The Sopranos

[Guest Lobo]

^

Yeah, to me making those up has got to be even harder for the writers than coming up with those really scene-stealing, gripping lines.  I loved that almost every major gangster character made those verbal missteps from time to time (Paulie, Chris, Bobby, even Tony).  But we all do from time to time, but they decided to just front-load the shit out of Little Carmine's character with them as if he was somehow speaking for all mobsters.  He could barely get through a scene without saying two of them, made me cry laughing.  David Chase really did want us laughing at these guys, not with them.  But also he wanted us to laugh at ourselves for how idiotically we idolized them.  He really made something very clever and very beautiful.  

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

5 minutes ago, Lobo said:

^

Yeah, to me making those up has got to be even harder for the writers than coming up with those really scene-stealing, gripping lines.  I loved that almost every major gangster character made those verbal missteps from time to time (Paulie, Chris, Bobby, even Tony).  But we all do from time to time, but they decided to just front-load the shit out of Little Carmine's character with them as if he was somehow speaking for all mobsters.  He could barely get through a scene without saying two of them, made me cry laughing.  David Chase really did want us laughing at these guys, not with them.  But also he wanted us to laugh at ourselves for how idiotically we idolized them.  He really made something very clever and very beautiful.  

"The fundamental question is: 'will I be as effective as a boss like my dad was?' And I will be, even more so.....but until I am, it's gonna be hard to verify that I think I'll be more effective."

[Bogeywon 2,519]

8 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

"The fundamental question is: 'will I be as effective as a boss like my dad was?' And I will be, even more so.....but until I am, it's gonna be hard to verify that I think I'll be more effective."

LMFAO!!!!!!!!

[Fletch 5,800]

God damn this fucking show. 2 of my favorite little back stories is agent Harris’ arc then Sal Vitro towards the end. 
 

“Hey Ton....I was thinking since Johnny is gone, I can stop doing the Sacks lawn”

”Yeah? You’re a selfish prick, ya know that, Sal?”

[Wade 464]

7 minutes ago, Fletch said:

God damn this fucking show. 2 of my favorite little back stories is agent Harris’ arc then Sal Vitro towards the end. 
 

“Hey Ton....I was thinking since Johnny is gone, I can stop doing the Sacks lawn”

”Yeah? You’re a selfish prick, ya know that, Sal?”

Just went back and watched that clip.  While Sal is taking Tony takes his newspaper out of the protective plastic bag and casually hands the trash to Sal to take care of.  That poor bastard.

[Wade 464]

Careful of my Lladr, please.

I don't even wanna say how much it costs.

(whispers) $3,000.

[Guest Lobo]

They wrote Carmella so well, she really teetered that line between "She knew what she was getting into" and "She couldn't possibly have known what a monster he was."  But that Lladro scene was great.  In the end, she loved the lifestyle.  The gaudy, brand-whoring Jersey bullshit she could rub in her friends noses.  It only stung when she saw other women get empowered and do their own thing.  And then A.J. goes to that girl's house and thinks the carriage house is the real mansion because that's all his parents beat into his head...you show people immediately and abundantly every last dollar you have at every possible turn.  and then he realizes there's a whole other house behind the first house where the real money is.  Another brilliant social commentary by Chase.  

[Cousin Strawberry 1,261]

 

"I heard the nurse say you made number two in your pants, is that what happened?"

[Fletch 5,800]

34 minutes ago, Wade said:

Just went back and watched that clip.  While Sal is taking Tony takes his newspaper out of the protective plastic bag and casually hands the trash to Sal to take care of.  That poor bastard.

Hahaha fuckin Paulie. “Hey!!! I’m doin ya a favor here!!!”

[Cousin Strawberry 1,261]

44 minutes ago, Fletch said:

God damn this fucking show. 2 of my favorite little back stories is agent Harris’ arc then Sal Vitro towards the end. 
 

