tony soprano

The Sopranos returns for its final episodes beginning April 8th, and I can't think of a better way to get caught up on the last six seasons. Some editing genius has put together a recap of the entire series up to this point, including everybody who has been whacked, everybody Tony has slept with, those ducks, Anthony's black-outs, etc. It's only seven minutes long and it's a great refresher. Because, seriously, can anybody keep track of who is still alive?

Video is after the jump- watch it soon, because you never know how long HBO will let it stay up on YouTube. (If they're smart, they'll leave it up there because it's actually marketing for the final episodes)

*UPDATE: Sopranos creator David Chase loves the montage and is asking HBO to leave it up on YouTube. Yay!

[Via Lost Remote]

And so it begins. The countdown to the final nine episodes of one of the finest dramas to ever grace our TV screens. I'll be honest -- I'm very impressed with the simplicity of the ad campaign that HBO is now running to promote The Sopranos farewell. Nothing too flashy. Just black and white. Tony all by himself. Pondering. It makes you think. Plus, I love the "Made in America" tagline. It has such an obvious double meaning, but it fits perfectly. There's actually another ad floating around too. I found a snapshot of it here. Equally simple but also a little creepy. Just a family photo... but everyone is staring you in the face. You have to wonder though. Generally, past ads for The Sopranos hold some kind of meaning regarding the season to come. Is this one any different? Who do you think Tony is looking off to the right at? You know what I mean? If you zoomed out on the photo, what else is around him?

Beginning January 10th, A&E will begin broadcasting a cleaned-up version of The Sopranos. No violence. No nudity. No swearing. How likely is it that the PG-13 version of The Sopranos will suck? According to A&E's vice president of program planning Tom Moody, "The Sopranos is so well written and so well acted, it doesn't rely on language, violence or nudity to carry story arcs. It overcomes any of those tiny obstacles." Ah, yes, "tiny obstacles" - like how the characters speak to each other, how their actions convey meaning, etc. Not a prob.

Fortunately, HBO thought ahead. Alternative shots and scenes with tamer dialogue were filmed alongside what originally ended up on the air. Less than one minute and no full scenes will be edited out of the seventy-seven episodes destined for syndication, or so they say. If Sex and the City can be cut down to a thirty minute basic cable-friendly show with no dirty talk, than anything may be possible. Do what you will to The Sopranos - just don't get any fancy ideas about syndicating Deadwood.

By one episode. Hey, it's better than nothing! This was confirmed by Steve Schirripa over the weekend while he was being interviewed at the recent Comic Relief show. Schirripa, who plays Bobby Baccala, didn't have much to say other than the first six episodes are done and he's still alive and kicking.

So this means that the second half of the HBO mob drama's sixth and final season will have nine episodes instead of eight. The series returns on April 8 (wouldn't surprise me in the least if that changed again) and if you're looking to play catch up you can see the first half of the season right now on HBO OnDemand. Either that or you can check out the DVD, which just came out recently. Whichever method you choose, prepare to be let down. I know myself, along with plenty of other Sopranos fans, were sorely disappointed with the first 12 episodes of this season. Here's to hoping that the final nine are worth the wait.

[via Celebrity Week]

Basic cable channel A&E bought the syndication rights to The Sopranos, and now the network is busy trying to clean up the show for its audience. What can and can't they air? It's a fine line that basically says blood is okay but brain spatter is not. Case in point: the last episode of season one has Jimmy Altieri getting whacked with one bullet to the back of his head. When the episode aired on HBO, the audience saw blood spatter on the wall and chunks of brain slide down the wall. A&E's audience won't see the brains. There are about one hundred other instances where executives have to make similar decisions about violence, language and nudity. The newly edited versions of The Sopranos air on A&E in January.

I'm wondering if it's even worth the effort. A&E bought the right to air all 85 episodes of The Sopranos... for a staggering $2.5 million per episode. But how much fun is it really going to be without all the naughty stuff?

[Via TV Tattle]

You probably didn't know this but, according to research performed by Warner Brothers, there will be 25 to 28 million households with HDTV consoles by the end of this year. To all of you I have one thing to say: can you please send some bling my way so I can be added to that list of households? Oh, and add in about $130 so I can purchase The Sopranos Season 6 (Part 1) on hi-def DVD.

Yes, you heard me right! The Sopranos will be the first TV series to be released on the emerging HD-DVD format. HBO Video states that the hi-def set, which will average $129.99, $30 more than the standard DVD version, will arrive in stores on November 7th. HBO also said that a Blu-ray Disc version of Season 6 (Part 1) will be available next year.

For those of you still using those primitive low-def DVD players, HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc are the next generation optical-disc formats competing for dominance in the the ever growing HDTV market. Currently, there are only two brands of HD-DVD machines in the market, and they are both made by the electronics giant Toshiba.

Sorry for the lack of SS last week, folks. I'll try not to disappoint again! Last week's winners:

1 star to Captain Obvious: Toby: "Every Friday at 4, I have a standing appointment with Dwight for him to file a grievance against Jim. I tell him that I'm sending them to a special file in New York. That pile is the special file in New York."
2 stars to wheelsee: "And on your right you'll see where all of the votes for Chris Daughtry wound up..."
3 stars to emily: "Interestingly enough, this is only the world's third largest pile of pointless canisters."

This week, a scene from Sunday's The Sopranos:

(S06E12) After a week's layoff that felt like forever (we should be used to that by now with this show, frankly), we're roped right back in to what the boys from Jersey were up to. Julianna Margulies' character has made her way back into the show, in a way that I'd heard on the down low was going to happen, and she turns out to be just the troubling influence that one of the main guys didn't need. Carmela appears dead set on finding out what happened to Adrianna, something that Tony is more than interested in halting from happening.

