February 23, 2004

Two Jersey Judges and the Sopranos.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jim @ 9:36 pm

It is hardly news that the HBO hit show, The Sopranos, will be returning on March 7th. Many of us in Jersey have a special affinity for the show for various reasons. Among them are:: (1) the story is set in New Jersey and makes references to real Jersey towns and other locations. For example, when Uncle Junior says that he lives on Watsessing Avenue in Bloomfield, we can relate; (2) the majority of the location scenes are shot in New Jersey (e.g. the famous opening montage; I recognize just about every snippet), and (3) many of us know (or knew) people who look, talk, and, to one degree or another, act just like the characters in the show. (Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as organized crime in New Jersey.)

Over the weekend, we learned that a federal court judge in U.S. District Court in Newark ruled that a Jersey resident, Robert Baer, himself a judge in a Passaic County municipal court, was not entitled to share in the show’s profits.

Baer had sued David Chase, the producer/creator of the show, alleging that he (Baer) had discussions with Chase when the show was in its development stage and that he introduced Chase to people with real underworld contacts. According to Baer, in exchange for these discussions and introductions, Chase promised a share of the proceeds of the finished product.

The court ruled that “the essential terms of the contract cannot be determined, [and] that the alleged agreement is too indefinite to allow the court to ascertain with reasonable certainty what each party agreed to.” That is, of course, a legalistic way of saying that Baer’s case is as about as dead as headless Ralphie Cifaretto.

Bada-Bing!

7 Comments »

  1. As Chris Moltisanti might say, “All this probably caused some dysentery among the parties.”

    Comment by topdawg — February 24, 2004 @ 6:21 am

  2. Favorite Soprano scene ?

    1)Christopher’s drug intervention

    2)Tony’s rambling monologue on the ride home from the Conn. Indian casino,wherein Christopher asks “Gary Cooper was a fag?”. You call Frankie Valli.

    3)Uncle Junior’s singing at the restaurant at the conclusion of the season. Complete with tears from Bobby Baccala.

    4)The Pinelands episode. All of it.

    5)Bobby Baccala’s telling Junior “I’m in awe of you” after Junior explains his decision not to back Richie’s move against Tony.

    Comment by cousin gary — February 24, 2004 @ 7:36 am

  3. I have to say that I got real excited when I saw the teaser promo the other night.

    That Steve Buscemi is going to be involved only amplifies that reaction.

    Comment by Jeff — February 24, 2004 @ 12:52 pm

  4. My favorite Soprano line…

    “I need to direct my anger and frustrations to those in my life who deserve it”.

    Comment by Rick — February 24, 2004 @ 1:48 pm

  5. Since we only get one channel of “Army TV” we get very excited when the next seasons come out. After the kids go to bed, we usually watch an hour or two a night. My wife claims it helps her to be a bitch at work, but I think it helps her more to be a bitch at home……..

    Take care Jim and others,

    Rick

    Comment by Rick — February 24, 2004 @ 1:54 pm

  6. Sorry to burn up your comments section….

    I forgot my other “favorite”

    “Those who want respect, give respect”

    Can not believe that slipped my mind, maybe it was because of my HOVERING crowd I have here.

    Comment by Rick — February 24, 2004 @ 2:00 pm

  7. It’s difficult to pick favorite episodes, as I don’t recall ever having seen a bad one. Having said that, I liked all the episodes, with Richie April, the ultimate shithook. I particularly liked his debut, where he smacked poor Beansie across the face with the glass coffee pot and then later drove a car into him, pinning him against a parked car – and, as if that was not enough, driving over his broken body TWICE. That was matched by the episode where Janice (the ultimate in pieces of shit) plugs Richie several times in the chest and then worries about whether Tony et al. buried him in a nice place.

    One of my favorite lines (there are sooooo many) is Tony’s Russian girlfriend saying (with a wonderful Russian accent), “Tony, will you be my knight in white satin armor?”

    Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — February 24, 2004 @ 7:55 pm

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