(light, rhythmic electronic music)
- Why did you and Steve Schirripa
decide to start a re-watch podcast
of all 86 episodes of "The Sopranos"?
- There was some podcasts that dealt with "The Sopranos",
but they were really made fans,
The other thing was,
in the last year-and-a-half or two years,
there's been
And if you go on social media,
there are fan sites and meme sites and quote sites,
and it's a whole new audience.
We started getting a lot of incoming messages from fans,
saying,
So, we found a way to do it remote.
- 20 years later, it's pretty remarkable that it's still up
on the top of Mount Rushmore of all-time great shows.
What do you attribute that lasting legacy to?
and consumes you,
consumes the viewer
to the point where you get lost in it,
and it just takes you out of your day-to-day reality,
which, I think, all of us can use right now.
and makes them relate to the characters
in a very intimate way.
I think there's the familial bonds,
there's Italian-American culture
that people find compelling and entertaining,
This is the first time
you're actually re-watching, re-visiting the show
20 years or 15 years since it went off the air, right?
- That was another deciding factor, I'd say,
to making the podcast,
'cause that is true for both Steve and I.
It's bittersweet, in a lot of ways because
But, I'll say it's
- It's there from the beginning,
the bond that you guys have, and that chemistry.
How did you guys cultivate that?
- A lot of it was very already there,
because a lot of us knew each other.
- At least we know what direction we're headed.
- Yeah, but we're still (beep) lost.
- We're not lost. Stop getting (beep).
- What are your thoughts on Christopher Moltisanti?
Do you look back and are frustrated by him?
Do you look back and maybe see yourself in him?
I mean, the fun thing about that character
is there was no middle ground with him,
I mean,
When he was angry, he was really angry.
When he tried to do something
that meant a lot, he really tried,
and that's something I actually admired about the character.
When he wanted to get into movies,
he studied acting, he learned about screenwriting,
he actually sat his ass in a chair
and wrote a screenplay,
I think he treated being a mobster the same way.
- One of the main themes of the show
is that yes, you can change.
It takes a lot of work,
and I think, unfortunately, some of these characters,
whether there's circumstance, whether it's who they are,
they don't wanna put that work into it.
I think that's a very difficult, but very profound message
to put in one of the most popular shows of the time.
Whether people are picking up on it very consciously,
or not consciously, it's there,
and I think it contributes to their connection to the show
or their involvement in the show.
- I feel like it's really hard
to really probe into your characters
and just dig deep and examine them
and re-examine them so much,
but I think that's what makes "Sopranos" so rewarding.
- Yeah, 100%, and like you said,
also, having the courage to take those chances,
to go off on tangents and places
that are not typical, not expected,
I think people really were shocked,
and a lot of people were angry at being denied
completion and closure with the show, but in hindsight,
Tony getting killed?
Tony killing someone else?
Tony, you know what I mean?
It's like, try to write that with some kinda closure,
and it's really hard to come up with something
that really would work better than what David did.
- What did you take away from that ambiguity?
and that we're seeing, somehow from his point of view,
or one of the family's point of view,
of the last few moments, or something,
but then, I remember some interviews that David did,
where he mentioned a lyric from the song,
the Journey song, "Don't Stop Believing":
(laughs) So, he's still not giving anything away,
but maybe that means exactly what he's saying,
that it doesn't end; it goes on and on
I don't know.
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