It’s been a quarter-century since we first were introduced to “waste management” executive Tony Soprano and more than a decade since the brilliant albeit tortured soul that brought him to life, James Gandolfini, left this mortal coil at the far too young age of 51. Which, depending upon how you chose to interpret the last time we saw his complicated face on our screens, was still longer than we may have been left to thing.
But that ambiguity, complexity and, yes, connectivity is what made that character and his eponymous HBO series so captivating, so enduring and so impactful. It was arguably the most daring scripted drama ever undertaken anywhere before or since, if for no other reason that no one else had yet to be willing to build a show around a character that at first blush was so morally and ethically reprehensible. Few showrunners would have had the determination and fortitude to shepherd such a project. But, then again, few showrunners actually had lived many elements of that character’s life themselves.
And in a captivating two-part 160 minute documentary that dropped last night on MAX and debuted on the same HBO that took the chance on that series, we got the chance to learn about the inspiration for the program that redefined what “family drama” was and could be. As SK POP’s Rajan detailed:
What makes Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos a must-watch documentary for fans? This question is answered in Alex Gibney’s detailed two-part documentary on David Chase’s brilliant mind and groundbreaking television show. The documentary explores how The Sopranos changed TV and became a cultural classic that fans revisit. Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos opens with a perceptive study of Chase’s past. Gibney emphasizes how the story of the play was much shaped by Chase’s own experiences, especially with regard to his connection with his mother. Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos excels at blending Chase’s personal and professional life with The Sopranos. By blending vintage footage, behind-the-scenes information and key interviews, it gives viewers a complete picture of Chase and the program.
And as ESQUIRE’s Abigail Covington gushed in her review that was dropped yesterday, we mere fans finally got the chance to learn a lot more about the man and the mind that was willing to go where no one else in television dared:
Through never-before-seen audition tapes, interviews, and insider footage, Gibney and the cast of Wise Guy reveal all of the effort, drama, inspiration, and backstage antics that went into the making of one of the most celebrated (and revisited) television shows of the 21st century.
For instance, did you know that to try and win the part as Carmela, Edie Falco showed up to her audition with a homemade baked ziti? I’m just kidding. OR AM I? I am. In reality, Falco was convinced she wouldn’t get the part because directors didn’t usually cast women who looked like her in Italian-American roles.
Some of the juicier and more WTF revelations that Covington enumerated:
- David Chase originally wrote The Sopranos as a feature film based on his mother’s life.
- CBS head honcho Les Moonves turned The Sopranos down because he didn’t like that Tony took Prozac.
- Martin Scorsese didn’t like The Sopranos at first and thought the pilot had too many trees.
- Andrea Donna de Matteo, who played Adriana La Cerva, originally thought The Sopranos was about opera singers.
- Steven Van Zandt was first brought in to audition for Tony Soprano after Chase watched him induct The Rascals into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
And then the two that made me sit up and applaud:
- HBO tested the pilot in four markets: Dallas, Connecticut, and two places Chase can’t remember. No surprise, the Connecticut audience liked it the best. Also, the pilot-testing audience wanted the show to focus more on Artie Bucco’s wife, Charmaine. Maybe next time!
- It took ten months for HBO execs Chris Albrecht and Carolyn Strauss to order The Sopranos to series after the tepid response to the pilot.
Yes, Casey Bloys and what’s left of your team, once upon a time HBO had a real, honest-to-goodness qualitative research department that was respected and respectful enough to aid even staunchly gut-driven executives like Albrecht and Strauss into making what turned out to be monumentally important and career-defining decisions. And considering I eventually was tasked with a similarly groundbreaking project for basic cable by one of Albrecht’s key marketing executives, just about everything that was under consideration when THE SOPRANOS’ fate was being bandied about went into our planning, justification and detailed analysis for THE SHIELD. Not to mention the explicit instructions to not overreact to any potentially false positives for secondary characters.
And then there were first-person asides from cast members such as the one that THE NEW YORK POST’s Lauren Samer shared in her preview story yesterday:
Gabagool!
In the new documentary “‘Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos,” (now on HBO and Max), “The Sopranos” star Michael Imperioli confessed that he thought he initially blew his audition for the show.
“The idea of a series on HBO, back then, there was no prestige attached to that,” Imperioli, 58, said onscreen in the doc.
“To be really frank, it was kind of the bargain basement of TV, it really was. But I loved the character…his name was Dean when I first read the script.”
Imperioli and the other cast members got over their hesitation and, of course, in hindsight, expressed eternal gratitude to Chase and his vision. In particular, I was taken by the obvious mutual affection that was expressed by Chase and De Matteo, practically a father-daughter connection that was best expressed by Chase’s confession that, as Covington again articulated, he didn’t have the heart to kill Adriana on screen, so the camera pans to the sky instead, and the audience only hears the gunshot.
I freely admit to a mad crush on De Matteo and anyone who even resembles her, and when I learned she actually was raised in a Queens neighborhood I once called home, it reinforced said crush markedly. Especially in light of her recent career struggles, seeing her confession and outright reverence was particularly engaging to me.
About the one open question I still have comes from my own experience driving the same route that Tony takes through the highways of New Jersey once he exits the Lincoln Tunnel during the opening credits. I am completely convinced that he would have been heading south on the Turnpike so when we see the Exit 13 Elizabeth sign, the ensuing shot of him traversing the Pulaski Skyway would indicate that somehow he made a wrong turn. Maybe I’m mistaken, and it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to retake the route. Anyone who does more regularly is invited to weigh in.
But, trust me, if that’s the last remaining burning question I have about a show that I was so impacted by as a fan and, yes, a media executive (there is no Vic Mackey if there is no Tony Soprano, as the latter often said, end of f—ing story!!), then the 160 minutes I invested to watch this was time well spent. And if you’ve ever experienced a New Jersey jughandle, a great plate of ziti or a mad crush on a Drea De Matteo type, you should make room on your schedules to do same.
Until next time…