The Sopranos 25th Anniversary

You basically made a thread based off I comment a made on another thread. Thanks cunt.

Nah, I don't know whatchu talkin about. This scene is legendary Teacake. It's not a guarded secret to you... go make Patti Labelles fried chicken with greens and then come back, retard

I think it’s time you start eating salads.

A Masterclass in acting. None of the cast could ever top their performances in that show because it truly was the best ever, the writing, the humour, the characters, the music everything. Impeccable.

Please don’t deface The Departures Magazine.

He never had the makings of a varsity athlete.

[quote]You basically made a thread based off I comment a made on another thread. Thanks cunt.

Oh, POOR YOU!

R6 God DAMN IT!!! WHY do you keep saying that!!!!!!

Uncle Junior in his mush brain brought up Tony not being a varsity athlete in several scenes. It's a running joke in the Sopranos Universe

R2 I SAID WHAT I SAID BITCH.

Yeah, you're not important R10 T and you're quite exhaustive. Posted is something that is more to your liking.

Oh my god, is this Eric Scatino's jeep?

R11 Bitch do it look like I’m going for Aliens meet Shenenah?

His fucking wallet isn't tied to the goddamned Esplanade, god damn it!

“What do you think you can just come over here and fuck me?!!”

Such a great scene.

In other news, David Chase was on Seth Myers last night. It's so cool how perfectly awkward he is. Exactly how I want him to be.

Chris-tuh-faa

Carmela won that fight!

I remember the first time I saw Whitecaps, and was blown away.

I do get diminishing returns whenever I rewatch the Sopranos. Loved it the first time, but it didn't hold up great for me generally. BUT, there's still a few episodes that hit me in the same way.

turtleneck = teacake

Absolutely. She sure did.

Falco also won the other masterfully acted fight scene with Tony - up in their bedroom, where she confronts him in a rage about sleeping with the young Russian in addition to her finding a faux-fingernail (from another woman), on the floor after it fell out of Tony’s pants pocket. Explosive scene. I felt bad watching her in tears as mascara was running down her face.

What the hell is wrong with you? Look like a Puerto Rican whooah. Make me sick.

You'll suck our cocks? She any good? Hey what am I asking you for you probably showed her how.

Ginny Saks’ 90 pound ass-mole.

Janice on her disability benefit from the State of Washington from the carpal tunnel she got working the steamed milk machine.

"No worse pain"

"Did you offer my nephew something?" "I am registered nyooorse not maid" "Did you offer him an aspirin?"

Cut to Junior walking down the hall "Cunt".

Loved Frank Vincent playing “Phil Leotardo”What a nasty piece of work that character was.

Janice is a goddess!

Wasn't she boinking some young blond twink when she was first introduced?

Tony to Paulie: “You got mayonnaise on your chin“

Paulie: What?

Tony:: Mayonaise! …. MAYONNAISE!!!

“Pine Barrens” episode. I read that episode is ranked in the top five of all episodes

"Maybe the fact that you stick your dick into anything with a pulse, you ever consider that as a root cause?"

R28: She's boinking the blond twink after she has already killed Richie Aprile and hightailed it back to Washington state. She then returns to Jersey permanently after Livia dies.

I imagine after the series ends, she finds a way to dump Bobby's kids and return to the Pacific Northwest.

R28 that was after she had to skidaddle when she offed Richie Aprile. Then the mother died and Tony called her and she was working some fast food joint and shacked up with a 19 year old kid "He can go all night".

She always was a kinky fuck that Janice. Remember her and Ralphie? "how much money did you make today slut?" "300" "That all...gotta pimp you out bitch. Mama's lil tramp. Mama's lil whoooah"

“I’ve been thinking and fantasizing about Furio”….

Armageddon ensues.

I have met so many fraus exactly like Janice Soprano in my life.

Parvati Wasatch. LOL

When she gets beaten up by the Russians for stealing the prosthetic leg and is in the hospital.

"I've hit bottom Tony but it's odd because I feel born again in the Lord and I have prayed to God and asked him to forgive Svetlana for what she's done"

"Janice we've been here before with the Vishnu and Richard fucking Alpert and the Coyote Spirit. And you know what it always spells? Trouble for the rest of us"

I know so many sibling relationships which are like Tony and Janice. A level headed one and a 'wild spirit' one who is constantly needing to be bailed out.

And that other kinky sex scene with Janice on the couch getting it doggy style by her husband Richie Aprille while he has a gun to her head. Ooofaa.

Good actress Aida Turturro. Totally manipulative, greedy, scamming bitch.

Speaking of Aida Turturro, is she okay? She looks a bit sickly lately.

GoddamnMotherFuckin ORANGE PEEL BEEF!!!

R37 she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and has been shedding the pounds watching her diet and probably some Ozempic too

[quote]do it look like I’m going for Aliens meet Shenenah?

As a matter of fact, yes.

I was so glad when Tony killed Ralphie with his bare hands. That was quite a scene.

The irony of that is that Ralph was finally showing signs of being a decent human being. Then he dies.

Don’t stop…

"You fucking hypocrite."

The best line was the last.

My favorite scene is when Tony is on the boat with his whore and squeezes that guys nuts.

I, like a lot of viewers, thought my cable went out at the very end of the series. My late husband jumped up and checked all connections and then the credits rolled. He said that's it and I said WTF?

Ah - Phineas Fogg!!!!!

R46, I watched the finale again in bed last night. Even though I knew the screen was going to go black, It still shocked the shit outta me!!

I know it doesn't hold up since it's 25 years old but I still love the show. I may binge it again this year. For me, New Jersey is to The Sopranos as New York is to the original Law & Order. I used to watch to see where in NJ the show was shot. For example, in one of the last episodes, Tony and Christopher were eating at Rod's in Madison, NJ.

R20 I am NOT that cunt and I don’t even know who you are. I suspect defacto created that name when I started dissing his weird ass to convey to the elder passive aggressive racists that 1) I’m black

And 2) certainly not defacto.

He got the look in his eye at 4:32 when the psychopath emerges. It was the mist chilling when he killed Christ-uh-fuh.

Thanks, Op. That was an incredible scene!!!

R46 I binged the show again this year, too - I love it. When it ended last night “I missed my friends “ I wanted it to keep going. As Carm says, “ Nothing lasts forever, Tony - Everything comes to an end.”

If it's a boy we'll name him Ralphie after me. And if it's a girl we'll name her Tracey after you. That way she can grow up to be a cock sucking slob just like her mother.

Is that what you call “Bottoming from the Top?”

Yeah, poor Tracy. Fuck Ralph, he had it coming.

Pine Barrens - I assumed the Russian climbed a tree. Not once did Christopher or Paulie look up.

Ralphie when Ginny answers the phone:

"hello sweetie it's your secret admirer is he there?"

Such a charismatic sleazeball.

Then the conversation with Johnny Sack and Carmine

"I want you to sanction a hit on Ralph Cifaretto"

"what are you fucking kidding me?"

"He violated my wife's honour"

"Ralph slept with Ginny?"

"He made a very insensitive joke about her body to some friends of ours"

"What did he say?"

"I have to repeat it? My words not good enough?"

"Not if you want him clipped over it"

"He said...she was having a 90lb mole taken off her ass....the implication being that her ass is so big she could have a mole that size removed from it."

"it's an off color remark and highly inappropriate. You want, I'll demand he's taxed. But clip him?"

"is it all...is it all just about money"

"I'll crack him good I'll ask for 200 grand"

"200 grand for insulting my wife, what's next Carmine he gets to fuck her for a million!"

"he wants to fuck her?"

Hilarious.

One of the most hold your breath moments for me, was during the session between Tony and Dr. Melfi, after she was raped in the parking garage staircase by that fast food worker.

I was praying she would tell Tony about the incident, but she painfully held her tongue, even though she was physically and mentally distressed. That fucking kid would’ve been literal chopped meat if Tony knew what happened.

