I think that Frank Vincent is going to be out of control this season.


DS

Is this from their site or message board? I know the message board is loaded with rumors, including that last season expanding to 13 episodes.

come on mate...think about it.

From the site itself

link

Ive read and reread it and I'm prety sure I'm not misreading it or anything. Furio is listed with the current cast members, not the ones who were cast members.

I just read a rumor that Joe Pantoliano is also making an appearance in episode 3 of the new season, so perhaps the newly listed Furio appearance occurs in a dream? Has he ever been in a dream before though? Not that I remember. Whether he comes back in the flesh or just in someone's dream, his reappearance is still monumental.

And here's some of the photos I promised...






And a few I couldn't find bigger versions of. And yes, thats Meadow in the bottom left.



Along with a NY Daily News article...

The opening episodes in the long-awaited sixth season of "The Sopranos" won't surface at any point as public-service messages for gun control.

But they find creator David Chase in a frequently pensive mood, suggesting he may have used the 22 months since the end of season five to reflect and then expound on how Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), his family and his friends got to where they are today.

There's enough classic "Sopranos" action — some of it involving extreme physical violence — to remind the average person that where the Sopranos are is not where most of us want to go.

Yet at the same time, these episodes repeatedly return to the ways in which the Soprano clan, in its desperate, sometimes twisted and sometimes touching way, seeks to embrace family values.

The relationship of Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco) with her son A.J. (Robert Iger) takes some edgy turns, for instance, though several developments also suggest A.J. may be starting to think he can be more than a sullen young punk.

"Family" for the Sopranos has always been an extended affair, of course, due to the nature of Tony's business, and the first episodes include a potential step-out moment for his long-time right-hand man, Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt).

Conversely, things are relatively quiet with Christopher (Michael Imperioli), until he meets up again with J.T. Dolan (Timothy Daly). J.T. is the writer with the gambling problem whom Christopher met at a Gamblers Anonymous session and subsequently found ways to abuse.

J.T. has just staggered back to his feet when he meets Christopher, with predictable results. Daly's return, one of several sprinkled through these new episodes, will still please longtime fans.

Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) remains the most consistently funny character on the show, or maybe on series television. Chase's masterful touch with details is showcased in a scene where Paulie is cutting 55-cent discount coupons out of the newspaper while he's sitting a few feet from a bag with $500,000 in cash.

But Tony and Carmela are the glue that hold this dark American story together, as Chase acknowledges in an early scene when they're having sushi together and Carmela says that, all things considered, they're lucky.

Tony takes something off his plate and says, "Forty dollars for a piece of fish they just flew in first class. We're more than lucky."

It won't surprise anyone that such an assertion will not go unexplored, and here it leads to a more introspective stretch in the second (and to a lesser extent the third) episode.

Some "Sopranos" fans find these stretches less interesting, like hockey fans who get tired of all that hockey between the fights, but after all this time with these characters, Chase knows them so well he can explore them with an almost lyrical rhythm. He also knows exactly when to use the changeup. In one scene, Carmela is talking to Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) and admits she knew almost from the beginning what line of work Tony was in.

"On the second date," she says, "he brought my father a $200 power drill."

"Not your typical story of young love," deadpans Melfi, whose fans will be glad to know that her legs are again on prominent display.

So are the hopes and dreams of the extended Soprano family, right next to the deals and compromises that are always one door-knock away from putting them all to an end.

********************************

So I guess that bit of narration by Carmella that was in the trailer was to Melfi. That had been kind of unclear.

And more vague references to Silvio's ascension in the ranks somehow. Can't wait to find out what thats all about.

God i am excited.

Time magazine article...

If there is one question that defines The Sopranos, it is, "Why do good things happen to bad people?" As the HBO show returns from a nearly two-year hiatus (Sundays, 9 p.m. E.T., starting March 12), Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) continues to live his charmed life. The mafia business is booming. He is a free man, escaping the Feds through one lucky turn after another, while his ally/rival, New York boss Johnny Sack (Vincent Curatola) is locked up. He's fat and happy—as happy as Tony gets, anyway—in the prime of his career, shoveling $40-a-piece sushi down his gullet at dinner with his often-cheated-upon but newly reconciled wife, Carmela (Edie Falco).

