Friends of ours: Soprano Crime Family
Based on all the hype for the return last Sunday of HBO's "The Sopranos," you would have thought a veritable mob of viewers would be camped out in front of their sets to see Tony, Carm, Bobby and Janice playing a rock 'em, sock 'em game of Monopoly in the first of the critically adored pay-cable series' final nine episodes.
Didn't exactly happen that way.
Only 7.7 million viewers that night caught the first new episode of "The Sopranos" since June 4. That's 1.8 million fewer than tuned in for the series return for a sixth season 13 months ago and way off the show's fourth season opener, in September 2002, when almost 13 million tuned in.
This might be a matter of one dream sequence or stereotype too many for some fans. And, perhaps, it reflects the fact the broadcast networks have beefed up lineups for Sunday night. But if "The Sopranos," technically resuming its sixth season, is no longer appointment viewing, the reason also may be the realization that an appointment is no longer needed.
Although the popularity of "The Sopranos" probably crested with that fourth season, anyone with HBO today knows its programming repeats several times over the course of a week and on several HBO channels. Plus, the show is available on demand for subscribers who have figured out how to use that service.
It's like calling McDonald's for a dinner reservation. If you show up for supper in shoes and a shirt you can get a table and some McNuggets.
For last year's 12 episodes James Gandolfini and "The Sopranos" averaged 8.6 million viewers on Sundays. Yet, by the end of a given week, its cumulative audience bulged to 13.1 million. Another 1 million viewers kept pace through HBO On Demand, according to HBO.
That doesn't take into account the "Sopranos" fans who, fed up with the long waits between seasons, decided they might as well wait for DVD sets to come out, and would-be viewers who settled for the sanitized version on A&E, which requires no subscription.
Chris Albrecht, the head of HBO, likes to point out that those who cite only the ratings for its shows, particularly those who cite declining ratings for its shows, don't understand HBO's business model. It's not about delivering viewers to advertisers. It's about getting subscribers and keeping them for cable systems, whether it's through series such as "The Sopranos" and "Entourage," theatrical movies, original movies, Bill Maher, boxing, "Real Sex" or whatever.
Then there's the extra money to be made from DVDs and rerun rights of original content.
Actually, as TV audiences--the audiences for all media, really--continue to splinter, it might be time for everyone to rethink the old metrics of viewership, listenership and circulation.
Online availability is seen as a way to build up the audience for some TV series, just as it expands the reach of radio and print outlets. But there's also a growing recognition that Internet streaming of series is siphoning off some audience. In broadcast TV the effect has been seen particularly in receding viewership for reruns.
People who want to see an episode have never had more opportunities to keep up--and the options don't play into the "who watched what Tuesday night" mentality embraced for decades. Nielsen Media Research is trying to expand its accounting to include time-shifting, viewing outside the home and on the Web.
That presumes Nielsen numbers can be relied upon, of course. The New York Times' public editor last week awakened to the fact that Nielsen doesn't provide a margin of error to its ratings, long an accepted standard, and said reports should carry a disclaimer calling ratings audience "estimates."
It's interesting that ABC's "Desperate Housewives," the night's most popular show, drew only an estimated 15.7 million viewers opposite "The Sopranos," nearly 2 million viewers off the hit soap's average this season and the lowest ratings for an original episode in its three-year history.
The old gang may not be what it once was, but it still has some muscle.
Thanks to Phil Rosenthal
Sunday, April 15, 2007
20% Off "The Sopranos: The Book"
Friends of ours: Soprano Crime Family
Say goodbye to the nation's favorite bad guys with The Sopranos Deal of the Week. This week take 20% off the pre-order of the new book that chronicles the behind-the-scenes story of the making of this revolutionary show, "The Sopranos: The Book."
Get an exclusive look at the New Jersey-based mob family that has captured the world. This full color book illustrates the birth of the show from the Sopranos creator David Chase's own New Jersey childhood, with an on the set look at the Sopranos Cast and Crew, and candid interviews with stars James Gandolfini, Tony Sirico, Michael Imperioli, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and many, many more. Add this collectors piece to your own library.
This special sales event runs from April 16 - 22, 2007.
Say goodbye to the nation's favorite bad guys with The Sopranos Deal of the Week. This week take 20% off the pre-order of the new book that chronicles the behind-the-scenes story of the making of this revolutionary show, "The Sopranos: The Book."
Get an exclusive look at the New Jersey-based mob family that has captured the world. This full color book illustrates the birth of the show from the Sopranos creator David Chase's own New Jersey childhood, with an on the set look at the Sopranos Cast and Crew, and candid interviews with stars James Gandolfini, Tony Sirico, Michael Imperioli, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and many, many more. Add this collectors piece to your own library.
This special sales event runs from April 16 - 22, 2007.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The Power of the 'Soprano' Women
Friends of ours: Soprano Crime Family
If you are going to have coffee at an Italian restaurant, who better to have it with than the women of "The Sopranos"?
At Fiamma, a chic Italian eatery in downtown New York City, I sat down with Carmela, Meadow and Dr. Melfi — or more specifically, Edie Falco, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Lorraine Bracco.
I had coffee.
As for them? Well they had to listen to my questions. As the show wraps up its sixth and final epic season, I didn't just want to talk about whackings, I wanted to talk about the women of the show.
From the first seconds of the opening credits of every episode of "The Sopranos," we are told that this is a show about Tony. He's the mob boss. He is the one driving the car literally and figuratively. But scratch the surface of this epic drama, and you realize it's not just about Tony.
"Tony happens to be in the Mafia, but I think it's not really just about that," Sigler said. "It's about him balancing all these relationships in his life."
It's about Tony and his wife, Tony and his daughter, Tony and his psychiatrist.
It is the women in "The Sopranos" that give the show its texture and its depth.
"It has to be, you know, three or four or five of the, the better women characters written for television or movies today," Bracco said.
"We're not just the 'goomars' or whatever," Sigler said. "Did I say that correctly?"
"That was perfect," Falco said.
It is safe to say that Falco's Carmela is not just the stereotypical mob moll. There is a certain depth and complexity to her character. "Carmela went through 10 years of a woman's life," Falco said, "as the kids are getting older, as you re-evaluate your marriage, and um, the way any woman would change and grow if they stay alive for a 10-year period, you know?"
Well, not quite any woman, as Bracco — ever the analyst — noted: "[Carmela] is married to someone who is doing despicable things. She's living a good life. She's trying to bring up children in a good way, give them an education, instills things that are important. She has her own family, and she deals with it in an unbelievably dysfunctional family that she's going to feed every Sunday, whether she likes it or not. Am I right?"
Oh, she is right, Carmela has dealt with dysfunction at a level most of us can't imagine — from infidelity to whackings. But she's made it so relatable. She added a touch of ordinary to the extraordinary.
"If you think about it, you find ways to get through every day, even though there are little pieces that just don't match up," Falco said. "And you have no choice but to put them in that little place in your brain where you say, 'I'll deal with that another time.'"
And the women of "The Sopranos" are far from powerless victims. They might not be mob bosses, but they pull the strings in their own ways.
"My power with Tony Soprano is very simple," Bracco said. "I was smarter than him."
Bracco's Dr. Melfi is one of the off-kilter defining roles in this drama. The shrink who tells the mob boss what to do.
Bracco said, "I was a woman that he never met, really, before, or had anything to do with. And I think it was an intelligence game between Melfi and Tony."
But it wasn't just about brains, there is also the matter of the legs. I tried to ask without blushing, "How about the legs? Are the legs empowering?"
Bracco had something of an instant education for me: "I think legs on a girl are always empowering. Come on!"
At 25, Sigler is the youngest of the actresses, and her character, Meadow, is the young ingenue of the show. But even her character knows how to vie for power and work Tony.
"We all knew how to manipulate him," Sigler said. "He was a very simple character to us in that sense, that he was very easy to manipulate."
Even Dead, the Mother Reigns
The most powerful woman in "The Sopranos" was not with us at Fiamma: Livia, Tony's mother.
That character died along with actress Nancy Marchand after Season 2, but Tony's relationship with his mother is, in a way, the basis for the whole show.
"It's all about the mother," Bracco said.
"Oh yes. It is," Falco agreed.
She tried to control him. He tried to put her in a home. She tried to kill him. Ultimately, it drove him to therapy.
The women of "The Sopranos" have not been spared the one aspect that has made the show so controversial: violence, graphic violence. Still, these women defend its use.
"We're not kidding around," Falco said. "It's this really, genuinely bad stuff that they do to other people — illegal, bad, violent death things that in seeing them in your face, you have no choice but to experience the true badness of it."
In Season 3, Melfi is the victim of a rape.
"The whole Dr. Melfi rape episode … was absolutely horrifying," Bracco said.
"Despicable violence against another person, but meanwhile when you look at the statistics of women being raped in this, just to, this, it's hundreds and hundreds of thousands of women and young girls and women being raped every year. It's unbelievable, the violence against another human being. And it's, we, we just, God forbid we should really look at it for what it is," she said.
It is just one of the aspects of the show some people will miss as it wraps up its last season.
In the hour or so at the restaurant, try as I might, I could not get the three women to tell me how the show would end.
But I did get one tidbit from Sigler. Could her goody-two-shoes character go the way of another famed goody-two-shoes-gone godfather Michael Corleone?
"I think so," she said. "I think so because her family does come first. She's capable of it. She's strong, but if she's anything like you know, her family and like Livia. … You know, she could definitely manipulate and handle these guys."
So is there a chance for a spinoff: "Meadow Soprano!!! Boss!!!"
"I love it. I love it!" Sigler said.
Thanks to John Berman
If you are going to have coffee at an Italian restaurant, who better to have it with than the women of "The Sopranos"?
At Fiamma, a chic Italian eatery in downtown New York City, I sat down with Carmela, Meadow and Dr. Melfi — or more specifically, Edie Falco, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Lorraine Bracco.
I had coffee.
As for them? Well they had to listen to my questions. As the show wraps up its sixth and final epic season, I didn't just want to talk about whackings, I wanted to talk about the women of the show.
From the first seconds of the opening credits of every episode of "The Sopranos," we are told that this is a show about Tony. He's the mob boss. He is the one driving the car literally and figuratively. But scratch the surface of this epic drama, and you realize it's not just about Tony.
"Tony happens to be in the Mafia, but I think it's not really just about that," Sigler said. "It's about him balancing all these relationships in his life."
It's about Tony and his wife, Tony and his daughter, Tony and his psychiatrist.
It is the women in "The Sopranos" that give the show its texture and its depth.
"It has to be, you know, three or four or five of the, the better women characters written for television or movies today," Bracco said.
"We're not just the 'goomars' or whatever," Sigler said. "Did I say that correctly?"
"That was perfect," Falco said.It is safe to say that Falco's Carmela is not just the stereotypical mob moll. There is a certain depth and complexity to her character. "Carmela went through 10 years of a woman's life," Falco said, "as the kids are getting older, as you re-evaluate your marriage, and um, the way any woman would change and grow if they stay alive for a 10-year period, you know?"
Well, not quite any woman, as Bracco — ever the analyst — noted: "[Carmela] is married to someone who is doing despicable things. She's living a good life. She's trying to bring up children in a good way, give them an education, instills things that are important. She has her own family, and she deals with it in an unbelievably dysfunctional family that she's going to feed every Sunday, whether she likes it or not. Am I right?"
Oh, she is right, Carmela has dealt with dysfunction at a level most of us can't imagine — from infidelity to whackings. But she's made it so relatable. She added a touch of ordinary to the extraordinary.
"If you think about it, you find ways to get through every day, even though there are little pieces that just don't match up," Falco said. "And you have no choice but to put them in that little place in your brain where you say, 'I'll deal with that another time.'"
And the women of "The Sopranos" are far from powerless victims. They might not be mob bosses, but they pull the strings in their own ways.
"My power with Tony Soprano is very simple," Bracco said. "I was smarter than him."Bracco's Dr. Melfi is one of the off-kilter defining roles in this drama. The shrink who tells the mob boss what to do.
Bracco said, "I was a woman that he never met, really, before, or had anything to do with. And I think it was an intelligence game between Melfi and Tony."
But it wasn't just about brains, there is also the matter of the legs. I tried to ask without blushing, "How about the legs? Are the legs empowering?"
Bracco had something of an instant education for me: "I think legs on a girl are always empowering. Come on!"
At 25, Sigler is the youngest of the actresses, and her character, Meadow, is the young ingenue of the show. But even her character knows how to vie for power and work Tony.
"We all knew how to manipulate him," Sigler said. "He was a very simple character to us in that sense, that he was very easy to manipulate."
Even Dead, the Mother Reigns
The most powerful woman in "The Sopranos" was not with us at Fiamma: Livia, Tony's mother.
That character died along with actress Nancy Marchand after Season 2, but Tony's relationship with his mother is, in a way, the basis for the whole show.
"It's all about the mother," Bracco said.
"Oh yes. It is," Falco agreed.
She tried to control him. He tried to put her in a home. She tried to kill him. Ultimately, it drove him to therapy.
The women of "The Sopranos" have not been spared the one aspect that has made the show so controversial: violence, graphic violence. Still, these women defend its use.
"We're not kidding around," Falco said. "It's this really, genuinely bad stuff that they do to other people — illegal, bad, violent death things that in seeing them in your face, you have no choice but to experience the true badness of it."
In Season 3, Melfi is the victim of a rape.
"The whole Dr. Melfi rape episode … was absolutely horrifying," Bracco said.
"Despicable violence against another person, but meanwhile when you look at the statistics of women being raped in this, just to, this, it's hundreds and hundreds of thousands of women and young girls and women being raped every year. It's unbelievable, the violence against another human being. And it's, we, we just, God forbid we should really look at it for what it is," she said.
It is just one of the aspects of the show some people will miss as it wraps up its last season.In the hour or so at the restaurant, try as I might, I could not get the three women to tell me how the show would end.
But I did get one tidbit from Sigler. Could her goody-two-shoes character go the way of another famed goody-two-shoes-gone godfather Michael Corleone?
"I think so," she said. "I think so because her family does come first. She's capable of it. She's strong, but if she's anything like you know, her family and like Livia. … You know, she could definitely manipulate and handle these guys."
So is there a chance for a spinoff: "Meadow Soprano!!! Boss!!!"
"I love it. I love it!" Sigler said.
Thanks to John Berman
Friday, April 13, 2007
Will Book Shed New Light on Old Gangland Tales?
For a guy considered a pariah by his old friends, mob hit-man-turned-government informant Frank Cullotta suddenly finds himself, or at least his bloodstained memories, quite popular these days.
After spending the past two decades in the shadows as a protected witness after his cooperation with the FBI and U.S. attorney against mobster Anthony Spilotro and members of his Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, Cullotta is close to bringing out his memoirs of time in and out of the Chicago Outfit. Published by Huntington Press, "Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness" is scheduled to officially hit bookstores July 1. The book is co-authored by the 68-year-old Cullotta and Dennis N. Griffin with credited contributions from former FBI agent Dennis Arnoldy. Arnoldy was Cullotta's handler after his defection from the heart of Spilotro's criminal crew.
The timing of Cullotta's project couldn't be more intriguing for those who have followed the rise and fall of traditional organized crime groups, especially the infamous Chicago Outfit. Cullotta is telling his story at the same time attorneys for reputed Chicago mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo and a gaggle of co-defendants will be searching for outs and alibis in a sweeping criminal case in federal court in Chicago.
Reporters there are openly speculating that Cullotta, a former Lombardo associate, will be called as a witness. The trial is expected to start in May.
Word of the Cullotta manuscript's existence recently had both sides of the Lombardo case contacting Huntington Press publisher Anthony Curtis to request a copy. First, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Mars called. Then, FBI agent Michael Maseth contacted Curtis. Not long after, Lombardo defense attorney Rick Halprin called.
When Curtis declined to provide the manuscript on the advice of lawyer Andrew Norwood, on April 2 the feds came through with a promised subpoena. On Monday, Curtis said he would comply with the subpoena.
Although Halprin expressed doubt the manuscript would produce new information, the defense attorney admitted to Curtis, "There are things only Frankie knows." (That sentiment is a far cry from Halprin's wisecrack about Cullotta during a pre-trial hearing in a Chicago courtroom last week: "For all I know, he's Ann Coulter.")
Are the things that only Frankie knows in the book?
What can Cullotta say that he hasn't previously testified to under oath?
At 78, Lombardo has been around the track too many times to get nervous about the memories of an admitted killer and thief. But Cullotta's story already has a proven appeal with readers. His perspective was sprinkled throughout Nicholas Pileggi's best-seller "Casino," and Pileggi has provided the foreword for Cullotta's memoir. In fact, Cullotta is said to have received a handsome fee as a consultant on the Martin Scorsese movie that followed Pileggi's book.
What will Cullotta's own book reveal?
Hopefully, he'll give readers his authentic and disturbing eyewitness accounts of his own criminal activity and the countless felonies that swirled around his life in Chicago and Las Vegas. The fact he's detailed a lot of that bloody stuff as a government witness shouldn't diminish its impact on the public more than two decades after Spilotro's murder, as long as he's candid.
Considering he's admitted killing in cold blood, it's the least he can do.
When the FBI and Las Vegas police finally caught up with Cullotta after the botched Bertha's store heist in 1981, his lifelong friend Spilotro was under enormous pressure from law enforcement. Even Spilotro's former defense attorney, Mayor Oscar Goodman, admitted his client's failure to provide legal assistance to Cullotta helped lead to his defection.
More than two decades after the murders of Spilotro and his brother, Michael, their homicides are part of 18 killings, some dating to the 1970s, outlined in the indictment against Lombardo, Frankie "The German" Schweihs, current reputed Outfit leader James "Little Jimmy" Marcello and a dozen others.
Cullotta was a participant and front-row associate during the twilight of the Outfit's dominance in Chicago and influence in Las Vegas. He has a rare perspective on a lifestyle that has killed dozens of his pals as well as a number of government witnesses and innocent bystanders.