I’m Junior’s kitchen garbage disposal. He’s been fisting me for hours. Eww. Hilarious scene.

R59 "why didn't you just call a plumber?"

"With what? MY FUCKING TOES!?"

[Quote] r21 Falco also won the other masterfully acted fight scene with Tony - up in their bedroom, where she confronts him in a rage about sleeping with the young Russian in addition to her finding a faux-fingernail (from another woman), on the floor after it fell out of Tony’s pants pocket. Explosive scene. I felt bad watching her in tears as mascara was running down her face.

They stayed up all night and filmed that scene in the morning. Talk about dedication. It was a masterful bit of acting, for sure.

You look like a puerto rican whore!

[Quote] I know it doesn't hold up since it's 25 years old

I beg to differ.

I’m the endless trays of manicotti.

(Mani got)

[quote]I was praying she would tell Tony about the incident

YES. I wanted her to get that asshole bumped off so badly. But that would have put her at Tony's level, I guess.

Give me one thousand dollars

R48 I think it holds up. The writing and acting will never die, some of the very best.

Be a good Catholic for 15 fucking minutes! Is that so much to ask?

YES! Hot scene at R66!

Those two young hot goons on the couch in their underwear. Yikes!

Paulie - He killed 16 Czechoslovakians, guy was an interior decorator!

Chris - His house looked like shit.

I wanted to fuck Jackie Jr. What the hell was wrong with Meadow not to let him dick her down.

"Hey Sil, you remember your first blow job?"

"Yeah"

"How long did it take for the guy to cum"

In one episode I was thrilled when Tony was driving and Rock the Casbah was playing. That song is a treasure.

This scene always cracks me up

The news back then was consistently reporting on James Gandolfini's love of cocaine.

When Ralphie calls Paulie's Ma at the Nursing Home at 2am.

"Hi, this is Detective Mike Hunt... Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Police Department. You have a son, Peter Paul?"

"Oh, my God. What happened?"

"He's all right, but I'm afraid he's in a little trouble. We found him in a public men's room in Lafayette Park.I don't know how to put this delicately. He was sucking a Cub Scout's dіck."

"What? No, it's a mistake!"

"Ma'am, I wish that was all. But I'm afraid we had to have emergency surgery performed upon arrival... at headquarters, after discovery of a small rodent in the rectal passage."

"Oh, my God!"

"A gerbil, ma'am. The county does not cover medical procedures deemed caused... by criminal sеxual activity. Section four, paragraph 15. We'll need an insurance number."

"Oh, Madonna. I have BlueCross BlueShield, is that all right?"

Poor woman. Hilarious but he was such a cunt. Writing that scene must have been fun.

When Tony called Christopher over to cut Ralphie up in the tub and he grabbed his hair and it was a wig. Aaaah! I laughed so long over that.

The fact the majority of the characters were sociopaths and yet in so many ways relatable.

At the tennis club:

Carmela: "I don't have antiques. My decor is traditional."

Adrianna's death scene was a punch to the gut.

Rosalie, counseling recent rat Adriana: "Judas. He did the right thing - he hung himself! He didn't go into some Apostle Protection Program!"

"You gotta problem besides those fucking pants?"

20 fucking years I did in the can.

I wanted manicotti, I compromised. I ate grilled cheese off the rad-ee-ator instead.

I wanted to fuck a woman, I compromised. I jacked off into a tissue.

I must be loyle to my capo.

When Paulie goes to the psychic is one of the most hilarious scenes ever on any show.

"FAAACKIIING QUUUUUEEEEEEAHS"

Christopher's intervention was brilliant.

Patsy Parisi pissing in the pool

When Junior thinks that Larry David and Jeff Garlin are him and Bobby 🤣🤣

When I first heard the name of the series, I thought it was a musical.

I will not broach any argument. This is the best tv show ever.

For R71. The beautiful Jason Cerbone as, Jackie Junior.

I wasn't expecting Tony to kill Christopher, I was shocked.

[quote] Christopher's intervention was brilliant.

Your head was in the toilet water. Disgusting.

I said my piece, Chrissy!

One of the big shockers for me was when Chrissy shot Tim Daly.

[quote]YES. I wanted her to get that asshole bumped off so badly. But that would have put her at Tony's level, I guess.

Knowing that she had the power to end him with just a word gave her back the sense of control that she had lost. Tony would have done it, but he probably would have felt that she owed him a favor. And he'd make sure to collect on it.

For you r85

So, you've had a one-legged one now? That's nice.

R29

I still think about that episode from time to time: “high blood pressure…it’s the silent killah”.

An absolutely brilliant set up and execution of an episode.

Succession gets all the honors now and while it is very good, the writing is not on the same level as The Sopranos. Also, the characters were more down to earth and relatable. In my opinion, The Last of Us should be held to higher esteem and hopefully it will be now that Succession is over. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay are not actors to be overlooked, in my opinion.

I’m hungry for some Johnny Cakes. Poor Vito.

I remember getting HD somewhere during The Sopranos and thinking Tony looked so much more menacing. RIP James Gandolfini, you did great.

Angie Bonponsiero has an overlooked arch in the show. From miserable mob wife, to struggling widow, to successful businesswoman/mafiosa in her own right. Carmella was so jealous of her success.

I loved Rosalie and her beautiful big cow eyes.

Coming up, a link to their 25th anniversary celebration dinner. Not everyone showed up, but it was great seeing the actress who played Artie Bucco's wife. She's still got it.

Lots of good photos. Hang on.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Gloria Trillo is so sexy but she was so messed up. Relationships to me are so similar to hers and her guys.

Tony's funniest fuck was the office clerk at Barone Sanitation.

"Born again Christian"

Cut to scene of him fucking her from behind on the desk while she moans and he spanks her ass and a dog barks outside 🤣

I think Gloria Trillo was the most frightening character in the whole series. Her psychopathology seemed to come from some profound inner emptiness that had no guard rails like honor, self-respect, responsibilities towards friends. You felt her vulnerability when one of Tony's guys threatens and warns her to stay away from Tony, but you just know she going to lose it.

This was really a brilliant series. I don't care what anyone says. Watching clips, it still holds up like it was written yesterday, though I really long for those years and that world when it first aired.

- Mary

My second favorite show ever (after Homicide: Life on the Street).

I always felt really scared for Artie for some reason. He seemed so real to me. Sopranos remains my favorite show ever.

Is "let me tell you a coupla three ("tree") things" a common Americanism?

I first heard it when Phil Leotardo said it, then again by a VP at our company (from Buffalo, NY).

And in the spirit of my last post, the best of Phil....love him. 😂

So agree r8. Annabella Sciorra was brilliant in that role. Her character showed parallels of Livia Soprano. Tony was like a moth to a flame - and only Melfi understood it.

I could have seen AS playing Carmella too, such was the strength of her acting. Made me want to see more of her but her career never really took off past the 90s "wife" roles she typically played. Sad, as she had such range.

I meant r108 ^, sorry r8.

One of the hottest scenes was Paulie Walnuts fucking a stripper. What can I say, I have a thing for old, mafia, ex-con hitmen and enforcers. Florio did nothing for me, though we all know he made Carmella as wet as a ball of fresh mozzarella.

There are a lot of things I can say right now, that I'm not gonna say.

R59 You're FLEXIN!

So what—no fuckin’ ziti now?

R118 No. Because you can't be a good Catholic for 5 fuckin minutes!

The tenderness Tony shows Christuhfuh at the beginning of this scene is kinda homoerotic. The acting by both of them is incredible, as it often was with the entire cast throughout the series.

^^^ Tony to Adriana "I'll see ya up there." What a great line, said perfectly, if you know what is going to happen.

It was shocking how it happened when Adriana was whacked but I didn’t fell sorry for her at all. She was dumb. She knew what the outcome would be.

Talk about shocking, Adriana's projectile vomiting scene caught me by surprise, as it did the FBI agents. The look of disgust on the female agent's face was very funny.

None of the sex scenes on the Sopranos were hot.