“Hey Ton....I was thinking since Johnny is gone, I can stop doing the Sacks lawn”

”Yeah? You’re a selfish prick, ya know that, Sal?”

I think he said "since Johnny Sacrimone is guilty, can I stop doing his lawn?"

Then Tony makes the distinction that we wasn't guilty, he just plead guilty.

[CurlyDumps 4,477]

Sometimes I go about in pity for myself, and all the while, a great wind carries me across the sky.

[Fletch 5,800]

6 minutes ago, Lobo said:

They wrote Carmella so well, she really teetered that line between "She knew what she was getting into" and "She couldn't possibly have known what a monster he was."  But that Lladro scene was great.  In the end, she loved the lifestyle.  The gaudy, brand-whoring Jersey bullshit she could rub in her friends noses.  It only stung when she saw other women get empowered and do their own thing.  And then A.J. goes to that girl's house and thinks the carriage house is the real mansion because that's all his parents beat into his head...you show people immediately and abundantly every last dollar you have at every possible turn.  and then he realizes there's a whole other house behind the first house where the real money is.  Another brilliant social commentary by Chase.  

Ehhhhh fuck her. She knew what was up. Yet she bitched and bitched and bitched at Tony about what a piece of shit he is, yet she had no problem accepting the $10,000 worth of jewelry and shit Tony bought her off with. Fuck her. She’s arguably worse. Bitching at Tony all the time about his lifestyle but had no problem when it came time for payday. 

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, overall she knew the score and I never felt bad for her.  But there were just some well-written scenes, mainly dialogues with her and Tony and little facial expressions when she saw other women in the life leading different lives...where I didn't feel bad for her per say, but it at least made you pause and consider her station for a few minutes as a mother.  My point was just that she's an incredibly complex character that doesn't get as much appreciation from a writing/acting standpoint as so many others.  Still, I've met a dozen Carmella's in real life and they can all woof down a bottle of pills and chase it with a bottle of their shitty perfume.  Play stupid lifestyle, win stupid prizes.  I've known away too many like that.  It's the kids you feel bad for.

[CurlyDumps 4,477]

 

[Fletch 5,800]

@Lobo I feel ya, there’s definitely some parts where you feel bad for her, BUT she knew what was up. She’s a nagging fucking cunt that acted like she didn’t want any of this. Fuck her. My favorite example of how annoying she is is at the end of season 5(?) when Tony and Sack meet in Johnny’s backyard, then the feds show up and Tony ends up running home. He comes through the back door after running from the feds and talking to his lawyer, finally gets home and she’s all over his ass. After all that shit and she’s just at the mansion with thousands of dollars of clothes and jewelry on bitching at the hand that feeds her. She’s just the fucking worst.  Her own kids fucking hated her. Just a nagging hypocritical bitch(yeah yeah everyone in the sopranos is hypocritical but ya know). Fuck her

[Fletch 5,800]

To add to that, during the breaking bad run, everyone was bitching about Skyler and I’m sitting there all “ummm I mean she didn’t ask for any of this then Walt just laid it on her lap and she weighs the pros and cons and goes with the money like any other human would.”  Carmela on the other hand....

[billfromlaketravis 11,520]

Carmela finally became a ride or die wife by the final season. Tony's shooting was honestly good for their marriage.

Edited December 22, 2020 by billfromlaketravis

[Bogeywon 2,519]

10 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Carmela finally became a ride or die wife by the final season. Tony's shooting was honestly good for their marriage.

I get super uncomfortable in the scene when she’s taking to him when he’s in the coma and she says “you use to make me so hot down there”  

[Cousin Strawberry 1,261]

20 minutes ago, Bogeywon said:

I get super uncomfortable in the scene when she’s taking to him when he’s in the coma and she says “you use to make me so hot down there”  

I mean, if I was in a coma, I would want my wife to tell me how much she wanted to sit on my face and ride my hawg.