Of course, Tony is not so flush that he can't walk into an eyeglass store owned by a civilian connected to his business, impose on him for a huge favor, then pick out a pair of Armani shades and say, "You know what? I left my wallet in the car." For Tony, the money is not the point. The point is not having to pay.

Every time The Sopranos returns, the first thing many fans ask is, "Who gets whacked?" While I won't tell who sheds whose blood—save that there's a doozy in the first episode—suffice it to say that there's Mafia red sauce in the first four episodes to satisfy the most bloodthirsty.

But what makes The Sopranos a great, not just entertaining, show is that the most disturbing stories are about Tony's casual, selfish, bloodless cruelties. The ruin of another person is better than a slight inconvenience to him, and no matter how many promises he breaks or lives he destroys, he always believes himself more sinned against than sinning. He has toddled through the series like an overindulged two-year-old, protected from the consequences of his actions by perverse fate, and protected from their moral consequences by his power of rationalization. After he shafts a helpless civilian in a business deal by making a greedy and unnecessary demand, he gets righteously angry when the man squeaks that he's being unfair. "Talk to the Katrina victims about fair!" he yells.

How well Tony has done for himself in his ruthless unexamined life—and whether or how he might pay for it—is shaping up to be the theme of what creator David Chase says will be its last season. (HBO will run 12 episodes this spring; then the show returns for a promised final 8 in January.) Previous seasons have introduced new characters and rivals to the mix—Richie Aprile, Ralph Cifaretto, Tony Blundetto—but the four episodes of season 6 screened for critics focus tight on the existing circle of characters. (Though they do, in a twist I can't possibly spoil, find an ingenious, poignant way to turn a major character into an entirely different person.)

The show picks up with the characters somewhat over a year after we left them. Erstwhile hippie Janice (Aida Turturro) is settling into domestic life as a Mafia wife. Daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn DiScala) is still with boyfriend Finn (Will Janowitz) and looking ahead to life after college, while nihilist son A.J. (Robert Iler) is taking cellphone pictures of himself instead of studying in class. Carmela has settled into a melancholy peace with having chosen the good (but bad) life with Tony over being a poor-but-noble divorcee. Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) and Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) are still the mafia princes of comic relief. ("It was f___in' mayham!" Paulie blusters after a holdup gone awry.) Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) is slipping deeper into senility, believing that he's being harassed by a long-dead enemy. ("We'll get J. Edgar Hoover right on it," says Tony.) Fans of psychiatrist Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) will be disappointed by her small early role, though she has key, dryly funny scenes with both Tony and Carm.

The first episode opens with an eerie reading, set to music, of a William S. Burroughs prose fragment about the Egyptian belief that we have seven souls: "Number six is Khaibit, the Shadow, Memory, your whole past conditioning from this and other lives." The shadows and memories of the dead hover close over the show, as the rubout fallout from the whackings of Adriana (Drea de Matteo) and Tony B. (Steve Buscemi) continues, not to mention Tony's continuing baggage inherited from his late mother Livia. There's a general sense, in this last season, of a deathbed taking-stock, even a few self-referential scenes in which the series' history flashes before our eyes. Silvio, for instance, reveals that he was once considered to take over the family instead of Tony, an allusion to the fact that Van Zandt was originally asked to read for the role of Tony.

The new episodes reprise the show's minor weaknesses as well as its major strengths. There's another inside-Hollywood detour about the movie ambitions of Christopher (Michael Imperioli). (Though it does deliver funny lines: Chris describes his screenplay idea as "Saw meets Godfather II.") And subplots involving fundamentalist Christians and a superstar rapper are tendentious and cardboard. (The latter recalls a season-one story about how hip-hop culture fetishes mafiosi.)