My favorite character was Carmine, Jr. Each malapropism was a little jewel.

One of my favorite scenes.

I took his fat fuckin' hand in friendship.

MADtv did an excellent parody back in the day.

I used to wish they would show more flashbacks, especially of how Tony and Carmela met, dated and married. There was an early episode called "Fortunate Son" that featured Tony's father, "Johnnyboy" and featured a younger Livia. In it, we see a young Janice cozying up to her father, who takes her for a ride in his convertible which is about a block long. They go to some amusement park where Johnnyboy distracts her with cotton candy and tickets for rides, while he goes looking for his prey, Mr Satriale, who owns the meat shop. A jealous Tony has followed them and witnesses Johnnyboy slice off Satriale's little finger for not paying some gambling debt.

Later on, back at home, a young Livia is delighted by the big cut of meat Johnnyboy has brought home, and when it is cut open to reveal the bloody insides, young Tony has a panic attack and faints.

I would have loved more episodes like this, especially seeing Tony and his old high school crush Charmaine Bucco, and how he ended up with Carmela.

I just talked to my cat like I’m Tony Soprano:

“Whaadaya screaming about? You got food. You got clean water, a nice warm house. You got clean toilets. I cleaned them myself. So what’s with the “meow meow meow?”

Young Tony Soprano with Carmela.

Junior wanted to kill Tony from the get-go. He got Livia involved, then she played her hand.

[quote]Annabella Sciorra was brilliant in that role. [...] Made me want to see more of her but her career never really took off past the 90s "wife" roles she typically played. Sad, as she had such range.

You can thank Harvey Weinstein for that, R113.

R129 You're combining two flashbacks, the one with Janice was to a 'carnival ' where the guys used their daughter as a gambling front, the other a much huskies Tony followed his father and Junior to the butcher who was also a degenerate gambler with the meat/sexuality bit fits in.

The one character who was less fleshed out than Tony B. was the other sister, Barbara. Would've been interesting if she were a bigger presence, but Janice more than makes up for it.

Janice is a real gangster. This was a legitimate wtf moment back in 2000.

Interesting how Meadow is dressed so down. Like a youngish Livia Soprano.

Barbara is deliberately absent — she’s the sibling who managed to escape.

I always wondered if they made Joyce Van Patten Janice’s therapist because they look so much alike.

I love Linda Lavin in her one episode performance as Meadow's therapist.

"That's okay. As long as you didn't deliberately purge."

I was going to say that. In the fucked up family sometimes you get the one sibling that manages to move away and have a stable life. You don’t see them as much

Did ‘Dad’ ever molest you? …… Tell me about ‘Jack’……

Or I could write you a letter to the University of Barcelona. It's a hot school. I'm on a consultancy there.

Carmela meeting Dr. Krakower was one of the most important moments in the show.

The "Barbara" in my family is the only cousin I keep in touch with.

[quote] Barbara is deliberately absent — she’s the sibling who managed to escape.

I don't think it was that deliberate. It was an Italian family from the '60s, so I think you had to have more than "just" 2 kids. I think the writers just didn't know what to do with Barbara, like Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days.

I don't think that the scene with Carmela and Dr. Krakower was "one of the most important moments," but it was an acting tour de force. It was significant in that it spelled out what we already knew about Carmela: she was not going to divorce Tony & she was not going to give up her lifestyle.

The women of The Sopranos -- Carmella, Janice, Dr. Melfi, Adriana -- stole the show, as many strong Italian-American women tend to do in the family unit.

Oh, and LIVIA!

And Gloria. G-L-O-R-I-A. They actually used that song (Van Morrison) in one episode.

What song?

The song that plays when Gloria Trillo, Globe Mercedes, arrives at the Stugots in the opening scene of “Pune Barrens,” R149.

Rose at R149, there’s a song called “Gloria” sung by Van Morrison. The lyric spells out the name Gloria.

r149 Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot, Rose.

You're right, R134 - thanks for the correction!

Janice was such a great character, and Aida Turturro's performance was spectacular. After she plugged RIchie Aprile in the forehead, I was afraid we might never see her again, after Tony took her to the bus station.

But no, she returns, dragging her narcoleptic born again boyfriend, and later sees her opportunity to go full out Mafia wife by snagging poor Bobby Baccala.

[quote]Janice is a real gangster. This was a legitimate wtf moment back in 2000.

He shouldnta hit her! Did he forget she's a Soprano?

Janice shot Richie in the chest, not the forehead.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Twice

R154 He was being quite the hypocrite, as he was old school, you want to slap her around, you give her your last name. And they were not yet married. Or a match made in Heaven.

I’ve never seen The Sopranos.

Should I give it a go? Any highs or lows I should be aware of going in?

Oh god when did people start needing so much fucking hand holding? It is a fucking TV show r158. Unclench.

R159, I am sorry that your alcoholism has made you so bitter and reactive.

I do hope that this is the year you can finally stop drinking and see a doctor for the first time in two decades.

You clearly need a positive change.

R160 I don't think The Sopranos is going to be ypur speed. Try Frasier.

[quote][italic]Barbara is deliberately absent — she’s the sibling who managed to escape.[/italic]

[quote]I don't think it was that deliberate. It was an Italian family from the '60s, so I think you had to have more than "just" 2 kids. I think the writers just didn't know what to do with Barbara, like Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days.

R145, I agree with R137, I think it was deliberate. A lot of time is spent focusing on the choices Tony made. During a session with Melfi, he says,

[quote]How come I'm not making freakin' pots in Peru? You're born to this shit. You are what you are.

Tony dropped out of Seton Hall. Janice moved away but kept coming back. They both could have had different lives. Barbara left and that was that, that’s why her character was created.

R154 the funniest thing about that episode was after Richie smacks her and goes to sit at the table he ends up sitting on a copy of New Jersey Bride which he has to take out from under him seconds before she pops him.

R135, did anyone else notice the dude's hand holding up Richie Aprile's chair for dramatic effect at 2:29 ?

Something malfunctioned under his shirt (blood pack).

Favorite Carmella moments: Livias wake was one of my favorite episodes, Carmella losing it, calling the whole charade out was hysterical, with her father jumping in talking about her like she was the dictator of a communist country, hysterical.

Also loved Carmellas use of a ricotta pie to strong-arm Joan (her neighbors sister) into writing a letter of recommendation for Meadow for Georgetown. Full Leather Jacket is one of my favorite episodes

She played that part so perfectly, even in the pilot, she pulls an AR on Meadow while entertaining the priest 😅.

Especially impressive when, just a short time as a corrections officer on OZ prior to this part, the two womens/characters couldn't be more different, and she pulled them both off perfectly.

As I get older, I do appreciate the Junior Soprano character more and more. Michael Imperioli (Christopher) said that Uncle Junior was his favorite character. The writers enjoyed writing for the character, as well.

There was a hospital scene, Junior asks Bobby to help him out of bed to use the bathroom. Bobby says, why can't you use the bed pan. Junior says: "I'm not a cat."

funniest chris moment

I wish he hadn't died.

For years on Sunday nights I watched Sex And The City, then The Sopranos, then Six Feet Under. Those were the glory days of HBO. I watched those live. I later watched The Wire (but not live) and that was great too.

Christopher Moltisanti.

David Chase said that, realistically, Christopher would’ve been killed earlier. He was a liability due to his addiction and drug use. Easy to turn into an informant, I guess.

HBO produces top-notch series. I think The Sopranos and Six Feet Under set the highest bars. Both series are still relatable today as they were 20 years ago.

"The Wire" also.

For me it’s The Wire and The Sopranos. I loved Sex Feet Under but it has 2 mediocre middle seasons until it was almost entirely redeemed by the final episode.

[quote] I don't think that the scene with Carmela and Dr. Krakower was "one of the most important moments," but it was an acting tour de force. It was significant in that it spelled out what we already knew about Carmela: she was not going to divorce Tony & she was not going to give up her lifestyle.

