Trivia
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Spoilers (1)
The "Green Grove" retirement community is based on, and filmed at, the Green Hill retirement community in West Orange, New Jersey.
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The "Bada Bing" strip club is actually a go-go bar in Lodi, NJ, called Satin Dolls. It used to be a nightclub called Tara's. Before that it was a diner called Hearth 17.
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Originally, creator David Chase was going to call the key character Tommy Soprano. He later changed it to Tony.
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David Chase was a longtime fan of Steven Van Zandt's music and had always wanted to write a role for him. When Chase saw Van Zandt induct 'The Young Rascals' into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he invited Van Zandt to audition for Tony Soprano even though he had never acted before. Van Zandt did not want to take a role away from a real actor, so Chase wrote the role of Silvio Dante for him.
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Grace Johnston was first choice for the role of Meadow but she turned it down to finish school.
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Before David Chase chose "Woke Up This Morning" by UK band Alabama 3 (from their 1997 debut album "Exile on Coldharbour Lane"), he originally wanted to use a different song in every episode's opening sequence. HBO executives convinced him that viewers needed to be able to identify the show with a theme song.
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Tony Sirico only agreed to sign on for the show if it was guaranteed that his character Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri would not be a "rat", an informant.
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In January 2000 the Coalition of Italian-American Associations issued a joint statement condemning the show for perpetuating negative Italian-American stereotypes.
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Struggling screenwriter Christopher Moltisanti is portrayed by screenwriter Michael Imperioli.
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Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) is based on a character of the same name in a short story that Van Zandt wrote and showed to series creator David Chase.
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Michael Rispoli originally auditioned for the role of Tony, but David Chase liked Rispoli's audition so much that he adjusted the role of Jackie Aprile Sr., originally a much older character, to fit Rispoli's age.
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Lorraine Bracco was originally asked to play the role of Carmela Soprano, but she felt that the part was too similar to her character in Goodfellas. She decided the role of Dr. Melfi would be more challenging.
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David Chase had planned a major story line for the third season concerning Tony's efforts to prevent Livia from testifying against him in court. But Nancy Marchand's death caused Chase to revise a large portion of the season.
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The Sopranos live at 633 Stag Trail Road, North Caldwell, New Jersey. The house used in exterior shots is actually located at 14 Aspen Drive in North Caldwell.
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Jamie-Lyn Sigler was credited as 'Jamie-Lynn DiScala' in Season 5 due to her marriage to A.J. Discala, but took back her maiden name in Season 6 due to her divorce.
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During seasons 2 and 3, Steve Schirripa had to wear a fat suit, in order to play Bobby Baccala.
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David Chase claims the relationship in the story between Tony and his mother Livia is based on his relationship with his own mother, who was also named Livia.
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HBO was worried that the title of the series would make the audience think it was about music. That is why the gun image is in the title logo. The network also considered other titles for the show such as "Made in New Jersey".
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Max Casella, who plays Benny Fazio, originally auditioned for the parts of Matt Bevilaqua and Jackie Aprile Jr. Both characters only lasted one season but Benny remained until the final episode.
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Steve Schirripa, who plays Bobby Bacala originally auditioned for the role of F.B.I. agent Skip Lipari.
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Joe Pantoliano was told when he first took the role of Ralph that the character would only last two seasons.
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In Season 5 a story about Feech La Manna was told, concerning his killing a New Jersey longshoreman for refusing to give up his favorite seat in a bar. This story was based on a true-life incident involving former Philadelphia/Atlantic City crime boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.
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Many local New Jersey businesses are used as locations in the series. In the opening credits, we see a shot of a pizza shack known as Pizza Land. They get calls for pizza orders from all over the country as a result. In one episode, an actual sporting goods store was portrayed as going out of business. So many people thought the real store was closing, the store owners had to place ads to explain they were still open!
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The character 'A.J. Soprano' was ranked #10 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 10 Biggest Brats" (27 March 2005 issue).
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Drea de Matteo had to spend four hours in hair and makeup before shooting each episode in order to achieve her "mob girl" look. It took two hours to prepare her hair, and in the instances in which her arms, legs, and/or torso were uncovered, an hour and a half to apply makeup to cover her tattoos.
