After four season run, ‘Godfather of Harlem’ to end with two-hour series finale

The Forest Whitaker-led series about the rise and fall of Bumpy Johnson was MGM+’s flagship show.

The end has come for “Godfather of Harlem.”

MGM+, the distributor for the series chronicling the rise of gangster Bumpy Johnson in Harlem, New York, confirmed that the show would end not with a final season but with a two-hour finale. No date has been confirmed for the finale, but production is set to begin in New York, according to Variety and multiple outlets.

Forest Whitaker, who has led the show as Johnson since its inception in 2019, called portraying the Harlem gangster one of the “greatest” periods of his time as an actor.

“Playing Bumpy Johnson has been one of the greatest experiences of my career,” Whitaker said in a statement. “This character, this story and this ensemble have allowed me to explore the complexity of a man caught between ambition, loyalty and survival. I’m grateful to Michael Wright and MGM+, Chris Brancato, 20^th Television, Amazon, the entire creative team and our extraordinary cast for five seasons of exceptional collaboration.”

The show premiered its fourth season last April before wrapping in June 2025. In that period, Harlem is reeling after the assassination of Malcolm X (Jason Alan Carvell), while a new face enters the scene, Frank Lucas (Rome Flynn). The twists and turns in the season left viewers wanting a proper conclusion to Bumpy’s story, especially given that Laurence Fishburne portrayed the real-life gangster in 1997’s “Hoodlum,” and Clarence Williams III did so in the 2007 film “American Gangster,” starring Denzel Washington as Lucas.

According to the official synopsis for the finale, Whitaker’s Johnson “faces the ultimate reckoning as the walls close in around his empire. With enemies converging from every direction — political, criminal, and personal — Bumpy must draw on every alliance, every sacrifice, and every hard lesson earned across five seasons to protect what he has built and the people he loves.”

Michael Wright, the global head of MGM+, effused praise for Whitaker and the show’s creators, Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein.

“Forest Whitaker’s portrayal of Bumpy Johnson has been nothing short of extraordinary, and this series, created by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, has been a defining jewel of MGM+’s original programming slate,” Wright said. “We are deeply proud to give “Godfather of Harlem” the sendoff it deserves — a two-hour finale that honors the ambition, craft and emotional power the creative team and cast have brought to this series from day one. This is exactly the kind of bold, character-driven storytelling that MGM+ was built to champion.”