* Actor Tony Sirico, who plays Soprano captain Paulie ''Walnuts'' Gualtieri and was to figure prominently in the season's early episodes, was diagnosed with a spinal tumor just as production began last fall. That forced writers to scrap the first five scripts and shut down the show for nearly two months for retooling.
''We had quite a bit planned for him,'' Chase says, and while Sirico recovered and returned five months later, they were by then nearly midway through filming for this season. ''We could never really recover from it.'' Instead, the season opener finds Paulie in jail; his scenes were shot late and inserted into otherwise finished episodes.
* And though The Sopranos' first episodes were ready by late spring, HBO shelved the series, opting to air Sex and the City instead in its usual summer pattern. That way, it could save The Sopranos to battle the networks' traditional fall season, the first time an established cable hit has done so. We let HBO lapse after The Sopranos ended last season - looks like it's time to hook it back up. I am somewhat leery about this season - it seems like it was a real struggle for all involved, especially creator Chase and James Gandolfini, who plays Tony.
Gandolfini was reportedly very upset last season with Tony being made to kill his best friend for informing, and the relatively light body count this year is doubtless related to this.
But I was hesitant heading into last season also - I hate to be disappointed - and it was great once again, even with the novelty factor worn off, no small feat. Now where's that number for the cable company?
Article comments
1 - Ryan Olson
I think I've been anticipating the new season a bit too much. The show even crept into my dreams last night...
Bring it on!
2 - Eric Olsen
I've been trying to not think about it - but the time has come.
3 - Dr. Sphincter
I have not been in a cave in Afganistan but I don't have cable TV and I didn't know a thing about the Soprano's opening until Sunday night at about 6 PM. My friends were over for the weekend and they said they were going back to their hotel to watch the big show. That's how I found out about it and that's how I came to watch it.
They are HBO freaks and doubtless get to see all the hype and promotion that broadcast-only TV viewers like me have not seen. I guess if you don't have cable TV, you might as well be living in a cave in Afganistan. In a cave and reading a blog or even more retarded--something printed on actual paper! Ugh. How degraded I feel.