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OT: Sopranos

The wire season 3 and 4 are considered the best by many. It did. It did not get the recognition it deserved because of rascism in this country if ours. 80 % of the Cast was African American. Many have become huge stars and many will still say the wire was the best thing acting wise they were a part of. Who is still relevant in the Sopranos? I love the Sopranos but it’s no Wire not even close.
 
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The wire season 3 and 4 are considered the best by many. It did. It did not get the recognition it deserved because of rascism in this country if ours. 80 % of the Cast was African American. Many have become huge stars and many will still say the wire was the best thing acting wise they were a part of. Who is still relevant in the Sopranos? I love the Sopranos but it’s no Wire not even close.

It didn’t get the recognition deserved because it wasn’t As popular . Maybe it was because of racism , not sure . I loved the wire , but thought sopranos was better . Why ? Maybe because I am white? Or from north jersey ?
But I am not in the mafia, nor I am a Baltimore cop or drug dealer.
I just thought sopranos was better, it had nothing to do with racism . Some of the wire’s biggest stars were not African American - mcnulty, Bell, carcetti. It was a very diverse cast. Good tv , is good tv .
Ironically, the least popular season of the wire was season 2, when it was mostly a white cast on the docks . So I think that blows up your racism argument .
 
Yes. The Wire tailed off a lot after the first couple seasons IMO - Sopranos was excellent start to finish.

Nah. The Wire didn't get as stale because they had a new story for every series. The Sopranos was great but The Wire is GOAT.

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I always thought the last episode was up to ones interpretation.
And always held hope we’d get some kind feature length film or a continuation in some form.
With JG dying, that hope also died.
 
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Federico Castelluccio (Furio) called into 101.5 last night and told a good story about how the cast did an appearance at one of the Connecticut casinos and with them was a guy that used to hang around with Tony Sirico, he was his driver/friend/whatever. This guy had had a few too many that night started getting loud, making a mess of the craft services table, etc. Everyone agreed that he should call it an early night so Federico and Gandolfini attempt to take the guy back to his room. He said they were carrying the guy under each arm like in the movies. Problem was, the guy had no idea which room was his, so he keeps telling them different floors, rooms, etc. So there they are, carrying this guy through the the hotel, trying key cards, jiggling door knobs, finally they get to one door, and there’s someone in the room. the guy in the room hears someone trying to get in, and opens the door only to see Tony Soprano and Furio dragging this guy, half unconscious, trying to bust into his room. He nearly crapped his pants
 
BTW-The producers likely chose Harrison as the location for the 2000 casting call because they wanted a local government conversant with corruption.

The town is pretty much cleaned up.Ray Lucas is the Housing Director,my old high school principal is the Mayor,some of my old drinking buddies are on the town council (but they're being constantly pressured by the new residents in the apartment complexes,so the old ways are out).
 
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Both GREAT shows. Cant really say one is better than the other.

For the longest time I wasn't as impressed with the writing of the Soprano's as most others were but I've now rewatched the entire series a couple of years ago and watched a bunch of them on HBO2 this past week. I still put it below The Wire but it's better than I originally thought. Still don't like the ending. Tony got shot IMO.
 
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The wire season 3 and 4 are considered the best by many. It did. It did not get the recognition it deserved because of rascism in this country if ours. 80 % of the Cast was African American. Many have become huge stars and many will still say the wire was the best thing acting wise they were a part of. Who is still relevant in the Sopranos? I love the Sopranos but it’s no Wire not even close.

Nope not going to let you get away with the racism charge.
 
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I'm not sure how to respond to this. Are you thinking of a different series or did you not watch the finale? Even the episode's title translates to "end of story."

Here's a quote from a review:

For everyone who felt cheated by the stubbornly ambivalent series finale of The Sopranos — which is to say, everyone — there can be no such complaints about The Wire. No sudden blackouts, no meta-textual commentary, no unearthed chestnut from Journey. (Though we have to admit that, earlier this season, we half-hoped The Wire would end with Omar driving to Jersey, hobbling into a diner, and gunning down Tony Soprano and his family.) Instead, The Wire finale was the anti-Sopranos: an almost absurdly exhaustive festival of closure.
Here's a refresher article on the finale. It wrapped up the storyline of nearly every major/minor character in the entire series:

https://ew.com/recap/wire-finale-recap-end-line/
Yes - each season's closing episode did that with relation to the area they were focusing on in the city, whether it was the education system, the port, etc. They were all well done.
 