The last thing Lombardo and the gang should want is for Frank Cullotta to take a stroll down memory lane.
Thanks to John L. Smith
After spending the past two decades in the shadows as a protected witness after his cooperation with the FBI and U.S. attorney against mobster Anthony Spilotro and members of his Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, Cullotta is close to bringing out his memoirs of time in and out of the Chicago Outfit. Published by Huntington Press, "Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness" is scheduled to officially hit bookstores July 1. The book is co-authored by the 68-year-old Cullotta and Dennis N. Griffin with credited contributions from former FBI agent Dennis Arnoldy. Arnoldy was Cullotta's handler after his defection from the heart of Spilotro's criminal crew.
The timing of Cullotta's project couldn't be more intriguing for those who have followed the rise and fall of traditional organized crime groups, especially the infamous Chicago Outfit. Cullotta is telling his story at the same time attorneys for reputed Chicago mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo and a gaggle of co-defendants will be searching for outs and alibis in a sweeping criminal case in federal court in Chicago.
Reporters there are openly speculating that Cullotta, a former Lombardo associate, will be called as a witness. The trial is expected to start in May.
Word of the Cullotta manuscript's existence recently had both sides of the Lombardo case contacting Huntington Press publisher Anthony Curtis to request a copy. First, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Mars called. Then, FBI agent Michael Maseth contacted Curtis. Not long after, Lombardo defense attorney Rick Halprin called.
When Curtis declined to provide the manuscript on the advice of lawyer Andrew Norwood, on April 2 the feds came through with a promised subpoena. On Monday, Curtis said he would comply with the subpoena.
Although Halprin expressed doubt the manuscript would produce new information, the defense attorney admitted to Curtis, "There are things only Frankie knows." (That sentiment is a far cry from Halprin's wisecrack about Cullotta during a pre-trial hearing in a Chicago courtroom last week: "For all I know, he's Ann Coulter.")
Are the things that only Frankie knows in the book?
What can Cullotta say that he hasn't previously testified to under oath?
At 78, Lombardo has been around the track too many times to get nervous about the memories of an admitted killer and thief. But Cullotta's story already has a proven appeal with readers. His perspective was sprinkled throughout Nicholas Pileggi's best-seller "Casino," and Pileggi has provided the foreword for Cullotta's memoir. In fact, Cullotta is said to have received a handsome fee as a consultant on the Martin Scorsese movie that followed Pileggi's book.
What will Cullotta's own book reveal?
Hopefully, he'll give readers his authentic and disturbing eyewitness accounts of his own criminal activity and the countless felonies that swirled around his life in Chicago and Las Vegas. The fact he's detailed a lot of that bloody stuff as a government witness shouldn't diminish its impact on the public more than two decades after Spilotro's murder, as long as he's candid.
Considering he's admitted killing in cold blood, it's the least he can do.
When the FBI and Las Vegas police finally caught up with Cullotta after the botched Bertha's store heist in 1981, his lifelong friend Spilotro was under enormous pressure from law enforcement. Even Spilotro's former defense attorney, Mayor Oscar Goodman, admitted his client's failure to provide legal assistance to Cullotta helped lead to his defection.
More than two decades after the murders of Spilotro and his brother, Michael, their homicides are part of 18 killings, some dating to the 1970s, outlined in the indictment against Lombardo, Frankie "The German" Schweihs, current reputed Outfit leader James "Little Jimmy" Marcello and a dozen others.
Cullotta was a participant and front-row associate during the twilight of the Outfit's dominance in Chicago and influence in Las Vegas. He has a rare perspective on a lifestyle that has killed dozens of his pals as well as a number of government witnesses and innocent bystanders.
The last thing Lombardo and the gang should want is for Frank Cullotta to take a stroll down memory lane.
Thanks to John L. Smith
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
FBI Looking for Missing Reputed Mobster, "Little Tony"
Friends of ours: Anthony "Little Tony" Zizzo, Al "The Pizza Man" Tornabene, Anthony "Big Tony" Chiaramonti
Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today that the FBI was joining local authorities in the search for missing Westmont resident ANTHONY ZIZZO, a reputed top Chicago mobster.
The 71-year old ZIZZO was last seen on August 31, 2006, when he left his residence is his 2005 Jeep Laredo for an appointment with unknown individual(s). ZIZZO has not been seen or heard from since and there has been no reported use of either his credit cards or cellular telephone since that date.
ZIZZO's Jeep Laredo was found abandoned, two days later, in the parking lot of Abruzzo's Restaurant in Melrose Park. The vehicle was undamaged and no signs of foul play were noted. ZIZZO has an extensive criminal history, including a 1993 conviction for Racketeering, for which he was imprisoned for eight years, being released in 2001. ZIZZO is a suspected associate of the Chicago LCN crime family. As such, it is possible that his disappearance might be tied to this association.
ZIZZO is an associate of Al "The Pizza Man" Tornabene, who has been referred to in court documents as the man running the Chicago mob. ZIZZO allegedly became a made member of the mob in 1983. ZIZZO was involved in the lucrative but violent, mob-controlled world of video poker machines. A close associate, Anthony "Big Tony" Chiaramonti, was slain in 2001 in the last known Chicago area mob hit, in a dispute over video poker revenue
ANTHONY ZIZZO is described as a white/male, 71 years of age, 5'3" tall, 200 pounds, heavy build, gray hair and blue eyes with prescription eyeglasses. When last seen, ZIZZO was wearing a gray shirt, black pants and a black jacket.
Anyone having any information regarding ZIZZO's current whereabouts is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 421-6700.
Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today that the FBI was joining local authorities in the search for missing Westmont resident ANTHONY ZIZZO, a reputed top Chicago mobster.
The 71-year old ZIZZO was last seen on August 31, 2006, when he left his residence is his 2005 Jeep Laredo for an appointment with unknown individual(s). ZIZZO has not been seen or heard from since and there has been no reported use of either his credit cards or cellular telephone since that date.
ZIZZO's Jeep Laredo was found abandoned, two days later, in the parking lot of Abruzzo's Restaurant in Melrose Park. The vehicle was undamaged and no signs of foul play were noted. ZIZZO has an extensive criminal history, including a 1993 conviction for Racketeering, for which he was imprisoned for eight years, being released in 2001. ZIZZO is a suspected associate of the Chicago LCN crime family. As such, it is possible that his disappearance might be tied to this association.
ZIZZO is an associate of Al "The Pizza Man" Tornabene, who has been referred to in court documents as the man running the Chicago mob. ZIZZO allegedly became a made member of the mob in 1983. ZIZZO was involved in the lucrative but violent, mob-controlled world of video poker machines. A close associate, Anthony "Big Tony" Chiaramonti, was slain in 2001 in the last known Chicago area mob hit, in a dispute over video poker revenue
ANTHONY ZIZZO is described as a white/male, 71 years of age, 5'3" tall, 200 pounds, heavy build, gray hair and blue eyes with prescription eyeglasses. When last seen, ZIZZO was wearing a gray shirt, black pants and a black jacket.
Anyone having any information regarding ZIZZO's current whereabouts is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 421-6700.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Rudy Giuliani vs. The Mob
Rudy Giuliani's office prosecuted a number of high-profile cases during his time as U.S. attorney in Manhattan in the 1980s:
THE MOB
Three of five leaders accused of being the "ruling body" of New York's five organized crime families were each sentenced in a single day to 100 years in prison after a prosecution that Giuliani said would help dismantle the mob. A fourth leader was later convicted and imprisoned. The fifth mob boss, was acquitted at three trials in Brooklyn and Manhattan before he was convicted of racketeering in federal court in Manhattan in 1992. He died in prison a decade later.
PIZZA CONNECTION
The "pizza connection" trial resulted in the conviction of 18 defendants for participating in a Mafia-backed drug racket operated through pizza parlors. The ring imported an estimated $1.6 billion worth of heroin into the United States. The case began Sept. 30, 1985, and ended 17 months later with 18 convictions and one acquittal. It was one of the longest criminal cases in federal court history.
THE MOB
Three of five leaders accused of being the "ruling body" of New York's five organized crime families were each sentenced in a single day to 100 years in prison after a prosecution that Giuliani said would help dismantle the mob. A fourth leader was later convicted and imprisoned. The fifth mob boss, was acquitted at three trials in Brooklyn and Manhattan before he was convicted of racketeering in federal court in Manhattan in 1992. He died in prison a decade later.
PIZZA CONNECTION
The "pizza connection" trial resulted in the conviction of 18 defendants for participating in a Mafia-backed drug racket operated through pizza parlors. The ring imported an estimated $1.6 billion worth of heroin into the United States. The case began Sept. 30, 1985, and ended 17 months later with 18 convictions and one acquittal. It was one of the longest criminal cases in federal court history.
Broadway Partners with "The Sopranos"
Friends of ours: Soprano Crime Family
Broadway stars Julianna Margulies, Tim Daly, David Margulies and Ken Leung will be among guest stars to appear in the new season of "The Sopranos."
HBO kicked off its final eight episodes of the mob family drama April 8 (with additional airings playing throughout the week). The David Chase-created New Jersey-set drama returned last March for the first part of its sixth and final season and airs Sunday evenings at 9 PM (ET). Check local listings.
The show features series regulars (and stage veterans) James Gandolfini (A Streetcar Named Desire), Edie Falco ('night, Mother), Lorraine Bracco (The Graduate), Michael Imperioli (Ponies), Dominic Chianese (A Second Hand Memory) and Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Beauty and the Beast).
Actors Julianna Margulies (Festen), Tim Daly (The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial), David Margulies (Wonderful Town, The Accomplices) and Ken Leung (Thoroughly Modern Millie) will be featured as guest stars on the series.
Past seasons have included such theatre folk as Tom Aldredge, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Blum, David Strathairn, Robert LuPone, Linda Emond, Annabella Sciorra, Linda Lavin, Steve Buscemi, Mary Louise Wilson, Laila Robins, Ron Leibman, Frank Wood, Rae Allen, Peter Riegert, Ari Graynor, Capathia Jenkins, Yul Vazquez, Will McCormack, Phyllis Somerville, Lewis J. Stadlen, Christine Pedi, Jordan Gelber and Remy Auberjonois.
Thanks to Ernio Hernandez
Broadway stars Julianna Margulies, Tim Daly, David Margulies and Ken Leung will be among guest stars to appear in the new season of "The Sopranos."
HBO kicked off its final eight episodes of the mob family drama April 8 (with additional airings playing throughout the week). The David Chase-created New Jersey-set drama returned last March for the first part of its sixth and final season and airs Sunday evenings at 9 PM (ET). Check local listings.
The show features series regulars (and stage veterans) James Gandolfini (A Streetcar Named Desire), Edie Falco ('night, Mother), Lorraine Bracco (The Graduate), Michael Imperioli (Ponies), Dominic Chianese (A Second Hand Memory) and Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Beauty and the Beast).
Actors Julianna Margulies (Festen), Tim Daly (The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial), David Margulies (Wonderful Town, The Accomplices) and Ken Leung (Thoroughly Modern Millie) will be featured as guest stars on the series.
Past seasons have included such theatre folk as Tom Aldredge, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Blum, David Strathairn, Robert LuPone, Linda Emond, Annabella Sciorra, Linda Lavin, Steve Buscemi, Mary Louise Wilson, Laila Robins, Ron Leibman, Frank Wood, Rae Allen, Peter Riegert, Ari Graynor, Capathia Jenkins, Yul Vazquez, Will McCormack, Phyllis Somerville, Lewis J. Stadlen, Christine Pedi, Jordan Gelber and Remy Auberjonois.
Thanks to Ernio Hernandez
Former Mob Lawyer to Skip Family Secrets Trial
Friends of ours: James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo
Friends of mine: Robert Cooley
Over the years, the court testimony of former Chicago mob lawyer Robert Cooley has put away mobsters, lawyers and judges. But the prized federal informant won’t be testifying at what could be the biggest mob trial in Chicago history — the Operation Family Secrets trial.
A host of informants, “stool pigeons” and ex-mobsters will be taking the stand starting in mid-May to tell jurors about the Outfit’s structure and deadly doings.
Some of Chicago’s top mobsters are standing trial, including reputed mob leader James “Little Jimmy” Marcello and Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo.
Cooley has testified in several previous mob trials, and his ability on the stand has met with praise. But this time, he won’t be part of the trial.
In an interview late last week, Cooley, who these days lives out of state under a different name, said he clashed with federal prosecutors when he was debriefed more than a year ago.
Cooley said he disagrees with the prosecution’s theory over how the Chicago mob was structured since the 1970s, and he is disappointed that another top mobster wasn’t charged in the case for two murders that Cooley said he has told the feds about.
Cooley calls Marcello — who the feds says is the top mob leader — “a flunky.”
“He was never more of a mob boss than I was,” Cooley scoffs. (MANY Chicago Syndicate readers have emailed me to say the same thing.)
In his years as an informant, Cooley was never known to be reluctant to tell federal agents and prosecutors where he believed they were falling short or screwing up.
While Cooley says he won’t be helping the feds this time around, he won’t be helping the defense team, either. “I would not do anything to hurt the case,” Cooley said. “I would never do anything to help the bad guys.”
Cooley is best known for his seminal work in taking apart the Outfit’s political power structure in the 1st Ward, which he saw as marking the true end of the Chicago mob. “They’re just cleaning up our scraps,” Cooley said of the current case.
Federal prosecutors had no comment on Cooley’s statements.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
Friends of mine: Robert Cooley
Over the years, the court testimony of former Chicago mob lawyer Robert Cooley has put away mobsters, lawyers and judges. But the prized federal informant won’t be testifying at what could be the biggest mob trial in Chicago history — the Operation Family Secrets trial.
A host of informants, “stool pigeons” and ex-mobsters will be taking the stand starting in mid-May to tell jurors about the Outfit’s structure and deadly doings.
Some of Chicago’s top mobsters are standing trial, including reputed mob leader James “Little Jimmy” Marcello and Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo.
Cooley has testified in several previous mob trials, and his ability on the stand has met with praise. But this time, he won’t be part of the trial.
In an interview late last week, Cooley, who these days lives out of state under a different name, said he clashed with federal prosecutors when he was debriefed more than a year ago.
Cooley said he disagrees with the prosecution’s theory over how the Chicago mob was structured since the 1970s, and he is disappointed that another top mobster wasn’t charged in the case for two murders that Cooley said he has told the feds about.
Cooley calls Marcello — who the feds says is the top mob leader — “a flunky.”
“He was never more of a mob boss than I was,” Cooley scoffs. (MANY Chicago Syndicate readers have emailed me to say the same thing.)
In his years as an informant, Cooley was never known to be reluctant to tell federal agents and prosecutors where he believed they were falling short or screwing up.
While Cooley says he won’t be helping the feds this time around, he won’t be helping the defense team, either. “I would not do anything to hurt the case,” Cooley said. “I would never do anything to help the bad guys.”
Cooley is best known for his seminal work in taking apart the Outfit’s political power structure in the 1st Ward, which he saw as marking the true end of the Chicago mob. “They’re just cleaning up our scraps,” Cooley said of the current case.
Federal prosecutors had no comment on Cooley’s statements.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
Sunday, April 08, 2007
"The Sopranos" in 7 Minutes
Like mob bosses of legend, “The Sopranos” is pensive, brooding and austere. Heavy silences, broken by spells of rage, pervade David Chase’s masterpiece, which enters its final season on Sunday. “The Sopranos” is not glib. It does not have truck with glibness. But lately, as viewers wait for the final run of this HBO drama to start, a “Sopranos” with a very different pace has been making the rounds. This “Sopranos” is not by Mr. Chase; it does not appear on HBO and cannot be described as pensive, brooding or austere. Instead it is hyperglib, antic and rendered at an auctioneer’s pace. And where “The Sopranos” has so far taken around 77 hours to deliver the dark saga of family and crime in New Jersey, this other “Sopranos,” which tells the same story, lasts only 7 minutes 36 seconds.
Paul Gulyas and Joe Sabia, recent college graduates living in Los Angeles, first posted their video “Seven Minute Sopranos” to YouTube on March 29. It is an audacious effort by two of Mr. Chase’s fans eager to prove their loyalty to his creation. But, as they know, it is also an act of violence.
“We included what stood out, what flowed better or images that people would like to see,” Mr. Gulyas said. “But we kind of adapted the story to our own taste. It’s so reductionist to what David Chase has done.”
What will Mr. Chase think, then, of the video Cliffs Notes to his Iliad? “The show’s really about Tony’s psyche,” Mr. Gulyas, who is 23, said, naming the show’s central character, the glowering crime boss who is riven by desire, fury and doubt. “But this video boils things down to one premise. I’m not sure Chase would like that.”
According to a publicist for HBO, Mr. Chase does in fact like it. His assistant showed him the video on the set of the series finale, and he laughed all the way through it, said the publicist, Quentin Schaffer. “It reminded him how much has happened during the run of the series,” Mr. Schaffer said.
Having seen each episode of “The Sopranos” from three to seven times, Mr. Gulyas composed the staccato script from memory, hitting every plot point that seemed relevant. He also proposed complementary clips, estimating their places on his DVDs from memory.
Mr. Sabia, a childhood friend of Mr. Gulyas from Connecticut, then edited the video using Final Cut Pro. The process took the friends 100 hours, longer than a marathon of all six seasons of “The Sopranos.”
To date “Seven Minute Sopranos” has attracted around 80,000 views and counting. Ilene S. Landress, an executive producer of “The Sopranos,” loves the video and insists that it stay on YouTube. (Some companies, citing copyright concerns, have pulled material off this video-sharing site.)
Another “Sopranos” executive producer, Matthew Weiner, said, “The guys really understand not only what happened in the show, but they displayed their knowledge with humor and love.”
