THE SOPRANOS

ALL IN THE FAMILY
ROCKFORD FILES
HOW YOU DOIN’?
BADA BING
LITTLE MEADOW
SHOT IN THE FOOT, AGAIN
LIVIA
MADE IN NEW JERSEY
IT IS WHAT IT IS
TOMMY GUN
FLY FALCO FLY
THE MEXICAN
MAINE STREET

 

ALL IN THE FAMILY

The Sopranos, now in its fifth season, hits the little screen with a brass knuckled fist. Even if you don’t have cable, odds on bet, you’ve seen it. This show just can’t be missed.

ROCKFORD FILES

In the very first Sopranos episode, Tony takes his mother to a nursing home where they are watching ‘The Rockford Files’ on a TV. Sopranos creator, David Chase, got his big break into filmmaking as a television writer and producer on the ‘The Rockford Files’.

HOW YOU DOIN’?

The Sopranos’Drea de Matteo, who plays Adrianna La Cerva, will soon be seen opposite ‘Friends’ star Matt LeBlanc. She’ll be playing Gina Tribbiani, Joey’s sister for the ‘Friends’ spin-off, aptly titled ‘Joey’.

BADA BING

The ‘Bada Bing’ club is a real go-go bar in Lodi, New Jersey. It’ called ‘Satin Dolls’. Diehard fans flock to it. Get your own ‘Bada Bing’ at http://www.tshirtking.com/

LITTLE MEADOW

Tony and Carmela’s savvy daughter, Meadow is played by actress, Jamie-Lynn DiScala. Sigler has recently sprouted into a bit of a sex symbol with a photo spread and cover for various trendy magazines. She’s not Italian either, she lists her heritage as Cuban, Greek, Romanian and Sephardic Jew. You can see her now as Heidi Fleiss in the USA Network film, “Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss”.

SHOT IN THE FOOT, AGAIN

Accomplished screenwriter, Michael Imperioli likes to dabble in acting and in episode eight from the first season, he plays a struggling screenwriter named, Christopher Moltisante. During that episode he gets to shoot a bakery clerk in the foot because he feels he’s been disrespectful. When Michael appeared in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas’, he got shot in the foot for the same reason.

LIVIA

David Chase based the relationship of Tony and his mother, Livia, on his real life relationship with his own mother, who was named Livia.

MADE IN NEW JERSEY

HBO wasn’t too thrilled with the title, ‘The Sopranos’. They felt it sounded too much like a musical. So they kicked around a few other possible titles, like ‘Made in New Jersey’. Eventually they stuck with the original handle and added the gun image in the title logo for good measure. Get a great t-shirt with the gun logo at http://www.tshirtking.com/

IT IS WHAT IT IS

In January 2000, the Coalition of Italian American Associations issued a joint statement condemning ‘The Sopranos’ for perpetuating negative Italian-American stereotypes. Audiences took notice and the ratings went up, making it a bonafide hit. The word is still out on the collected works of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.

TOMMY GUN

James Gandolfini’s lead character, Tony Soprano was originally named Tommy Soprano, but David Chase changed it to Tony before the first episode was shot. Good thing too, because he would have probably been shot for leaving it as Tommy.

FLY FALCO FLY

Edie Falco was the first actress to ever sweep the three television awards. In 2000, she won the Emmy, the Golden Globe and SAG Award for her portrayal as mob wife, Carmela Soprano. The show is famous for nude scenes and she recently had hers during the fifth season.

THE MEXICAN

James Gandolfini plays a hit man in the Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts film, ‘The Mexican’. During the shoot he met the director Gore Verbinski’s assistant, Lora Somoza. The two started dating and Gandolfini recently proposed to her in January 2004.

MAINE STREET

During the first season, Tony took Meadow around the east coast shopping colleges. They have a little trip to Brunswick, Maine to visit the famed Bowdoin College. However, those scenes were actually filmed at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.