MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SEMINAR SERIES, THE: MEDIA AS ENTERTAINMENT: THE WHACKED SOPRANOS {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of seminars conducted by The Museum of Television & Radio which celebrate media as entertainment Held at the Museum in New York, this seminar examines the "whacked," or murdered, characters of "The Sopranos," a darkly comic television series centering around the crime empire and family of a modern-day Mafia boss.
Host Christy Carpenter (executive vice president and chief operating officer, The Museum of Television & Radio) offers opening remarks, after which Ron Simon (curator, The Museum of Television & Radio) talks about how significant death is to the show before introducing a special clip package commemorating the deaths and whackings of notable "Sopranos" characters.
After the clips, Bryant Gumbel (journalist, "Today") moderates the following panelists: series creator David Chase; co-executive producer Terence Winter; and "whacked" cast members David Proval (Richie Aprile), Vincent Pastore (Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero), Annabella Sciorra (Gloria Trillo), Drea de Matteo (Adriana La Cerva), and Steve Buscemi (Tony Blundetto).
Panelists touch on such topics as: Chase originally not writing whackings into the scripts he pitched to Fox, thinking that the modern mob didn't kill anyone; whether whacking a character is a big deal to a writer; why the character of Uncle Junior is still alive; how actors find out they are going to be whacked; shooting alternate endings for Adriana's death; how cast members treat a soon-to-be-whacked fellow cast member; whether Chase has ever changed his mind about killing a character, most notably leading to the creation of Patsy Parisi, the twin of Philly Parisi (both played by Dan Grimaldi); how business factors -- such as an actor with a problematic schedule or abrasive personality -- might influence creative decisions; whether each cast member felt they had to die considering his or her character's transgressions; the possibly "sexist" reason why most women aren't seen getting killed on screen; whacked characters reappearing in dream sequences; what the actors "draw on" when it is time to shoot their death scenes; the importance of the manner in which characters get whacked; and the actors' next jobs after getting whacked, notably Proval portraying a rabbi on "The West Wing" and de Matteo "committing suicide" on the NBC sitcom "Joey." Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics: remorse from whacking an innocent bystander in a storyline; hiring an actor with the full intention of one day whacking them; whether Chase has studied the history of Mafia hits; whether Chase has a "timetable" for killing characters; if the show's opening credits reflect Chase's original conception for the sequence; how complicated it is to film a whacking; whether Chase has received any feedback from real members of organized crime; whether Chase has received any letters complaining about deaths; how audience reactions affect future storylines; whether it's easy to write a show with so much violent content; who will get killed in the final season; looking into an actor's background before casting; ways of whacking that Chase hasn't employed; the death of Nancy Marchand and how that affected Chase's storyline; favorite whack jobs on the show; deleting a whacking because it didn't work out as planned; and how much the panelists will miss the show.
This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: March 28, 2007 Wednesday 6:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:24:50
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:90658
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Christy Carpenter … Host
- Ron Simon … Host
- Bryant Gumbel … Moderator
- David Chase … Panelist
- Terence Winter … Panelist
- David Proval … Panelist
- Vincent Pastore … Panelist
- Annabella Sciorra … Panelist
- de Matteo, Drea … Panelist
- Steve Buscemi … Panelist
- Dan Grimaldi
- Nancy Marchand