Edie Falco won the Emmy over Lorraine Bracco in Employee Od The Month for this, I think. And unfairly, but it does go to show the brilliance of Falco’s portrayal of Carmela. I think most actresses would try and make us love Carmela, and show her as heroic in a way (can you imagine the self-pity someone who needs to be liked, such as Kate Winslet, would bring to Carmela?) but Falco doesn’t fear portraying her as utterly morally bankrupt.

Whereas Melfi’s moral dilemma means she wouldn’t even need to ask Tony to kill Rossi, she only needed to say she had been raped and he would do the rest.

R103 I think that’s one of the things that made Sopranos great and it also normalized—the story arc of peripheral supporting characters. Chase really is brilliant.

Great Chris moment, when he realizes the love he feels for his friends and crew is completely unreciprocated

One of my favorite scenes is when Janice shoots Ritchie Aprile to death after he punches her when she contends there is nothing wrong with having a gay son.

Brilliant acting and writing.

Unpopular opinion but Im not a huge Michael Imperioli fan. His portrail of Christopher seems to me an actor playing a mafioso whereas Gandolfini in was 100% gangster mode throughout the season.

I would rather the douche that played Mickey Palmice had gotten that role. His coldness and arrogance says Mafia much better than Imperioli. Also Christopher doesnt have the physicality to be intimidating. The kid in the bakery he shot in S1 would have beat his ass in real life.

Mikey Palmice was a good character. Junior's dumb but funny sidekick. Too bad he got killed off so early. David Chase said that the actor begged not to get killed off and had all kinds of ideas for the role.

Agree about the endless array of supporting characters. My personal favorites were Mr and Mrs John Sacramoni, aka Johnny Sac and his wife Ginny!! Perfect!

My fave supporting character was Hesh.

I'm the poster who said it doesnt hold up well. What I meant was the technology, i.e., Christopher's hard disks when he was writing his movie and the pay phones. I still love the series and didn't mean to offend.

[quote]Unpopular opinion but Im not a huge Michael Imperioli fan. […] I would rather the douche that played Mickey Palmice had gotten that role. His coldness and arrogance says Mafia much better than Imperioli. Also Christopher doesnt have the physicality to be intimidating. The kid in the bakery he shot in S1 would have beat his ass in real life.

R180, if you are basing this on how they are typically portrayed in movies and on TV, then I agree with you, but in real life, Christopher is a good representation of what real mobsters that age are like today.

As far as personality and physicality, the boss of the Philly mob is known for his charm and charisma; he’s a skinny guy around 5’3 or 5’4 (he was a jockey in his youth and now he has a podcast). Mobsters come in all types.

I thought Michael Imperioli was excellent from season 1 until his demise. I think that poster just doesn’t like him personally.

Are you talking about Joey Merlino r185? He has a podcast???

Yes, R187. Crazy, but true. I have only seen a few brief clips, so I can't say how good it is.

R153 I'm a thorough fan of the show, know it a bit too well (and that post was a MESS, but I'd had a potent gummy, should've known better than to post)

Janice returned alone, with a 19 yr old, back in Seattle, who could 'go all night', then she stole Svetlanas leg, and got beat up which lead her to meeting the narcoleptic (it always cracks me up when he says to Jackie Jr, "have you heard the news?" , Jackie replies, "we met at Thanksgiving".) Then she got freaky with Ralphie, Mommas little whooo-ah, then she snared Bobby after screwing with his kids, pretending to be their recently deceased mother 😅. Bobby was the only decent guy in the way he treated people.

P.S. Favorite Silvio moment, Season 1, Boca, "that self righteous prick put his dick in my little girl's soccer team-mate"!

I started rewatching the series last week and that actor who plays Mikey Palmice is my quintessential hot daddy bear. He’s not really a bear but you get my point. That locker room scene with Junior. Lawd. Perfect body and then dark and Italian. Made me want to cruise for hot olive dick right after watching.

Any other good scenes?

Let’s remember that “these people” are scumbags. If I remember correctly only Tony and Bobby felt any sympathy for Vito. I don’t even understand how Vito had the authority to wack him just because he was married to his sister.

Forgot to post the link. This along with when Chris murdered his screenwriter friend mad me respect the show for its realistic portrayal of real life but reminded me most in the mafia like all gangs ain’t shit.

“You’re Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady ….”

Carmine Luppertazi orders a hit like Livia used to do.

I always got a kick out of Junior. One of my favorite episodes is when his girlfriend blabs that Junior does oral and he Tony and Carmela's double entendres about it.

South of the border down Mexico way....

[quote] I'm the poster who said it doesnt hold up well. What I meant was the technology, i.e., Christopher's hard disks when he was writing his movie and the pay phones. I still love the series and didn't mean to offend.

Just because a movie features outdated technology doesn't mean it "doesn't hold up." It's not offensive, it's just incorrect.

Goodfellas also features a pay phone. Still a classic and still "holds up."

[quote]Goodfellas also features a pay phone.

And the Somerset Bus I used to take into the city.

James could do so much with just breathing

Acknowledged and accepted, R198.

Unless I missed it, how was this not posted?

Yes, it was posted earlier, R202, but worth posting again. What is amazing about the clip at R195 is how accurate their accents are. This is exactly how many people of a certain class and certain ethnicities from the NYC metro area actually sound, especially if they lived at all in the outer boroughs or the working class areas of New Jersey along the Hudson. I read that after the pilot James Gandolfini consulted with a dialect coach to get it right. He grew up in a New Jersey suburb.

Gandolfini was magnificent in this role. A master class of acting. However, I never saw him in anything else other than True Romance where he also payed a thug type. Did he have range? Any recommendations for him showing this level of skill in a different role?

R204 Check out Enough Said. Quite different as characters go.

He's very good in 1996's NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN, directed by Sidney Lumet. Dominic Chianese and Vincent Pastore make appearances too.

He was a gay bear in The Mexican.

R166, the women of the Sopranos are why I think The Sopranos >> Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad was another excellent show, but my god, the women characters on that show! Awful!

[quote]The news back then was consistently reporting on James Gandolfini's love of cocaine.

R75, and his intervention didn't go as smoothly as Christopher's.

[quote]The entire intervention lasted ten seconds. Gandolfini walked into the apartment, saw everyone, sized up the situation in a snap, and immediately barked, “Oh, fuck this. Fuck all of you.” Glowering at Albrecht, Gandolfini dared him with “Fire me,” then stormed out. While the others sat stunned, one of Gandolfini’s sisters chased her brother down the hall and begged him to come back. But Jimmy was having none of that.

Thanks for posting that r209. I remember when he died. It was very defensive JUST A HEART ATTACK, NOTHING ELSE TO SEE HERE! NO CONTRIBUTING FACTORS! NO SUBSTANCES FOUND IN HIS SYSTEM! WE SWEAR! From his "camp". At most the people around him admitted he had a rather heavy and somewhat boozy supper the evening he died, but nothing else in his system. I find that very hard to believe.

I miss him.

[quote] Chase really is brilliant

Well, maybe “was.” Has he done anything comparable since The Sopranos?

Chase sounds less than flattering here.

R212

Well, he is correct. Even examples they use in the article. Sorry, but Bear, White Lotus or even Succession are nothing in comparison to Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Deadwood, etc.

No love for OZ?

I miss him too. He seem like such a real person with no airs. Fat people should never do cocaine.

R214

I love OZ as well. It did start it all.

I've never seen this. I have little interest in mafia. Is it worth watching and is it all about gangster shit or more human drama? I've been discovering years old shows like True Detective and toying with the idea of trying it.

The Mafia serves as the backdrop for a lot of other elements having nothing to do with it. Family dysfunction, aging, greed and modern capitalism to name a few.

I rewatched the entire series last year, and what I really found myself wanting more of was Dr. Melfi. Lorraine Bracco’s speaking style was so unique and I loved all her acting choices. For me the scenes with her and Gandolfini were the highlights. The whole series was also a lot funnier than I remembered.