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Joseph R. Gannascoli (Vito Spatafore) was originally cast in season one cameo as Gino the bakery customer, when Christopher shot the worker in the foot. He was then recast as Vito Spatafore in season two and continued in the role until the end of season six, part one.
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In Season 5, the race track they go to is actually Riverhead Raceway in Riverhead, Long Island. In the episode it was sold, but in real life it wasn't. So many people called the track wanting to know if it had been sold that the owners had to put a sign up saying that they hadn't sold.
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During several episodes a high-pitched squealing sound can be heard in some outdoor scenes. That is the sound of the Elevated #7 train going around a turn one block from the studio where the indoor and some outdoor scenes are filmed in Queens, NY.
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Ray Liotta was the top choice to play Tony Soprano but he turned it down stating he did not want to commit to a television series. Later, Liotta was in talks to play Ralph Cifaretto but turned it down as well.
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The show was originally going to be a cable series on FOX starring Anthony LaPaglia before HBO picked it up.
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Six of the regular cast members appeared in Goodfellas: Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore, Frank Vincent, and Joseph R. Gannascoli. Ten recurring cast members also appeared in the film: Nicole Burdette, Tony Darrow, Tony Lip, Frank Pellegrino, John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia, Suzanne Shepherd, Paul Herman, Marianne Leone, Daniel P. Conte, and Frank Albanese. Eleven one-time guest stars also appeared in the film: Nancy Cassaro, Anthony Caso (as Martin Scorsese), Chuck Low, Tobin Bell, Gene Canfield, Gaetano LoGiudice, Vito Antuofermo, Frank Adonis, Anthony Alessandro, Victor Colicchio and Angela Pietropinto.
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Christian Maelen was David Chase's second choice to play Christopher Moltisanti. He later provided the voice of Big Pussy's son, Joey LaRocca, in The Sopranos: Road to Respect.
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"Oogatz", as it is used in the show, means zero, nothing. It derives from the Italian slang "un cazzo" meaning "a dick".
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In the First Season the word "fuck" is said 437 times. Tony (134), Sil (20), Paulie (25), Christopher (61), Carmela (5), Others (192).
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In the Second Season the word "fuck" is said 715 times. Tony (264), Sil (34), Paulie (31), Christopher (68), Carmela (9), Others (309).
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In the Third Season the word "fuck" is said 604 times. Tony (169), Sil (19), Paulie (81), Christopher (72), Carmela (3), Others (260).
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In the Fourth Season the word "fuck" is said 425 times. Tony (155), Sil (12), Paulie (18), Christopher (48), Carmela (10), Others (182).
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In the Fifth Season the word "fuck" is said 600 times. Tony (195), Sil (8), Paulie (20), Christopher (94), Carmela (12), Others (271).
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In the Sixth Season, Part 1 the word "fuck" is said 452 times. Tony (125), Sil (13), Paulie (48), Christopher (65), Carmela (8), Others (193).
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In the Sixth Season, Part 2 the word "fuck" is said 306 times. Tony (110), Sil (6), Paulie (38), Christopher (17), Carmela (5), Others (130). This makes the total of 3539, Tony (1152), Sil (112), Paulie (226), Christopher (425), Carmela (52), Others (1537). In the whole series Tony cheats on Carmela on screen with 11 women.
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The large mugshot on the wall of the Bada Bing back office is of a 23-year-old Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was arrested and charged with "Seduction of a Married Woman" in 1938.
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Tony's boat is called "The Stugots". "Stugots" derives from the Italian phrase "questo cazzo" meaning "this dick"
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Corrado Soprano's nickname, Junior, was taken from the actual nickname used by Tony Sirico when he was a mobster as a young man, before he became an actor.
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As of 2007, this program has the most Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series - 6.
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The only cast members that are not of any Italian descent are Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Robert Iler, David Proval, and Nancy Marchand.
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Spoilers
J.T. Dolan (Tim Daly) is beaten up by Christopher in every episode where appears, until Christopher finally kills him on season 6.
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