On Tuesday “Seven Minute Sopranos” was featured on the home page of iFilm, a video-sharing site owned by Viacom. (In a twist that wasn’t lost on HBO this meant that Viacom, which also owns HBO’s cable competitor Showtime, highlighted what amounts to a trailer for an HBO show.) Almost immediately “Seven Minute Sopranos” has gained Mr. Gulyas and Mr. Sabia respect on “Sopranos” fan sites, as well as with YouTube commenters. “That was amazing,” wrote nicoleredbaron218, “you didn’t miss a single Detail.”
“Seven Minute Sopranos” is indeed a sizable feat. Virtually everything from the series seems to have been crammed in, from the giant plot tectonics — the twists that determine who lives and who dies — to the intricate subplots and even the comic relief.
In addition to the most indelible story lines, fans can also fleetingly revisit the attempt to consign Livia to a nursing home, the arson at Artie’s, Meadow’s indiscreet soccer coach, Christopher’s near-damnation, Janice’s theft of the Russian’s prosthesis, Ralph’s son’s deadly arrow game, Junior’s tumble down the courthouse steps, A. J.’s attempt to kill Junior and Paulie’s discovery that his aunt is his mother.
Nor are significant visual moments omitted. Ginny’s secret Twix stash gets a close-up, as do the ducks, the bear, Paulie’s shoe and the pillow Tony tries to use to smother his mother. These indelible images, combined with a multilayered soundtrack — which often plays simultaneously the show’s score, its dialogue, its sound effects and Mr. Sabia’s tongue-twisting voice-over — allow “Seven Minute Sopranos” to convey information with extreme efficiency.
In an inspired flourish the dialogue and the voice-over periodically line up exactly. When Mr. Sabia, who is also 23, summarizing Carmela Soprano’s reaction to the news that her husband is seeing a therapist, says, “She thinks that’s great,” Mr. Sabia, who edited the piece, synched his voice up with that of Edie Falco, as Carmela. He says “thinks that’s great” just as she says “think that’s great.” The brief duet makes the point. And that point — the duet in a major key, followed by a breath — is especially affecting when Carmela reverses her enthusiasm for therapy in the next scene, having learned that Tony’s therapist is a woman. Standing on a balcony she rains a half-dozen black valises down on her husband and curses at him to leave the house. This is the first of several times Mr. Sabia and Mr. Gulyas use this scene. It becomes shorthand for Carmela’s indignation.
The repetition of this stagecraft has become many commenters’ favorite part of “Seven Minute Sopranos.” But it’s also where Mr. Gulyas and Mr. Sabia make clear that they bring a critic’s eye to the action of the show. But what statement are they making with the repetition? Something about the redundancy of Ms. Falco’s performance? Or perhaps the cyclical nature of Tony and Carmela’s marriage?
The more you study “Seven Minute Sopranos,” the more mischievous it seems. It’s an intensive work of the imagination. And it’s far from sycophantic to “The Sopranos.” Some of the video’s greatest fans on YouTube are not fans of the show at all. A user named underb0ss especially appreciated the glibness of the script: “that was amazing! tho it made the sopranos look so stupid ... i love that part in season 6 ‘tonys shot, goes in a coma. Get slapped by monk. Comes out of coma’ lol.”
So far Mr. Chase and “The Sopranos” crew seem not to realize that, for some, the video can be interpreted this way. They spent this week working long days wrapping their series. But what would happen if Mr. Chase were to discover that some people take “Seven Minute Sopranos” as a sendup of his show, and not a homage?
Mr. Sabia and Mr. Gulyas can be forgiven for being on edge about that. They may seem like made men now, but even a little joke at the capo’s expense is never a good thing. And in the “Sopranos” world, you can lose your favored status as quickly as you get it. No one knows that plotline better than they do.
Thanks to Virginia Heffernan
Soprano Whackees
Livia Soprano, played by Nancy Marchand
Tony Soprano's mother Livia, a primary topic in her son's therapy sessions, had a poor upbringing and spent her adult life projecting her unhappiness onto others. Her husband, Johnny Boy, provided for the family but did not live up to her standards. She pressured him to make more money, but when an opportunity to move to Reno to pursue business interests arose, she eschewed the plan. When Tony placed Livia in a nursing home in an attempt to help her, she convinced Uncle Junior to put a hit on him. The hit was unsuccessful and Livia was never implicated in the crime. A year later, she died in her sleep.
Adriana La Cerva, played by Drea de Matteo
Christopher Moltisanti's fiancée Adriana had been enmeshed in the crime family lifestyle until the Feds caught up with her and she became an informant. The FBI pressured Adriana to get Christopher to turn and give up Tony, or she and her future husband would serve a five-year sentence for drug charges. With the pressure mounting, Adriana confessed to Christopher, who nearly choked her to death. For a fleeting moment, he seemed to forgive her, but in the end, he gave her up. The crew tricked Adriana into thinking she was being taken to the hospital to see Christopher after a failed suicide attempt; in fact, Silvio took her to the woods and shot her. Friends and family were led to believe Adriana skipped town, but her mother suspects foul play.
Tony B., played by Steve Buscemi
Tony Blundetto was Tony Soprano's first cousin and close childhood friend. Tony B. had had a thriving career as a mobster until he was 28, when he was locked up for 15 years. Tony S. was supposed to be with Tony B. the night he got arrested, but he was incapacitated by a panic attack.
After his release, the Leotardo family killed his former cell mate, Angela Garepe, and Tony B. retaliated by killing Billy Leotardo while Billy's brother Phil watched. Tony Soprano, knowing Phil Leotardo would savagely kill Tony B. for Billy's murder, took matters into his own hands and killed Tony B.
Ralph Cifaretto, played by Joe Pantoliano
With his inappropriate comments, misogynistic attitude and tactless behavior, Ralph Cifaretto becomes Tony Soprano's least favorite business associate. A low point for Ralph occurred when, high on cocaine, he beat a young Bada Bing dancer -- pregnant with his baby -- to death. Tony and Ralph found common ground when Ralph bought a racehorse Tony named Pie-O-My, that Tony grew to like. But when Ralph needed money and the highly insured horse died in a suspicious stable fire, Tony killed Ralph, recruiting Christopher to help dismember and bury the body.
Big Pussy, played by Vincent Pastore
According to rumor, Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero earned his nickname because he was once a cat-burglar. Big Pussy was a family man and close friend to Tony Soprano.
The Feds caught up with Pussy for smuggling heroin and threatened him with life in state prison unless he became an informant. Fearing for his children's future, Pussy agreed to get wired. When Tony, Silvio and Paulie confronted him during a boat ride, Pussy tried to talk his way out of it, but to no avail; he was shot to death. Silvio wrapped Pussy's body in chains and pushed it overboard.
Gloria Trillo, played by Annabella Sciorra
Tony Soprano and Gloria met in the waiting room of Dr. Melfi's office; the psychiatrist was treating Gloria for severe depression, which was worsened by a series of failed relationships. Gloria and Tony had an intense affair, but Gloria became jealous and threatened to call Carmela. This infuriated Tony, who nearly strangled his girlfriend while she spat on him and begged him to follow through. Several months after they broke up, Gloria hanged herself from a chandelier. She did not leave a suicide note.
Richie Aprile, played by David Proval
Richie seemed relatively mild-mannered considering his criminal lifestyle, but he was a ruthless mobster. He had been in prison for 10 years and was unhappy with the changes in the family, especially Tony's rise to the top, during his time served. Richie wanted to whack Tony and told Uncle Junior, who in turn tipped off Tony. Tony had intended to kill Richie Aprile but Tony's sister Janice beat him to it. Richie and Janice were engaged and one night an argument escalated into Richie hitting his fiancée in the face. Janice retaliated by shooting Richie dead.
Tony Soprano's mother Livia, a primary topic in her son's therapy sessions, had a poor upbringing and spent her adult life projecting her unhappiness onto others. Her husband, Johnny Boy, provided for the family but did not live up to her standards. She pressured him to make more money, but when an opportunity to move to Reno to pursue business interests arose, she eschewed the plan. When Tony placed Livia in a nursing home in an attempt to help her, she convinced Uncle Junior to put a hit on him. The hit was unsuccessful and Livia was never implicated in the crime. A year later, she died in her sleep.
Adriana La Cerva, played by Drea de Matteo
Christopher Moltisanti's fiancée Adriana had been enmeshed in the crime family lifestyle until the Feds caught up with her and she became an informant. The FBI pressured Adriana to get Christopher to turn and give up Tony, or she and her future husband would serve a five-year sentence for drug charges. With the pressure mounting, Adriana confessed to Christopher, who nearly choked her to death. For a fleeting moment, he seemed to forgive her, but in the end, he gave her up. The crew tricked Adriana into thinking she was being taken to the hospital to see Christopher after a failed suicide attempt; in fact, Silvio took her to the woods and shot her. Friends and family were led to believe Adriana skipped town, but her mother suspects foul play.
Tony B., played by Steve Buscemi
Tony Blundetto was Tony Soprano's first cousin and close childhood friend. Tony B. had had a thriving career as a mobster until he was 28, when he was locked up for 15 years. Tony S. was supposed to be with Tony B. the night he got arrested, but he was incapacitated by a panic attack.
After his release, the Leotardo family killed his former cell mate, Angela Garepe, and Tony B. retaliated by killing Billy Leotardo while Billy's brother Phil watched. Tony Soprano, knowing Phil Leotardo would savagely kill Tony B. for Billy's murder, took matters into his own hands and killed Tony B.
Ralph Cifaretto, played by Joe Pantoliano
With his inappropriate comments, misogynistic attitude and tactless behavior, Ralph Cifaretto becomes Tony Soprano's least favorite business associate. A low point for Ralph occurred when, high on cocaine, he beat a young Bada Bing dancer -- pregnant with his baby -- to death. Tony and Ralph found common ground when Ralph bought a racehorse Tony named Pie-O-My, that Tony grew to like. But when Ralph needed money and the highly insured horse died in a suspicious stable fire, Tony killed Ralph, recruiting Christopher to help dismember and bury the body.
Big Pussy, played by Vincent Pastore
According to rumor, Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero earned his nickname because he was once a cat-burglar. Big Pussy was a family man and close friend to Tony Soprano.
The Feds caught up with Pussy for smuggling heroin and threatened him with life in state prison unless he became an informant. Fearing for his children's future, Pussy agreed to get wired. When Tony, Silvio and Paulie confronted him during a boat ride, Pussy tried to talk his way out of it, but to no avail; he was shot to death. Silvio wrapped Pussy's body in chains and pushed it overboard.
Gloria Trillo, played by Annabella Sciorra
Tony Soprano and Gloria met in the waiting room of Dr. Melfi's office; the psychiatrist was treating Gloria for severe depression, which was worsened by a series of failed relationships. Gloria and Tony had an intense affair, but Gloria became jealous and threatened to call Carmela. This infuriated Tony, who nearly strangled his girlfriend while she spat on him and begged him to follow through. Several months after they broke up, Gloria hanged herself from a chandelier. She did not leave a suicide note.
Richie Aprile, played by David Proval
Richie seemed relatively mild-mannered considering his criminal lifestyle, but he was a ruthless mobster. He had been in prison for 10 years and was unhappy with the changes in the family, especially Tony's rise to the top, during his time served. Richie wanted to whack Tony and told Uncle Junior, who in turn tipped off Tony. Tony had intended to kill Richie Aprile but Tony's sister Janice beat him to it. Richie and Janice were engaged and one night an argument escalated into Richie hitting his fiancée in the face. Janice retaliated by shooting Richie dead.
Key Members of "The Sopranos"
Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini
The center of the show, Tony heads the DiMeo family, the most powerful crime organization in New Jersey. He was born in 1959 and grew up in North Jersey. Violence was prevalent in Tony's childhood; he witnessed his father, Johnny Boy, brutalizing victims, while his mother, Livia, was emotionally abusive. Johnny Boy brought Tony into the family crime business.
As the acting head of the "family," Tony has been responsible for many deaths, including his close associate Big Pussy, his cousin Tony B. and his associate Ralph Cifaretto. Meanwhile, his personal life has had its share of complications, with his marriage almost breaking up because of his infidelity, tension with his children and his own struggle with anxiety.
Dr. Jennifer Melfi, played by Lorraine Bracco
Dr. Melfi, Tony Soprano's psychiatrist, arguably knows the mob boss better than anyone else. She is a respected doctor in private practice to whom Tony was referred by a neighbor.
Dr. Melfi hasn't had an easy time with Tony as a patient. She has self-medicated her stress with alcohol, and her own therapist prescribed medication for Melfi's obsessive-compulsive disorder. Tony has made multiple attempts to woo Dr. Melfi, but she has always refused his advances.
Carmela Soprano, played by Edie Falco
Carmela DeAngelis met Tony Soprano in high school and eventually quit her studies at Montclair State University to marry him. While she enjoys the material perks of being married to a mobster, she finds it harder to deal with the constant threat of losing her husband to business.
Tony and Carmela separated once because of his infidelity. While Tony has had numerous extramarital affairs over the years, Carmela also had a flirtation with Tony's business associate Furio Giunta and, during their separation, an affair with their son's guidance counselor. Ultimately, however, Carmela and Tony reunited.
Christopher Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli
Christopher is Carmela's first cousin but as Tony's protégé, Tony adopts him as his own nephew. Christopher was a baby when his father was killed and Tony became a father figure to him.
Christopher has an impulsive and sometimes violent nature, which has made for obstacles as the heroin addict has risen in the ranks of the family business. His flirtations with Hollywood have been a constant annoyance to Tony, and he also was not always sure it was the life for him. He did, however, prove his devotion to the Sopranos when he informed on his fiancée, Adriana, who was killed after she tried to convince Christopher to help the Feds.
Uncle Junior, played by Dominic Chianese
Carrado Soprano, Jr., better known as Uncle Junior, is Tony Soprano's paternal uncle.
Junior briefly headed the New Jersey crime family, but because his leadership was perceived as selfish and overbearing, Tony took over. Capitalizing on Junior's vulnerability, Tony's mother, Livia, manipulated Junior into ordering an unsuccessful hit on her son. Junior was also placed under house arrest on federal racketeering charges but his case ended in a mistrial. He has been diagnosed with cancer and has suffered a series of strokes. While awaiting his re-trial, he mistook Tony for an old acquaintance and shot him, nearly to death. He now lives in a mental health facility.
Silvio Dante, played by Steven Van Zandt
Silvio, one of Tony Soprano's associates, owns the Bada Bing club, the topless club where they do business.
Silvio has been around mobsters his entire life. While he is even-tempered and reasonable, he is no stranger to violence. He has recommended Tony to eliminate rivals by having them killed and he personally took part in the murder of Big Pussy. Silvio ran the crew while Tony was in a coma, but he found the stress of being the boss more than he could handle.
Paulie Walnuts, played by Tony Sirico
Peter Paul Gualtieri, aka Paulie Walnuts, has been a part of the business since age 17, under Johnny Boy Soprano, Tony's father.
Paulie has a violent temper, but perhaps what sets him apart from Tony's other associates are his issues with women. He has never been married, but has a strong bond with his "mother," Nucci, whom he discovered was actually his aunt; his real mother was a nun. Paulie considered leaving Tony's organization to become part of a New York crime operation after some of Tony's decisions led to a decreased income for Paulie. But when the leader of the New York organization did not recognize him, Paulie returned to Tony - with a wad of cash for the mob boss.
Anthony Soprano Jr., played by Robert Iler
Tony Soprano's younger child, Anthony Jr., or A.J., is a troubled teenager whose rap sheet includes crashing his mother's car while driving without a license and getting caught smoking marijuana at his confirmation party. He was expelled from high school for cheating on a test.
After his expulsion, A.J. was sent to a tough-as-nails military school, but his enrollment was cancelled when it was discovered he, like his father and grandfather, suffered from anxiety attacks. A.J. set out to kill Uncle Junior for shooting Tony but found himself incapable when he came face to face with his great-uncle. A.J. has been changing his aimless ways since becoming involved with Blanca Selgada, a single mother.
Meadow Soprano, played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Meadow Mariangela Soprano is the older of Tony and Carmela's two children.
She excelled in high school and at Columbia University, but her relationship with her parents has been rocky through the years. Her parents disapproved of her boyfriend Tony, who was of mixed race, and her next boyfriend, Jackie Aprile, Jr., whose father was Tony's late boss and friend. And even though Jackie cheated on Meadow and failed out of college, she was devastated when he was found shot to death, and she blamed her father and the mob lifestyle. She is now engaged to Finn DeTriolio and living in California. She seems to have distanced herself from the family's criminal connections.
Janice Soprano, played by Aida Turturro
Tony Soprano's older sister Janice disappeared from family interaction from high school graduation until her mother, Livia's, stroke -- and the promised inheritance -- prompted her return to New Jersey. Back home, she got engaged to her old boyfriend, Richie Aprile, whom she shot to death after he hit her in the mouth. Tony sent her to Seattle, Washington, but she returned home for good after Livia's death.
Janice's trouble with her Russian housekeeper landed her in the hospital, where she found religion. She had an intense affair with Ralph Cifaretto, but that ended in favor of a relationship with widower Bobby Baccilieri. She became a soccer mom, and after being arrested for assaulting the mother of a peewee soccer player, she enrolled in counseling.
Johnny Sack, played by Vince Curatola
Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni is the head of the New York operation and an ally of Tony Soprano.
Johnny is known for his cool, calm and collected demeanor. However, a disparaging remark about his wife can trigger rage, as was the case when Ralph Cifaretto repeated a comment about her backside and Johnny ordered a hit on Ralph (which was eventually called off). The Feds busted Johnny, but while imprisoned he received permission to attend to his daughter's wedding. He openly cried there, losing the respect of many of his associates and essentially control of the family.
Phil Leotardo, played by Frank Vincent
Tony Soprano's rival, Phil Leotardo, is the head of the New York crime family.
