The Best Part of 'The Family Stallone' Isn't Sylvester

June 2024 · 9 minute read

The Big Picture

Sylvester "Sly" Stallone has always kept himself busy in Hollywood. Since writing and starring in his first movie, Rocky, in 1976, he has appeared in films decade after decade. In more recent years, he has also made the transition to serialized TV. He performs as Mafia capo Dwight Manfredi in the series Tulsa King for Paramount+, and also launched his new reality TV series The Family Stallone. The series emphasizes Sly's charming on-camera persona, where he has developed a talent for showing the facets of his personality that balance out his testosterone-fueled machismo. He does so by charmingly referring to great works of literature, showing off a warehouse filled with the paintings that he creates as an artistic outlet, imparting life lessons learned from entertainment giants like the great Dolly Parton, and relentlessly teasing his daughters as he checks in on their lives. Sly speaking about his love for his work, whether on camera or on canvas, is trumped on the reality series only by the love he expresses for his wife and his daughters.

The Family Stallone
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After four decades as one of Los Angeles’ most famous families, the Stallones are leaving Hollywood for good and moving east. But distance can’t keep this family apart as the season culminates in a life-changing trip to Italy to explore their family history, rekindle love, and make a lifetime of memories.

Cast Sylvester Stallone , Sistine Stallone , Scarlet Stallone , Sophia Rose Stallone Main Genre Reality Seasons 2 Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

'The Family Stallone' Shares Similarities With 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians'

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In The Family Stallone, viewers are invited into the world of Sly's breezy wife, Jennifer Flavin Stallone, as she learns to embrace becoming an empty nester. Jennifer has been hailed by a "family source" as the new Hollywood "momager," comparable to the infamous Kris Jenner's working relationship with her multi-hyphenate daughters. Like the Kardashians, the Stallone sisters share their busy lives on the reality program. While Jennifer is most often shown in her role as supportive mother and teasing wife, what is shown less often is her role in managing her children's careers. Viewers also are not shown the turbulent marital troubles that seem to have plagued Jennifer and Sylvester's marriage running up to the premiere of the first season of The Family Stallone. Jennifer filed for divorce in August 2022, during the time they were filming Season 1, although the couple present a united front in the series and have since seemingly reconciled.

The youngest daughter, 20-year-old Scarlet Stallone, was the last to leave the family home in 2023. While Sylvester and Jennifer seem to be hiding significant aspects of their personal lives as they appear on reality TV, their daughters have dived into their new roles with admirable enthusiasm. Scarlet and her sisters, Sistine Stallone and Sophia Stallone, share every significant aspect of their life, from scholastic struggles, to their work and home lives, and even romance. Theirsisterhood takes center stage on The Family Stallone and is absolutely the most interesting and authentic part of the reality series.

Scarlet Stallone Takes On School, Work, and Dating

The youngest sister, Scarlet, is in the "figuring it out" stage of life. She often brings the family together as they try to help her find her way. In Season 1, her sisters and her mother help her to move into her first apartment to return to school in Miami. Move-in day is a moment that highlights the close bond the sisters share. Middle sister Sistine takes a moment to throw light shade at her siblings, noting that Sophia "kind of just complains" but is good at breaking down boxes, while Scarlett "literally does nothing." This narration is paired with a scene of Sophia and Scarlet arguing while loading moving boxes out of the elevator, which eventually escalates to a point where Sophia takes Scarlet out at the knee by jokingly pushing a box at her. Scarlet rolls around on the floor and moans about the damage done. The sisters' playfulness with each other and their goofy personalities come across naturally, and allow an understanding of how the family normally operates.