How many people did Tony personally kill? As best I recall, there was Fabian Petrulio, Pussy, Christopher, Ralph, Matt Bevilaqua, Paulie (in a fever dream), Chucky Signore and Tony B. You might include that first guy he killed years before whose body was later found.

For R38 😂

Who ate Tony‘s shit?!!!

Stinky link. Try this one.

I guess three times charm.

Tony killed Christopher because he ate his lo mein.

[quote] I've never seen this. I have little interest in mafia. Is it worth watching and is it all about gangster shit or more human drama? I've been discovering years old shows like True Detective and toying with the idea of trying it.

"Toying with the idea of trying it"? MARY. It's not a marriage proposal. Just watch it.

IMO, the main value of the Sopranos lies in the comedic element. David Chase said he did consider it to be a comedy (as well has having dramatic elements).

[quote] I rewatched the entire series last year, and what I really found myself wanting more of was Dr. Melfi. Lorraine Bracco’s speaking style was so unique and I loved all her acting choices.

IMO, the use of Tony talking to Melfi was a cheap expository tool (telling instead of showing).

Also, I don't think Bracco was smart enough to play Melfi. Her line delivery sounded like she was reading from a script.

During my oringinal viewing and second viewing, I thought Lorraine Bracco’s acting was the worst on the show. Such a weak link.

Big Pussy's acting was horrible. I really think that was why his character was killed off so early.

R229- I often wonder if some of the bad actors were intentional- Many of them had NO experience.

I LOVED Pauly's 'motha' NUCCI!!!!!

Atrocious actress but utterly adorable---

I thought that the woman who played Sacimoni's wife Ginny was horrible- yet PERFECT!!! She was wonderful. (and may she rest in peace as she passed away in real life)

The woman who played Ginny was truly perfect for the role with her non-acting acting.

She truly truly TRULY was--- It was very John Waters in a way??

I hated to even say this-

Go watch, and you will understand...

(the bad acting is never mentioned about The Sopranos- its a very TRUE aspect of the show- and it WORKED- its' beyond campy. I think it is that these people came across as REAL!!!!)

Ginny was so sweet though. I wanted to cry when she was hiding food and Johnny caught her.

R233- agree completely

Manuel Miranda on the Sopranos.

I don't think the Ginny Sack and Paulie's Mom actresses were bad actors. I don't see how bad acting can be good.

Meadow and AJ, the actors, were, however, awful.

Lin-Manuel can fuck off as far as I am concerned.

I never watched this at the time, because I avoided the ripoff known as cable television. That said, I think Edie Falco is excellent. And while I know there really are people out there who talk and act like that, I can't take it seriously. Gandolifini sounds so shtick, it's cringe-inducing. And he was supposed to be one of the better actors in the series. Falco was and is superior.

It was as much a comedy as it was a drama. Which the Bear is not and yet it wins in the 'comedy/musical' categories in the GG and Emmys. I have yet to laugh once at any Bear episode, yet Sopranos had some of the funniest writing I've ever come across.

"Where's Meadow?" "Jackie Junior took her into the city to see Aida' "I eat her?" "it's an Elton John musical"

So funny..

Tony Sirrico (Paulie Walnuts) was the one actor on the show with a real criminal/gang background. Here’s an interview about his criminal life and time in prison with a slick and young Tony. He comes off as a really intimidating guy here.

Pauline Walnuts was very, authentic. I have known a couple of connected guys.

It's "I ATE her" R239

I remember when he used to wait in the car ….

R240, thank you so much!!!! That was incredible — I knew nothing about him so I found that interview to be fascinating.

I just found this on Facebook. Gandolfini’s last interview. He died the next day at 51, while on vacation with his son in Italy in 2013. Series ended in 2007. Hopefully, they were 6 great years for him. What a blow.

Gandolfini was very kind, considering the guy interviewing him is a schmuck.

Gandolfini made a ton of money from the Sopranos, but he seemed miserable, at least after the show blew up. He would disappear, go on drug binges, and hold up production. (He was the main character.) At one point, he gifted everybody $33,000, each.

Someone upthread mentioned his breathing. Even fans started noticing the heavy breathing, which was most likely unintended. He was in bad physical condition.

Tony Soprano seemed like he was a bit bi curious. In the Billy Budd episode it was stated how Billy was being picked by an evil boss out of self-loathing caused by homosexual feelings in a military context.

I was struck by the episode where Tony gets on the scale. I wonder if that was a slight dig/nod to the fact the Gandolfini was getting heavier with each episode. It couldn't have been easy. They were often eating in scenes and I'm sure Craft Services wasn't all Kale smoothies and Greek yogurt with blueberries. Even AJ had a fat season or two. I'm guessing the women didn't eat when the camera wasn't on them but G probably did.

Aida wasn’t skipping any meals

That’s painful, r178. I went through that phase in primary school.

Tony was a school friend of Woody Allen.

[quote] I always got a kick out of Junior. One of my favorite episodes is when his girlfriend blabs that Junior does oral and he Tony and Carmela's double entendres about it.

Uncle Jun’s in the muff.

^^^ The way Tony's face changed after Junior said he was ashamed of him not catching a fly ball as a kid. I don't blame Tony for needling him.

MORE! Especially the food scenes. At one of Carmela's Sunday dinners she serves her mother something in balsamic vinegar. Her mother starts going on about "What's with basalmic these days? Everything balsamic" I am paraphrasing horribly, but you get the idea. Poor Carm can't even try something a bit (not all that) new without the bitching.

It is Carmela's father, Hugh, who makes the disparaging remark about balsamic.

Yeah, it was Hugh.

OK, Hugh. ONE of them was bitching...

I liked when Junior was the lasagna detective. Bobby just lost his wife, Janice is stalking him and passes off a Carmella lasagna to Bobby and kids, and June wasn't having it- Janice is a terrible cook...were there basil leaves between the layers? Hot and sweet sausage? That's CARMELLAS lasagna!

For Dessert!

R220 Tony killed Adriana too. He ordered her hit.

I was asking about people he killed with his own hands. If you're extending that to people he ordered killed then the list gets a lot longer.

Upon rewatch, it's SUPER campy. Good, but in a different way than the first time.

I think there's this level on acting on soaps; at least...there was.

R263 There is nothing campy about this show.

[quote][R263] There is nothing campy about this show.

Please. Silvio Dante's bouffant?

And actually, the whole entire pilot, and entire swaths of the first season, are very campy indeed. It's almost a comedy during the first season.

Sorry, R265, there is.

David Chase confirmed that Phil Leotardo was a closet case.

Yeah, Phil was gay. When he killed Vito, he (Phil) emerged from a closet and shot Vito.

Also, he was so anti-gay as to be suspicious.

^^^I saw that scene in one of the posts above and thought it odd he was coming out of the closet. That and his lethal rage make sense now.

Paulie was the last man standing.

5 fucking families and then we got this other pygmy thing over in Jersey.

Jersey was a glorified crew.

Phil goes on that rant about how the making ceremony in New Jersey is "all fucked up," that they don't, for example, prick fingers, yet we, the audience, saw a New Jersey making ceremony in season 3, and it has all of the elements Phil was going on about.

I always thought Janices Richie was the closet case.

Phil Leotardo was in the can for 20 years. Phil claimed he only ever masturbated into Kleenex (no sex with men). He was homophobic and so was his wife. Yet, Phil did have a woman goomar.

Richie Aprile served 10 years. Richie Aprile never struck me as gay. However, he hated that his son was into ballroom dancing. An argument w/Janice about his son possibly being gay led to Janice plugging bullets into Richie's chest, killing him.

Tony Blundetto served 17 years. Tony Blundetto emerged a massage therapist. I forgot who he massaged at the Bing, maybe Vito. Tony Soprano scolded Tony B. for providing massages at the Bing, saying it wasn't a Jack LaLanne's in the Bing.

Tony Soprano said that the men "got a pass" for homosexuality in prison.

Vito had a goomar, too, R278.

R279 He also had a rentatwinka.