Hostility brewed between Tony and Phil when Tony Soprano took out Tony B. before Phil could get his hands on Tony B. for torturing and killing Phil's brother in front of Phil. The animosity continued with Phil's disrespect toward Tony until Phil suffered a heart attack and Tony made a bedside appeal for reconciliation.
The center of the show, Tony heads the DiMeo family, the most powerful crime organization in New Jersey. He was born in 1959 and grew up in North Jersey. Violence was prevalent in Tony's childhood; he witnessed his father, Johnny Boy, brutalizing victims, while his mother, Livia, was emotionally abusive. Johnny Boy brought Tony into the family crime business.
As the acting head of the "family," Tony has been responsible for many deaths, including his close associate Big Pussy, his cousin Tony B. and his associate Ralph Cifaretto. Meanwhile, his personal life has had its share of complications, with his marriage almost breaking up because of his infidelity, tension with his children and his own struggle with anxiety.
Dr. Jennifer Melfi, played by Lorraine Bracco
Dr. Melfi, Tony Soprano's psychiatrist, arguably knows the mob boss better than anyone else. She is a respected doctor in private practice to whom Tony was referred by a neighbor.
Dr. Melfi hasn't had an easy time with Tony as a patient. She has self-medicated her stress with alcohol, and her own therapist prescribed medication for Melfi's obsessive-compulsive disorder. Tony has made multiple attempts to woo Dr. Melfi, but she has always refused his advances.
Carmela Soprano, played by Edie Falco
Carmela DeAngelis met Tony Soprano in high school and eventually quit her studies at Montclair State University to marry him. While she enjoys the material perks of being married to a mobster, she finds it harder to deal with the constant threat of losing her husband to business.
Tony and Carmela separated once because of his infidelity. While Tony has had numerous extramarital affairs over the years, Carmela also had a flirtation with Tony's business associate Furio Giunta and, during their separation, an affair with their son's guidance counselor. Ultimately, however, Carmela and Tony reunited.
Christopher Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli
Christopher is Carmela's first cousin but as Tony's protégé, Tony adopts him as his own nephew. Christopher was a baby when his father was killed and Tony became a father figure to him.
Christopher has an impulsive and sometimes violent nature, which has made for obstacles as the heroin addict has risen in the ranks of the family business. His flirtations with Hollywood have been a constant annoyance to Tony, and he also was not always sure it was the life for him. He did, however, prove his devotion to the Sopranos when he informed on his fiancée, Adriana, who was killed after she tried to convince Christopher to help the Feds.
Uncle Junior, played by Dominic Chianese
Carrado Soprano, Jr., better known as Uncle Junior, is Tony Soprano's paternal uncle.
Junior briefly headed the New Jersey crime family, but because his leadership was perceived as selfish and overbearing, Tony took over. Capitalizing on Junior's vulnerability, Tony's mother, Livia, manipulated Junior into ordering an unsuccessful hit on her son. Junior was also placed under house arrest on federal racketeering charges but his case ended in a mistrial. He has been diagnosed with cancer and has suffered a series of strokes. While awaiting his re-trial, he mistook Tony for an old acquaintance and shot him, nearly to death. He now lives in a mental health facility.
Silvio Dante, played by Steven Van Zandt
Silvio, one of Tony Soprano's associates, owns the Bada Bing club, the topless club where they do business.
Silvio has been around mobsters his entire life. While he is even-tempered and reasonable, he is no stranger to violence. He has recommended Tony to eliminate rivals by having them killed and he personally took part in the murder of Big Pussy. Silvio ran the crew while Tony was in a coma, but he found the stress of being the boss more than he could handle.
Paulie Walnuts, played by Tony Sirico
Peter Paul Gualtieri, aka Paulie Walnuts, has been a part of the business since age 17, under Johnny Boy Soprano, Tony's father.
Paulie has a violent temper, but perhaps what sets him apart from Tony's other associates are his issues with women. He has never been married, but has a strong bond with his "mother," Nucci, whom he discovered was actually his aunt; his real mother was a nun. Paulie considered leaving Tony's organization to become part of a New York crime operation after some of Tony's decisions led to a decreased income for Paulie. But when the leader of the New York organization did not recognize him, Paulie returned to Tony - with a wad of cash for the mob boss.
Anthony Soprano Jr., played by Robert Iler
Tony Soprano's younger child, Anthony Jr., or A.J., is a troubled teenager whose rap sheet includes crashing his mother's car while driving without a license and getting caught smoking marijuana at his confirmation party. He was expelled from high school for cheating on a test.
After his expulsion, A.J. was sent to a tough-as-nails military school, but his enrollment was cancelled when it was discovered he, like his father and grandfather, suffered from anxiety attacks. A.J. set out to kill Uncle Junior for shooting Tony but found himself incapable when he came face to face with his great-uncle. A.J. has been changing his aimless ways since becoming involved with Blanca Selgada, a single mother.
Meadow Soprano, played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Meadow Mariangela Soprano is the older of Tony and Carmela's two children.
She excelled in high school and at Columbia University, but her relationship with her parents has been rocky through the years. Her parents disapproved of her boyfriend Tony, who was of mixed race, and her next boyfriend, Jackie Aprile, Jr., whose father was Tony's late boss and friend. And even though Jackie cheated on Meadow and failed out of college, she was devastated when he was found shot to death, and she blamed her father and the mob lifestyle. She is now engaged to Finn DeTriolio and living in California. She seems to have distanced herself from the family's criminal connections.
Janice Soprano, played by Aida Turturro
Tony Soprano's older sister Janice disappeared from family interaction from high school graduation until her mother, Livia's, stroke -- and the promised inheritance -- prompted her return to New Jersey. Back home, she got engaged to her old boyfriend, Richie Aprile, whom she shot to death after he hit her in the mouth. Tony sent her to Seattle, Washington, but she returned home for good after Livia's death.
Janice's trouble with her Russian housekeeper landed her in the hospital, where she found religion. She had an intense affair with Ralph Cifaretto, but that ended in favor of a relationship with widower Bobby Baccilieri. She became a soccer mom, and after being arrested for assaulting the mother of a peewee soccer player, she enrolled in counseling.
Johnny Sack, played by Vince Curatola
Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni is the head of the New York operation and an ally of Tony Soprano.
Johnny is known for his cool, calm and collected demeanor. However, a disparaging remark about his wife can trigger rage, as was the case when Ralph Cifaretto repeated a comment about her backside and Johnny ordered a hit on Ralph (which was eventually called off). The Feds busted Johnny, but while imprisoned he received permission to attend to his daughter's wedding. He openly cried there, losing the respect of many of his associates and essentially control of the family.
Phil Leotardo, played by Frank Vincent
Tony Soprano's rival, Phil Leotardo, is the head of the New York crime family.
Hostility brewed between Tony and Phil when Tony Soprano took out Tony B. before Phil could get his hands on Tony B. for torturing and killing Phil's brother in front of Phil. The animosity continued with Phil's disrespect toward Tony until Phil suffered a heart attack and Tony made a bedside appeal for reconciliation.
Season by Season Guide to "The Sopranos"
HBO's Emmy-winning TV series "The Sopranos" pushed the envelope in its frank depiction of organized crime by inviting viewers into the world of Tony Soprano, his family -- wife Carmela and their children Meadow and Anthony Jr. -- and his "Family." Millions of loyal followers have been tuning in since 1999, and beginning Sunday, April 8th, the show will premiere the first of its final nine episodes.
Season 1
# Tony Soprano begins visiting psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi after anxiety attacks; eventually he hires a detective to investigate her
# Tony moves his mother into a retirement home against her wishes
# Jackie Aprile dies, Uncle Junior Soprano becomes the new boss of the New Jersey family
# Meadow Soprano reveals to her brother Anthony Jr. their father's true line of work
# Tony's mother Livia persuades Uncle Junior to put a hit out on Tony, which fails
# The crew kills Jimmy Altieri for being an FBI informant
# The FBI arrests Uncle Junior
Season 2
# With Uncle Junior locked up, Tony is the new mob boss
# Tony's long-lost sister, Janice, returns to tend to Livia
# Former boss Jackie Aprile's brother, Richie, gets out of jail, challenges Tony's leadership
# Tony resumes therapy with Dr. Melfi after she refuses to see him; she resorts to drinking vodka before their sessions
# Christopher Moltisanto, Tony's "nephew" but really Carmela's cousin -- survives being shot
# Janice kills Richie Aprile after he hits her
# Tony discovers "Big Pussy" is a federal informant, so consigliere Silvio Dante and capo Paulie Walnuts whack him
Season 3
# Tony's mother, Livia, dies
# Janice steals the prosthetic leg of her Russian housekeeper, Svetlana; Russian thugs retaliate by breaking three of Janice's ribs
# Dr. Melfi is raped
# New York crime boss Johnny Sack moves to New Jersey
# Uncle Junior undergoes chemotherapy for stomach cancer
# Tony dates Gloria Trillo, whom he met in Dr. Melfi's office
# Meadow's ex-boyfriend Jackie Aprile Jr. is shot to death because of a card game robbery
Season 4
# Christopher's fiance Adriana La Cerva unwittingly befriends an undercover agent; she is faced with an ultimatum of getting arrested or informing
# Janice and Ralph Cifaretto develop a relationship; she breaks it off by shoving him down stairs
# A distraught Tony learns his ex-girlfriend Gloria committed suicide
# Tony grows fond of the racehorse Pie-O-My; when the horse dies in a suspicious fire, Tony suspects Ralph and kills him. Christopher helps Tony dismember the body
# The family stages an intervention for heroin addict Christopher
# Carmela and Furio Giunta -- recruited from an Italian gang -- become attracted to one another, leading to Furio's return to Italy
# The judge declares a mistrial in Uncle Junior's case
# With Tony and Carmela's marriage strained, Tony moves into a hotel
Season 5
# Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto, is released after 15 years behind bars; he tries and fails to work legitimately
# Uncle Junior's behavior seems odd; it develops he suffered several small strokes
# Tony B. takes things into his own hands to revenge a friend's killing by New York's Leotardos. He kills the New York operation's Billy
Leotardo, little brother of the powerful capo Phil. Johnny Sack wants Tony B. dead
# Tony and Carmela reconcile on the condition that Tony funds her spec house project
# Adriana, threatened by the FBI with jail, tries to get Christopher to escape with her; Christopher rats on her; Silvio kills Adriana in the woods
# With a heavy heart, Tony kills Tony B. -- saving him from a torturous murder by Phil Leotardo
Season 6
# A paranoid and unbalanced Uncle Junior shoots Tony, leaving him in a coma
# Tony recovers and is released from the hospital
# Johnny Sack, arrested by the Feds, is sentenced to 15 years
# Johnny, in prison, petitions to attend his daughter's wedding; he openly cries there and loses the respect of his crew
# A.J. (Anthony Jr.) vows revenge on Junior for shooting Tony but cannot go through with it
# Christopher, once again abusing drugs, marries his pregnant girlfriend Kelli
# Word gets out that Vito Spatafore, one of Tony's associates, is gay. Vito's wife is related to Phil -- who's furious and goes behind Tony's back to have Vito whacked
# Phil has a heart attack; Tony visits him in the hospital and pleads for peace
Thanks to CNN.
Season 1
# Tony Soprano begins visiting psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi after anxiety attacks; eventually he hires a detective to investigate her
# Tony moves his mother into a retirement home against her wishes
# Jackie Aprile dies, Uncle Junior Soprano becomes the new boss of the New Jersey family
# Meadow Soprano reveals to her brother Anthony Jr. their father's true line of work
# Tony's mother Livia persuades Uncle Junior to put a hit out on Tony, which fails
# The crew kills Jimmy Altieri for being an FBI informant
# The FBI arrests Uncle Junior
Season 2
# With Uncle Junior locked up, Tony is the new mob boss
# Tony's long-lost sister, Janice, returns to tend to Livia
# Former boss Jackie Aprile's brother, Richie, gets out of jail, challenges Tony's leadership
# Tony resumes therapy with Dr. Melfi after she refuses to see him; she resorts to drinking vodka before their sessions
# Christopher Moltisanto, Tony's "nephew" but really Carmela's cousin -- survives being shot
# Janice kills Richie Aprile after he hits her
# Tony discovers "Big Pussy" is a federal informant, so consigliere Silvio Dante and capo Paulie Walnuts whack him
Season 3
# Tony's mother, Livia, dies
# Janice steals the prosthetic leg of her Russian housekeeper, Svetlana; Russian thugs retaliate by breaking three of Janice's ribs
# Dr. Melfi is raped
# New York crime boss Johnny Sack moves to New Jersey
# Uncle Junior undergoes chemotherapy for stomach cancer
# Tony dates Gloria Trillo, whom he met in Dr. Melfi's office
# Meadow's ex-boyfriend Jackie Aprile Jr. is shot to death because of a card game robbery
Season 4
# Christopher's fiance Adriana La Cerva unwittingly befriends an undercover agent; she is faced with an ultimatum of getting arrested or informing
# Janice and Ralph Cifaretto develop a relationship; she breaks it off by shoving him down stairs
# A distraught Tony learns his ex-girlfriend Gloria committed suicide
# Tony grows fond of the racehorse Pie-O-My; when the horse dies in a suspicious fire, Tony suspects Ralph and kills him. Christopher helps Tony dismember the body
# The family stages an intervention for heroin addict Christopher
# Carmela and Furio Giunta -- recruited from an Italian gang -- become attracted to one another, leading to Furio's return to Italy
# The judge declares a mistrial in Uncle Junior's case
# With Tony and Carmela's marriage strained, Tony moves into a hotel
Season 5
# Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto, is released after 15 years behind bars; he tries and fails to work legitimately
# Uncle Junior's behavior seems odd; it develops he suffered several small strokes
# Tony B. takes things into his own hands to revenge a friend's killing by New York's Leotardos. He kills the New York operation's Billy
Leotardo, little brother of the powerful capo Phil. Johnny Sack wants Tony B. dead
# Tony and Carmela reconcile on the condition that Tony funds her spec house project
# Adriana, threatened by the FBI with jail, tries to get Christopher to escape with her; Christopher rats on her; Silvio kills Adriana in the woods
# With a heavy heart, Tony kills Tony B. -- saving him from a torturous murder by Phil Leotardo
Season 6
# A paranoid and unbalanced Uncle Junior shoots Tony, leaving him in a coma
# Tony recovers and is released from the hospital
# Johnny Sack, arrested by the Feds, is sentenced to 15 years
# Johnny, in prison, petitions to attend his daughter's wedding; he openly cries there and loses the respect of his crew
# A.J. (Anthony Jr.) vows revenge on Junior for shooting Tony but cannot go through with it
# Christopher, once again abusing drugs, marries his pregnant girlfriend Kelli
# Word gets out that Vito Spatafore, one of Tony's associates, is gay. Vito's wife is related to Phil -- who's furious and goes behind Tony's back to have Vito whacked
# Phil has a heart attack; Tony visits him in the hospital and pleads for peace
Thanks to CNN.
Sopranos Ready for Final Whacks
Friends of ours: Soprano Crime Family
They're all gone now.
Big Pussy: Gone. Richie Aprile: Gone. Ralph Cifaretto: Gone.
Gloria, Adriana, Vito, Tony Blundetto: Gone, gone, brutally gone.
But not, in the mixed-up mob-family world of "The Sopranos," forgotten. Like Shakespearean ghosts, the departed haunt the living, a reminder of the thin line between their desperate, shifty lives and a place six feet under -- or 60 feet under water, or buried in the woods, or decapitated and inserted in a bowling bag.
So the survivors smile over the anger and violence that lurks just beneath the surface, and cover it up with pretty suburban estates and snappy clothes and money -- always wads of money -- and try to stay one step ahead of the ghosts. But death awaits us all, and for "The Sopranos," the moment of reckoning has arrived. The HBO series about a mob boss, his family, his crew and his therapist -- widely hailed as one of the finest shows in television history -- begins its final season of nine episodes Sunday. (HBO, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner.)
The stars have mixed feelings about the series' end.
"This is really hard. I've never had a job for 10 years before," Edie Falco, who plays Carmela Soprano -- wife of mob boss Tony (James Gandolfini) -- told CNN at the show's New York premiere last week. "It is really not easy."
"The Sopranos" made lots of reputations during its seven-season, nine-year run.
Creator David Chase, a TV veteran who had written for "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" and "The Rockford Files" and produced "Northern Exposure," can now write his own ticket in Hollywood.
Gandolfini, a beefy character actor, became a star -- as have many of his co-stars, some with such unorthodox backgrounds as guitarist (Steve Van Zandt, the longtime Bruce Springsteen sideman who plays Tony's pal Silvio Dante) and ex-con (Tony Sirico, who served time for some stick-ups before turning to acting, and now plays mobster Paulie Walnuts).
And HBO, which had had only mild success with original programming before "The Sopranos," became the go-to place for water-cooler TV series, including "Big Love," "Six Feet Under" and "Sex and the City" (which, although it predated "The Sopranos," caught fire after the mob drama began).
The series was an unusual smash: as intricate as a novel, with flashes of fierce violence and equally uncomfortable humor. The four major broadcast networks all had their shots before Chase took the show to HBO, but all turned it down.
With the scope, the pacing, the language and the darkness of the show, the rejections were for the best, said Sirico. "It could have never happened on network," he told CNN.
Producer Brad Grey, who shopped "The Sopranos" around, agrees. "I believed that the net[work]s would be open to taking some risks at that time," he told Vanity Fair. "I was foolish. ... It was basically a waste of time, really bad judgment on my part, because even if they had taken it, it wouldn't have been 'The Sopranos.' "
The show pushed the limits of television -- and HBO's patience. It was expensive from the outset, it was full of unknown performers (probably the best known at its debut was Lorraine Bracco, who plays Dr. Jennifer Melfi, Tony's therapist) and HBO didn't like the name, believing people would think it was about opera. And nobody was safe in Chase's underworld. Characters died -- and they died suddenly, with the risk of alienating viewers. The actors who played them also walked a tightrope of emotion, knowing they could be whacked at any time. "I was really, really sad," said Steve Buscemi (Tony Blundetto) at a gathering of performers who played killed-off characters. "That's really just about missing the greatest job I've ever had."
