sopranos

After all the discussion there's been over the finale of The Sopranos, it surprises me that nobody has commented on the superb parenting skills shown by Tony and Carmella over the past seven years. Why, in just the finale alone, there were a number of parenting tips that I was able to take to heart. If you're a parent, I think you might find them useful as well.

Don't let your children park their SUV in the forest.
When I was a kid, nobody had SUV's. Also I grew up in the desert of Arizona, so piles of leaves were hard to find. I don't know if the dealer warns you about the fire-causing catalytic converter when you buy the car, but I'm glad I found this out before my kids started driving.

I know, I know, everyone and their mother's dog has commented on the final scene of the final episode of The Sopranos, made their little jokes, had their fun, and now we all want to move on.

Well, tough, because this video is really funny.

It comes from comedian/actors Phillip Wilburn and Artemis Pebdani, who play the couple in the booth next to Tony and his family in the final scene. Was Tony killed by one of his enemies, or did he unwittingly upset a couple who just wanted their damn onion rings?

I'm not going to talk about the video too much, because I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say I was impressed with how well they spliced together the new scenes with the shots from the actual TV show. That seamlessness makes it even more funny.

Video is after the jump.

"Reserve lots of money for Christmas, 2008."

That's the word from HBO Home Video head Henry McGee, speaking at the DVD and Beyond industry conference. He's talking about a Sopranos complete set. TVShowsOnDVD.com verified the info with McGee, and says it will be an expensive set. Though I wonder what they mean by expensive, since TV fans are used to paying $150-300 for complete sets.

Maybe the set will have commentary by David Chase on that series finale, or maybe deleted scenes or other info that will give more closure (for you fans who need that). Or maybe they'll be more of that black scene, which Chase wanted to last 20 seconds longer than it did (HBO talked him out of it).

OK, if you're not all exhausted by the Sopranos talk and examination of that final scene, let me bring up yet another take on the episode, via a friend of TV critic Roger Catlin at The Hartford Courant.

During the scene in the safehouse in the episode, there an an episode of The Twilight Zone playing on the television. An alert viewer figured out that it was the 1963 episode "The Bard," where a TV writer gets help from the ghost of William Shakespeare, who gets angry at the meddling from advertisers and the network and eventually punches an actor (Burt Reynolds).

Lost creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse recently made an appearance at a Promax/BDA conference where they made some promises about the series ending and provided some insight on extras they have planned for next season.

First of all, the two promising fans that they will not give the series a "murky" ending, like what happened with this week's series finale of The Sopranos. They said they will answer questions and explain the island's mysteries over the next 48 episodes.

This year the Tony Awards garnered the lowest ratings since 1992. Most people are quick to say that it's because they were broadcast on the same night as the finale of The Sopranos but we all know better, don't we?

The Tony Awards are given for excellence on Broadway, which for many years now has been an oxymoron. Aside from the occasional movie star driven vehicle like Martin Short's Fame Becomes Me or blockbusters like The Producers, Broadway has done very little of note in a long time. More importantly, any decent Broadway production is overpriced while also being sold out, giving average Americans little chance to ever see a Broadway show.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by The 61st Annual Tony Awards.
• NBC has a new, two-hour Dateline at 7.
• At 8, TCM has Bringing Up Baby, with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn.
• At 8:30, The Loop returns with a new episode on FOX (there's another new episode at 9:30).
• At 9, PBS has a new Mystery!
• HBO has the series finale of The Sopranos at 9, followed by the series premiere of John From Cincinnati.
• Food Network has a new Next Food Network Star at 9, then a new Challenge.
• At 10, Showtime has the season finale of The Tudors.
• E! has a new Simple Life Goes To Camp at 10, followed by a new Sunset Tan.
• There's a new Army Wives on Lifetime at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

One day after the series finale of The Sopranos, TNT will dedicate twelve hours to a Law and Order marathon focusing on episodes featuring actors from The Sopranos.

The marathon begins Monday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m. and features episodes with appearances from Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Jerry Adler,John Ventimiglia, Vincent Curatola, Dan Grimaldi, Joseph R. Gannascoli, Ray Abruzzo, Robert Funaro, Dominic Chianese, Vincent Pastore, Sharon Angela and Frank Vincent.