[Fletch 5,800]

Just turned on a random episode. The one in season 5 when Chrissy goes outta town and Tony and Adrianna get into the car wreck. After the game of telephone, T is in Mefli’s office. 
 

“You know, I might as well of fucked her. Thanks!”

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

13 hours ago, Lobo said:

Yeah, overall she knew the score and I never felt bad for her.  But there were just some well-written scenes, mainly dialogues with her and Tony and little facial expressions when she saw other women in the life leading different lives...where I didn't feel bad for her per say, but it at least made you pause and consider her station for a few minutes as a mother.  My point was just that she's an incredibly complex character that doesn't get as much appreciation from a writing/acting standpoint as so many others.  Still, I've met a dozen Carmella's in real life and they can all woof down a bottle of pills and chase it with a bottle of their shitty perfume.  Play stupid lifestyle, win stupid prizes.  I've known away too many like that.  It's the kids you feel bad for.

Like when she sees Angie B's Corvette she earned with her own money.

Or season 6 when Meadow's friend Hunter, who Carmela was happy was a screw up, had made it into medical school.  Learning that let the air out of her.

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, that was a great scene.  And Angie's telling her she was gonna lease it (which is probably Tony's M.O.), but her accountant told he it was better to own it outright.  Carmella's fake facade of happiness and then total collapse when Angie left was powerful.  So many women around her had gone through so much worse than she had it and kept bouncing back (not all, some).  Carmella I think struggled with what she was just made up of as a person.  She did what she had to do as a wife, I'd contend she was a decent mother who loved her cubs (even though A.J. could fuck up a cup of coffee).  But as a person, as a human being, as a Catholic, she was really conflicted.  Not because of how Tony made his living, that was her struggle as a wife. 

In her core though, I don't think she ever figured out what she was about.  She wasn't educated, never worked, invented a handful of worthless business schemes, had no real passions or interests or hobbies.  She just busied herself being a mom and an ornament.  She made peace with the mafia ornament part, and tried as hard as she could with her kids.  But Carmella the human just never came to fruition.  There obviously wasn't enough time on the series to dive into that, but you see Tony struggle with who he is as a person in almost every episode.  The episodes that really dealt with their marriage, with the family dynamic, it was just Carmella hand-wringing about the affairs, the money, the 'partnership.'  She was never searching for anything more than that in her demands to Tony.  Then she sees all these other female empowered women like Artie's wife, Dr. Melfi, the mothers of Meadow's friends, et. al.  Little snippets into the life she could have led.  That's what bothers her.  Remember Tony recanting a half dozen of his girlfriends to Melfi, how they all had an aura of success to them and were very individualistic.  I think Carmella picked up on that and that's a big part of why she resented Tony's affairs.  All those mob wives knew the score about infidelity.  But Tony was looking for something in them besides sex, he was looking for strong women, and Carmella knew that wasn't her.  

I dunno, there's no fucking TV right now so I gotta over-analyze Carmella Soprano, underrated character IMO.  Fuck Coronavirus in the bat ass!  

[Gil Bang 25,985]

the dumbest piece of writing in the entire series was killing Pussy on the boat, in the saloon.  WTF?  Evidence everywhere, and you have to haul his fat, bleeding corpse back up the steps?   You shoot him on the deck, toss him overboard, and hose down the fiberglass and you're done. 

[Deej 76,873]

Prequel movie scheduled for March release.

[Fletch 5,800]

18 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

the dumbest piece of writing in the entire series was killing Pussy on the boat, in the saloon.  WTF?  Evidence everywhere, and you have to haul his fat, bleeding corpse back up the steps?   You shoot him on the deck, toss him overboard, and hose down the fiberglass and you're done. 

Yeah true but the dumber piece of writing was Furio and Carmelas stupid fucking romance plot 

[Wade 464]

32 minutes ago, Fletch said:

Yeah true but the dumber piece of writing was Furio and Carmelas stupid fucking romance plot 

Good point.  They could have developed Furio's character many interesting ways the last two seasons.  My issue with Season 6 is that so many of the interesting characters are gone.  I mean Bobby B. as a main character and underboss?  Guy was milktoast.