But overall, the episodes are as acute and thrilling as the past five seasons. Chase continues to resist the TV standards of closure and lessons learned. Instead of epiphany and reconciliation, he gives us self-deception and bitter, hilarious irony. More than once, Tony says out loud how fortunate he is. The realization is not nearly as profound as he thinks it is—it doesn't lead him to be any more humble or generous or less self-pitying than ever. But as a simple statement it is probably the most honest insight about himself he's ever had: "I'm the luckiest guy in the whole world." Maybe the scariest thing about The Sopranos is that you realize that he just may be right.

and some photos...



9 DAYS and COUNTING

Here's some more images. I don't think they've been posted yet.

ok..who thinks that last pic of silvio et all and carmela and medow is in the hostpital!

It seems you could be right.

Thanks for the pics Lou

I didn't feel like going thru all the pages to see if this little article was posted, so forgive me if it has. However read at least the first sentence.


Television

The great thing about “The Sopranos” is that you can watch a season while you’re an eight-year-old, and then wait until you’re a grown adult with kids of your own and the next season airs, and it still holds up. For some reason, creator and executive producer David Chase likes to take long, long, long breaks between seasons. They had enough time between season five and the beginning of the first part of season six (don’t ask) to drag the Atlantic Ocean and find Big Pussy’s corpse. This set of 12 episodes will include guest appearances by Hal Holbrook, Ben Kingsley and Julianna Margulies, and will feature all of your favorite shady characters, including Tony, Paulie, Christopher (sadly, sans Adriana), Silvio and Uncle Junior as well as Carmela, Dr. Melfi, Meadow, A.J., Artie Bucco and Bobby Bacala. The real star of this show is the head makeup artist for making these actors look like they’ve only aged months rather than years. (HBO, Sunday, 9 p.m.)


TIS

This has supposedly been confirmed as false, both by HBO and Fergie's reps, so I'd say its extremely unlikely at this point. [/b][/quote]Thank God.

I've always been so p*ssed off at the fact that British television plugs rubbish series of rubbish programmes all the time; if they dumped all these tormenting series, they could make room for The Sopranos quicker; and we'd watch it a little earlier.

There's kind of been a recent flood in new info, so I haven't had time to post much, but I figured I'd throw this up here.

More episode descriptions from TV Guide:

April 2 - 604: "The Fleshy Part of the Thigh"

Tony and Johnny Sack haggle over Barone Sanitation's future; Paulie is rocked by an aunt's revelation.


April 9 - 605: "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request"

Johnny files a petition to attend his daughter's wedding; Tony hires a new bodyguard.


April 17 - 606: "Live Free or Die"

Tony Debates whether to give a top earner a second chance and looks abroad to settle a local dispute,


April 23 - 607 "Luxury Lounge"

Artie's business is jeopardized by a rival restaurant and staff scandal; Christopher and Little Carmine pursue a new venture out of town.


April 30 - 608 "Johnny Cakes"

Tony is tempted by a real-estate offer; Vito is wowed by an act of heroism; AJ looks to "diversify"

Also, according to the Orlando Sentinel, Eugene Pontervo is the one who wants out of the business in the first episode.

And rumor is that the final scene of the first episode is Tony making dinner for Junior, which seems to rule out the theory that he gets shot.

4 DAYS and COUNTING

Starting it off
with a big bang!

Get ready to be taken for a ride.
'The Sopranos' is back, and it's
better than ever — Bada Bing!

By RICHARD HUFF
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR

There's plenty more agita ahead for Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), the fiery head of two New Jersey families.
Tony's blood relatives set his blood boiling.
Janice reproduces — and it's not pretty.
Adrianna, who is now fish food, returns to haunt Carmela.
Anthony Jr. could be outfitted for a pinkie ring.
They made us wait 21 damn months — 21 — but the wait was worth it.