In Season 1, Scarlet also mourns the loss of her relationship with her first boyfriend, Joe, and is deeply emotional about it when speaking to her sisters. When Jennifer and the two oldest sisters attempt to get Sly to reach out to his youngest daughter in a show of support, he instead places a bet with them all that she will recover from the loss in less than two-weeks. As Sly predicted, Scarlet shows up at the family home in Florida for a weekend visit as though fully recovered from the break-up. Her mother and sisters are shocked at the transformation as she comes skipping into the backyard, while Sly gets to be smug about how well he knows his youngest daughter. When Scarlet finds out her sisters now have to go to a reptile habitat with their father and face their fears by holding snakes and spiders as a result of their bet, she responds with typical youngest child outrage: "Of course they were making bets on my feelings behind my back! They deserve it."

Throughout Season 1 and 2, Scarlet is struggling to decide her direction in life, but openly shares many milestone moments. After her heartbreak in Season 1, in Season 2 she introduces her new boyfriend Louis to her family, and to the world, inviting him to appear on the series with her. She debates leaving school to join her sisters, who are making career moves in New York. Scarlet wants to follow in her father's footsteps in an acting career, which would be more easily pursued in New York than in Miami. She has already dabbled in the field, appearing in a small role on Tulsa King after her father arranged an audition for her. While Scarlet eventually musters the courage to tell her mother she wants to leave school, Jennifer makes it clear that her daughter's education should remain a priority. Scarlet's struggle is endearing, as she wants to both meet her parents' expectations while also trying to decide which road to independence she will take.

Sistine and Sophia Stallone Keep Busy on 'The Family Stallone'

Middle sister Sistine and her oldest sister Sophia have a unique bond, living and working together (they share their podcast, Unwaxed). Sistine is also focused on her writing career, and trying to navigate a competitive family atmosphere, knowing her sister Sophia also has writing ambitions. When Sistine sells her first screenplay to MGM, Sophia is the last in the family to find out. Sistine struggles to put into words why this is so, but when Sophia continues to take the celebratory moment and pull focus onto her own feelings, Sistine snaps: "You're making my moment about you right now." This is a relatable fight among sisters struggling to share space while maintaining autonomous identities.

Early in the first season, Sophia talks about the pressure of being the oldest sister, especially in a famous family, saying that she feels the need to monitor her behavior at all times in an effort to be perfect. She continues: "You want to make sure that everything you do is right, and just, and morally correct." Her father attributes this quality in his daughter's personality to her astrological star sign — Virgo. Sophia acknowledges that this mindset can hold her back from truly diving into her talents, out of a fear of creating something that is not perfect. Her struggles as a young creative are relatable, as are her concerns about how to be the best example to her sisters that she can be.

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Sophia has been writing a romantic historical-fiction novel, and hopes to push herself to finish it. Sistine's success in selling her screenplay helps to galvanize Sophia into setting up a meeting with a publisher to discuss her manuscript, showing the competitive Stallone spirit. While her book may lean towards the romantic, she is not really interested in focusing on romance in her real life while she continues to prioritize her career. That is, until the family takes a trip to Italy in Season 2 that ends with a surprise romance for the eldest Stallone daughter. The sisters all do an admirable job of sharing each major aspect of their lives in the first two seasons of their reality series. Although the series has yet to be renewed for a third season, hopefully the sisters Stallone will be given the opportunity to continue sharing their growth as young professionals in seasons to come.

'The Family Stallone' Season 3 Is Still Up in the Air

There has been no word yet about whether the network will renew the series for a third season. The renewal for the second season was announced in May 2023, one week after the series premiere. The announcement came after The Family Stallone became the number one reality series premiere for the network. The second season was released on Paramount+ in February 2024, but the network has yet to share any updates about the show's future. This could mean they are waiting to see how the second season performs in the long-term. It could also mean the family is no longer willing to share a window into their world, although considering the success of the first season and the family's ease in front of the camera, this seems less likely. The network could also be trying to gauge if viewer interest remains strong as they pick up cameras for the second season of Tulsa King before deciding the fate of the Stallone family reality series. If a renewal is around the corner, it seems like an announcement should be coming soon.

Stream both seasons of The Family Stallone on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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