For the longest time I wasn't as impressed with the writing of the Soprano's as most others were but I've now rewatched the entire series a couple of years ago and watched a bunch of the on HBO2 this past week. I still put it below The Wire but it's better than I originally thought. Still don't like the ending. Tony got shot IMO.
I agree on all counts. And I know it's simplistic, but I still think Members Only Guy did him in.
 
I dont care what anyone else says about this, but Homicide:Life on the Streets is probably THE most underrated show ever. Its based on the great book by David Simon and is The Wire restricted by TV Network regulations and TV executives who wanted to replace the original actors, who look like real life Baltimore PD Detectives, with 1990s pretty boys and model look alikes.

Despite all of that, it was some great TV, esp when Pembleton and Bayless were In The Box. Its also a damm shame that as owners to the rights of Homicide, NBC has decided that you cannot buy a DVD or any download to this show for some stupid reason unless you want to spend at least $50 on Amazon. They even knock down Youtube videos as soon as they pop up as if its the UFC or WWE.

DAMM SHAME!!!
 
I dont care what anyone else says about this, but Homicide:Life on the Streets is probably THE most underrated show ever. Its based on the great book by David Simon and is The Wire restricted by TV Network regulations and TV executives who wanted to replace the original actors, who look like real life Baltimore PD Detectives, with 1990s pretty boys and model look alikes.

Despite all of that, it was some great TV, esp when Pembleton and Bayless were In The Box. Its also a damm shame that as owners to the rights of Homicide, NBC has decided that you cannot buy a DVD or any download to this show for some stupid reason unless you want to spend at least $50 on Amazon. They even knock down Youtube videos as soon as they pop up as if its the UFC or WWE.

DAMM SHAME!!!

Agree.
 

That would be unlike David Chase, who always envisioned himself as more Fellini than Bay.

The article that was written a few days ago by the two former S-L guys offers what I think is the best explanation. It wasn't Tony that got whacked. It was you.
 
Nope not going to let you get away with the racism charge.
Lol stick your collective heads in the sand if you please but there are plenty of articles on the internet that state the same thing. This board won’t see it that way since it’s 95 % white and suburban. I’ve been on the boards for a long time and if you want more perspective feel free to go to the politics board and browse a bit. The Wire when on tv had just ok ratings and many feel because of rascism and it’s mostly African American Cast. Now that the show is over it has more of a following than ever.
 
Lol stick your collective heads in the sand if you please but there are plenty of articles on the internet that state the same thing. This board won’t see it that way since it’s 95 % white and suburban. I’ve been on the boards for a long time and if you want more perspective feel free to go to the politics board and browse a bit. The Wire when on tv had just ok ratings and many feel because of rascism and it’s mostly African American Cast. Now that the show is over it has more of a following than ever.

Whatever man. RACISM!!!!!!!!!!

And don't forget PATRIARCHY!!!!!!!!!!

LOL
 
That would be unlike David Chase, who always envisioned himself as more Fellini than Bay.

The article that was written a few days ago by the two former S-L guys offers what I think is the best explanation. It wasn't Tony that got whacked. It was you.

Ahhhh. Nice one. Never thought about that possibility.
 
Lol stick your collective heads in the sand if you please but there are plenty of articles on the internet that state the same thing. This board won’t see it that way since it’s 95 % white and suburban. I’ve been on the boards for a long time and if you want more perspective feel free to go to the politics board and browse a bit. The Wire when on tv had just ok ratings and many feel because of rascism and it’s mostly African American Cast. Now that the show is over it has more of a following than ever.

I'm as big a Wire fan as you'll find, but I don't think it had anything to do with racism. Sometimes it just takes some shows (or movies) awhile to connect. Plenty of cult classics fall into this category.

