chapotraphouse

I watched the first season and was amused by it. the premise is basically Stallone is a near elderly ex-con who was recently released for some long prison sentence... like 20+ years. he was nailed so hard for refusing to talk/make a deal to roll on his people, specifically his boss, the head of a large crime family.

anyway he gets out and learns the big boss has recently died and the heir sees Stallone as a threat to his leadership, because stalline's such a likeable "stand up" guy who sacrificed a lot for the org. one of those affable lunks with jokes everybody likes.

so the heir comes up with some pretense to exile him to Tulsa and "allow" him to set up a franchise there, with pretty much no money or connections so he won't be encroaching in any other family's turf.

and the show is basically him putting something together in a place that has no Mafia, but does indeed have an ecosystem of petty shitheads, rivalries, exploited underdogs, shady enterprises, and actual, fucked up psychopaths. plus it's own history of indigenous and racial tensions and sense of identity/place that is not NYC BABY.

I have a spot for shows about change agents moving into a system and through some combo of ignorance, curiosity, and cleverness integrating themselves and the hierarchy toppling/adapting to a new equilibrium.

it is not a deep show, but I found myself pulled into the drama. also, Martin Starr is in it and he cracks me up. and I can see how playing this type of guy would be fun for Stallone in his late career. they lean heavy into the Italian meatball stereotypes, but that has never bothered me lmao.