To a big chunk of its user base, Paramount+ might as well be TaylorSheridan+ at this point, given how in-demand the Yellowstone co-creator’s rapidly expanding universe of shows on the streamer has become. From Yellowstone prequel 1883 to Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, and the new Special Ops: Lioness, Sheridan’s shows share common themes of rugged individualism, tough guys bucking the established order, and what the American experience looks like to different people and communities. They’re the kinds of shows that critics quite often pan, but fans can’t get enough of.
If you’re a Paramount+ subscriber and are looking for a few new titles to put on your watch list, though, Sheridan’s certainly aren’t the only Paramount+ originals worth keeping your eye on. Here are five other Paramount+ titles that all represent exciting additions to Paramount’s streaming service and which are definite must-watches if you haven’t checked them out yet.
The Gold
Two of my favorite things in the world (as far as streaming entertainment goes) are spy shows and heist stories, and Paramount+’s The Gold certainly fits the bill of the latter.
Inspired by real events that took place in late 1983 in London, The Gold tells the story of six armed men breaking into a security depot near Heathrow Airport and unwittingly stumbling across gold bullion worth the US equivalent of $32 million. From Paramount+’s official synopsis: “According to detectives, what started as a typical Old Kent Road armed robbery became a seminal event in British criminal history that’s remarkable not only for the scale of the theft — at the time the biggest in world history — but for its wider legacy.
“The disposal of the bullion caused the birth of large-scale international money laundering; provided the dirty money that helped fuel the London Docklands property boom; united blue- and white-collar criminals; and left controversy and murder in its wake.”
The cast includes Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville, as well as Jack Lowden — who Apple TV+ fans will recognize as River Cartwright from the fantastic Slow Horses. A heist series set in the UK? Yes, please!
Colin From Accounts
None of us relishes the thought of ever seeing a cute dog getting hurt, even though that seems to be an increasingly popular launchpad for storytelling. In the case of Keanu Reeves’ John Wick franchise, he goes ballistic when the bad guys kill his dog. In the case of Colin From Accounts, an Australian comedy series acquired by Paramount+, a dog injury basically facilitates a meet-cute between two polar opposite singles.
The catalyst for this comedy is more or less: Guy catches a glimpse of hot girl while driving. She gives him a nipple flash. Guy hits dog while mesmerized. “The series is about flawed, funny people choosing each other and being brave enough to show their true selves, scars and all, as they navigate life together,” Paramount+ says about the series.
The two singles are newly heartbroken medical student Ashley (Harriet Dyer) and brewery owner Gordon (Patrick Brammall). Making this all the more hilarious, at least to me, is that Dyer and Brammall (the creators and writers of this series) are also married to each other in real life. These two sloppy, lonely, likable characters bond over the need to take care of the cute canine — and, at some point between that car crash and the end of the season, you will absolutely be rooting for them, a la Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly.
Special Ops: Lioness
There are no brooding cowboys or wide open spaces in Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness. Ditto on a lack of ranches, cattle, and anything with even the faintest connection to Montana — which, of course, is the setting of Sheridan’s wildly successful Dutton family saga that’s also the flagship Paramount original series. In fact, Sheridan’s new show that’s loosely based on the US military’s real-life “Lioness” teams has more in common with the movies he’s written over the years like Sicario and Hell or High Water, films about gun-toting antiheroes, darkness, evil, and good men doing bad things.
The premise of this new star-studded espionage thriller is as follows: Zoe Saldaña plays Joe, a station chief in charge of the Lioness teams who’s responsible for training and leading new recruits who will ultimately work to assassinate dangerous terrorists. She’s described as the tip of the spear in the CIA’s ongoing war on terror, with this program meant to give the agency a shot at thwarting the next 9/11.
As such, Special Ops: Lioness falls squarely within the genre of military-adjacent streaming entertainment like Prime Video’s Jack Ryan and The Terminal List. You know, Dad TV — which is to say, not necessarily cool or the kind of thing that critics swoon over, but one with a huge market nonetheless. “I am a huge fan of Taylor Sheridan’s work and am honored to help him tell his next amazing story with Lioness,” said Tom Brady, showrunner and executive producer, in an announcement from Paramount.
“Taylor has created an epic, gripping, global spy thriller centered on a group of complex, strong women, and I can’t imagine anyone better to help bring these characters to life than fellow executive producers Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldaña.”
Tulsa King
Sheridan’s Tulsa King, meanwhile, is more Peak Dad TV — this time, with Sylvester Stallone as a no-nonsense mobster with a “fuhgeddaboudit” accent and a heart of gold who’s also pretty funny when he wants to be.
In addition to Stallone, this mafia-meets-the-Midwest show has some serious talent behind it. Sheridan, the creator, also serves as executive producer alongside Terence Winters, whose credits include The Sopranos and The Wolf of Wall Street.
The story summary from Paramount+: “Tulsa King follows New York mafia capo Dwight ‘The General’ Manfredi (Stallone) just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters, helping establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.”
Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Finally, we come to Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which tells the story of a sort of real-life Lone Ranger.
The Lone Ranger, of course, was a fictional, mask-wearing former Texas Ranger whose outlaw-fighting exploits were once a staple of American TV in the 1950s and was about as familiar and pervasive as an American cultural icon can get. However, the story of the first black deputy US Marshal west of the Mississippi River — who worked in the post-Civil War Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory — unsurprisingly enjoys nowhere near the same degree of familiarity.
And that’s despite the fact that his numerous feats, unlike those of the Lone Ranger, actually happened. During the course of his law enforcement career, for example, he captured over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded — despite getting his hat shot off more than once.
Lawmen is being billed as an anthology series that will tell the story of other iconic lawmen and outlaws in future seasons. And, as the name makes clear, Reeves will be the focus at the start. He’s played by British actor David Oyelowo, who, if you ask me, slips effortlessly into the role of the fearless gunslinger, as you can see in the trailer below, snarling memorable one-liners like “Your wicked days are done.”
