6 years, 1 month ago

‘The Sopranos’ creators look back at a TV show that slayed

NEW YORK — Back in 1997, then-up-and-coming actor Michael Imperioli was mulling two work offers: a cable TV show pilot and a small role in a Woody Allen film. More than awards, the show about mid-level gangsters in New Jersey proved that audiences could handle morally complex anti-heroes, paving the way for shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men,” and marking the beginning of the time when TV started eating cinema’s lunch. That’s where I found myself thinking a lot.” Chase wanted to make scenes longer if they needed to be — or shorter — and let his stories unfold slower than a network show. “That was really groundbreaking.” Before it signed off for good 12 years ago, “The Sopranos” left behind something that continues to be debated — a cut-to-black finale that left everything ambiguous. “The room was kind of torn on whether they liked that or not.” Fans of the show won’t have to mourn much longer since Chase has a prequel film planned for 2020 called “The Many Saints of Newark.” Chase and “Sopranos” veteran Lawrence Konner have written the script and it will be set in the 1960s during the Newark, New Jersey, riots which Chase witnessed.

Chase Sopranos Imperioli tv look network sopranos pilot wanted chase shows slayed imperioli creators really film

History of this topic

6 months, 2 weeks ago

The Sopranos season 3 scene that reveals ‘truth’ behind divisive HBO series ending

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. When discussing the ending, he said: “Why cut to black?’ Here, he referenced a scene …

6 months, 3 weeks ago

The Sopranos’ James Gandolfini walked out of intervention and dared HBO to fire him

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Everybody went, ‘Jimmy, Jimmy!’ And he turned to me …

6 months, 3 weeks ago

Make yourself uncomfortable: Documentary analyzes "Sopranos" by putting its creator through therapy

Salon

Twenty-five years after “The Sopranos” transformed TV, largely for the better, not much hasn’t been said or written about it. Completists and superfans already know the basic sketches of “Sopranos” lore outlined in “Wise Guy,” including personal details like the fact that Livia Soprano, Nancy Marchand’s harridan of a mother who took joy in torturing her son Tony, was based …

6 months, 3 weeks ago

New Sopranos documentary reveals why Martin Scorsese didn’t like the show

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Sopranos creator David Chase …

9 months, 1 week ago

Michael Imperioli pens heartfelt tribute to Sopranos co-star James Gandolfini: ‘Proud of the work we did’

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Michael Imperioli has posted a …

1 year ago

Is The Sopranos creator David Chase right that quality TV is 'dying'?

BBC

Is The Sopranos creator David Chase right that quality TV is 'dying'? The Sopranos was the first television show that didn't feel like it was intentionally trying to tread water – Sam Esmail All of which prompted the man credited with spearheading the last quarter century of prestige TV dramas, The Sopranos creator David Chase, to declare that "something is …

1 year, 1 month ago

The Sopranos was a groundbreaking work of genius... so why does its creator think it would not be made today? According to David Chase the golden age of television is dead, writes BRIAN VINER

Daily Mail

Tony Soprano was a monster. According to David Chase the golden age of television is dead In an interview to mark the 25th anniversary of the first episode, David has declared that his groundbreaking series would not be made today Although we were all used to stories about the Mob from films such as The Godfather and Goodfellas, The Sopranos …

1 year, 2 months ago

How The Sopranos began as a comedy about a mother

BBC

How The Sopranos began as a comedy about a mother Twenty-five years ago this week, the groundbreaking crime drama premiered on HBO in the US. So The Sopranos writer and producer David Chase told the BBC's Mark Lawson about the unlikely inspiration behind his groundbreaking crime drama in an extended 2006 interview. Although his mother, unlike Tony's mum Livia, never …

1 year, 7 months ago

Michael Imperioli reflects on the most ‘brutal, difficult’ scenes to film for The Sopranos

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Michael Imperioli has claimed that the most “difficult” scenes to film …

3 years, 4 months ago

James Gandolfini took a fired Sopranos writer out for dinner

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy James Gandolfini once took a Sopranos writer out for dinner on …

3 years, 4 months ago

Sopranos: James Gandolfini received ‘disturbing’ late night phone called that inspired famous line

The Independent

3 years, 4 months ago

The Sopranos: James Gandolfini filmed secret scene revealing if Tony died after finale, Edie Falco says

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Also starring Edie Falco, the 10-minute scene was shot in 2010 – three years after …

3 years, 4 months ago

The Sopranos creator David Chase clarifies what he meant by Tony ‘death scene’ comment

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. While being interviewed for The Sopranos Sessions, a book …

3 years, 5 months ago

The Sopranos: David Chase says he and James Gandolfini were ‘barely talking’ by the end of the series

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Sopranos creator David Chase has opened up about his turbulent …

3 years, 5 months ago

Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler admit they’ve never watched The Sopranos

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler have confessed to never watching The …

3 years, 6 months ago

Review: In ‘Sopranos’ prequel movie, Tony Soprano’s origin story gets short shrift