But the show also had many moments of humor -- often directly contrasted with the violence -- and was willing to be as brutally honest in dissecting family relationships as it was in showing a mobster's corrupt world. Some of the show's most dramatic moments have come between Tony and Carmela, arguing in their kitchen.
"It really pushed the envelope. I think people were expecting it to be just a mob show, but it's really not," Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who plays Soprano daughter Meadow, told CNN. "David uses it as a vehicle to express a lot of his opinions on social issues and family issues and political issues. ... I think people were afraid to do that for awhile. 'Sopranos' sort of broke the mold with that."
Naturally, the show's performers -- adhering to the mob code of omerta -- have been tight-lipped as to what's in store for the final run. "Everything you were waiting for, you're gonna see. Everything you've been waiting to feel, you're gonna feel. Trust me. Trust me," was all Sirico would tell CNN.
The series may have peaked a few years ago; ratings, which began strongly and have stayed high for HBO, topped out at 11 million viewers per episode in the fourth season; last season the numbers were closer to 8.5 million. With Chase sometimes unsure of whether to continue, there were huge gaps between some seasons. And in recent years, "The Sopranos" has been attacked for not always measuring up to its own high standards. But, even with the show available on DVD and in (expurgated) reruns on A&E, it will haunt -- like a ghost.
"It's been such a big part of my life -- it's been almost 10 years. I was 16 when we started and I've been through so much through this whole ride," said Sigler. "I only hope to do something half as good."
Thanks to CNN
They're all gone now.
Big Pussy: Gone. Richie Aprile: Gone. Ralph Cifaretto: Gone.
Gloria, Adriana, Vito, Tony Blundetto: Gone, gone, brutally gone.
But not, in the mixed-up mob-family world of "The Sopranos," forgotten. Like Shakespearean ghosts, the departed haunt the living, a reminder of the thin line between their desperate, shifty lives and a place six feet under -- or 60 feet under water, or buried in the woods, or decapitated and inserted in a bowling bag.
So the survivors smile over the anger and violence that lurks just beneath the surface, and cover it up with pretty suburban estates and snappy clothes and money -- always wads of money -- and try to stay one step ahead of the ghosts. But death awaits us all, and for "The Sopranos," the moment of reckoning has arrived. The HBO series about a mob boss, his family, his crew and his therapist -- widely hailed as one of the finest shows in television history -- begins its final season of nine episodes Sunday. (HBO, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner.)
The stars have mixed feelings about the series' end.
"This is really hard. I've never had a job for 10 years before," Edie Falco, who plays Carmela Soprano -- wife of mob boss Tony (James Gandolfini) -- told CNN at the show's New York premiere last week. "It is really not easy."
"The Sopranos" made lots of reputations during its seven-season, nine-year run.
Creator David Chase, a TV veteran who had written for "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" and "The Rockford Files" and produced "Northern Exposure," can now write his own ticket in Hollywood.
Gandolfini, a beefy character actor, became a star -- as have many of his co-stars, some with such unorthodox backgrounds as guitarist (Steve Van Zandt, the longtime Bruce Springsteen sideman who plays Tony's pal Silvio Dante) and ex-con (Tony Sirico, who served time for some stick-ups before turning to acting, and now plays mobster Paulie Walnuts).
And HBO, which had had only mild success with original programming before "The Sopranos," became the go-to place for water-cooler TV series, including "Big Love," "Six Feet Under" and "Sex and the City" (which, although it predated "The Sopranos," caught fire after the mob drama began).
The series was an unusual smash: as intricate as a novel, with flashes of fierce violence and equally uncomfortable humor. The four major broadcast networks all had their shots before Chase took the show to HBO, but all turned it down.
With the scope, the pacing, the language and the darkness of the show, the rejections were for the best, said Sirico. "It could have never happened on network," he told CNN.
Producer Brad Grey, who shopped "The Sopranos" around, agrees. "I believed that the net[work]s would be open to taking some risks at that time," he told Vanity Fair. "I was foolish. ... It was basically a waste of time, really bad judgment on my part, because even if they had taken it, it wouldn't have been 'The Sopranos.' "
The show pushed the limits of television -- and HBO's patience. It was expensive from the outset, it was full of unknown performers (probably the best known at its debut was Lorraine Bracco, who plays Dr. Jennifer Melfi, Tony's therapist) and HBO didn't like the name, believing people would think it was about opera. And nobody was safe in Chase's underworld. Characters died -- and they died suddenly, with the risk of alienating viewers. The actors who played them also walked a tightrope of emotion, knowing they could be whacked at any time. "I was really, really sad," said Steve Buscemi (Tony Blundetto) at a gathering of performers who played killed-off characters. "That's really just about missing the greatest job I've ever had."
But the show also had many moments of humor -- often directly contrasted with the violence -- and was willing to be as brutally honest in dissecting family relationships as it was in showing a mobster's corrupt world. Some of the show's most dramatic moments have come between Tony and Carmela, arguing in their kitchen.
"It really pushed the envelope. I think people were expecting it to be just a mob show, but it's really not," Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who plays Soprano daughter Meadow, told CNN. "David uses it as a vehicle to express a lot of his opinions on social issues and family issues and political issues. ... I think people were afraid to do that for awhile. 'Sopranos' sort of broke the mold with that."
Naturally, the show's performers -- adhering to the mob code of omerta -- have been tight-lipped as to what's in store for the final run. "Everything you were waiting for, you're gonna see. Everything you've been waiting to feel, you're gonna feel. Trust me. Trust me," was all Sirico would tell CNN.
The series may have peaked a few years ago; ratings, which began strongly and have stayed high for HBO, topped out at 11 million viewers per episode in the fourth season; last season the numbers were closer to 8.5 million. With Chase sometimes unsure of whether to continue, there were huge gaps between some seasons. And in recent years, "The Sopranos" has been attacked for not always measuring up to its own high standards. But, even with the show available on DVD and in (expurgated) reruns on A&E, it will haunt -- like a ghost.
"It's been such a big part of my life -- it's been almost 10 years. I was 16 when we started and I've been through so much through this whole ride," said Sigler. "I only hope to do something half as good."
Thanks to CNN
Ray Ryan Book Still Under Development
Friends of ours: Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo
It's been nearly two years ago since we first wrote in this column about a book that was to be published about Ray Ryan, one of the biggest names connected with Watertown's rich history.
It was back in May of 2005 that Herb Marynell, a freelance writer and photographer from Newburgh, Ind., stopped by our office at the Daily Times to discuss Ryan as part of his information gathering process which is to lead up to a biography of Ryan.
Herb has been fascinated with Ryan for many years and has collected a vast amount of information about his life. Herb's fascination with this “larger than life” personality came about while he was a reporter for the Evansville Courier & Press in Evansville, Ind. It was back in October of 1977 when Ryan was killed when a bomb went off in his car in Evansville. The explosion and Ryan's death were widely speculated to have been the work of the mob, which had been intertwined in Ryan's life for a long time. (Joey the Clown Lombardo has been widely regarded as the top suspect by law enforcement authorities.)
Herb's visit to Watertown included a number of stops and interviews with people, and he said he learned a great deal.
Back when he visited two years ago, Herb had hopes the book would be in print by this time, but that hasn't been the case. A number of our readers have been asking us about the book and when it might be available, and as a result, we visited with Herb recently, and he said he continues to gather information on Ryan and that he has a fair amount of work to do before the book is published.
At the present time he has over 100,000 words in the initial draft of the book, and plans to add thousands more before it's ready for editing and final proofing. His estimate is that the book could still be a year away from publication.
Herb told us in recent days, “Last fall I visited Hot Springs, Ark., and two important oil towns of Tyler and Snyder, Texas, to get the feel of those places. Just before the end of the year we visited Las Vegas and Palm Springs, Calif. to learn more. I didn't think much of Las Vegas but Palm Springs is a wonderful place. If only we had the money to live there permanently - I can see why Ray Ryan loved that place.”
Herb told us one of the best parts of those trips was meeting the old-timers, the folks in their 80s and 90s with great stories about life in those communities back in the 1950s and 1960s when Ryan was around.
He said, “Through the folks I ran into in Las Vegas I got to meet Tony Montana, a Chicago guy who grew up in The Patch and knew the important guys in the Chicago Mob in the 1940s and 1950s. Tony is a hoot! He lives in Vegas and will be working in Chicago this year doing a movie about the 42 Gang from which several of The Outfit's later top mob guys started their ‘careers.'”
Herb said he's still looking for more information on when Ryan testified in 1964 against two mob guys who tried to extort money from him. That chapter will likely lead Herb to Washington, D.C., where he wants to take a peak at some U.S. Tax Court documents from when the Feds went after Ryan in the late 1960s.
Herb also appealed to me to see if anyone in Watertown could help fill in a few more blanks about his years in this community. Questions Herb raised included:
Did Ryan attend college in the area after high school and did he graduate from Watertown High School? (The indications are he did not.)
Did he play sports in high school or college?
Was he a “ladies man” as a youth?
When did he become interested in horseback riding?
He was also interested in the time when Joe Davies came to Watertown to announce his plans to form the scholarship foundation that has been so big here in Watertown. Herb believes Ryan was one of the speakers when the announcement was made and we're checking into that for him.
Herb said he still doesn't have a publisher for the book but because it's not quite ready for publication, he has not been looking for one. He said Tony Montana is affiliated with a publishing company and would help to make it happen if that becomes necessary.
Herb also said he would be e-mailing to us some sections of the book that pertain to Watertown to check on accuracy and to see if there is anything more local residents can add to the story.
He's excited about the book, and we told him there will probably be some good sales of it right here in Watertown. Old-timers remember Ryan well. He was a pretty “flashy” person and he was always dealing with huge projects, and that often kept him in the news, not only in Watertown but throughout the country. As a result, there is a lot of interest in this Watertown man who made it big and made news even in the way he died - probably at the hands of some disgruntled mob boss. But, we'll never know that for sure.
If any of our readers have more information they can share on the life of Ray Ryan, and especially his years in Watertown and his return visits here, drop a note to us here at the Daily Times. We'll be sure to pass everything along to Herb as soon as we receive it.
So, we hope this update helps our readers to know just where Herb is with publishing the biography of Ray Ryan. From what Herb told us in our recent conversation, we shouldn't get overly anxious about the book any time soon. It will likely be at least a year before it makes it in print and it's actually available for purchase. We'll keep you posted if there are any other new developments on the quest to get this book published.
Thanks to WDT
It's been nearly two years ago since we first wrote in this column about a book that was to be published about Ray Ryan, one of the biggest names connected with Watertown's rich history.
It was back in May of 2005 that Herb Marynell, a freelance writer and photographer from Newburgh, Ind., stopped by our office at the Daily Times to discuss Ryan as part of his information gathering process which is to lead up to a biography of Ryan.
Herb has been fascinated with Ryan for many years and has collected a vast amount of information about his life. Herb's fascination with this “larger than life” personality came about while he was a reporter for the Evansville Courier & Press in Evansville, Ind. It was back in October of 1977 when Ryan was killed when a bomb went off in his car in Evansville. The explosion and Ryan's death were widely speculated to have been the work of the mob, which had been intertwined in Ryan's life for a long time. (Joey the Clown Lombardo has been widely regarded as the top suspect by law enforcement authorities.)
Herb's visit to Watertown included a number of stops and interviews with people, and he said he learned a great deal.
Back when he visited two years ago, Herb had hopes the book would be in print by this time, but that hasn't been the case. A number of our readers have been asking us about the book and when it might be available, and as a result, we visited with Herb recently, and he said he continues to gather information on Ryan and that he has a fair amount of work to do before the book is published.
At the present time he has over 100,000 words in the initial draft of the book, and plans to add thousands more before it's ready for editing and final proofing. His estimate is that the book could still be a year away from publication.
Herb told us in recent days, “Last fall I visited Hot Springs, Ark., and two important oil towns of Tyler and Snyder, Texas, to get the feel of those places. Just before the end of the year we visited Las Vegas and Palm Springs, Calif. to learn more. I didn't think much of Las Vegas but Palm Springs is a wonderful place. If only we had the money to live there permanently - I can see why Ray Ryan loved that place.”
Herb told us one of the best parts of those trips was meeting the old-timers, the folks in their 80s and 90s with great stories about life in those communities back in the 1950s and 1960s when Ryan was around.
He said, “Through the folks I ran into in Las Vegas I got to meet Tony Montana, a Chicago guy who grew up in The Patch and knew the important guys in the Chicago Mob in the 1940s and 1950s. Tony is a hoot! He lives in Vegas and will be working in Chicago this year doing a movie about the 42 Gang from which several of The Outfit's later top mob guys started their ‘careers.'”
Herb said he's still looking for more information on when Ryan testified in 1964 against two mob guys who tried to extort money from him. That chapter will likely lead Herb to Washington, D.C., where he wants to take a peak at some U.S. Tax Court documents from when the Feds went after Ryan in the late 1960s.
Herb also appealed to me to see if anyone in Watertown could help fill in a few more blanks about his years in this community. Questions Herb raised included:
Did Ryan attend college in the area after high school and did he graduate from Watertown High School? (The indications are he did not.)
Did he play sports in high school or college?
Was he a “ladies man” as a youth?
When did he become interested in horseback riding?
He was also interested in the time when Joe Davies came to Watertown to announce his plans to form the scholarship foundation that has been so big here in Watertown. Herb believes Ryan was one of the speakers when the announcement was made and we're checking into that for him.
Herb said he still doesn't have a publisher for the book but because it's not quite ready for publication, he has not been looking for one. He said Tony Montana is affiliated with a publishing company and would help to make it happen if that becomes necessary.
Herb also said he would be e-mailing to us some sections of the book that pertain to Watertown to check on accuracy and to see if there is anything more local residents can add to the story.
He's excited about the book, and we told him there will probably be some good sales of it right here in Watertown. Old-timers remember Ryan well. He was a pretty “flashy” person and he was always dealing with huge projects, and that often kept him in the news, not only in Watertown but throughout the country. As a result, there is a lot of interest in this Watertown man who made it big and made news even in the way he died - probably at the hands of some disgruntled mob boss. But, we'll never know that for sure.
If any of our readers have more information they can share on the life of Ray Ryan, and especially his years in Watertown and his return visits here, drop a note to us here at the Daily Times. We'll be sure to pass everything along to Herb as soon as we receive it.
So, we hope this update helps our readers to know just where Herb is with publishing the biography of Ray Ryan. From what Herb told us in our recent conversation, we shouldn't get overly anxious about the book any time soon. It will likely be at least a year before it makes it in print and it's actually available for purchase. We'll keep you posted if there are any other new developments on the quest to get this book published.
Thanks to WDT
Friday, April 06, 2007
The Sopranos Day of Reckoning
Friends of mine: Soprano Crime Family
As "The Sopranos" enters its final chapter, Tony reluctantly faces his past -- and we reluctantly face the end of this brilliant series.
SPOILER ALERT! Includes spoilers from the first two episodes of the final season of "The Sopranos." Don't read this if you don't want to know what happens in these episodes.
"All those memories are for what? All I am to him is some asshole bully." -- Tony Soprano
As the curtain rises on the final season of HBO's "The Sopranos," Tony is considering his legacy more than ever before, even more than he did after his brush with death. He's wondering not just how he's seen by Christopher, who portrays him as an aggressive thug in his new mob-horror movie, but how his other associates and his wife and kids see him. How will he be remembered? What will he leave behind? With all of the unrealistic expectations we each have of our lives, the big goals we want to accomplish, the hopes we have for those we love, how can we not be a little disappointed in the end?
The same questions apply as we near the end of this epic mob drama, a TV series that redefined our understanding of the Italian mob and explored the fragile nature of family -- the kind we have with blood relatives, and the business relationships that are sometimes just as intimate and as complicated. Expectations were enormous at the start of the first half of this final season. A two-year hiatus didn't help, of course, nor did the fact that television dramas in general were improving, following in the path cleared by "The Sopranos" itself, which brought a smart, imaginative, dark sensibility to the small screen and broadened people's perspectives on what a drama could be. The show set the bar so high that the low stakes of Vito's disappearance and Christopher's falling on and off the wagon felt downright anticlimactic after such a long wait.
What could we do? We expected a lot. For eight years now, Tony Soprano has been so much more to us than "some asshole bully." He's been this big, bearish patriarchal figure with a soft, vulnerable center, an angry, violent man who also loves little ducklings and frets over doing right by his men. We've watched Tony growl and sigh and snicker and gorge himself and quarrel and get drunk and tell bad jokes and become depressed. We've watched him lust after women and order hits on old friends. After years of seeing this man glower and chuckle and mope, he's become such an archetype, such a larger-than-life fixture, that it's hard to imagine him suddenly disappearing. More than anything else, Tony has captured our sympathies over the years. He may hang out with self-serving thugs and aggressive, one-trick ponies, his wife may be self-righteous and hypocritical, his son may be a shortsighted, shallow dummy, his daughter may be wishy-washy and overly dependent, but Tony, even at his most merciless, dodges our harshest judgments. We forgive him for his countless crimes and mistakes, for his recklessness and his rage. The man is full of sadness and longing and we can't turn away from him, no matter how depraved or unfair he becomes.