[Deej 76,873]

It would have been interesting to see where it would have gone if Nancy Marchand hadn't passed away. 

Intersting tidbit: she played Frasier's mom in an episode of Cheers.

[Gil Bang 25,985]

4 minutes ago, Deej said:

It would have been interesting to see where it would have gone if Nancy Marchand hadn't passed away. 

Intersting tidbit: she played Frasier's mom in an episode of Cheers.

She'll always be Mrs. Pinchon to me. 

[Fletch 5,800]

18 minutes ago, Wade said:

Good point.  They could have developed Furio's character many interesting ways the last two seasons.  My issue with Season 6 is that so many of the interesting characters are gone.  I mean Bobby B. as a main character and underboss?  Guy was milktoast.

It would’ve be nice to get a few more scenes of him cracking heads and shaking people down. Just a really odd writing decision to turn him into some romantic after 2 seasons of him being an enforcer. 

[Guest Lobo]

I think they wrote in that storyline to show that Carmella liked being "pursued" without actually having to close the deal.  The priest, the carpenter, and the enforcer.  All were forbidden in some way from actually engaging in a romantic affair with Carmella (vows, loss of contracts and life, and death due to omerta).  She knew that, and they knew that.  So she liked to string them along, it made her feel something since as we discussed above, she was basically a shell of a human being.  I mean Furio is still hiding out somewhere in South America because Carmella is a selfish cunt and he didn't even get to have sex with her.  

[qwertyu1234 496]

The actor who played Furio was blabbing about the plot of the show and that's why he left the show so abruptly. 

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, the one thing I know about David Chase, he'd rather you blab about banging his wife than blab about the future scripts of his show.  

Welp, that explains a lot actually.  

[Cousin Strawberry 1,261]

"You gotta abee on yer ahat"

[msbesq 385]

The podcast is really interesting, especially the interviews at the beginning of each one. This last one with David Chase was excellent.

[Gil Bang 25,985]

I always thought it was weird that Tony loves old movies and TV shows, and has 19" Philips TV sets in his house.  

I watched new episodes of The Sopranos on much better sets that Tony had. 

[Deej 76,873]

He ended up with the home theater in the pool house.

[Bogeywon 2,519]

1 hour ago, Deej said:

He ended up with the home theater in the pool house.

Like who wants to walk through jersey to go watch a movie??

[Gil Bang 25,985]

On 12/21/2020 at 11:45 AM, Johnny Sack said:

Junior was a great character.  Some of the funniest things I have only caught on re-watch.  Like when he was having to mediate a sitdown with Tony, Johnny Sack, Carmine and Ralphie over the Jenny Sack joke.  Junior was under house arrest and could only participate by phone.  He still put on his best suit and tie for the call.

That sitdown took place during Junior's trial.  I think he was dressed for court. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,520]

The full version the 1996 HBO movie Gotti is on YouTube. Almost the entire cast of The Sopranos, and it’s very good. 

[SameSame 1,705]

On 12/23/2020 at 3:00 PM, qwertyu1234 said:

The actor who played Furio was blabbing about the plot of the show and that's why he left the show so abruptly. 

He wasa blabbalina about da showa

[Cousin Strawberry 1,261]

On 12/21/2020 at 4:28 PM, Johnny Sack said:

"The fundamental question is: 'will I be as effective as a boss like my dad was?' And I will be, even more so.....but until I am, it's gonna be hard to verify that I think I'll be more effective."

I just listened to the Talking Sopranos podcast Little Carmine was based on George W. Bush. The above was apparently a direct quote from W talking about his dad.  Also the "historically speaking, historical changes come from war."