I loved Vito and Johnny Cakes.

That was an unrealistic couple.

How aggravated was Edie Falco that Lorraine Bracco gets second billing in the opening credits? Or did they change the sequence in later seasons?

I could see Lorraine getting a special " ... and Lorraine Bracco as Jennifer Melfi" at the END of the credits. But to put her name second, before Edie Falco, seems like a slap in the face to the show's obvious leading lady.

Lorraine was a movie star, and Edie had a role on Oz and some theater. I’m sure Lorraine‘s agent negotiated second billing.

Melfi was also a much bigger role in season 1. Falco's role grew in parallel to the growing emphasis on the Soprano family (not the crime one) and Tony's home life.

Plus Bracco had an Oscar nomination, as R284 points out, and was originally offered the role of Carmela.

As soon as Edie Falco started winning head-to-head Emmy battles with Lorraine Bracco (which she did several times) then her name should have moved to second billing.

All that billing stuff is negotiated. You can renegotiate, but you cant just change it.

I ran into Edie Falco one weekend in the Village. My friend knew her from the NY theater scene. She seemed relaxed and nice. I believe she was dressed in summer white.

My friend said everyone in the theater liked Falco, because she’d toiled away for a decade in basic anonymity, and everyone was happy this solid actress now had a hit show.

Falco’s interviews are interesting. She does seem very down to earth.

Loraine Bracci was the biggest name of the principle cast in the 1st season. She and Big Pussy.

Bracco*

One of the funniest scenes on the Sopranos- Janice is having kinky sex with Ralphie . She’s shoving a dildo up his ass with a gun to his head saying -

I’ll PIMP YOU OUT BITCH!

R291 Janice was one of my fav characters because she kept the non mob storylines entertaining as fuck. When she stole that bitches leg and then the Russians roughed her up. Janice was pure gold.

The character of Janice was originally written with the late actress Carol Ann Susi in mind. She had some connection to the author.

Edie Falco had a bit part in a Woody Allen film when she was still kicking around as an unknown.

It just occurred to me now, as I was thinking how much I hated the Soprano kids, that AJ’s initials must stand for Anthony Junior.

Alice Hyatt, on hand with advice:

I always thought the show suffered after the death of Livia. Marchand was a fucking machine in that role. Just utter brilliance in every scene.

Op is a max shill

Livia was going to be a very important part of season 3, but Marchand died and they had to rewrite the whole season.

I was thrilled when Livia died. She was horrible.

R300 Honey, that was the entire point.

I don’t enjoy horrible women.

Meadow (Jamie Lyn Sigler) has MS and does commercials for some MS drug. She appears to be doing well, but in one scene she is walking with a cane. Best wishes to her.

She was anorexic for a while, and lied about it.

[quote] I always thought the show suffered after the death of Livia.

R297 OH, POOR YOU!! I wish the Lord would take me now!

[quote] Meadow (Jamie Lyn Sigler) has MS and does commercials for some MS drug. She appears to be doing well, but in one scene she is walking with a cane. Best wishes to her.

I saw the commercial this morning as well. As an adult, Jamie Lyn looks a bit like Annabella Sciora, which is kind of creepy, seeing that Annabella played one of Tony's goomadas.

This is another funny scene from Sopranos.

Anthony: "Is it true the Chinese invented spaghetti? " Tony: "Why would people who eat with sticks invent something you need a fork to eat. Think about it."

This is what the show is about. EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END. DEATH. That's it. The two constants in life are change and death.

R308 😂. I know, such gems like that. I swear Tony is my dad in a big fat Italian American body.

This is also a funny scene.

There's my Star LedgAA!- you can't fake that New Jersey/NYC area accent.

311 I lowkey think Livia did that shit on purpose.

There's some good Livia comp clips on youtube. What she said was often hilarious, but even more so it was her delivery. God, I would have loved to have seen what Livia would have done if Marchand had lived.

I didn't see it coming when Tony killed Christopher. In retrospect, I should have expected it. He was very unhappy when Christopher told him he fell asleep on Adriana's dog and smothered it - 'You killed her dog?!!! " - "It was an accident!" Tony knew he was heavily on drugs and when he saw that Christopher was extremely wasted and Tony saw the baby seat in the car, that was it.

My favorite show in the world. The tone, the cast, the writing, it’s all perfect.

My favorite scene in this show was Christopher’s intervention where they all end up in a colossal smackdown. Pine Barrens is also amazing. Gloria Attrillo plotline was great as well.

Gloria Trillo, Globe Mercedes.

They knew Marchand was dying, and frankly they could have shot some scenes while she was still on this mortal coil to fill in when she did eventually pop her clogs. They didn't, and instead chose to use that HORRIFIC special effect where they layered her living visage on top of a body double. It looked like she had a fucking floating head. What the fuck were they thinking?

^^^^^^^^^^

If they had the opportunity to film her scenes with todays imaging technology, I think it would be hard to tell the difference between the live or dead Livia.

R317, can you imagine how awkward the request would be? “Before you shuffle off this mortal coil, can you film a few last-minute scenes?”

Nancy Marchand is the one who insisted on working up until the end of her life. I think she would’ve been okay with filming any kind of scene they wanted.

Including Livia in her coffin at her wake?

R308- That sounds like something Archie Bunker would say.

Stupida fucking game.

R69- Silvio should have told them both to take off their underwear 🩲- Just to make sure they weren’t hiding any more money in there.

When The Sopranos came out I was a teenager and I all could see was Furio’s huge nose and greasy ponytail.

Now I think he’s hot as fuck.

Haha R317 can you tell me the name of that episode?

R326, season 3, episode 2, “Proshai, Livushka.”

R325, all I could think about was Furios big fat Italian ass! That guy is huge in the rear end

Linda Lavin as Meadow’s therapist was brilliant.

[quote] That guy is huge in the rear end

Can I also get the name of this one?

Haha!

R330. This scene with Furio is all you need to know. Such a romantic.

OP That scene is great because it honestly showed how married people can fight.

Carmela's wigs were so bad, sometimes.

R271, Phil the closet case beat him to death.

This show is ART.

I have not watched in about 4 -5 years and its time for another round..

Did you watch over lockdown, r335?

[quote] One of the most hold your breath moments for me, was during the session between Tony and Dr. Melfi, after she was raped in the parking garage staircase by that fast food worker. I was praying she would tell Tony about the incident, but she painfully held her tongue, even though she was physically and mentally distressed. That fucking kid would’ve been literal chopped meat if Tony knew what happened.

The scary thing is that Melfi would not have had to ask. And if she told Tony and told him not to harm him, Tony would have lied and offed him anyway.

What do you do when you have power? Such a great episode.

I think that just knowing that she could have him wasted with only a word to Tony gave her back a sense of power and control over her own life that helped her to move on.

Maybe the best TV series ever? I go back and forth between it and Breaking Bad. The Wire was also phenomenal, but the final season was a letdown.

Gandolfini as an ultra sleazy pornographer in 8mm.

It seems inevitable that much like The Godfather (as a film), The Sopranos is and will be considered the greatest TV series of all time. It’s interesting that the stories of Italian-Americans written/directed by Italian-Americans continue to have such a hold on the populace, but the artistry of every element of both properties (plus G2) is undeniable. Viva Italia!

James Gandolfini was superior in his role.

Gloria Trillo.

The Labor Day Sopranos Marathon starts on Sunday morning on HBO - so be careful of too many cold cuts and grab your Managot , bowls of Ice Cream and cans of whipped cream . Crank up your “Home Theater System” - it ain’t no History Channel but AT LEAST Renee Zelleweger isn’t in it!!

I already started. I'm in the middle of Season 2. I love this series SO MUCH. And now I'm older I see it with new eyes. One of my favorite scenes will be coming up very soon...The scene with Janice and Richie Abrile in the kitchen at her mother's house when she's in the kitchen fixing him dinner. Yes. I love that scene. But so many others too.