LA Times

Who made Tony Soprano? That question is central to the ad campaign for “The Many Saints of Newark,” a feature film spun off the cable network’s seminal TV series “The Sopranos.” Devotees and even casual fans of the game-changing show, which aired from 1999 to 2007, are certain to be drawn in by the promise of diving deeper into the …

3 years, 6 months ago

Don’t Stop Believing: David Chase returns to ‘The Sopranos’

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Destiny hangs over the characters of the “Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark,” but none more so than its creator. It’s been that way my whole life,” says Chase, who nevertheless spent his career in TV before creating “The Sopranos.” “Film, cinema. It’s tempting to quote “The Godfather Part III”: “Just when you think you’re out.” …

3 years, 6 months ago

Don't Stop Believing: David Chase returns to 'The Sopranos'

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It’s been that way my whole life,” says Chase, …

3 years, 6 months ago

Review: 'The Sopranos' prequel is made for the TV fans

The Independent

3 years, 6 months ago

Ray Liotta explains why he turned down a role in The Sopranos

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Ray Liotta has explained why he did not appear in The …

3 years, 7 months ago

How the ‘Sopranos’ prequel reimagines some of your favorite characters — and introduces new ones

LA Times

As the creator of HBO’s seminal Mafia series “The Sopranos,” David Chase is keenly aware that heavy lies the head that wears the crown. Dickie Moltisanti Played by Alessandro Nivola Alessandro Nivola in “The Many Saints of Newark” as Dickie Moltisanti, mafia soldier and the father of “The Soprano’s” Michael Imperioli character Christopher Moltisanti. It had to be him.” Livia …

3 years, 9 months ago

Chris Rock reveals he turned down offers to join The Sopranos fearing he'd 'spoil it'

Firstpost

“Sometimes you can respect something so much, you don’t even want to be a part of it,” Chris Rock says he had got “a couple of offers” to be a part of the cult show. Actor-comedian Chris Rock has revealed that he was approached by the makers of The Sopranos to appear on the show but he refused to take …

4 years, 1 month ago

James Gandolfini’s son was not allowed to watch The Sopranos: ‘I never knew Tony Soprano. I only knew my dad’

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy James Gandolfini’s son, who is set to star in The Sopranosprequel …

4 years, 9 months ago

The Sopranos creator David Chase reflects on final scene, seems to accidentally confirm Tony’s fate

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Sopranos creator once seemed to confirm what happened in the …

4 years, 10 months ago

Sopranos creator David Chase writes coronavirus-themed scene in which Tony is alive

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Sopranos writer David Chase has written a brand new scene …

4 years, 11 months ago

How two ‘Sopranos’ wise guys launched a podcast from their coronavirus quarantine

LA Times

Steve Schirripa and Michael Imperioli — respectively, the sweet-natured foot soldier turned capo Bobby “Baccalà” Baccalieri and Tony Soprano’s swaggering hothead protégé Christopher Moltisanti on “The Sopranos” — dropped a TV rewatch podcast called “Talking Sopranos” on Monday. An old HBO publicity shot from “The Sopranos” with, from left, Tony Sirico, Steve Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli and Vincent …

5 years, 7 months ago

James Gandolfini's son had never watched The Sopranos when he said yes to playing young Tony

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Michael Gandolfini, the son of James Gandolfini, has opened up about …

5 years, 8 months ago

The Sopranos reboot: HBO boss fuels rumours of new episodes after prequel film

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Considering creator David Chase is revisiting the world of the classic drama in prequel film …

6 years, 2 months ago

The Sopranos creator David Chase confirms Tony's diner sequence in final episode was a 'death scene'

Firstpost

Fans of The Sopranos, from the premium cable to the streaming eras, have been wondering about the controversial blackout which abruptly ended the HBO mob drama. But soon, everyone were left wondering about Tony’s fate — whether he ended up getting “whacked” or whether his sordid life went on as usual. The Sopranos creator David Chase, in a new book …

6 years, 2 months ago

On The Sopranos' 20th anniversary, HBO give celebrities, TV shows, brands gangster-inspired nicknames

Firstpost

To celebrate The Sopranos’ 20th anniversary, HBO started a fun gangster-inspired nickname game that has left everyone wanting one of their own. The acclaimed series about mobster Tony Soprano, played by the late James Gandolfini, celebrated its 20th anniversary on Thursday and HBO started a fun Sopranos-inspired nickname game that has left everyone wanting one of their own. Here’s how …

6 years, 2 months ago

The Sopranos at 20: Creator David Chase reflects on the ending, James Gandolfini and Trump

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “I didn’t think that The Sopranos would chart any kind of new course,” Chase said. …

6 years, 2 months ago

The Sopranos at 20: Flawed anti-heroes are now everywhere on TV, but they all began with James Gandolfini’s mobster

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery James Gandolfini with Tony Sirico, Steve Van Zandt, Michael Imperioli and …

6 years, 2 months ago

‘The Sopranos’ at 20: Creator David Chase on the show’s legacy and four key episodes

LA Times

Twenty years ago this week, “The Sopranos” was about to debut on HBO and creator David Chase was sure it would never amount to much. And nearly 12 years after “The Sopranos” went off the air, fans are still debating and dissecting the controversial series finale, which ended with an abrupt cut to black that left Tony’s fate ambiguous. It …