As the first of nine final episodes opens, we find that Tony (James Gandolfini) may not be looking back as fondly as we are. Most memories aren't welcome for him. When he and Carmela (Edie Falco) join Bobby (Steven R. Schirripa) and Janice (Aida Turturro) and their daughter Nica at Bobby's lake house to celebrate Tony's 47th birthday, Tony seems relatively calm and happy, but there's a feeling of dread hanging over the man. While the other three adults laugh and bring up old times, Tony glares out onto the lake. He doesn't want to talk about Bobby's father, because it reminds him of his own dad. He doesn't want to talk about the house at the shore that he and Carmela almost bought, because it reminds him that they almost got divorced, or it reminds him of old friends he's dumped into the waves -- the past is so littered with emotional potholes and tragic turns, it's hard to tell which one he's avoiding. He doesn't want Janice to tell crazy anecdotes about his dad "because it makes us look like a fucking dysfunctional family" -- as if anyone is under the illusion that they aren't dysfunctional. And when Janice gives Tony a DVD of home movies of their childhood, he struggles to act grateful, but you can see an uneasy look spread over his face. His childhood is the last thing in the world he wants to think about; it feels dangerous to even consider it, particularly when he's been drinking.
"I'm old, Carm. And my body has suffered a trauma that it will probably never fully recover from," Tony later says to his wife, but it's hard to tell if he's talking about his gunshot wound or the burden of so many gloomy recollections and regrets he carries with him. While it might seem odd that the final episodes would begin with a trip to the lake, for a man who works hard to distract himself from the heaviness of his past and the weight of his mistakes, vacations can be more harrowing than day-to-day life.
Meanwhile, Carmela is up to her usual tricks, battling to keep things on an even keel, busying herself with her real estate work, turning a blind eye to Tony's doubts and dark moods, and putting on a happy face. When Tony indulges in some bad behavior, Carmela is the first to scold him, but she's not about to admit his most troubling flaws to the outside world, least of all to someone as untrustworthy as his sister. "Tony is not a vindictive man," Carmela tells her, willfully ignoring the past 20-odd years with the man. The doubting, wishy-washy Carmela of the first few seasons is gone; buoyed by a streak of warmth and relative peace in her marriage, she's determined to convince herself of her husband's solid character. Even so, we see hints in the second episode that she continues to be plagued by Adriana's death, suggesting that this murder, which Tony and Christopher and the rest of the men have clearly put behind them, could prove devastating to Carmela if she discovers the truth.
For the moment, the family is united in support of their patriarch. Even Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), the only vaguely ethical family member and the one who's always been skeptical of Tony's behavior, has taken her place at her father's side as one of his fiercest defenders. As it was last season, it's unclear where Meadow is headed or what exactly she wants from her life, but we can see that she's closer to the fold than ever, as is A.J. (Robert Iler), who looms around the Soprano residence with his wife and kid, looking like a teenager playing house. In contrast, Christopher (Michael Imperioli), who's always seemed like more of a son to Tony than A.J., is lost in his Hollywood fantasy, putting the final touches on his movie, which looks just awful enough to become a huge hit. In a few artful scenes, we're shown Tony's ambivalence toward Christopher: He's glad to see the kid doing something with himself, safe from drugs, but there's a tinge of jealousy over the attention Christopher's getting, particularly when it looks like he's leaving Tony and the mob behind.
Like Tony, the heads of the New York family are struggling to make peace with aging, death and what they'll leave behind when they're gone. Johnny Sack (Vince Curatola) has grown sick in prison and seems to be questioning every decision he ever made. "I got here, I quit smoking after 38 years. Exercised. Ate right. And for what?" he asks, but no one can give him an answer. Later, Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) stares at old pictures of relatives on the wall and echoes Johnny Sack's sentiments. "I'd like to do it over, boy, let me tell you. I fucking compromised everything. Twenty years inside, and not a fucking peep. And for what?" The repetition of this question "For what?" is clearly intentional, as it connects these aging mob leaders, wrestling with the meaning of their past decisions. The question also serves as an omen of big changes to come: When the patriarchs of a family start questioning the basic fabric that holds the chaotic mess together -- to stay the course, no matter what, and never, ever rat on your brothers -- it seems clear that a catastrophic shift may be in the works.
The future is so uncertain for the New York crime family that Tony actually wants Little Carmine (Ray Abruzzo), a man whose power he's undermined for years, to step up and run things. Little Carmine tells Tony about a dream he had in which his dead father gives him an empty box and says "Fill it." Tony assumes the dream means that Little Carmine should finally take over and become the New York don. But Little Carmine has a different interpretation: "That dream with my father, the empty box? It wasn't about being boss. It was about being happy."
Much as "The Sopranos" explores the absurdities and ugly realities of mob life, the show has focused, above all else, on the struggle for happiness. At the start of this last chapter in the family's history, we can see that, as they age, Tony and his family may seem more at peace than ever, but they also have to work harder than ever to keep a grip on their happiness. And unlike the first half of this final season, in which peripheral stories like Vito's murder distracted from the bigger picture of Tony's ultimate fate, the ominous mood is hard to miss in the show's final run. At every turn, characters refer to the meaning of family and the haunting lure of memories, looking back and laughing at old scars while trying to make fresh wounds disappear overnight. "We're family! Jesus, these things happen!" they tell each other, as if trying to convince themselves. "The whole thing's already forgotten!" But the troubled history of this family seeps into every detail of the landscape, and Tony, for one, can't escape it.
The first two episodes mark a return to "The Sopranos" we fell in love with, every scene rich with humor and sadness, every moment heavy with echoes of the past and omens of things to come. Creator David Chase and the other writers have always done an exceptional job of coloring each scene with the vivid palette of distant memories, and this skill comes into play now more than ever. Even as Tony sits, staring blankly out onto the water at the lake, we hear Nica in the background, singing with her nanny: "Four little ducks went off one day, over the hills and far away..." The doleful memory of those ducks in Tony's pool in the show's first episode sneaks into the edges of our consciousness. We're invested in Tony as a character, for better and for worse.
Viewers have predicted countless twists and tragedies that might await Tony and his clan, and expectations are running impossibly high. Even so, the engrossing details and resonance of these first two of nine final episodes make it clear that, no matter what happens, if the events that unfold have a profound impact on Tony -- and it's hard to see how they won't -- then they'll have a profound impact on us as an audience as well. Like the ducks in his pool, the smallest symbols and relics from Tony's past have the power to move us. His darkest fears and nightmares feel like our own. Recognizing this, Chase signals in these episodes that we'd better hold on tight, because we're in for a breathtaking, bittersweet ride.
Thanks to Heather Havrilesky
As "The Sopranos" enters its final chapter, Tony reluctantly faces his past -- and we reluctantly face the end of this brilliant series.
SPOILER ALERT! Includes spoilers from the first two episodes of the final season of "The Sopranos." Don't read this if you don't want to know what happens in these episodes.
"All those memories are for what? All I am to him is some asshole bully." -- Tony Soprano
As the curtain rises on the final season of HBO's "The Sopranos," Tony is considering his legacy more than ever before, even more than he did after his brush with death. He's wondering not just how he's seen by Christopher, who portrays him as an aggressive thug in his new mob-horror movie, but how his other associates and his wife and kids see him. How will he be remembered? What will he leave behind? With all of the unrealistic expectations we each have of our lives, the big goals we want to accomplish, the hopes we have for those we love, how can we not be a little disappointed in the end?
The same questions apply as we near the end of this epic mob drama, a TV series that redefined our understanding of the Italian mob and explored the fragile nature of family -- the kind we have with blood relatives, and the business relationships that are sometimes just as intimate and as complicated. Expectations were enormous at the start of the first half of this final season. A two-year hiatus didn't help, of course, nor did the fact that television dramas in general were improving, following in the path cleared by "The Sopranos" itself, which brought a smart, imaginative, dark sensibility to the small screen and broadened people's perspectives on what a drama could be. The show set the bar so high that the low stakes of Vito's disappearance and Christopher's falling on and off the wagon felt downright anticlimactic after such a long wait.
What could we do? We expected a lot. For eight years now, Tony Soprano has been so much more to us than "some asshole bully." He's been this big, bearish patriarchal figure with a soft, vulnerable center, an angry, violent man who also loves little ducklings and frets over doing right by his men. We've watched Tony growl and sigh and snicker and gorge himself and quarrel and get drunk and tell bad jokes and become depressed. We've watched him lust after women and order hits on old friends. After years of seeing this man glower and chuckle and mope, he's become such an archetype, such a larger-than-life fixture, that it's hard to imagine him suddenly disappearing. More than anything else, Tony has captured our sympathies over the years. He may hang out with self-serving thugs and aggressive, one-trick ponies, his wife may be self-righteous and hypocritical, his son may be a shortsighted, shallow dummy, his daughter may be wishy-washy and overly dependent, but Tony, even at his most merciless, dodges our harshest judgments. We forgive him for his countless crimes and mistakes, for his recklessness and his rage. The man is full of sadness and longing and we can't turn away from him, no matter how depraved or unfair he becomes.
As the first of nine final episodes opens, we find that Tony (James Gandolfini) may not be looking back as fondly as we are. Most memories aren't welcome for him. When he and Carmela (Edie Falco) join Bobby (Steven R. Schirripa) and Janice (Aida Turturro) and their daughter Nica at Bobby's lake house to celebrate Tony's 47th birthday, Tony seems relatively calm and happy, but there's a feeling of dread hanging over the man. While the other three adults laugh and bring up old times, Tony glares out onto the lake. He doesn't want to talk about Bobby's father, because it reminds him of his own dad. He doesn't want to talk about the house at the shore that he and Carmela almost bought, because it reminds him that they almost got divorced, or it reminds him of old friends he's dumped into the waves -- the past is so littered with emotional potholes and tragic turns, it's hard to tell which one he's avoiding. He doesn't want Janice to tell crazy anecdotes about his dad "because it makes us look like a fucking dysfunctional family" -- as if anyone is under the illusion that they aren't dysfunctional. And when Janice gives Tony a DVD of home movies of their childhood, he struggles to act grateful, but you can see an uneasy look spread over his face. His childhood is the last thing in the world he wants to think about; it feels dangerous to even consider it, particularly when he's been drinking.
"I'm old, Carm. And my body has suffered a trauma that it will probably never fully recover from," Tony later says to his wife, but it's hard to tell if he's talking about his gunshot wound or the burden of so many gloomy recollections and regrets he carries with him. While it might seem odd that the final episodes would begin with a trip to the lake, for a man who works hard to distract himself from the heaviness of his past and the weight of his mistakes, vacations can be more harrowing than day-to-day life.
Meanwhile, Carmela is up to her usual tricks, battling to keep things on an even keel, busying herself with her real estate work, turning a blind eye to Tony's doubts and dark moods, and putting on a happy face. When Tony indulges in some bad behavior, Carmela is the first to scold him, but she's not about to admit his most troubling flaws to the outside world, least of all to someone as untrustworthy as his sister. "Tony is not a vindictive man," Carmela tells her, willfully ignoring the past 20-odd years with the man. The doubting, wishy-washy Carmela of the first few seasons is gone; buoyed by a streak of warmth and relative peace in her marriage, she's determined to convince herself of her husband's solid character. Even so, we see hints in the second episode that she continues to be plagued by Adriana's death, suggesting that this murder, which Tony and Christopher and the rest of the men have clearly put behind them, could prove devastating to Carmela if she discovers the truth.
For the moment, the family is united in support of their patriarch. Even Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), the only vaguely ethical family member and the one who's always been skeptical of Tony's behavior, has taken her place at her father's side as one of his fiercest defenders. As it was last season, it's unclear where Meadow is headed or what exactly she wants from her life, but we can see that she's closer to the fold than ever, as is A.J. (Robert Iler), who looms around the Soprano residence with his wife and kid, looking like a teenager playing house. In contrast, Christopher (Michael Imperioli), who's always seemed like more of a son to Tony than A.J., is lost in his Hollywood fantasy, putting the final touches on his movie, which looks just awful enough to become a huge hit. In a few artful scenes, we're shown Tony's ambivalence toward Christopher: He's glad to see the kid doing something with himself, safe from drugs, but there's a tinge of jealousy over the attention Christopher's getting, particularly when it looks like he's leaving Tony and the mob behind.
Like Tony, the heads of the New York family are struggling to make peace with aging, death and what they'll leave behind when they're gone. Johnny Sack (Vince Curatola) has grown sick in prison and seems to be questioning every decision he ever made. "I got here, I quit smoking after 38 years. Exercised. Ate right. And for what?" he asks, but no one can give him an answer. Later, Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) stares at old pictures of relatives on the wall and echoes Johnny Sack's sentiments. "I'd like to do it over, boy, let me tell you. I fucking compromised everything. Twenty years inside, and not a fucking peep. And for what?" The repetition of this question "For what?" is clearly intentional, as it connects these aging mob leaders, wrestling with the meaning of their past decisions. The question also serves as an omen of big changes to come: When the patriarchs of a family start questioning the basic fabric that holds the chaotic mess together -- to stay the course, no matter what, and never, ever rat on your brothers -- it seems clear that a catastrophic shift may be in the works.
The future is so uncertain for the New York crime family that Tony actually wants Little Carmine (Ray Abruzzo), a man whose power he's undermined for years, to step up and run things. Little Carmine tells Tony about a dream he had in which his dead father gives him an empty box and says "Fill it." Tony assumes the dream means that Little Carmine should finally take over and become the New York don. But Little Carmine has a different interpretation: "That dream with my father, the empty box? It wasn't about being boss. It was about being happy."
Much as "The Sopranos" explores the absurdities and ugly realities of mob life, the show has focused, above all else, on the struggle for happiness. At the start of this last chapter in the family's history, we can see that, as they age, Tony and his family may seem more at peace than ever, but they also have to work harder than ever to keep a grip on their happiness. And unlike the first half of this final season, in which peripheral stories like Vito's murder distracted from the bigger picture of Tony's ultimate fate, the ominous mood is hard to miss in the show's final run. At every turn, characters refer to the meaning of family and the haunting lure of memories, looking back and laughing at old scars while trying to make fresh wounds disappear overnight. "We're family! Jesus, these things happen!" they tell each other, as if trying to convince themselves. "The whole thing's already forgotten!" But the troubled history of this family seeps into every detail of the landscape, and Tony, for one, can't escape it.
The first two episodes mark a return to "The Sopranos" we fell in love with, every scene rich with humor and sadness, every moment heavy with echoes of the past and omens of things to come. Creator David Chase and the other writers have always done an exceptional job of coloring each scene with the vivid palette of distant memories, and this skill comes into play now more than ever. Even as Tony sits, staring blankly out onto the water at the lake, we hear Nica in the background, singing with her nanny: "Four little ducks went off one day, over the hills and far away..." The doleful memory of those ducks in Tony's pool in the show's first episode sneaks into the edges of our consciousness. We're invested in Tony as a character, for better and for worse.
Viewers have predicted countless twists and tragedies that might await Tony and his clan, and expectations are running impossibly high. Even so, the engrossing details and resonance of these first two of nine final episodes make it clear that, no matter what happens, if the events that unfold have a profound impact on Tony -- and it's hard to see how they won't -- then they'll have a profound impact on us as an audience as well. Like the ducks in his pool, the smallest symbols and relics from Tony's past have the power to move us. His darkest fears and nightmares feel like our own. Recognizing this, Chase signals in these episodes that we'd better hold on tight, because we're in for a breathtaking, bittersweet ride.
Thanks to Heather Havrilesky
Thursday, April 05, 2007
The Tangled Web: The Life and Death of Richard Cain - Chicago Cop and Mafia Hitman
Friends of ours: Richard Cain
"Richard Cain was possibly the most corrupt police official in the history of Chicago." - Federal Bureau of Investigation
Here is the dramatic story of Detective Richard Cain's criminal career as revealed by his half-brother. Cain led a double life: one as a well known cop who led raids that landed on the front pages, and the other as a "made man" in one of Chicago's most notorious mafia crime families.
Michael Cain weaves together years of research, interviews, family anecdotes, and rare documents to create a comprehensive biography of this complex, articulate, and self-contradictory criminal genius. In a story that reads like the plot of Martin Scorsese's The Departed, Cain played both ends against the middle to become a household name in Chicagoland and a notorious figure in both the Mob and the world of Chicago law enforcement. Eventually murdered in a cafe by two masked men wielding shotguns, he lived and died in a world of bloodshed and violence. Cain left behind a story so outlandish that he has even been accused of being involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Filled with fascinating and until-now unknown facts, The Tangled Web tells the full story of this one-man crime wave."
"Richard Cain was possibly the most corrupt police official in the history of Chicago." - Federal Bureau of Investigation
Here is the dramatic story of Detective Richard Cain's criminal career as revealed by his half-brother. Cain led a double life: one as a well known cop who led raids that landed on the front pages, and the other as a "made man" in one of Chicago's most notorious mafia crime families.
Michael Cain weaves together years of research, interviews, family anecdotes, and rare documents to create a comprehensive biography of this complex, articulate, and self-contradictory criminal genius. In a story that reads like the plot of Martin Scorsese's The Departed, Cain played both ends against the middle to become a household name in Chicagoland and a notorious figure in both the Mob and the world of Chicago law enforcement. Eventually murdered in a cafe by two masked men wielding shotguns, he lived and died in a world of bloodshed and violence. Cain left behind a story so outlandish that he has even been accused of being involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Filled with fascinating and until-now unknown facts, The Tangled Web tells the full story of this one-man crime wave."
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Death Penalty Sought for Mob Boss
Friends of ours: Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, Bonanno Crime Family
Federal prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a former New York City mob boss accused of ordering a hit on a rival.
The trial of Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano will begin in June.
The one time leader of the Bonanno crime family is accused of ordering the murder of a rival gang member in 2004. He's also accused of trying to kill a federal prosecutor.
Basciano's fate will now rest in the hands of a jury. The 47-year-old was found guilty of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling in a separate case last year.
Federal prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a former New York City mob boss accused of ordering a hit on a rival.The trial of Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano will begin in June.
The one time leader of the Bonanno crime family is accused of ordering the murder of a rival gang member in 2004. He's also accused of trying to kill a federal prosecutor.