I will say that binging the series can affect one's disposition. One can become impatient, argumentative, even violent, and crave cold cuts, and god I'd love to eat dinner at Artie's restaurant! Sometimes Tony looks so gross you can practically smell him. I love Paulie, Christopha, and Silvio, too. And now that Furio has come over from Italy, Mama mia!

I have a lot of Poshmark Listings to put up - I have a stacks clothes waiting to be steamed, photographed and listed and I am THRILLED to have my New Jersey Friends join me. I love the upbeat energy and confidence that flows through The Sopranos.I can hear Carmela’s voice - “ How many have you done so far? You’re not going to leave that stack there! You have to finish SOMETHING!” ….. people who have never watched it don’t realize how much fun it is. You know that Janice and Meadow would sell clothes on Poshmark.

R345 - Aah - now Artie’s restaurant is on my mind …

New game - have a Campari shot every time Junior says “your sister’s cunt”…

OK. A lot of people including maybe even David Chase his creator, think Tony Soprano was killed at the end. Here's why I don't. First of all he was there with his whole family, Carmela and Meadow and Anthony. They were eating at a diner. It would have been very messy and usually when a Capo is killed it's a clean kill. Usually they leave his family alone, especially women and kids. Secondly, who was most likely to assassinate Tony? Seriously. Who?

[quote] Secondly, who was most likely to assassinate Tony? Seriously. Who?

Huh? Someone aligned with Phil Leotardo's "family."

Tony's crew killed Phil Leotardo in front of his wife and grandbabies. All bets were off. Plus, with the secret agent that was AJ'S gf, they knew what diner the Soprano family would be having supper at.

OK, I'm only on Season 4 so I don't know who Phil Leotardo is. Have we met him? What is he associated with?

Phil is released from prison at the beginning of season 5.

He ate grilled cheese off the radiator.

Phil Leotardo is the successor to Johnny Sack. OMG, I apologize if you haven't seen the show. But, then again, it's been 25 years. Should've gotten your ass from drinking the MacGyver juice 2.0. I mean, Breaking Bad.

Question. John who works for Carmine, is pissed off at Ralph because he made fun of John's wife who is morbidly obese. John won't let it go. John Hates Ralph and even asked permission to kill Ralph. Carmine said no. Tony tried to strategize with Ralph. Christopha correctly asked, "Who would tell John something like that? (Paulie did.) " Tony, fails to make peace. So who kills John?And it looked like Ralph was gonna get hit in Florida, but then he didn't.

No one kills John Sacrimone. He passes from lung cancer in the episode Stage 5. Real sad tbh. Cancer is a bitch and the immediate family doesn't know what to do when his time is coming.

Man. Ralphie. I have no words.

I don't know if I can fall asleep tonight.

James Gandolfini was born to play Tony Soprano. It was fated, it had to be.

We can't go back. We need to find another show we love and discuss. Still looking.

I love every inch of this show. James Gandolfini’s face is so beautifully expressive. He is wonderful. So is everyone else - but he is magic. I chuckle now because his annoyed fame just came into my mind. His “What the Fuck. Janice” face.

Face not fame^

Gandolfini really inhabited that character. And they say in real life he was total opposite of Tony Soprano. He was a kind hearted, loving guy and his fellow actors adored him. When you look at the casting for that series, it was pure genius. IMO Sopranos, Mad Men, and The Wire are the greatest TV series ever created. Some people say Breaking Bad should be on that list, but I haven't seen it.

R362 Breaking Bad absolutely belongs in the company of the other shows you mentioned, in my opinion. It's streaming on Netflix now. Definitely worth your time to watch it.

[quote] I love every inch of this show.

I love the show, but I don't like Seasons 1 and 2. In S1 and S2, Tony reminds me of George Costanza.

Things get darker and darker as the series progresses.

I liked the Mikey Palmice character and was sad he got killed off so early.

Big Pussy, OTOH, what a shitty actor. I'm convinced that's why he got killed off.

I always loved Evie Falcon. And that fat guy what died. Gladhole-finito or some shit.

James Gandolfini could really get pissed off. Here he is trying to trick or treat with his son and this jerk has a camera in his face. I would've shit my pants if Tony Soprano lunged at me..... Like. dude, respect., James just wants some quiet time w his son. If it had been done to me I would've shot him in a boat then thrown the body over board . lol

Yay - Gloria Trillo - Globe Motors.

Junior gets his hand, stuck inside the garbage disposal. Beyond hysterical. Dominic Chianese, good actor, and was also terrific as Johnny Ola, in Godfather II.

R370, I did not realize Uncle Junior was the same actor who played Johnny Ola. Thanks.

Good bye Furio. We hardly knew ye!

Wow. I just saw Carmela have a meltdown with her son who has been a prize asshole for a while not and she screamed at hi, "You are a cross to bear! For me, your father, y our family! " I loved that. "A cross to bear!"

I posted this on the Soprano Ending thread. I just got to the part where Tony and Carmela go to the summer cottage to spend the weekend with Bobby and Janice and after a night of too much alcohol, Bobby and Tony get into this really intense fight. Both of them have this pent up resentment and damn! After it ended, the morning after, things were very awkward and they tried to make up but you could tell it wasn't happening. And Janice is totally nuts. Seriously crazy. Ada Turturro should have gotten serious recognition for her Janice. Anyway, I have a bad feeling about Bobby's future, and if shit happens, I would put Janice at the top of the list of suspects if Tony gets hit.

R374, Soprano Home Movies, is probably the best episode of the entire show. That's the episode you're referring to.

"Johnny Boy and Livia Soprano are the twin Big Bads of The Sopranos, the missing pieces that fill in whatever puzzle you want to construct of their children. No matter what you think of Tony or Janice, the things that are screwed up in their heads stem back to their parents, but Tony’s refusal to consider them as human beings, with failings and good points like anyone else, has a tendency to bite him in the ass. Usually, when a family member who’s caused strain to everyone else in the family dies, there’s a sense of sadness and loss, yes, but also a certain sense of relief. No more tiptoeing on eggshells around that person or making sure everything is just right for them. Without that difficult person around, maybe everyone can start to live the lives they’ve always wanted to. Except the difficult person never really leaves because the tendrils they left in their family’s psyche take root, dig in deeper. The ghosts are always present.

This is especially true of Livia Soprano. She’s been dead and gone for four seasons now, her last appearance as a weird CGI monstrosity in early season three. Yet her presence haunts the series in a way no other dead character does. It’s hard to imagine Tony getting so upset about Janice telling a funny—if mildly insulting—story about Big Pussy or Ralphie. Yet when Janice launches into a story about the time that her parents were coming back from the Copa and her father fired a bullet right through her mother’s massive beehive hairdo, Tony starts to rankle. James Gandolfini has lived in this role for so long at this point that viewers can literally see the insult to Tony’s mother start to chew away at him. So he insults Janice, says she used to suck cocks under the boardwalk. And when Bobby tells him he’s being rude, Tony fake apologizes, then needles even further. There’s a fight. Bobby gets the better of him. Later, Tony sends Bobby off to kill a guy because he wants to get back at his brother-in-law. This man shouldn’t die (his only crime is wanting to take his kid away from his ex-wife), yet he will, in part because Tony’s ego was wounded."

-Av Club

I just gotta say one thing. Tony Soprano should have been on medication. LOTS of medication.

"Soprano Home Movies" is a really good episode. I always think of it as "Lake House."

If you can get your hands on the season (6th) DVD, there's an extra track on there, i.e., Steve Schirripa (Bobby) giving commentary on that episode. He's kind of obnoxious (Talking Sopranos), but he was a major character in that episode and I found the commentary interesting.

Paulie was insufferable! I wanted to kill him myself! He was dirty too. All those assholes would all be MAGAs today. Grievances all the time.

[quote]Tony Soprano should have been on medication. LOTS of medication.

He was.

IF there was no Christopher, Tony wouldn't have to worry bout Ralphie or Adriana. Tony and the rest of those guys were in a rage barely controlled most of the time. They should have been institutionalized.

