David Chase
Sopranos creator David Chase is coming back to HBO.
The multi-award-winning writer-director is returning to the cable channel to develop A Ribbon of Dreams, a miniseries about the birth and growth of the Hollywood film industry. In addition to writing and producing the miniseries, Chase will also ...
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The Sopranos — The Complete Series
Bada bing! At long last, the seedy adventures of Tony Soprano & Co. finally arrive on shelves in one complete package. While we could argue about the merits of the show all day (and don't even get us started on that ending), the No. 1 question in every consumer's mind as it relates to this set is the price tag. Is this beautifully and carefully designed package really worth $400 bucks? Like most things in David Chase's world, the answer is a bit complicated ...
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The Sopranos by Anthony Neste/HBO
After a five-day trial and 90 minutes of deliberation, a jury decided that Sopranos creator David Chase owes no money to Robert Baer, a former prosecutor and judge who gave Chase the idea for a show about north Jersey mobsters. Outside the courtroom, the New York Daily News reports, Chase likened the legal action to "a fly buzzing in your bathroom for several years, and now it's been swatted." He then made an awesome allusion to the Sopranos controversial conclusion, saying of the trial, "I hope [fans] like the ending."
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David Chase by Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com
David Chase reported to a Trenton, NJ, courthouse on Wednesday morning to defend himself against former New Jersey municipal court judge Robert Baer's claim that ideas of his ideas helped Chase bring The Sopranos to life. Baer, also a former assistant prosecutor, filed suit in 2002, alleging that he suggested to Chase a TV series about organized crime in Jersey and gave Chase a crash course on the North Jersey mob, and as such wants credit and compensation. According to the AP, opening statements are expected after the lunch break.In a related class-action suit, absolutely no one is laying claim to John from Cincinnati.
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Question: I was wondering what you thought of David Chase's comments excerpted from an interview in the upcoming The Sopranos: The Complete Book. He kind of spit in the fans' faces and told them to get a life. Since reading that interview, I will never watch or buy anything made by him or his production company. What kind of pretentious jerk tells people that there is a war going on and that we should care about other things? He didn't seem to mind that there was a war going on when he picked up his Emmy. Talk about frivolous.
Answer: The quote that seems to have really riled you went like this: "It seemed that those people were just looking for an excuse to be pissed off. There was a war going on that week and attempted terror attacks in London. But these people were talking about onion rings." Gotta say, that does come off as arrogant, and I'm sorry he took that attitude, given some of the other more thoughtful things he had to say in this interview. But then, given the amount of abuse
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David Chase with the cast and crew of 'The Sopranos' by John Shearer/WireImage.com
Heroes as best drama series? Fuhgettaboutit said Emmy voters, who on Sunday bestowed HBO's defunct The Sopranos with the high honor. Speaking to the press, series creator David Chase said he still doesn't have an answer as to why the mob show resonated with viewers and critics alike. "I have to assume it's because people deeply identify with the characters," he said. While Chase calls the big win "really, really fantastic," the highlight of the night "was the huge standing ovation our cast got" after the Jersey Boys-led tribute. "It was really fitting."Did The Sopranos leave its mark on the medium? Chase begs to differ. "I don’t really believe it's influenced television that much. I don’t see it," he says. "People say it's a seminal show, it's this and it's that.... I don’t see it." Similarly, Fox didn't see the series' potential when it passed on the pilot many years ago. "In that pilot I wrote for Fox nobody got killed," Chase remembers. "Afterward, everybody said, ...
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11:02: We're in overtime. "I would say hi to my boys, but I can't remember their names," Patricia Heaton is saying. I'm with ya, sister.11:02:30: 30 Rock wins best comedy. Poor Betty. Tina Fey thanks NBC boss Ben Silverman in advance for keeping them on the air for the next six years. 11:04: Cute, Tina just thanked the show's "dozens and dozens of viewers."11:10: Tom Selleck's date looks bored out of her mind while giving The Sopranos a standing O for their best-drama win. David Chase is thanking all the musicians who worked on the show. Huh?11:11: Chase is saying gangsters send their kids to school, and maybe this country is run by gangsters. Or something. This is why writers are writers and not speakers. And on that note, I'm gonna shut up and go look in a mirror. Now that I'm not an Emmy-blogging virgin anymore, I wanna see if what they say is true and that I'll really look different.— Written by Ben Katner
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9:02: Holy smoke! Queen Latifah rocks red! That woman knows how to carry dangerous curves like nobody's business. She's introducing a tribute to Roots.9:04: Queen's still talking. Is she ever gonna throw to a real clip?9:05: Oh, it's the cast of Roots on stage. Hmm. Pretty big cast. Something tells me they aren't all going to get to speak.9:05:10: Portia de Rossi is working Veronica Lake curls. Not sure why she's the cut-to person during a Roots tribute, but, um, she sure does look purty.9:06: The dad from Good Times looks awesome. Wait, all these people are gonna give out the award for best miniseries? Wow. That's quite a crowd.9:07: Broken Trail won. Um, so the cast of this amazing, history-making miniseries had to give an Emmy to... a plain ol' Western? Coulda been worse. It coulda gone to The Starter Wife.9:08: Duvall says his parents had to push him into acting. So I guess Dina Lohan had the right idea with Lindsay all along.9:09: Hayden Panettiere's presenting with Neil Patric...
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Question: You have dealt with the issue of swearing on cable rather extensively in the past several columns; it seems to be an issue that is touching a nerve. I wonder if it's possible to admit that, no matter how opposed to censorship one might be, there is something about certain words that causes a mental or physical reaction. The F-word in particular is hard to stomach for many otherwise liberal-minded people, even in small doses. It always angers me when I'm watching a perfectly acceptable PG-13 movie, and just because the filmmakers can insert one F-word into the mix, they do. It's understandable that many viewers in the post-Sopranos era would be disturbed by the trend. Even David Chase grossly overdid it at times. But it certainly is possible to write entertaining, realistic television without these words. Look at Arrested Development, where the "scripted" bleeps were among the funniest things on the show. I think it's a blessing that this lamented masterpiece did not go to HBO ...
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Alec Baldwin courtesy NBC Photo
No awards system is perfect, and the TCA Awards is no exception. But arriving two days after the often-inexplicable results of the Emmy nominations, Saturday night's low-key, good-time TCA Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton was a welcome course correction to several especially egregious Emmy oversights. (And, lo and behold, nary a mention of Boston Legal anywhere.)First up: Michael C. Hall, ignored by the Emmys but cited by the TCA for “Individual Achievement in Drama,” for his mesmerizing performance in Showtime's Dexter as a serial killer targeting Miami's lowest forms of criminal life. (Other contenders in this category included Friday Night Lights' Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, also shamefully snubbed at the Emmys.)Friday Night Lights, a near shutout at the Emmys despite its status as a first-year critics’ darling (and recipient of Peabody and AFI awards), was later named Outstanding New Program. (The field also included 30 Rock, Dexter, Heroes and Ugly Bet...
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