Basciano's fate will now rest in the hands of a jury. The 47-year-old was found guilty of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling in a separate case last year.
Genovese Crime Family Members Sentenced to Prison, Supervised Release
Friends of ours: Genovese Crime Family, Mitchell Wiessman, Joseph Dennis Colasacco, Charles Steinberg
A federal judge has sentenced three reputed associates of the Genovese crime family to prison and supervised release, according to court documents.
Mitchell Wiessman, Joseph Dennis Colasacco, and Charles Steinberg were arrested in June 2006 and later pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy, a charge designed to cut down on organized crime. Prosecutors said the men were involved in the Genovese family's South Florida operations.
Cases against several other men arrested with the three are still pending.
Wiessman, 54, was sentenced to approximately eight years of prison. Colasacco, 55, received approximately six years of prison and Steinberg, 31, was sentenced to more than three years. All three were also sentenced to two years of supervised release after they leave prison. They were sentenced Friday.
As terms of his supervised release, Colasacco must attend anger management courses. Wiessman has to seek help for substance abuse after his release, and Steinberg must undergo treatment for gambling.
Wiessman's attorney, John Contini, said he and his client were upset with the sentence. Describing his client as a "chubby little Jewish boy driving a used Hyundai,'' Contini said Wiessman's only crime was knowing members of the Genovese family.
A federal judge has sentenced three reputed associates of the Genovese crime family to prison and supervised release, according to court documents.
Mitchell Wiessman, Joseph Dennis Colasacco, and Charles Steinberg were arrested in June 2006 and later pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy, a charge designed to cut down on organized crime. Prosecutors said the men were involved in the Genovese family's South Florida operations.
Cases against several other men arrested with the three are still pending.
Wiessman, 54, was sentenced to approximately eight years of prison. Colasacco, 55, received approximately six years of prison and Steinberg, 31, was sentenced to more than three years. All three were also sentenced to two years of supervised release after they leave prison. They were sentenced Friday.
As terms of his supervised release, Colasacco must attend anger management courses. Wiessman has to seek help for substance abuse after his release, and Steinberg must undergo treatment for gambling.
Wiessman's attorney, John Contini, said he and his client were upset with the sentence. Describing his client as a "chubby little Jewish boy driving a used Hyundai,'' Contini said Wiessman's only crime was knowing members of the Genovese family.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Mob All-Star Lineup for Family Secrets Trial
Friends of ours: Frank "The German" Schweihs, Frank Calabrese Sr.. James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, Nick Calabrese, Robert "Bobby the Beak" Siegel, Richard Mara, Daniel Bounds, Alfred Pilotto, Frank Cullotta, Tony Spilotro, James LaValley
Friends of mine: Frank Calabrese Jr., Michael Talarico
One man is a reputed Outfit killer and master thief who stormed jewelry stores with a crew so skilled it's been called "the New York Yankees of robbers." Another served as intermediary between illegal Asian gambling and an alleged Outfit hit man, Frank "The German" Schweihs. Still a third has run a well-known Bridgeport restaurant and was allegedly connected to the crew of brutal loan shark Frank Calabrese Sr. All three are expected to testify in what will be the most important mob trial in Chicago in decades.
Prosecutors have put the mob's top leaders on trial and tied them to 18 unsolved Outfit murders. Facing charges that could put them behind bars for life are reputed Chicago Outfit chief James "Little Jimmy" Marcello and top mobster Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, among others.
The star witnesses at trial will be the brother and son of Frank Calabrese Sr. The brother, Nick Calabrese, has admitted to 16 mob hits, many committed with his brother, he says. Calabrese Sr.'s son, Frank Calabrese Jr., secretly recorded his father while they were both in prison.
Details of other key witnesses expected at trial are in a federal court filing that is under seal. But the Sun-Times has learned who some of those witnesses will be.
Among the top witnesses will be Robert "Bobby the Beak" Siegel. Siegel was part of a crew of mobbed-up robbers who hit jewelry stores across the country -- mainly in California and Florida -- taking in millions of dollars in loot over the years.
The robbers wore Halloween masks and body armor, used automatic weapons and performed their robberies with military-like precision, authorities said.
"We prosecuted them to the fullest. But we recognized they were the New York Yankees of robbers," said former Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmund Searby, who prosecuted Siegel and his cohorts in 1993 for a series of jewelry store robberies. A heavy prison sentence prompted Siegel to flip and spill all he knew to the feds, including several murders he allegedly committed or knew about, authorities said.
Another witness at the upcoming trial is expected to be Yu Lip Moy, a former head of the National On Leong Trading Association and a former Pittsburgh restaurant owner who was a key witness in the On Leong gambling case in Chicago the early 1990s. Moy has testified he paid off Schweihs as part of an agreement with the Outfit to allow illegal Asian gambling in Chicago to continue.
Another restaurant owner, Michael Talarico, is listed as a potential witness. Talarico has run the well-known Bridgeport restaurant Punchinello's for years and allegedly worked as a bookmaker. The Sun-Times has previously reported he was held in federal jail in Chicago for not testifying before a Family Secrets grand jury, but was later released.
While Talarico is still listed as the license holder for the restaurant, a phone message at the restaurant said it is under new management. Talarico is a part of the influential Roti family by marriage and once was married to Schweihs' daughter.
When asked about Talarico, Joseph Lopez, the attorney for Frank Calabrese Sr., said he expected Talarico's testimony to deal more with Nick Calabrese than Frank Calabrese Sr.
Lopez blasted Nick Calabrese as "a mass murderer."
"Instead of going after off-duty cops for fighting in bars, [Cook County State's Attorney] Dick Devine should be going after a mass murderer who has killed more people than the Brown's Chicken massacre and Richard Speck combined," Lopez said.
Nick Calabrese is cooperating with federal prosecutors but does not have a deal with them yet.
Prosecutors would not discuss witnesses, and defense attorneys declined to discuss the contents of the sealed court filing.
When asked about some of the potential witnesses, Lombardo's attorney, Rick Halprin said: "It's just round-up-the-usual-snitches, who have been telling the same stories for 20 years."
Other witnesses expected at trial include Outfit burglar Richard Mara; failed Outfit assassin Daniel Bounds, who turned himself into the FBI after botching the hit of south suburban mob boss Alfred Pilotto; Outfit killer and burglar Frank Cullotta, a close associate of Tony Spilotro; mob leg breaker James LaValley, and former adult bookstore owner, William "Red" Wemette, who was shaken down by Outfit thugs.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
Friends of mine: Frank Calabrese Jr., Michael Talarico
One man is a reputed Outfit killer and master thief who stormed jewelry stores with a crew so skilled it's been called "the New York Yankees of robbers." Another served as intermediary between illegal Asian gambling and an alleged Outfit hit man, Frank "The German" Schweihs. Still a third has run a well-known Bridgeport restaurant and was allegedly connected to the crew of brutal loan shark Frank Calabrese Sr. All three are expected to testify in what will be the most important mob trial in Chicago in decades.
Prosecutors have put the mob's top leaders on trial and tied them to 18 unsolved Outfit murders. Facing charges that could put them behind bars for life are reputed Chicago Outfit chief James "Little Jimmy" Marcello and top mobster Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, among others.
The star witnesses at trial will be the brother and son of Frank Calabrese Sr. The brother, Nick Calabrese, has admitted to 16 mob hits, many committed with his brother, he says. Calabrese Sr.'s son, Frank Calabrese Jr., secretly recorded his father while they were both in prison.
Details of other key witnesses expected at trial are in a federal court filing that is under seal. But the Sun-Times has learned who some of those witnesses will be.
Among the top witnesses will be Robert "Bobby the Beak" Siegel. Siegel was part of a crew of mobbed-up robbers who hit jewelry stores across the country -- mainly in California and Florida -- taking in millions of dollars in loot over the years.The robbers wore Halloween masks and body armor, used automatic weapons and performed their robberies with military-like precision, authorities said.
"We prosecuted them to the fullest. But we recognized they were the New York Yankees of robbers," said former Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmund Searby, who prosecuted Siegel and his cohorts in 1993 for a series of jewelry store robberies. A heavy prison sentence prompted Siegel to flip and spill all he knew to the feds, including several murders he allegedly committed or knew about, authorities said.
Another witness at the upcoming trial is expected to be Yu Lip Moy, a former head of the National On Leong Trading Association and a former Pittsburgh restaurant owner who was a key witness in the On Leong gambling case in Chicago the early 1990s. Moy has testified he paid off Schweihs as part of an agreement with the Outfit to allow illegal Asian gambling in Chicago to continue.
Another restaurant owner, Michael Talarico, is listed as a potential witness. Talarico has run the well-known Bridgeport restaurant Punchinello's for years and allegedly worked as a bookmaker. The Sun-Times has previously reported he was held in federal jail in Chicago for not testifying before a Family Secrets grand jury, but was later released.
While Talarico is still listed as the license holder for the restaurant, a phone message at the restaurant said it is under new management. Talarico is a part of the influential Roti family by marriage and once was married to Schweihs' daughter.
When asked about Talarico, Joseph Lopez, the attorney for Frank Calabrese Sr., said he expected Talarico's testimony to deal more with Nick Calabrese than Frank Calabrese Sr.
Lopez blasted Nick Calabrese as "a mass murderer."
"Instead of going after off-duty cops for fighting in bars, [Cook County State's Attorney] Dick Devine should be going after a mass murderer who has killed more people than the Brown's Chicken massacre and Richard Speck combined," Lopez said.
Nick Calabrese is cooperating with federal prosecutors but does not have a deal with them yet.
Prosecutors would not discuss witnesses, and defense attorneys declined to discuss the contents of the sealed court filing.
When asked about some of the potential witnesses, Lombardo's attorney, Rick Halprin said: "It's just round-up-the-usual-snitches, who have been telling the same stories for 20 years."
Other witnesses expected at trial include Outfit burglar Richard Mara; failed Outfit assassin Daniel Bounds, who turned himself into the FBI after botching the hit of south suburban mob boss Alfred Pilotto; Outfit killer and burglar Frank Cullotta, a close associate of Tony Spilotro; mob leg breaker James LaValley, and former adult bookstore owner, William "Red" Wemette, who was shaken down by Outfit thugs.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
Monday, April 02, 2007
Strip Club Used to Train Mobsters
Two of New York's most high profiled mobsters Salvatore Scala and Thomas Sassano are accused of using a strip club to train new recruits into the mafia. According to U.S.Attorney Elie Honig "Scala and Sassano used that club as a junior varsity to groom future mobsters".
Scala and Sassano both face extortion charges in Manhattan federal court. If convicted on all counts, Scala will sit behind bars for 60 years, while Sassano does 40 years.
Frank Marcello who owned the club at one time got in touch with the Gambino's to help him protect himself and his club from other organized crime members. Sums of money in the amounts of thousands of dollars were paid on a bi-weekly basis. The bathroom being the place where business has been conducted. Marcello died of unknown causes in 2002.Defense attorneys for Scala and Sassano are arguing that the clubs financial status had nothing to do with the mafia instead large amounts of gambling debt that had been run up into the thousands.
Scala has been arrested prior to the extortion case, in 1983 he was arrested for heroin trafficking, the same time that Gene Gotti of the Gotti family was sentenced to 50 years in prison. As with most mafia trials, Scala's case was weak and all charges against him were thrown out and dropped.
Thanks to Jeanne-Marie Kerns
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Tony Soprano to be Whacked in Final Season?
IF any television character has a bullet, or meat cleaver, with his name on it, it's Tony Soprano.
As HBO's "The Sopranos" counts down its final nine episodes beginning next Sunday, the existential question hanging over the series is: Should Tony live or die? Given the show's bleak themes, anything less than killing him off could be construed as a miscarriage of justice — and a dramatic sellout.
After six seasons, even Tony doesn't seem to like his chances. In therapy, the married father of two admitted to his psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi, that there are two outcomes for "guys like me" — prison or death.
The New Jersey don has meted out death to family (cousin Tony Blundetto), friend (Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero), and foe (witness protection turncoat Fred Peters) alike. He has sanctioned many more cold-blooded hits, of course, as on his daughter's boyfriend Jackie Jr. or on his nephew's fiancée, Adriana. He once even tried to snuff out his smothering mother, Livia, with, appropriately enough, a hospital pillow.
The crime boss' intuition is dead-on, argues Al Gini, who contributed an essay for the 2004 book "The Sopranos and Philosophy: I Kill Therefore I Am." By summer, says Gini, whose essay was called "Bada-Being and Nothingness: Murderous Melodrama or Morality Play?," Tony will be sleeping with the fishes.
"Tony has got to be killed. It's the only satisfying ending," said Gini, a philosophy professor at Loyola University in Chicago who has incorporated Soprano's leadership traits into a business ethics course. "We're not talking about Robin Hood here, someone that takes from the rich and gives to the poor. We're talking about a hood. If Tony doesn't lose everything, what's the message? The bad guy gets away with it all?"
Gini isn't suggesting a Sgt. Joe Friday "crime doesn't pay" lecture as much as a dramatization of the biblical injunction that those who live by the sword, die by the sword. God's judgment may be evident, but a sudden, violent death for Tony would also have to do with probability. In other words, those who live with mobsters, drug dealers, loan sharks and waste management consultants are probably going to die like them.
But popular L.A. mystery writer Robert Crais still would find such a finale overly simplistic, out of sync with the complexity and sophistication that have been earmarks of the show's storytelling. There are things worse than death, after all. Tony should survive some type of mob conflagration, said the former writer for "Hill Street Blues," "Miami Vice" and "Cagney & Lacey," but not without dire consequences.
"I don't think the audience would be happy if Tony gets a bullet to the head," said Crais, who wrote the bestselling fictional thriller "The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel." "In the end, he should be promoted, but where the cost far exceeds the triumph."
When it comes to story lines, "The Sopranos" breaks all the rules, but that hasn't stopped oddsmakers from weighing in on how the show will end. The line seems to recommend not betting against the man with a back office at the Bada Bing! At an online gambling site based in Costa Rica called BoDog, the odds are running 1 to 2 against Tony's demise, according to Bodog.com founder Calvin Ayre. However, Tony's nephew Christopher Moltisanti is a 2-to-1 favorite to be a stiff before the final curtain falls. (Tony's son, A.J., is a 15-to-1 family long shot to die.)
Certainly, there are no shortage of "Sopranos" characters with the opportunity and motive to knock off Tony. Perpetually disgruntled Paulie Walnuts, rival mob boss and recently imprisoned Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni, even nephew Christopher all would be credible assailants to perform the foul deed. But perhaps there is someone closer still to Tony who would do him in.
"You see echoes of great Greek tragedy in all this," said Glen O. Gabbard, a psychiatrist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who has written extensively about the show. "I could see Carmela getting so furious that she killed Tony."
Long torn, as she once said, between doing what is right and doing what is easy, Carmela could become the fury behind Tony's death. All the goodwill built between the reunited couple could vanish in a flash if Carmela were to learn the truth behind Adriana's disappearance.
An equally powerful dramatic finish would be if the prone-to-depression mobster took his own life, contends Peter H. Hare, an emeritus philosophy professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo who also wrote an essay for "The Sopranos and Philosophy."
Tony's suicide should not be a personal moral reaction to his many evil acts but rather stem from a deepening melancholy that overtakes him as he realizes his life is without true meaning or purpose. The suicide can't be the result of a pill popping or a gun to the temple. Instead, in what Hare terms an "ambiguous suicide," Tony could deliberately maneuver himself into a heroic battle ostensibly for his Mafia family but actually meant as a way to kill himself.
"I don't want to imply Tony deserves to die," said Hare, whose essay is titled "What Kind of God Does This …?" "But the whole 'Sopranos' narrative has a great deal more meaning if it ends with his death."
SHOULD Tony die is one question. Will he die is quite another. Wrapping up any beloved and long-running television series is extraordinarily difficult, much less one that has drawn comparisons in breadth and depth to the works of Shakespeare and has so clearly stamped its brooding, darkly humorous soul onto the pop culture canopy.
Not surprisingly, series creator David Chase and his staff are in lockdown mode in their New York studios zealously guarding any hint over Tony's ultimate fate. Though the show's writers are renowned for their ingenuity and unpredictability, storytelling convention can still offer clues to the final days of Tony Soprano.
Endings typically hew closely to the logic established within a show's fictional universe while also resolving outstanding dramatic questions. This basic storytelling rule would, it is hoped, eliminate Tony's possible escape into the federal witness protection program, or worse, a "St. Elsewhere"-like scenario where the whole "Sopranos" pageant had been all in the mind of an autistic child. But memorable endings — Bob Newhart ending up back in bed with Suzanne Pleshette! — usually pack a surprise, and that as much as anything else could spare Tony.
"I watch shows like 'The Sopranos' for the unknown — the twists and turns and for the nice ride," said Saul Friedman, a writer for the website http://www.TVgasm.com. "We've all seen the mafia movies, and we know how they end. I want to see something different here."
It's worth noting the conclusions of "The Godfather" movies, which are frequently alluded to and even quoted outright in "The Sopranos." Mafia head Vito Corleone, after being nearly assassinated, turns over his empire to son Michael. Vito's brush with death seems enough punishment and he dies relatively peacefully in the family garden before his bewildered grandson.
Meanwhile, "The Godfather, Part II (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)" would seem to offer an ending more in keeping with "The Sopranos" overall tone. There, Michael consolidates his rule, but it comes at the price of murdering his older brother and forever alienating his family. The final shot of a soulless Michael staring off at a frozen Lake Tahoe is more chilling than any murder could ever be. (Sorry, "The Godfather, Part III (Widescreen Edition)" doesn't count.)
From a strictly storytelling point of view too, killing off Tony now would seem repetitive and anticlimactic. It was only a handful of episodes ago that Tony escaped death after being shot in the belly by a senile Uncle Junior.