Tony didn't have to worry about Ralph Cifareto or Adriana La Cerva because of Christopher. What you smoking R380? Ralph got killed because he slept with Tony's sister, killed his stripper gf, kept the Family in the news with the garbage truck burning and killed Pie-O-My. ... Adriana was talking to the feds. Chrissy had nothing to do with that.

[quote] Ralph got killed because he slept with Tony's sister, killed his stripper gf, kept the Family in the news with the garbage truck burning and killed Pie-O-My.

Tony didn't care about Ralph and Janice fucking. He thought it was disgusting, but that's not why he killed Ralph.

Killing the stripper: IMO, it only became an issue after the public (Sopranos watchers) became offended by it. I really don't think this particular killing was meant (by the Sopranos writers) to be any more heinous than the other killings in the series.

Killing Ralph was an impulse decision. Tony was overly-emotional about Pie-O-My.

Tony had to lie about killing Ralph because it was *not justified*. Even dumb Christopher pointed that out.

Christopher helped chop Ralphie up and get r id of the body. Christopher knew what happened to Adriana. The only other person who knew was Silvio, of course. But Tony was concerned because what Christopher knew could put Tony away forever if he decided to rat Tony out. Tony was paranoid among other things, and you could tell, because Gandolfini was such an amazing actor that, when Tony got a bug up his ass about someone it was only a matter of time. Janice could see it. I'm surprised Tony didn't go after Phill sooner.

Now. I know this goes against the grain, but I changed my mind. Again. I don't think Tony gets killed at the end. I think it was just a good place to end the series. A family dinner. A lot of stuff was resolved. A. J. was going to work with Carmine in the movie business. Meadow was going to finish Law School and marry Parisi kid. Phil is dead. Paulie agrees to take on a new role, and Tony stopped by the hospital to say his good byes to Sil who will remain comatose until they pull the plug. He is over. Uncle Junior doesn't know him anymore. Janice is still angling for money. Carmela is happily doing real estate. Tony is facing indictment. But who's alive besides Carlo to corroborate his crimes. He may go to prison, but not for long. So this was sort of the end of that particular story line. It ended in a good place. With so many characters dead there really wasn't much story left that would have been interesting.

you got a bee on a your hat

Ugh - this happens EVERY TIME they run a Sopranos Marathon on HBO - I get TOTALLY submerged and get depressed when it’s over. I know that I can watch on demand - but I really love the Marathons. It ends today - I would love it to start again tomorrow from the beginning.

R385, I started my own marathon, and it took me 5b -6 days, but I finished it this morning around 4 AM, and I have to say, I am depressed, but for different reasons. This show is SO dark, an they get darker and darker with each season. By the time we got to the final Season I was ready to scream. I need to get my Lexapro. LOL! Have to say, Tony's kids are really annoying, but his son A.J. is someone I'd like to choke the life out of.

Yep, Meadow and AJ were annoying characters. Bad actors playing them, as well.

Pine Barrens is a really good episode, brought down a few notches by a B-plot involving Meadow and Jackie Junior. Jackie Jr (the actor) is so good-looking, but such a shitty actor.

K. I think we need to talk about Carmela. IMO she knew exactly what kind of monster Tony was and she chose to wear blinders and mother him. She always loved the expensive jewelry too. She was way too supportive and sympathetic to him. In her heart she knew Adriana was dead. She knew. And she knew Tony had something to do with it. And then one minute Janice is living with Ritchie Aprile and they're getting married, and the next minute, he's gone. Poof! He's disappeared. And Ralphie. Jesus, what they did to Ralphie. Of course she wouldn't know Ralphie was chopped liver, but she knew he was "gone." Right.

This is the most important scene in the series. Carmela makes the choice to continue her deal with the devil. She knows it all. She grew up around Dickie Moltisanti and her uncle Eddie, as Tony points out.

R389 It' funny when she mentions "his whores" and the therapist says says "Probably the least of his misdeeds."

When Tony became extremely angry he.was.scary. Gandolfini played him to perfection.

Carmela was such a fucking hypocrite with her sanctity of the family bullshit, and her religious bullshit and pretending she had a moral compass when it was really about status and appearances. She loved her life. Her house, her pool, the decorating and the lifestyle. And she knew what her husband did for a living. Not just the racketeering and extortion, but the violence, the murders, the strip club, .Paulie gave her a $2,000 Espresso machine and she was all, "Aww, you shouldn't have." And look how they moved Ginny out after Johnny Sack died so Janice and Bobby could have the house. The women were every bit as corrupt as the men in their own way.

Just watched Soprano Home Movies today. Such a good episode.

You can feel the tension mounting and you’re just waiting for the explosion

I'm enjoying this documentary.

Which documentary?

It's out already? The documentary

Everyone already made that observation about Carmela: that she was a hypocrite. Sorry, but that's a very old and obvious observation.

Clever ending to the doc. David Chase is asked what did the ending mean? He said "the truth is" and the screen goes black. End of documentary.

I've always like Steve Van Zant, from the E Street Band to The Sopranos. He said when Gandolfini at one point wasn't showing up to shoot the show and he said to him What the fuck are you doing? You've got like a hundred people relying on you.

Yeah, Gandolfini was kind of a diva, going off (disappearing) on his drug binges, causing production to stop. On Talking Sopranos (David Chase the guest), Steve Schirripa and Michael Imperioli were trying to stick up for Gandolfini - the burdens of fame, blah blah blah. David Chase said: why'd he become an actor, then?

I found it notable when David Chase was asked if he was surprised when Gandolfini died and he said no.

It was good to see Lorraine Bracco again, I've always liked her. Sure, she's older and has gained weight but is still pretty and amusing.

Ok - I always crack up when I see AJ walk. he always walks like an old school Vegas showgirl balancing a heavy headdress on his head. It is always funny when Carmela drags AJ to Furio’s house and AJ is so bored and restless.

Season 4 is hilarious with the Carmela and Furio stuff.

I also like how Tony knew Carmela stole his cash from the bird feeder, but couldn’t prove it. All he could do was accuse and Carmela just played dumb.

R404 - Listen to yourself! You sound DEMENTED!!

[quote]Everyone already made that observation about Carmela: that she was a hypocrite. Sorry, but that's a very old and obvious observation.

As were her parents - especially her mother, who lamented non-stop how Carmella could have married the guy who owns a chain of drug stores. All this, while she’s stuffing her face with food paid for with the blood money she despises.

Fuck her, that old cunt.

Tony Soprano always look like he smelled real bad. The scenes where he comes home after fucking some other woman's brains out, and he just flops into bed, or the mornings after when he stumbles into the kitchen in his robe, he is repulsive to me. In fact, I get it, that he was a mob boss with money and power and it turned women on, but as far as his looks and personal habits, and shoveling food into his mouth, I do not see how anyone, including Carmela, could find him sexually attractive.

Money and power are huge turn ons for women.

Thanks for posting that scene, R389. Always love watching it.

I, too, got sucked into the marathon last week. I still love the show.

This time around, it was like watching L&O Mothership. I live in NJ and spent time trying to figure out where some scenes where shot. In the episode where Tony and Christopher steal the wine, they eat dinner at Rod's in Madison. Part of it is an old train car.

It was tough watching Livia saying "take me now, Lord," knowing the Lord would take her soon in real life.

R407, many women viewers were turned on by Tony, including all the women I knew at the time (it seemed to come up eventually). You can't fight millions of years of evolution, biology and instinct....women are incredibly turned on by alpha males, protectors, leaders, the powerful, the wealthy, etc.

Someone once said of a Ben Bradlee (I think), "When he walked in a room, all the men wanted to be him and all the women wanted to be with him." I think this applied to Tony as well.

Someone mentioned Tony's anger. What I found fascinating was the look in his eyes when he murdered someone. The psychopath, a dark, sinister, demonic part of his character would move across his eyes and stay there while he killed. You can see it at the 3:27 mark of this clip. Gandolfini was brilliant.