Sopranos tease

They were shooting at da Bing three days last week.. late afternoon, early evening

 

Suddenly, after reading that story and this thread, I can't wait for April 8 to arrive.

 

dog, i don't follow these things too closely but i thought i remember that it was he (or HBO) pressuring the actors, not the other way around. didn't they want more money, which was why we barely saw meadow and she moved to california?

anyway, we're in agreement about the first three seasons. i'll keep watching until the end.

 

Isn't this supposed to start around the middle of next month?

I'll be glad as hell it's back but DAMMIT, it's gonna be right during the NCAA tournament. Hope my hotels have HBO...

 

I hadn't watched a single episode before my sister gave me the first season on DVD last month...

I watched all 13 episodes in two days and was itching to get the second season.

 

I used to think that, and maybe it's the time lag between Sopranos seasons, but The Wire is the better series. The Sopranos is cartoon-like compared with The Wire. Maybe it's because I live in the periphery of The Wire, both geographically and professionally, but I find it more compelling and true.

That aside, I'd like to love to see Tony whack Janice, a.) to kill that anoying bitch and b.) it would be very Godfathery.

 

It was more the actors trying to pressure HBO for more money after the extended run had been finalized. Basically, at some point between season five and the mini-season, everyone started to realize the end was near. HBO was looking at losing Six Feet Under, Sex and The City and The Sopranos all in a year's time. They approached Chase about extending the series into 07. He was hesitant because it meant writing several episodes in a short time and making them fit with what he already had down, but instead of just declining the offer, he went to the actors for their thoughts. The main actors -- Gandolfini, Falco, etc. -- were in favor of it. So, the deal was done. And guarantees were made that this would absolutely be THE END of the show. So, the second-stringers, who when they first heard about the extended run were all for it, looked at the situation and said, "Hey, they can't do this shit without us, let's get paid." And they were determined to go the mattresses, so to speak, to get all they could.

Chase went to bat for those guys several times by telling HBO that without the supporting actors, the show couldn't go on. Eventually, the deal was done.

What HBO hoped was that in between the 06 mini-season and this April, they could develop one strong replacement show to take over. That hasn't happened. They've got a few possibilities in the works and a few successful shows that could carry some of the load, but nothing on the level of The Sopranos. So, they're right back where they were a little over a year ago -- looking at a big-ass hole in the schedule with the easiest option to fill it being re-upping The Sopranos for at least another mini-season.

 

damn, dog, that's a good analysis. do you work in TV?

so i'm assuming now that he's had more time chase won't make half of this mini-season about some random character no one ever saw before (the gay guy...i've already forgotten his name...i want to say vito but i'm not sure).

 

They're showing selected episodes on HBO, presumably to whet everybody's appetite all over again, and allow the longtime fans to catch up on the continuity.

Between the Vito/Johnny Cakes interlude and the Kevin Finnerty dream sequence, almost half of last season ('mini'-season) was piddled away on diversions.

 

Amen, Starman. Chase better not pull any of that crap down the stretch, or he's gonna regret it.

 

It will, however, set up the rest of the season quite nicely.

(Somebody had to say it).

 

April will be a great month for TV.
Sopranos comes back April 8, but The Shield returns April 3.