Sunday night, "The Sopranos" returns to HBO's prime-time lineup, and every last one of those lovable and equally hateable mobsters — plus a few others — are back with an earth-shattering, life-changing vengeance.

Everything you missed about TV's greatest drama is there, from the always-shocking — but this time downright stunning — gunfire to the buckets of blood to the continually fraying relationships, all of which make us want more of Tony Soprano and his dysfunctional families — both of them.

It's kind of like "The Sopranos" are our old mob buddies who got sent up the river for nearly two years and are now back on the streets. And, of course, that means they're also back to their wicked ways. The difference this time around? In the sixth season, these guys are loaded with as much tension as too-tight piano wire.

"I think kind of disquieted, sort of rattled, not feeling like things are going well" is the way David Chase described the coming season to reporters in January.

He might have been underplaying that a bit.

You want action? How's this?

There's a major shooting early in the run of the new episodes. A shooting — on "The Sopranos"? Okay, on its face that isn't news, but it will be when you find out how it happens and who the victim is. Let's just say that, in this crooked world, no one is safe. The moment is so shocking, in fact, that it could blow folks out of their seats.

Not enough action for you?

Janice Soprano and her husband, Bobby Baccalieri, will have a baby girl. The flaky and fiery Janice (Aida Turturro) is probably the least-qualified mother in TV history.

Elsewhere, the Soprano kids are growing up — and, as all kids do, growing less appreciative of their family. One major incident, however, nearly makes A.J. take up his father's business, or at least a part of it, which should cause some major headaches down the road.

Now that Carmela let Tony back in the house, she worries more about the family — both of them. She seems particularly curious about Adrianna, who was last seen eating leaves in upstate New York and, presumably, taking a bullet. Chase and his team are at their best when creating gut-tightening stress, such as when Carmela wonders aloud about Adrianna to Tony.

Outside of the Soprano homestead, Johnny (Sack) Sacramoni is trying to get out of jail, having been tackled in a snow bank in the last season. Phil Leotardo takes over while Johnny's wearing an orange jumpsuit, but he doesn't play the game quite the way Sack did, causing even more agita for Tony — as if he didn't have enough problems on his very full plate.

Among them are the feds, who are also still trying to nail Tony and his associates.

"The Sopranos" has always skillfully weaved in great guest stars, and this season is no exception. You will see Julianna Margulies playing a real estate agent and Hal Holbrook as a scientist who used to work for Bell Labs. Ben Kingsley plays himself. Elizabeth Bracco, Lorraine Bracco's sister, also plays a mob wife down the road.

But that's all later.

Before the first few hours are done, viewers will spend time in familiar and unfamiliar places — hospitals, the Satriale Pork Store and everyone's favorite strip club, the Bada Bing. And they'll take a trip out of town, with Tony, sort of.

No matter where the action is happening, though, they'll know that the gun is cocked, a finger is on the trigger and, at any moment, any one of the family could be playing cards with Adrianna in heaven.

Almost time!!!!!!!

ds

Soprano's party at my house...at 8pm!!!! I'v been cooking all day! Shrimp alfredo, Spagehtti and Meatballs, My friends are making lasagne and Chicken Caccatore...So excited!!!!

It's been a lot of fun discussing and looking forward to the show with all of you. Thanks for feeding the obsession.

I'm actually listening to a Soprano's 'pre-game' show on 77-WABC. Mark Simone (subbing for Brian Whittman) is doing interviews and taking calls to discuss the show, the characters, the actors, this season and even Carmela's Cookbook!!

As a non-fan in and HBO-less household, I'm actually finding all this hype rather interesting. One thing's for sure...if invited, I would've shown up at Meggie's place just for the food!!

Apple

***SPOILER WARNING***

Wrong! :p

I was just reading an article on Season 6. It contains some major spoilers. Although not too specific, all I can say is
"WOW". If you want to read it, check the link below. Note that this is a daily news type site. The articles might change daily.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/

JL,

Thanks so much for the "Spoiler" warning. I am so curious, but refuse to look. :p

I'm happy to know it sounds like it'll be good.