6 years, 2 months ago

The Sopranos creator David Chase reveals James Gandolfini’s character will return in prequel film

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. David Chase has announced that The Many Saints of …

6 years, 2 months ago

The Sopranos: A revolutionary show we’ll talk about forever

BBC

The Sopranos: A revolutionary show we’ll talk about forever Alamy Twenty years on from when it was first aired, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong looks back at a drama so perfectly timed, it reinvented not only the genre, but how we watch TV. The Sopranos obliterated ER’s lock on what a respected drama should look like Now, 20 years after the show’s …

6 years, 2 months ago

The Sopranos creator David Chase reveals Tony Soprano will feature in new prequel film

Daily Mail

Its hard to imagine The Sopranos without mob boss Tony Soprano. He's back: David Chase, 73, revealed on Monday that Tony Soprano will return in a prequel film, according to Deadline; pictured in New York in 2017 The TV writer and creator considered making a follow-up film to the series for years following its startling cut-to-black 2007 finale, but James …

6 years, 2 months ago

Young Tony Soprano confirmed for "Many Saints of Newark" prequel film by creator David Chase

Salon

One of the biggest question marks surrounding “The Sopranos” prequel movie “The Many Saints of Newark” has been answered: Young Tony Soprano will play an important role in the film’s plot. Series creator David Chase confirmed news of young Tony’s appearance in “The Many Saints of Newark” in an interview with Deadline. “The Many Saints of Newark” will be directed …

6 years, 8 months ago

The Sopranos prequel inks award-winner Alan Taylor to direct

Daily Mail

Veteran filmmaker Alan Taylor will direct The Many Saints Of Newark, The Sopranos prequel written by the show's creator, David Chase. Scroll below for video Done deal: Veteran filmmaker Alan Taylor will direct The Many Saints Of Newark, The Sopranos prequel written by the show's creator, David Chase. Face of the series: The show's star James Gandolfini, who played the …

6 years, 11 months ago

Why the landmark HBO series The Sopranos, which ushered in TV's golden age, deserves a big screen prequel

Firstpost

For Pablo Picasso, some painters transformed the sun into a yellow spot, while others transformed a yellow spot into the sun. In the same manner, The Sopranos — while rightly regarded as art on television — also transformed the idiot box into an art form and that is perhaps its single greatest achievement. Now, with a prequel of The Sopranos …

7 years ago

David Chase to make Sopranos prequel

The Independent

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But it won't be an origin story for the late James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano: it …

7 years, 9 months ago

10 years ago: "The Sopranos" goes dark

Salon

For his final trick, "Sopranos" writer/creator David Chase made Tony Soprano disappear without fanfare. If we got sick of hearing about other people's speculations on how "The Sopranos" would end in just one week, imagine how Chase has been feeling for the past three or four years. When Tony reminds June that he once ran the North Jersey mob with …

9 years, 10 months ago

"The Sopranos" haunts us still: Why we can't let go of the show's final scene

Salon

"Everything turns to shit." In August of last year, Martha P. Nochimson of Vox revealed the "Sopranos" creator had settled the question of his hero's fate once and for all: Tony didn't die. As a reluctant "Sopranos" truther, I confess I've fallen into Chase's trap against my better judgment, rewatching the final season for instances of foreshadowing and combing through …

10 years, 7 months ago

David Chase just ruined the ending of "The Sopranos"

Salon

They told you they could explain everything. In a piece on David Chase, Vox today reveals that the creator of "The Sopranos" does not believe Tony Soprano died at the end of the series, when the shot suddenly cut to black. The fact is that "The Sopranos" is out of Chase's hands, now -- he cannot control how viewers understood …

11 years, 9 months ago

James Gandolfini was a lot like Tony Soprano in real life

Firstpost

Best known for being Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, which was voted the best television series of all time recently, Gandolfini had some things in common with the character he played. The Sopranos ran for six seasons, between 1999 and 2007, and Gandolfini’s career skyrocketed from the moment he appeared on television as Tony Soprano. He had the sex appeal …

25 years, 2 months ago

‘Sopranos,’ Still Supreme

LA Times

Bada bleeping bing, it’s back at last! How amazing that “The Sopranos” has built a deafening buzz despite being unavailable to much of the nation because it’s on pay-cable HBO instead of ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox, where it was originally developed. Simply inspired is a wordless opening montage updating viewers on everyone’s activities--from Tony’s wife, Carmela, in the kitchen …

26 years, 2 months ago

From the Archives: ‘The Sopranos’ at 20: Read our original review of the HBO drama

LA Times

In 1999, HBO debuted an hourlong drama titled “The Sopranos” about a New Jersey man divided between his duties as a mob boss and a father. Kicking butt, though, is “The Sopranos,” HBO’s raw, violent, witty, captivatingly dark hour about a complex, shrink-treated New Jersey Mafia boss beset by inner turmoil, panic attacks and as many crises at home as …

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3 months ago