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

1. The Sopranos (HBO)
2. WWE Monday Night RAW - 10pm (USA)
3. WWE Monday Night RAW - 9pm (USA)
4. NBA Playoffs - Jazz vs. Warriors (TNT)
5. NBA Playoffs - Jazz vs. Warriors (TNT)
6. NBA Playoffs - Spurs vs. Suns (TNT)
7. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
8. NBA Playoffs - Jazz vs. Warriors (TNT)
9. Finding Nemo (Disney)
10. Fairly Odd Parents (Nickelodeon)

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by the season finale/live reunion of Survivor.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• NBC has a new Dateline at 7.
• At 7:30, FOX has a new King of the Hill.
• At 8, The CW has the series finale of 7th Heaven.
• At 9, FOX has a new Family Guy, then a new American Dad.
• Emeril goes food shopping on a new Emeril Live, at 9 on Food Network.
• TNT has an NBA playoff game at 9, the Jazz vs. the Warriors.
• HBO has a new ep of The Sopranos at 9, then a new Entourage.
• At 10, Lifetime has a new episode of Blood Ties.
• MSNBC has this morning's Meet the Press at 10, if you missed it.
• Comedy Central has a new Mind of Mencia at 10, then a new Reno 911.
• Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors at 10.
• Also at 10: FOX News has a new episode of The 1/2 Hour News Hour.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

1. The Sopranos (HBO)
2. NBA Playoffs - Dallas vs. Golden State (TNT)
3. WWE Monday Night RAW - 10pm (USA)
4. WWE Monday Night RAW - 9pm (USA)
5. NBA Playoffs - Golden State at Dallas (TNT)
6. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
7. NBA Playoffs - Lakers at Phoenix (TNT)
8. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
9. Fairly Odd Parents (Nickelodeon)
10. Hannah Montana (Disney

Here are the weekly cable ratings, by number of viewers.

1. The Sopranos (HBO)
2. NFL Draft (ESPN)
3. WWE Monday Night RAW - 10pm (USA)
4. WWE Monday Night RAW - 9pm (USA)
5. Hannah Montana (Disney)
6. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
7. Hannah Montana (Disney)
8. The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (Disney)
9. Hannah Montana (Disney)
10. NBA Playoffs (TNT)

• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, then new episodes of The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and Without A Trace.
• NBC has a new, two hour Dateline at 7.
• FOX has a new, one hour King of the Hill at 7, then a new Simpsons.
• At 8, The CW has a new 7th Heaven.
• There's a new Nature on PBS at 8.
• Walter Isaacson talks about his new book Einstein on CSPAN 2 at 8.
• Also at 8: Food Network has a new Emeril Live.
• At 9, FOX has a new Family Guy, then a new American Dad.
• HBO has a new Sopranos at 9, then a new Entourage.
• At 10, Comedy Central has a new Mind of Mencia, followed by a new Reno 911.
• BBC America has a new Footballers Wives: Overtime at 10.
• Showtime has a new ep of The Tudors. It's on at 10 too.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S06E15) Last week's promos showed Paulie in what looked like a rough situation or two, most of which featured Tony's glare right on him. That all started after Paulie made a snide remark, or more specifically was talking about himself, when the guys were toasting to Johnny Sack's life after he had passed away from cancer. As it turned out, he was absolutely in the sights of Tony when it came to life and death. And in an episode when someone is having loose lips and putting the boss in a tough situation as the body of the person that he killed to "make his bones" more than two decades earlier was apparently being dug up by the feds, the focus on Paulie being a chatterbox about his entire life story was more than appropriate.

One of the cooler things we got to see this week was Vincent Pastore's mug, as he was hanging out in the kitchen in Paulie's dream, a dream that made him want to step up to the plate, and realize that he was on his boss' bad side. Whether or not Tony just couldn't do it when it came to whacking his friend and onetime mentor or that he realized he was making a rash decision wasn't quite clear. What did happen was that we got the do-si-do from Chase & Company, who had us flat-out staring at the Jersey Crew while the New York team was about to head in another direction.

• At 7, ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover and Desperate Housewives.
• CBS has a new 60 Minutes at 7, then a new Amazing Race and the movie Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness.
• NBC has a new, two-hour Dateline at 7, then new episodes of Deal Or No Deal and The Apprentice (live finale).
• There's a new War At Home on FOX at 7, followed by new episodes of King of the Hill and The Simpsons.
• At 8, The CW has a new 7th Heaven.
• ESPN has the Red Sox/Yankees game at 8.
• PBS has a new Nature at 8.
• Also at 8: Food Network has a new Emeril Live, then a new Iron Chef America.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Planet Earth.
• HBO has a new Sopranos at 9, then a new Entourage.
• The TV Land Awards airs at 9 too.
• At 10, Comedy Central has new eps of Mind of Mencia and Reno 911.
• BBC America has a new Footballer's Wives: Overtime at 10.
• Showtime has a new episode of The Tudors at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.