[Guest Lobo]

i think in hindsight, they decided that would make for a good anecdote to declare that in retrospect.  I think based on everything else i know about Chase and the producers, Little Carmine was based on any number of beyond fucking dumb mobsters in real life.  Every last one of 'em I've ever fucking met could't put two sentences together because they always try to sound smart and cultured but end up sounding like Little Carmine with a stammer.  They make your teeth itch they speak like such fucking imbeciles.  I know W. had some vocab issues from time to time, so would all of us if you spoke publicly for several hours a day for 15 straight years.  But every mobster I've ever met, and I'm assuming all the ones Chase met in preparing for "The Sopranos" sounded much, much worse.  Don't me wrong, Chase captured it better than anyone other than Scorcese.  

[Mac8111 2,109]

On season 6 now. Jesus, 21 episodes. You forget these days that a series can be more than 12 episodes.

[Augustus 3,061]

On 1/18/2021 at 11:20 AM, Lobo said:

i think in hindsight, they decided that would make for a good anecdote to declare that in retrospect.  I think based on everything else i know about Chase and the producers, Little Carmine was based on any number of beyond fucking dumb mobsters in real life.  Every last one of 'em I've ever fucking met could't put two sentences together because they always try to sound smart and cultured but end up sounding like Little Carmine with a stammer.  They make your teeth itch they speak like such fucking imbeciles.  I know W. had some vocab issues from time to time, so would all of us if you spoke publicly for several hours a day for 15 straight years.  But every mobster I've ever met, and I'm assuming all the ones Chase met in preparing for "The Sopranos" sounded much, much worse.  Don't me wrong, Chase captured it better than anyone other than Scorcese.  

Oh, for the days of Meyer Lansky or Carlo Gambino, etc.  Smart dudes with style.

Every once in a while, Junior would demonstrate some legit wisdom.  But he was so damn insecure it really undermined any authority.

Damn, this show may have been the best character study ever made.

Edited January 20, 2021 by Augustus

[Augustus 3,061]

 

If I need a laugh, I just think about Tony with that Monopoly hotel game piece stuck to his face.

[jeevsie 3,737]

On 12/23/2020 at 2:12 PM, Deej said:

It would have been interesting to see where it would have gone if Nancy Marchand hadn't passed away. 

Intersting tidbit: she played Frasier's mom in an episode of Cheers.

Just started a rewatch so I'm in S1.  The line stuck in my head currently is "I don't know whatcher talkin' about.  I don't know that world."

Loved Liv!

[lateshow 1,305]

12 minutes ago, jeevsie said:

Just started a rewatch so I'm in S1.  The line stuck in my head currently is "I don't know whatcher talkin' about.  I don't know that world."

Loved Liv!

I didn't know, until listening to Talking Sopranos, that Janice was only supposed to be on the show for one year. She was getting on the bus for Seattle and that was that. Season 3 was supposed to have Livia testifying against Tony in court about the airline tickets. When Nancy Marchand died between seasons, they had to change courses and brought Janice back to be the familial female foe for Tony. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,520]

19 minutes ago, lateshow said:

I didn't know, until listening to Talking Sopranos, that Janice was only supposed to be on the show for one year. She was getting on the bus for Seattle and that was that. Season 3 was supposed to have Livia testifying against Tony in court about the airline tickets. When Nancy Marchand died between seasons, they had to change courses and brought Janice back to be the familial female foe for Tony. 

Remind me again, how did Tony wiggle off the hook for the stolen airline tickets? That looked to be a pretty open and shut extortion case. 

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

1 hour ago, jeevsie said:

Just started a rewatch so I'm in S1.  The line stuck in my head currently is "I don't know whatcher talkin' about.  I don't know that world."

Loved Liv!

She was great in everything.  Including Naked Gun

 

 

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

56 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Remind me again, how did Tony wiggle off the hook for the stolen airline tickets? That looked to be a pretty open and shut extortion case. 

When Livia died, they lost the witness needed to prove that up.