Yeah, I'm not hating on Edie Falco - she's fantastic. I just can't stand Carmela as a character. But then, most of the women on The Sopranos are shrill, horrible people who would make their husbands kill themselves if only the men's Catholic guilt would let them.

You know, like just about every NJ, Italian woman I have ever known.

<shudder>

It's funny you said that. I grew up in North Jersey too. About 10 years ago my friend from work got engaged. I went over to her house the day she announced the engagement to say hi. Her family is 100% Italian.

I was there 5 min. and I could tell her female relatives were judging me despite the fact they didn't know me or that I was the b/f. Weirdest 5 min. of my life.

I just realized (ok, found out) that Jackie Aprile Sr. was Grama in Rounders. Mind=blown.

I'm sure people have noticed that Vito shows up in only one Season 1 scene as 'Gino', and gets punked out by Chris...

edit: ...and eventually becomes a capo before Chris

obviously he wasn't vito then

Have we discussed Law and Order itt yet? The Jackie Aprile revelation hit me when that actor was playing a mentally challenged person on Law and Order yesterday and I was like "I've seen this guy before" and hit up IMDB.

I know a TON of Sopranos actors have appeared on L&O. I remember one episode where like 4 of them were on.

Ya weird for a show of this quality to do that

I think that's not uncommon for tv shows, an actor with a bit part gets a meatier role later in the series.

A better example is obviously Jack McGraw and Wolcott being played by the same actor in Deadwood. I didn't even notice.

The Sopranos is one of the best examples of Post-Modernism on television, especially when it comes to drama. Given that, I think one actor playing two different characters is par for the course with this type of show. I really don't think that the creators of the show forgot that the guy played a bit part earlier in the series, and if they wanted, they could have gotten many other actors to play Vito.

Chris Partlow on the Wire played a court bailiff in the pilot episode.

How about this... was Vito made by season 2? He wasn't treated like a made guy when Richie ordered him and his bro to build a ramp for Beans.

Um, you guys know Adrianna was a hostess in a restaurant scene before she was Adrianna, right? And after Dan Grimaldi's character got whacked, they created a twin brother named Patsy for him to play...you knew that, right?

Didn't know Adrianna thing, that's wack

The twins cool cus at least there's a story line reason that they look alike

I always assumed that was Adriana hosting and Chris just ended up dating her, don't remember anything in the show stating otherwise. She was originally supposed to be a small role when they made her his gf but liked her so much they wrote her in more.

Compared to Vito who was obviously someone else in his first role and they just recast him as another character.

Other recasts:

Father Phil is some other dude in the pilot, they change Tonys sister Barbara in the later seasons, they change Chrissys mom midway through.

I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure there are one or two Godfather references in the show.

great episode-by-episode discussion at The AV Club

Does anybody know what the plan was for Tony's mother?

I'm pretty sure the actress passed away during filming of season 3, and they had to re-write to cover it.

Here's what I've heard: the original plan was that Tony was actually going to kill her at the end of Season 1. But Nancy Marchand already knew she was dying of cancer and begged David Chase to let her keep working. (The importance of the Tony-Livia relationship in season 1 also played a part, I'm sure.) So Chase wrote her into season 2, but I'm not sure what the plan for season 3 was when she died.

Wow, that's intense

But they had to rewrite season 2 correct?
What was that originally?

Here's a good one I read recently, When Tony and Gloria get together in Season 3. As Tony and Gloria pull out of the Mercedes lot, they go the wrong way out onto the street, and as they settle down into bed in Tony’s boat (Gloria having canceled her therapy appointment), ducks settle down in the water nearby.

Reminds me of this story:

As we make the long, long walk from the casino to the employee parking lot, I'm telling a co-worker about all this subtle stuff in The Sopranos that nobody seems to notice. He asks for an example, and I give him one, from that week's episode.

ME: Christopher wakes up behind the wheel of his SUV. He's parked on the side of the road. He's got a tourniquet on his arm, and a needle is sticking out of arm. You remember that?

HIM: Yeah?

ME: Chrissy removes the needle and tourniquet, tries to clear his head, and starts his car. He puts it into gear and starts driving, and almost immediately, he runs a stop sign at a "T" intersection. He almost got nailed by a passing car. But the passing car missed him, and Christopher continued on his way.

HIM: (skeptical) And what's that supposed to symbolize?

ME: He didn't see the warning signs! He's taking drugs, there's a big sign telling him to STOP! "You'd better stop, you might get killed!" He ignores the sign at his own peril! He's not gonna stop, he's not gonna pay attention to anything that tells him he should stop! The dangers are plain to see, but he's just gonna "continue on his way".

HIM: (sarcastically, dismissively) I guess I'm just not smart enough to grasp these things. When I watch a tv show, I just want to be entertained, I don't want it to feel like homework, like I'm reading Moby Dick or something.

ME: But this stuff IS entertaining! It's so much more satisfying when you spot these things!

HIM: I guess I'll have to take your word on that, because I'm not looking for symbols and hidden messages.

ME: Well, this is my car. I'll see you tomorrow.

HIM: That's your car? I've seen that goofy license plate here in the lot, I didn't know it was yours. What does that mean, "AKQJ9"?

ME: You're a poker dealer, you should be able to figure that one out! I started out with great cards, my hand just kept getting better and better, and then, on the last card, I ended up with nothing! It's an entire story in five letters!

HIM: (really angry now) GTFO here! Now I'm not smart enough to read LICENSE PLATES??? **** you and your Sopranos!

Hadn't heard that S1 part, but I do know that they had to handle her role slightly differently in S2 due to her being mostly bed-ridden. For S3 the plan was for her to testify against Tony for a government case that would have involved the airline ticket he gave her.

I'm sure every Sopranos junkie already knows this but Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) was a Colombo associate irl.

In 'the blue comet', Paulie mentions this when he says, "I lived through the seventies when the colombo's were going at it" or something to that affect.

Also, he only signed on to the show on the condition that he would not be made a rat.

That's cool had no clue