exact details of NOLA King are under wraps, but Jackson’s character,   Russell Lee Washington Jr.,   has been described as similar to Stallone’s Dwight Manfredi. The series would be set up by a recurring arc in Tulsa King ’s third season, currently in production in Oklahoma and Atlanta, which explains why Variety ’s  telling didn’t call the single appearance they implied as a backdoor pilot. Jackson is expected to film his episodes in July, with production on NOLA King looking at a February start. Dave Erickson will be writing the spin-off after previously taking over showrunner duties on  Tulsa King starting with this new third  season.  He is expected to transition fro...

Annaleigh Ashford And Dennis Quaid To Put On 'Good Wife' Creators' 'Happy Face'


B Positive’s Annaleigh Ashford and Dennis Quaid, most recently seen on Paramount+’s acclaimed series Lawmen: Bass Reeves have been cast in lead roles in Happy Face, the latest series for the streamer from The Good Wife franchise and Evil creators Robert and Michelle King.

Originally ordered in November 2021, the series is inspired by the podcast by the same name from iHeartMedia and Melissa Moore, through her true story as chronicled in her autobiography Shattered Silence she wrote with M. Bridget Cook. As the story goes Moore was 15 when she uncovered that her father was a serial killer, the serial killer known as “Happy Face,” because he would draw smiley faces on evidence to brag about the horrors he committed. In adulthood she changed her name kept her secret as her father has been serving his life sentence in prison.

With Ashford playing Melissa and Quaid playing Happy Face, the logline reads “After decades of no contact, he finally finds a way to force himself back into his daughter’s life. In a race against the clock, Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed. Throughout, she discovers the impact her father had on his victims’ families and must face a reckoning of her own identity.” Set to begin begin production on its eight-episode first season this spring in Vancouver, the series will premiere on Paramount+ as a global original in 2025. 

Tony winner Ashford reunites with the Kings having appeared in Evil and The Good Fight. Elsewhere in TV she earned an Emmy nomination for her role in the Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales and appeared in Masters of Sex and Impeachment: American Crime Story. In film, she appeared in Late Night and Bad EducationAlong with the acclaimed Paramount+ series under his belt, Quaid’s previous television roles include the short lived CBS series Vegas, Netflix’s Merry Happy Whatever, and Crackle’s The Art of More. His well-known film roles include the 1998 The Parent Trap remake, The Rookie, The Day After TomorrowTrafficFrequency, The Right Stuff, and Strange World. 

Jennifer Cacicio is the writer, executive producer, and showrunner on Happy Face. The Kings executive produce under their King Size Productions banner alongside company executive Liz Glotzer, Moore herself, iHeartMedia’s Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, and Jordana Mollick. Michael Showalter will direct the first episode and executive produce as well. CBS Studios is the production studio thanks to their overall deal with the Kings.

Source: Variety (1, 2)

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