I notice no mention of Boardwalk Empire in the thread.
Both it and Mad Men are right up there for me.(excusing the last couple of series right enough)
I notice no mention of Boardwalk Empire in the thread.
Both it and Mad Men are right up there for me.(excusing the last couple of series right enough)
Speaking for myself PB's not really in the same league. Ozarks too while good at times just isn't up there with The Soprano's, The Wire...I can't imagine myself rewatching PB, Ozarks...that's the simplest way to explain it.Originally Posted by learningtofly
Last edited by Passenger; 17th January 2024 at 17:43.
I’m rewatched it again last year. To my mind it gets better with repeated viewings.
I had forgotten about the Intervention scene. It absolutely cracked me up!
Tony Scrico (Paulie Walnuts) in that scene... and honorable mention to Andrea DeMateo for her New York (New Jersey) accent.
During the Sopranos Tour we did, the guide told us that James Gandolini was not happy with the way the crew was paid. He bought 450 watches for all the crew members and gave everybody a watch. Worth about 2 million dollar. (He was paid enough for his role to be able to spend that).
lots of good ones already mentioned , i'll throw boardwalk empire and the shield in there (for newer narcos and gangs of london are also good)
SOA is good for one watch only , i watched it when it first came out and tried to rewatch it again last year - it was just laughable (bad acting /same routines over and over) - for some reason every time they jumped on the bikes to chase after someone i kept thinking that it needed the benny hill music playing.
They were Kobold watches, some in solid gold - Gandolfini was a friend of Michael Kobold and somewhat of an ambassador for the brand - bought as mementos during the final season.
Following a very acrimonious pay dispute with HBO, which involved retaliatory legal actions and a threat by HBO to cancel the show, Gandolfini shared his multi-million dollar windfall with the main cast, presenting each with a $33,000 cheque from his own money, totally circa $0.5m.
Whilst no doubt due to his genuine generosity, part of it might have also have been a little sheepishness on Gandolfini’s part for the delay, uncertainty and threat caused by his pay stand off.
The pressure, very heavy workload, attention and media scrutiny associated with such an iconic and key role meant Gandolfini was often difficult to be around on set, working himself into an agitated state, literally beating himself up at times in frustration at missing lines. He often wore his trademark heavy bathrobe under the hot studio lights to make himself feel uncomfortable, all the better to help portray the rage and edginess associated with Tony Soprano. He called in sick, refused to work or missed shoots, all of which wasted huge amounts of time and money (the Sopranos was a very expensive production) for the cast and crew, including going missing on one occasion for several days.
Perhaps in apology, he would pay out of his own pocket for a sushi chef or masseuse to attend set as a treat.
The physical, emotional and mental toil of playing Tony Soprano, and the bleed-in from the more troubled, substance abusing side of Gandolfini’s personal life, in tandem with his much-loved character traits, combined to make his multi-faceted mafia boss portrayal a fascinating and towering acting achievement.
Fair enough and I did enjoy Ozark fwiw though I can't recall great lines, scenes, certainly not to the same extent as Sopranos, just as another example of qualitative difference. Oz was very good at conveying the sense of the family´s claustrophobic isolation, the precarious situation, danger as Marty and his wife struggle to keep the plates spinning but I feel dramatically it just doesn´t offer the same breadth, nuance, humour and just occasionally as a viewer, I felt Marty´s money laundering Macgyverism was implausibly too convenient. To call Ozark a one trick pony would be unfair, but... can you see my point at all ...Have you watched the Sopranos btw?
Last edited by Passenger; 18th January 2024 at 11:28.
No argument in terms of your view, as for all of us we're subjective in our responses. Re Sopranos, I never managed to stay with it... not sure why, but worth another shot, I think.
Talking of subjectivity, SoA isn't fit to be spoken about in the same breath as the other top notch fodder mentioned in the thread (IMO, obvs).
SOA not in the same league, agreed...rewatch it, I wouldn't.
We took many tries until it clicked. Worked on the fact there must be something amazing to have had so many series. By my own logic I’m going back to the slowest series ever next week; The Wire, as can’t have been as bad as I’ve seen it as!
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I enjoyed The Sopranos until the end of the last episode. That ending just ruined it for me. It was lazy, and all the superb writing was undone for me. Never re-watched it, never will.
Or was it genius. You do know David chase had the ending written right from the start. It’s even implied in the first episode
Spot on.
At the time it was first aired I screamed at the TV "WTAF" at that ending.....but over time it became so clear it was, as you say, a genius ending to 6 magnificent seasons of "The Soprano's"
As someone else here has done I also took the Soprano's tour (our guide for the day was "Vito" AKA Joseph R. Gannascoli as at that time he was a minor member of the cast) soon after the TV series was a hit and it was a fantastic day out for any true fan of the series. We even had a quiz on coach going around New Jersey and after ptting my hand up 4 times in a row with the right answer (won some pasta and cannoli's !!) my girlfriend at the time said "If you answer one more obscure question and win all the prizes we will get lynched at the end of the tour........" LOL
Shame we didn't get to see the Soprano family house at 14 Aspen Drive, North Caldwell as that was too far out on the day but it is still possible to visit it today and annoy the new owners who bought it in 2019......
Thing was that on that tour most of the US folks were not the obsessive type of fan that I don't mind admitting I am. I've watched every episode and all 6 series dozens and dozens of times and still re-watch every year when it is on Sky Atlantic. For me it's still by far the most complete TV series ever made and the attention to detail and authenticity (for example, the vast majority of the whole cast are New Jersey born and bred and 90% of the location shoots were always shot there and not in LA on a soundstage/location plot) was just incredible.
I've also avoided watching "The Many Saints of Newark" to avoid tainting the memory of "The Soprano's" but I might weaken and watch one day and scream at the TV all over again!
If you can get through the first season and into season 2 you will be hooked.
Waste Management Consultant.
Fair point that
The only one I have watched fully again is Sopranos.
I did start to do MadMen again but it was too soon after initial warch but will watch again for sure.
The Mrs never got into the Wire so if I rewatch that it's on my own.
I notice there's a new series of Fargo now too which I can't get her interested in.
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