Another problem with killing Tony is how likable he is despite his pathologically long list of misdeeds and murder. We like him, that's why we watch the show, and doing him in may be more than the writers and the audience can bear. Indeed, they want to believe he can change.
"Arthur Miller used to say, 'You don't go to the theater unless you see yourself onstage,' " said Gabbard, who wrote "The Psychology of the Sopranos: Love, Death, Desire and Betrayal in America's Favorite Gangster Family." "The audience thinks that maybe, just maybe, this bad man can be transformed into a good man. That's what Melfi thinks, that's what the audience thinks."
And yet, something more powerful than the demands of storytelling may dictate Tony's final fate — Hollywood. Although Chase is ending the series because he's mined the show for all he can on television, rumors persist about a possible "Sopranos" feature film. A "Sopranos" movie without Tony? As the Bada Bing! boys might say, not going to happen.
Thanks to Martin Miller
As HBO's "The Sopranos" counts down its final nine episodes beginning next Sunday, the existential question hanging over the series is: Should Tony live or die? Given the show's bleak themes, anything less than killing him off could be construed as a miscarriage of justice — and a dramatic sellout.
After six seasons, even Tony doesn't seem to like his chances. In therapy, the married father of two admitted to his psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi, that there are two outcomes for "guys like me" — prison or death.
The New Jersey don has meted out death to family (cousin Tony Blundetto), friend (Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero), and foe (witness protection turncoat Fred Peters) alike. He has sanctioned many more cold-blooded hits, of course, as on his daughter's boyfriend Jackie Jr. or on his nephew's fiancée, Adriana. He once even tried to snuff out his smothering mother, Livia, with, appropriately enough, a hospital pillow.
The crime boss' intuition is dead-on, argues Al Gini, who contributed an essay for the 2004 book "The Sopranos and Philosophy: I Kill Therefore I Am." By summer, says Gini, whose essay was called "Bada-Being and Nothingness: Murderous Melodrama or Morality Play?," Tony will be sleeping with the fishes.
"Tony has got to be killed. It's the only satisfying ending," said Gini, a philosophy professor at Loyola University in Chicago who has incorporated Soprano's leadership traits into a business ethics course. "We're not talking about Robin Hood here, someone that takes from the rich and gives to the poor. We're talking about a hood. If Tony doesn't lose everything, what's the message? The bad guy gets away with it all?"
Gini isn't suggesting a Sgt. Joe Friday "crime doesn't pay" lecture as much as a dramatization of the biblical injunction that those who live by the sword, die by the sword. God's judgment may be evident, but a sudden, violent death for Tony would also have to do with probability. In other words, those who live with mobsters, drug dealers, loan sharks and waste management consultants are probably going to die like them.
But popular L.A. mystery writer Robert Crais still would find such a finale overly simplistic, out of sync with the complexity and sophistication that have been earmarks of the show's storytelling. There are things worse than death, after all. Tony should survive some type of mob conflagration, said the former writer for "Hill Street Blues," "Miami Vice" and "Cagney & Lacey," but not without dire consequences.
"I don't think the audience would be happy if Tony gets a bullet to the head," said Crais, who wrote the bestselling fictional thriller "The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel." "In the end, he should be promoted, but where the cost far exceeds the triumph."
When it comes to story lines, "The Sopranos" breaks all the rules, but that hasn't stopped oddsmakers from weighing in on how the show will end. The line seems to recommend not betting against the man with a back office at the Bada Bing! At an online gambling site based in Costa Rica called BoDog, the odds are running 1 to 2 against Tony's demise, according to Bodog.com founder Calvin Ayre. However, Tony's nephew Christopher Moltisanti is a 2-to-1 favorite to be a stiff before the final curtain falls. (Tony's son, A.J., is a 15-to-1 family long shot to die.)
Certainly, there are no shortage of "Sopranos" characters with the opportunity and motive to knock off Tony. Perpetually disgruntled Paulie Walnuts, rival mob boss and recently imprisoned Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni, even nephew Christopher all would be credible assailants to perform the foul deed. But perhaps there is someone closer still to Tony who would do him in.
"You see echoes of great Greek tragedy in all this," said Glen O. Gabbard, a psychiatrist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who has written extensively about the show. "I could see Carmela getting so furious that she killed Tony."
Long torn, as she once said, between doing what is right and doing what is easy, Carmela could become the fury behind Tony's death. All the goodwill built between the reunited couple could vanish in a flash if Carmela were to learn the truth behind Adriana's disappearance.
An equally powerful dramatic finish would be if the prone-to-depression mobster took his own life, contends Peter H. Hare, an emeritus philosophy professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo who also wrote an essay for "The Sopranos and Philosophy."
Tony's suicide should not be a personal moral reaction to his many evil acts but rather stem from a deepening melancholy that overtakes him as he realizes his life is without true meaning or purpose. The suicide can't be the result of a pill popping or a gun to the temple. Instead, in what Hare terms an "ambiguous suicide," Tony could deliberately maneuver himself into a heroic battle ostensibly for his Mafia family but actually meant as a way to kill himself.
"I don't want to imply Tony deserves to die," said Hare, whose essay is titled "What Kind of God Does This …?" "But the whole 'Sopranos' narrative has a great deal more meaning if it ends with his death."
SHOULD Tony die is one question. Will he die is quite another. Wrapping up any beloved and long-running television series is extraordinarily difficult, much less one that has drawn comparisons in breadth and depth to the works of Shakespeare and has so clearly stamped its brooding, darkly humorous soul onto the pop culture canopy.
Not surprisingly, series creator David Chase and his staff are in lockdown mode in their New York studios zealously guarding any hint over Tony's ultimate fate. Though the show's writers are renowned for their ingenuity and unpredictability, storytelling convention can still offer clues to the final days of Tony Soprano.
Endings typically hew closely to the logic established within a show's fictional universe while also resolving outstanding dramatic questions. This basic storytelling rule would, it is hoped, eliminate Tony's possible escape into the federal witness protection program, or worse, a "St. Elsewhere"-like scenario where the whole "Sopranos" pageant had been all in the mind of an autistic child. But memorable endings — Bob Newhart ending up back in bed with Suzanne Pleshette! — usually pack a surprise, and that as much as anything else could spare Tony.
"I watch shows like 'The Sopranos' for the unknown — the twists and turns and for the nice ride," said Saul Friedman, a writer for the website http://www.TVgasm.com. "We've all seen the mafia movies, and we know how they end. I want to see something different here."
It's worth noting the conclusions of "The Godfather" movies, which are frequently alluded to and even quoted outright in "The Sopranos." Mafia head Vito Corleone, after being nearly assassinated, turns over his empire to son Michael. Vito's brush with death seems enough punishment and he dies relatively peacefully in the family garden before his bewildered grandson.
Meanwhile, "The Godfather, Part II (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)" would seem to offer an ending more in keeping with "The Sopranos" overall tone. There, Michael consolidates his rule, but it comes at the price of murdering his older brother and forever alienating his family. The final shot of a soulless Michael staring off at a frozen Lake Tahoe is more chilling than any murder could ever be. (Sorry, "The Godfather, Part III (Widescreen Edition)" doesn't count.)
From a strictly storytelling point of view too, killing off Tony now would seem repetitive and anticlimactic. It was only a handful of episodes ago that Tony escaped death after being shot in the belly by a senile Uncle Junior.
Another problem with killing Tony is how likable he is despite his pathologically long list of misdeeds and murder. We like him, that's why we watch the show, and doing him in may be more than the writers and the audience can bear. Indeed, they want to believe he can change.
"Arthur Miller used to say, 'You don't go to the theater unless you see yourself onstage,' " said Gabbard, who wrote "The Psychology of the Sopranos: Love, Death, Desire and Betrayal in America's Favorite Gangster Family." "The audience thinks that maybe, just maybe, this bad man can be transformed into a good man. That's what Melfi thinks, that's what the audience thinks."
And yet, something more powerful than the demands of storytelling may dictate Tony's final fate — Hollywood. Although Chase is ending the series because he's mined the show for all he can on television, rumors persist about a possible "Sopranos" feature film. A "Sopranos" movie without Tony? As the Bada Bing! boys might say, not going to happen.
Thanks to Martin Miller
A Tale of Two Mobsters
Two men with connections to Chicago organized crime, both of them believed to be outfit enforcers, one is dead the other is in court. In this Intelligence Report: the tale of two mobsters.
There are really only two ways out of the mob life and one is more permanent than the other. You are either murdered...or put in prison. This is...a tale of two mobsters-enforcers-with deep connections to the Chicago outfit. One was found buried in a suburban construction site. The other was found in court...extending his long criminal record.
We begin with Robert Charles " Bobby" Cruz...who spent 14 years on death row for a contract hit on an Arizona businessman and his mother-in-law, a conviction eventually thrown out. Cruz came to Chicago for the 1997 trial of his hitman-cousin, Harry Aleman. A few days after Aleman was convicted, Cruz vanished. Last week--ten years later -- Cruz' corpse was found by a sewer crew in DuPage County...minus his trigger finger and a few other digits...a subtle message that the assassin would never work again.
As authorities were identifying the remains of one mob enforcer...the i-team found another one walking to court.
This is long-time Chicago outfit enforcer Victor "Popeye" Arrigo, arriving with his daughter for a hearing in Maywood. Arrigo's rap sheet reaches back to 1956 and reads like a crime encyclopedia, but at age 70 he admits to be going soft.
On this day, he stood before criminal court judge William Wise on theft charges--but not the big jewel capers or cartage heists he and the outfit are known for. "They accuse me of taking salami, cheese...stuff like that," said Victor "Popeye" Arrigo.
One of the mob's toughest enforcers, Arrigo was hauled away by west suburban Berkeley police on charges that he stole $40-dollars worth of Italian and Hungarian salami from a grocery store.
Arrigo chalks-up the larceny up to old age. "When you hit 69, 70, you do goofy things...just to see if you can get away with it...i got caught. That's about it," Arrigo said.
Arrigo contends the grocery store plunder was not an outfit job--and authorities believe him.
Like many of the old time wise guys he grew up with, Arrigo's public demeanor could win him citizen of the year. "Nice talkin' to you. Anything else you want to say? Say hello to Chuck for me."
I met the mobster more than ten years ago--during his last run in with the law on gun charges...and at that time, learned the heritage of his mob nickname: "Popeye". It's for the detachable glass eyeball he wears as the result of barroom shootout.
When Arrigo is bellying up to the bar he says he enjoys popping out his eyeball and placing it on top of his beer money...then telling the bartender he is merely keeping an eye on his cash.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
There are really only two ways out of the mob life and one is more permanent than the other. You are either murdered...or put in prison. This is...a tale of two mobsters-enforcers-with deep connections to the Chicago outfit. One was found buried in a suburban construction site. The other was found in court...extending his long criminal record.
We begin with Robert Charles " Bobby" Cruz...who spent 14 years on death row for a contract hit on an Arizona businessman and his mother-in-law, a conviction eventually thrown out. Cruz came to Chicago for the 1997 trial of his hitman-cousin, Harry Aleman. A few days after Aleman was convicted, Cruz vanished. Last week--ten years later -- Cruz' corpse was found by a sewer crew in DuPage County...minus his trigger finger and a few other digits...a subtle message that the assassin would never work again.
As authorities were identifying the remains of one mob enforcer...the i-team found another one walking to court.
This is long-time Chicago outfit enforcer Victor "Popeye" Arrigo, arriving with his daughter for a hearing in Maywood. Arrigo's rap sheet reaches back to 1956 and reads like a crime encyclopedia, but at age 70 he admits to be going soft.
On this day, he stood before criminal court judge William Wise on theft charges--but not the big jewel capers or cartage heists he and the outfit are known for. "They accuse me of taking salami, cheese...stuff like that," said Victor "Popeye" Arrigo.One of the mob's toughest enforcers, Arrigo was hauled away by west suburban Berkeley police on charges that he stole $40-dollars worth of Italian and Hungarian salami from a grocery store.
Arrigo chalks-up the larceny up to old age. "When you hit 69, 70, you do goofy things...just to see if you can get away with it...i got caught. That's about it," Arrigo said.
Arrigo contends the grocery store plunder was not an outfit job--and authorities believe him.
Like many of the old time wise guys he grew up with, Arrigo's public demeanor could win him citizen of the year. "Nice talkin' to you. Anything else you want to say? Say hello to Chuck for me."
I met the mobster more than ten years ago--during his last run in with the law on gun charges...and at that time, learned the heritage of his mob nickname: "Popeye". It's for the detachable glass eyeball he wears as the result of barroom shootout.
When Arrigo is bellying up to the bar he says he enjoys popping out his eyeball and placing it on top of his beer money...then telling the bartender he is merely keeping an eye on his cash.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
Friday, March 30, 2007
Mob Bones Belong to Cousin of Hit Man Harry Aleman
Friends of ours: Harry Aleman
Friends of mine: Robert Charles Cruz
Just days after his cousin, reputed mob hit man Harry Aleman, was sentenced for a murder, Robert Charles Cruz disappeared from his Kildeer home.
For nearly 10 years, authorities suspected Cruz had purposely vanished, but his credit cards and bank accounts never were touched. Last week, construction crews digging new sewers for a townhouse development in unincorporated DuPage County came across the body of a man wrapped in tarpaulin and carpet, buried 8 1/2 feet down. On Wednesday, the DuPage County coroner's office publicly identified that the man as Robert Charles Cruz, 50. He had been reported missing on Dec. 4, 1997.
Cruz's body was found just 50 yards from where two other organized crime-connected bodies were found in 1988. An informant had told the FBI there was a mob burial ground in DuPage County near the home of former mob syndicate member Joseph Jerome Scalise.
At the time, an FBI task force descended on the area near Bluff Road and Illinois Highway 83 for five months and found the remains of Robert Anthony Hatridge, a minor associate of Gerald Scarpelli, a crime syndicate killer-turned-informant; and Mark Oliver, another minor organized crime figure.
Now, the FBI and DuPage County authorities are investigating Cruz's murder. Law enforcement sources said it appeared Cruz had been shot.
Cruz's body was identified through fingerprints and through tattoos on his arm, said Tom Simon, special agent and spokesman for the FBI. Family members have been notified, he said.
In addition to his familial relationship to Aleman, who remains in prison, Cruz had his own brushes with trouble. He spent 14 years on Death Row in Arizona before his conviction for hiring three men to kill a Phoenix businessman and his mother-in-law on New Year's Eve in 1980 was overturned and a new trial ordered. .
Prosecutors at the time said Cruz hired the men, including two from Chicago, to murder Patrick Redmond because the man refused to sell an interest in his Phoenix printing shop to Cruz, who wanted to use it to launder money from Las Vegas connections. Redmond's 70-year-old mother-in-law was visiting and died after her throat was cut.
Cruz was tried four more times. He was acquitted in 1995 after the jury decided the state's primary witness, a participant in the killings, was unreliable.
Cruz later moved to Kildeer and was a fixture at Harry Aleman's 1997 trial for the murder of a Teamsters' union official. Cruz sat every day in the courtroom where the attorney in his Arizona appeal, Kevin McNally, defended Aleman.
Cruz had been instrumental in Aleman's decision to change attorneys and hire McNally just before the trial. Days after Aleman was sentenced to 100 to 300 years in prison, Cruz disappeared. He had last been seen hanging Christmas lights from the gutters of his home.
Thanks to Angela Rozas and Maurice Possley
Friends of mine: Robert Charles Cruz
Just days after his cousin, reputed mob hit man Harry Aleman, was sentenced for a murder, Robert Charles Cruz disappeared from his Kildeer home.
For nearly 10 years, authorities suspected Cruz had purposely vanished, but his credit cards and bank accounts never were touched. Last week, construction crews digging new sewers for a townhouse development in unincorporated DuPage County came across the body of a man wrapped in tarpaulin and carpet, buried 8 1/2 feet down. On Wednesday, the DuPage County coroner's office publicly identified that the man as Robert Charles Cruz, 50. He had been reported missing on Dec. 4, 1997.
Cruz's body was found just 50 yards from where two other organized crime-connected bodies were found in 1988. An informant had told the FBI there was a mob burial ground in DuPage County near the home of former mob syndicate member Joseph Jerome Scalise.
At the time, an FBI task force descended on the area near Bluff Road and Illinois Highway 83 for five months and found the remains of Robert Anthony Hatridge, a minor associate of Gerald Scarpelli, a crime syndicate killer-turned-informant; and Mark Oliver, another minor organized crime figure.
Now, the FBI and DuPage County authorities are investigating Cruz's murder. Law enforcement sources said it appeared Cruz had been shot.
Cruz's body was identified through fingerprints and through tattoos on his arm, said Tom Simon, special agent and spokesman for the FBI. Family members have been notified, he said.
In addition to his familial relationship to Aleman, who remains in prison, Cruz had his own brushes with trouble. He spent 14 years on Death Row in Arizona before his conviction for hiring three men to kill a Phoenix businessman and his mother-in-law on New Year's Eve in 1980 was overturned and a new trial ordered. .
Prosecutors at the time said Cruz hired the men, including two from Chicago, to murder Patrick Redmond because the man refused to sell an interest in his Phoenix printing shop to Cruz, who wanted to use it to launder money from Las Vegas connections. Redmond's 70-year-old mother-in-law was visiting and died after her throat was cut.
Cruz was tried four more times. He was acquitted in 1995 after the jury decided the state's primary witness, a participant in the killings, was unreliable.
Cruz later moved to Kildeer and was a fixture at Harry Aleman's 1997 trial for the murder of a Teamsters' union official. Cruz sat every day in the courtroom where the attorney in his Arizona appeal, Kevin McNally, defended Aleman.
Cruz had been instrumental in Aleman's decision to change attorneys and hire McNally just before the trial. Days after Aleman was sentenced to 100 to 300 years in prison, Cruz disappeared. He had last been seen hanging Christmas lights from the gutters of his home.
Thanks to Angela Rozas and Maurice Possley
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