Going in to this week's season finale, I was curious as to if we'd be left with a serious cliffhanger, or brought into a false sense of security. Unless I missed something, the latter seems to be the case. Christopher seems to be having cold feet about his marriage and impending new addition to the family, and is taking out his frustrations elsewhere. Phil and the New York crew appear to be plotting something very, very bad for the Jersey crew. And most importantly, of course, AJ seems to have made a new friend at the construction site. But like they say, "at least she's Catholic."

While everyone is BBQ'ing this weekend, HBO and Showtime have both made the wise choice of holding off on new episodes of The Sopranos and Huff this Sunday night. Instead, HBO will run a mini-marathon on the past three episodes of The Sopranos ("The Ride," "Moe n' Joe,"and "Cold Stones") starting at 9PM. The Sopranos will return the following Sunday (June 4) with the mid-season finale entitled "Kaisha."

Over on Showtime, this Sunday night at 10 will be a re-run of the Huff two-hour season two premiere, "Maps Don't Talk." Huff will also return on Sunday, June 4 with a new episode entitled "Bethless" at 10PM. It's the first of three new episodes before the season two finale which airs on Sunday, June 25.

(S06E11) It's probably not too often that an actor comes up with a plotline idea for his own character that is not only successful in keeping people interested in the show, puts his tv self in harm's way, and it's a good thing. For those of you waiting to see what would come from Vito's "situation," let's just say, this was what you've been waiting for this whole season. It amazes me to think back to how long ago it was in real time to when Vito was seen by Finn on the construction site, but it's all good now.

If there was anything that this show brought even more to life, it was the "things that irk Tony." We open up to Carm giving AJ the business because he was apparently fired from his job at Blockbuster - three weeks ago - and has somehow been going on $1000 nights hanging out with Hernan and his pals. Outside of that, Vito tracks down Tony at the mall to ask if he can "buy back in" to the family. Tony does more or less what you'd expect, snubbing him and throwing out some insults in the process. Something makes me wonder, though, whether or not Vito would have appealed to Tony's good side had he not brought his brother along for "protection." Between that situation, and the fact that Phil Leotardo and his hairstyled pal continue to drive the Jersey boss mad, it was enough to cause problems that will be felt for awhile.

(S06E10) If there is one thing that this show is consistent about, it's that the characters are almost always underhanded and working an angle. Vito's looking to have some love in his life, but he doesn't want to have to work for his money. Janice is out for Janice. Tony's boredom from last week has flowed over into this week's episode, and he's putting the screws to Carmela by not really helping her with her spec house. Hell, Johnny Sack from prison is working an angle to get some cash through Tony, and he doesn't want Phil involved. All shockers, I'm sure.

The other big question is to whether more - or less - people have gone to therapy since this show has been on the air. I mean, if it's cool for big time mob bosses (oh, wait, waste management employees) to go to therapy, then it has to be cool for lawyers, technical writers, call center personnel, and us bloggers, right?

(S06E09) A lot of fans of the show, including myself, have hemmed and hawed over episodes this season (and heck, last season) when no one was offed, or when a few different storylines were advanced but a lot of the show focused on the inner thoughts of people. This week, there were quite a few "events," lots of drama, and it was an all around good show.

Christopher conveniently ends up being a father just a day or two before Carmela bumps into Ade's mother at the Feast - thank goodness Ms. La Cerva didn't find out that Christopher had gotten married, as well. Additionally, this Christopher-centric episode showed him and Tony having a good old time just moments after getting lost in Western Pennsylvania, in a shoot 'em up reminiscient of something you might have caught on an old-time gangster movie. And who doesn't like that?

This story on WNBC's website says that James Gandolfini was hit by a cab in New York's West Village on Wednesday morning as he rode his Vespa scooter on the street.

He's OK. The scooter's in the shop.

What I find funny is the visual of Gandolfini riding a Vespa scooter. He's a big fella. With a badass alter-ego. So badass in fact, that I'd be scared to point and laugh a la Nelson on The Simpsons.

(S06E08) "Tall or short stack?" While it's not exactly the most touching thing ever said on an episode of The Sopranos, it's gotta be up there, in some quirky kinda way, right? Vito, er ... Vince has apparently found at least one person with an interest in other men in his new "home," but he doesn't seem to want to accept that so well. You had to get a kick out of Vince (I'm having a hard time typing that, just so ya know) apparently stealing the cellphone from one of the other guests at the B&B in order to call home. Do we think his wife is going to rat him out to Phil, by any chance? I'm *sure* that someone could figure out a way to trace teh phone number that called the house, if they really wanted to.

Seeing AJ out with his friends, apparently paying the tab now that he's "minted" made me wonder what was going on there. Is he really just trying to fit in, or is there a plan behind paying $1890 bar bills somewhere? And let's just say that he most certainly is attempting to follow the family traits, one way or another. What I want to know is, will this be the slow rise of the young man into the family, or will Tony figure out another way to keep the boy busy?

(S06E07) The only hitch I find in coming up with a show as popular - or entertaining - as The Sopranos is that when the plot gets a little thin from one week to another, it's more and more disappointing. Sure, seeing a hit on one of the New York crew evolve and watching Christopher have a bit of fun with Sir Ben Kingsley was a hoot, but a whole week dedicated to how Artie's restaurant is having some issues? All right, I guess.

Last week's promo showed Christopher asking Tony about heading out West with Little Carmine to work on potentially bringing in Kingsley to the slasher-meets-Mafia flick that they're attempting to pitch one of these days. Of course, that goes about how you'd expect it - poorly - but not before Chrissie spends a bit of time with a local working woman (the comments about her most likely silicone-enhanced breasts were key), and falls somewhat off the wagon. I guess at least he had the sense to call in his sponsor, right? Yeah, didn't think so.