Mike Martini
The Sopranos was a must-watch every Sunday night:
With the MGM+ show The Westies coming to a close, Pete and Mike from SMS Mashups recently talked about HBO’s The Sopranos. I feel like The Westies falls into the same category and is also a must-watch these days. Maybe it is because both shows involve the mafia, and maybe I am a bit biased because I love movies and shows about the mob.
The IMDB logline for the show states as follows: New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano deals with personal and professional issues in his home and business life that affect his mental state, leading him to seek professional psychiatric counseling.
Epic Storytelling At Its Finest:
The Sopranos is a crime drama TV series created by David Chase for HBO. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey Mafia boss who struggles with panic attacks. He reluctantly begins seeing psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), who encourages him to open up about his difficulties balancing his family life with his criminal life. Other important characters include Tony’s family, his wife Carmela (Edie Falco), his nephew Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), and his uncle Corrado “Junior” Soprano (Dominic Chianese). Tony and Carmela have two kids, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and AJ (Robert Iler).
The Sopranos was a huge hit during its run on HBO from 1999 to 2007, airing 86 episodes. I was a huge fan of the series and did not miss many episodes when they first aired. Did you watch the show early on like me? Did you find it later in life and watch it with as much fervor as I did? I still do not like how the show ended, and Pete and I discuss it on our podcast. What were your thoughts about the show and how it ended? Do you feel Pete is right? Or are you on the side that, with how great the show was, the way it ended was a slap in the face to the fans of the show?
A Huge Supporting Cast:
With a show like The Sopranos, you need a lot of help with guest stars and the supporting cast. So many characters pop in and out of the show, most notably the people who threatened Tony. However, a lot of my favorite characters were close to Tony in many ways. Steven Van Zandt (Silvio Dante), Tony Sirico (Paulie ‘Walnuts’ Gualtieri), Aida Turturro (Janice Soprano), Steve Schirripa (Bobby ‘Bacala’ Baccalieri), John Ventimiglia (Artie Bucco), Vincent Curatola (Johnny ‘Sack’ Sacramoni), Frank Vincent (Phil Leotardo), and many more.
Recently, we lost another incredible actor affiliated with the show, and that was Vincent Pastore (Salvatore ‘Big Pussy’ Bonpensiero), who was only on the show for 30 episodes but left a mark on Tony’s character. In fact, many people affiliated with the show have passed away; for a more extensive list, click this IMDb link.
SMS Mashups loves to discuss TV shows, Movies, and Sports. So keep an eye on the website for constantly dropping podcasts and review articles.
Dark Matter: Season 1, Episode 1 Mashup Podcast
The Westies: Season 1, Episode 6 Mashup Podcast
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