Why do you think The Wire is now widely considered one of the best series ever? America has become less racist? In the same vein, The Wire's most "black" season is on every list of greatest TV seasons ever, if not #1 on those lists.

IMHO, the show was very dense and gets better with multiple viewings. I'm glad it was on premium TV so there wasn't pressure to cancel it early.
 
That would be unlike David Chase, who always envisioned himself as more Fellini than Bay.

The article that was written a few days ago by the two former S-L guys offers what I think is the best explanation. It wasn't Tony that got whacked. It was you.
I read that and it was a good story, but one of the critics, Sepinwall I believe, still thinks he was whacked. The article also shares a slip from Chase about the scene which he quickly retreated from. In any case, looking forward to the prequel movie and hope it doesn't disappoint.
 
Speaking of St Elswehere, this had to be the most morbid way to end a show:

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I'm as big a Wire fan as you'll find, but I don't think it had anything to do with racism. Sometimes it just takes some shows (or movies) awhile to connect. Plenty of cult classics fall into this category.

Why do you think The Wire is now widely considered one of the best series ever? America has become less racist? In the same vein, The Wire's most "black" season is on every list of greatest TV seasons ever, if not #1 on those lists.

IMHO, the show was very dense and gets better with multiple viewings. I'm glad it was on premium TV so there wasn't pressure to cancel it early.
Agree. I remember I had trouble getting into it at first. I watched a re-run of the first episode and was hooked from then on. You always pick up something new watching an episode 2 or 3 times. One of my favorite seasons was the one focusing on the kids in the school system.
 
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In the first episode Tony blows up Artie's restaurant for the insurance money.
In reality it was Manolo's in Elizabeth on the corner of Elizabeth Ave. and First Street.
Three months after that episode aired we had our 25th anniversary high school class reunion there.

Where was Beansie's pizza parlor ? Thought I heard it was in Paterson somewhere.
 
The anti-hero. Draper, Walter White, Underwood, House... Tony is the quintessential anti hero.

Speaking of family and relationships in the show, one of the underlying threads throughout the series is what Christopher refers to as the “regular ness of life”. Despite all the money and violence and intrigue and power struggle, the show was about coping with the every day sh*t we all deal with. Kids, sibling drama, emotions, living. There’s a scene where Tony is at a conference about his son and he notices stuck in his pant cuff a tooth of a guy he just curb stomped for harassing Meadow. Everything is juxtaposed against that regularness. His relationship with Christopher, his uncle, his friends, illness of a loved one, our own insecurities, that’s what it’s all about. We’ve all been through exactly what he went through just in different (hopefully less violent) contexts. One of the most dramatic fights between Tony and Carmela escalated from her asking him to bring pool chairs inside, and was rooted in his years of (not philandering) being unloving and not serving the emotional needs of a husband.
On its surface the show is funny, and dramatic and intense. But it is also incredibly deep, with many many rich layers, and holds up well enough to be on today.

Carmella to A.J. --- "You'll be a good god#$% Catholic if it F$%^&ing kills you"

How many NJ households have heard those words uttered over the years? Mine for sure. :sunglasses:
 
Today is the 20th Anniversary of the first episode shown on HBO.

I just parked in almost the exact spot in which Christopher parked when he was being picked up by Paulie to get made.On the way there, I passed Satriale's.Later on,I passed by the now defunct auto body shop.

I once had a meeting with a client in NYC, I was living in the Midwest, the client in the Southwest & we met at his NYC offices. He says to me (knowing how much I loved the Sopranos and that I was originally from NJ), come on I want you to meet someone. He takes me over to meet one of the Sr. VPs, a Jersey guy through and through who was an extra on the Soprano's from time to time.

This guy walked, talked, and looked like he had just stepped off the set. Fact from fiction, truth from reality the veil was really thin on the Soprano's. :alien:
 
Seriously? The show is/was hugely popular all over the world.

altrev
how do u think JG would answer the question re if TS ended up living or getting whacked. I know I'm putting you on the spot but you were a friend of his correct?
 
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