TIS

Despite the fact that I used to scour the net for hours on end looking for Season 6 spoilers a few months back, I'm strictly avoiding them at this point. Considering I'll only have to wait 7 days at a time now for a new episode, I don't really see the point in ruining it for myself.

Glad they sound good though, Lou.

I really don't think it would ruin it for anyone, but don't read it if you want to be totally surprised. It gives some general information without specifics, and a couple of wild
speculations on who and what it may or may not involve.

so I came home tonight and decided to watch the blacksheep season...


4


watching the opening episode of Season 4 (For All Debts Public and Private http://www.tv.com/sopranos/for-all-debts-public-and-private/episode/183957/summa ry.html ) and when Christopher kills the cop that killed his father, the TV is playing a cop show...

the cop on the show (mind you, all of this is playing in the background) arrested someone and names himself "Finnerty" (all this while Chris is going through the cops pockets....)

it occures at 44:42 on the DVD

Nice find!

Not that it means anything, but it's interesting nonetheless.

(a) "Where did the name Finnerty come from,
and what does it mean?"
Our understanding is this:
The Celtic version of the name "Finnerty" is "Ó Fionnachta";

"Ó Fionnachta" in Celtic means: grandchild (or later descendant) of "Fionnachta";

"Fionnachta" is a composite of two Celtic words: "Fionn" and "Sneachta";

"Fionn" in Celtic means "fair" - as in shade of white, and "Sneachta" means snow;

As a consequence of the above, it seems the original Celtic person known as "Fionn-Sneachta" (i.e. "fair snow" literally - but meaning "snow-white"), was a man or a woman with snow white hair, or snow white skin: or possibly both. Incidentally, and for reasons unknown to us, it seems people of such appearance were greatly revered by the ancient Celts. Similarly for people with snow-white skin and red hair; and Queen Meave of Connacht - who the ancient Celts believed was a goddess (and not a human being), is thought to be one such person.

It may be relevant to include here that the late W.T. Finnerty had a nephew (also called William, and middle son of his brother Patrick) born during the 1940's in the New Inn area of County Galway, who actually did have snow white hair; and who (as a child and in his early teens) had a nickname which strongly reflected its unusual colour: tangible genetic evidence perhaps of a direct link between himself and the original "fionn sneachta" ancestor from many dozens of generations earlier?

There is a very similar Celtic word to "Fionnachta" (which can be seen in modern Irish Language dictionaries) spelled: "Fionnachtaí"; and the English meanings given are "discoverer" or "inventor". Whether or not there is any substantial relationship between the origins of these two words, we do not know at present.


Saint Kevin (c. 498 - 618) is a Christian saint who was the Abbot of Glendalough in County Wicklow, Ireland. "Kevin" is the English-language spelling of the Irish name Caoimhín (Coemgen in Old Irish, latinized as Coemgenus).

His legend is particularly untrustworthy, as very little contemporaneous material exists. It maintains that he was descended from a royal line, given the name Coemgen, which means "fair-begotten", and educated by Petrock during that saint's sojourn in Ireland. He was at Disert-Coemgen for a time and later established a church for his own community at Glendalough. This monastery was to become the parent of several others. Eventually, Glendalough, with its seven churches, became one of the chief pilgrimage destinations in Ireland. His legend says that he lived to the age of 120.

Kevin also means gentle and lovable from a Gaelic origin.

right..a hunch.

based on the first 3 episodes and watching the series 6 extended trailer.

AJ will kill Junior at a nursing home...perhaps Green Grove.

Chris will flip.

thats all.

Chris flipping? I doubt it. He had his love of his life killed because she flipped.

but having AJ kill Junior would be very interresting. But lets think about this. The Sopranos have always come to suprise up so I might be wrong about the Chris thing and AJ might not kill Junior. Who knows