If you haven't seen the original podcast-also shown on YouTube-then you may not know that this HBO version is substantially edited from the original-and that's a very good thing. I watched the entire original podcast series during Covid. I went into it with a sort of neutral opinion of Schirripa and a high opinion of Imperioli. That all changed, as Steven came across as fearless and engaged and very funny, whilst Imperioli kept saying, I don't remember-over and over. But he came across, not as forgetful, but arrogant and pompous and thought he was deep and intellectual, but was really just vacuous and tedious. Then there were his radical Liberal politics.
But, in the abridged version, none of that is apparent. It moves at a rapid clip and the edited Imperioli comes across as funny, engaged and pretty likeable, whilst Steve remains his great self.
I have watched the entire run of the 'Sopranos' many times, but this time through, I watched an episode and then watched the review episode of HBO's Talking Sopranos. The edited version is also greatly enhanced with lots of clips.
Here's my Bottom 10 Sopranos episodes. 10) D-Girl; 9) The Happy Wanderer; 8) Kaisha; 7) Pie-O-My; 6) In Camelot; 5) House Arrest; 4) The Test Dream; 3) Chasing It; 2) Commendatori; 1) A Hit Is A Hit.
Here's my Top Ten Sopranos Episodes: 10) I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano; 9) Amour Fou; 8) Knight in White Satin Amor; 7) Soprano Home Movies; 6) Blue Comet; 5) Funhouse; 4) Whoever Did This; 3) Pine Barrens; 2) Whitecaps; 1) Long Term Parking
My least favorite characters: 5) Eugene Pontecorvo; 4) Valentina La Paz 3) Mary DeAngelis; 2) Charmaine Bucco; 1) AJ Soprano
My favorite characters: 5) Livia Soprano; 4) Dr. Melfi; 3) Paulie Walnuts; 2) Junior Soprano; 1) Tony Soprano.
Best Song Useage: 5) 'Every Breath You Take' (Sting)/'Peter Gun Theme' (Henry Mancini): S3 E1 'Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood'; 4) 'Core 'ngrato' (Dominick Chianese): S3 E13 'Army of One'; 3) 'It Was A Very Good Year' (Frank Sinatra): S2 E1 'A Guy Walks In To A Psychiatrist's Office'; 2) 'The Dolphin' (Fred Neil): S6 E9 'The Ride'; 1) 'My Lovers Prayer' (Otis Redding): S2 E9 'From Where To Eternity'
