brain tumor.

Joseph Gannascoli - the actor who plays Vito - was on two separate seasons of that "Celebrity Fit Club" show on VH1....so he's had a personal trainer and all kinds of shit...it's funny though, i noticed he still has the fat guy walk.

must make it easier to go down on a guy in a front seat now though. ;)

He was on Season 1...thats it

That's kind of the whole point. This is a mafia show after all, and one of the common threads is the "good" kid being pulled into the mob life. It happened with Tony. And it will happen with his son. There have been a lot of little hints interspersed throughout the years. The fact that he was a bully in school, the party he threw last year to make money. I do not know how it will play out, but by the end of the show he will be in an important position. It might start with him whacking Uncle June. Also, Tony does not 100% trust Chris. Chris will likely be de facto boss while Tony is recuperating (or dying) and someone will have to step in and fix things.

Well, I think his weight could help him survive. My ex-girlfriend had an uncle who was big. He was shot five times and survived thanks to the extra weight.

Somewhere around Season 2 or 3, I always had a suspicion that Meadow would somehow get wrapped into the "family." I never thought she would start collecting or anything, but maybe she would have married someone in the family (not necessarily Jackie Jr. though). But by Season 5, I pretty much abandoned that thought.

Say what you want about the quality of Seasons 3-5, but we had a major death each season -- Jackie Jr. in Season 3, Ralph Cifaretto in Season 4, and Tony Blundetto in Season 5. Plus assorted minor characters like Billy Leotrado or what's-his-name who died on the john from the stress of being a capo.

That's because Christopher is the hair apparent.

It is a fat suit. I actually saw him 2 times this past summer and once during the winter. He's not that big. BTW, all 3 times, it was by pure chance, I do not know him, although we are from the same home town.

Anyone else notice that Jamie-Lynn Singler dropped her married name during the credits? Did she get divorced?

Yep she did.

Yeah I was going to post about that. Sounds like she took it real hard, much like her character, being dragged off into the woods kicking and screaming.

I may be able to shed some light on some of the issues / questions being raised here so allow me to attempt to clear some things up if I can.

Tony has told Chris on numerous occasions that he will take over when Tony's gone. Syl is Tony's consigliere and it's extremely rare for a consigliere to take over a family. It's more of an "on the side" position; not under anyone but the Boss, but still no real power of his own over the Capts. He is mostly a diplomat and his only real power is that of the Boss' sort of devil's advocate / sounding board, helping in decision making and negotiating. A consig. is usually not a hands on earner. He gets his income from a share of the Capts. collective tributes. This is to keep him clean of any legal issues regarding day to day business operations and to keep him safe as he is in closest contact with his Boss.

Mostly Capts. are promoted to Boss if there is no blood heir active in the life. Also it's not the top earner who gets the top spot it's the Capt. with the most balls who would be feared most by the other Capts. as long as he's not a certifiable lunatic like Ralphie Ciffaretto. Paul Castellano was an exception to this rule and anyone who's eaten at Sparks Steak House or heard of John Gotti knows how that worked out. Remember the mob is a business but it's one run by fear.

A guy like Paulie would be a soldier, or button all his life. The fact that he is a Capt. is unrealistic but hey it's a TV show and he's a well liked character.

Assuming the other Capts. are out as possibilities only because we know next to nothing about them as they were never featured as principle characters on the show I have to assume if anyone's taking over in the near future it's Chrissy. Although I'd love to see A.J. get involved in the life.

Also Junior said "Gatso (sp?) Malenga!" as he shot Tony. Which loosely translated means "Up yours Malenga".

I like the idea of AJ joining the family business. Maybe Tony doesn't want him to but I don't think Tony will be alive long enough to have any say. I don't think he'll be boss because that title will go to Chris but he will end up playing a very important role in the last few episodes. Maybe he's the one that gets rid of Phil.

Wow, that whole paragraph is one sentence! :eek:

I'd hardly draw conclusions about the future of characters based on the appearance of the actors playing those characters. When AJ was cast 7 years ago, I seriously doubt it was because of how they guessed he'd look 7 years later for story lines not yet written. ;)

If AJ does join the biz, it'll be a huge leap that most viewers would balk at, IMO. He's a slacker kid, that's what his character is. It's less of a stretch for Artie to drop the restaurant and become a captain than it is for AJ, and Artie's not going to leave the prosciutto alone. :lol:

When I heard that they were going to give AJ more screen time, the first thing that popped into my mind was that they were going to have him reveal that he's gay. Imagine how Tony would react to that!

What does everyone thing will happen to Junior? I can't see Tony having him put in a hospital. In his altered mental state, he could slip and tell some secrets. Maybe Tony will give him some "Pillow therapy"

I gotta say, I really loved this episode. Great way to get back into the swing of things. Without Tony, I think that the family will start to fall apart.

This is actually my first experience with watching Sopranos as it airs instead of on DVD, and it's going to take some getting used to. On the other hand, it should be easier to avoid spoilers.

This episode was fantastic. I really liked the intro song and the way they gave information about what has happened in the past year (baby, house being built, AJ in college, etc). The hanging scene was brutal, I found myself squirming towards the end of that scene. I also thought they were simply setting up for a later episode with Junior, so I was still shocked at Tony getting shot.

That was only Chris' "making" ceremony. He wasn't made captain at that point. At the end of S5, he still was only a made man, so apparently his promotion to captain came in the year (according to show chronology) between S5 and S6. Interestingly enough, Eugene Pontecorvo was made along with Chris. This was in S3, Paulie went to jail in S4.

As for Vito, the actor Joe Gannascoli had the gastric bypass surgery. The character lost weight by dieting. A steady diet of trouser trout.

:eek: :lol:

In my opinion, I find everything conducive for AJ joining the family business. His whole lifestyle is anti establishment. He can not conform to any rules such as school and partying (always seems to be in trouble or on the verge of getting into trouble). The only thing keeping him away in my opinion was his father, and that obsticle may be out of the way now. Something may happen (Tony getting shot, almost dying, or dying, maybe) that will awaken him to the fact that this is indeed his life.

i thought in S4 or S5 Tony said that he didn't think AJ was cut out for the business because he was basically a wimp

Which is pretty much what Tony was at that age.

And remember, this is Jersey, not New York. The standards are a bit lower!