TV Zone
News, scoops, reviews and more from TV land.
posts Next post »Jon & Kate: Whining reaches hurricane force
The next "Sopranos?"
Photo credit: getty
Did HBO pick up "The Next Sopranos" yesterday? Probably a question the pay cabler just as soon not ask - why jinx this now? - but it's an inescapable one. As you may know, HBO finally gave a series order to "Boardwalk Empire," which'll be written/produced by Terry Winter, who was show-runner for much of "Sopranos'" run; David Chase was of course series creator and overall chief without whom "S" would never have been, but Winter in time became almost equally important in the "S" firmament; IMDB lists him exec producer on 67 episodes - there were a total of 86 - and he wrote, or shared writing credits on, many of those. So without Winter, there likely would not have been "Sopranos" either - or a very different "Sopranos," and certainly no one would ever wish that. Sure, there were other cooks in this wonderful kitchen - Frank Renzulli, a genuine tough guy (with a big heart) who knew the Boston mob intimately; Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green, the husband/wife team who had made "Northern Exposure" the success that it was; and Matthew Weiner, whose story you already know well.
TV shows, it goes without saying, are great and complicated collaborations and "Sopranos" was the sum of a thousand parts, but the question about "Boardwalk" will still be asked - partly because the parallels here are so striking. Tim Van Patten is, I believe, also working on the show, and he definitely was in on the early part of the development process - he was another important creative force on "S." The great Steve Buscemi's in the title role as Nucky Thompson, the bad guy who ran the Atlantic City rackets during prohibition (poor, violent, crazed, insane, recidivist Tony Blundetto met an unfortunate end on "S.") Martin Scorsese's directing the pilot too.
Tags: steve buscemi , terence winter , david chase , the sopranos , martin scorsese , nelson johnson , boardwalk empire , mitch burgess , robin green , tim van patten , matthew weiner , frank renzulli , t
