4 thoughts on “Mark Twain’s death is even less exaggerated now”
The Sopranos was incredible, period. But it was at its best when Tony was forced to operate outside of his bubble.
The episode referenced above is one of those ep’s, and that ep in particular (featuring the late Hal H) is one of the strongest pieces of writing of the entire series (which, again, was incredibly well-written).
Great reference, Dev.
If it’s been a while, I cannot recommend enough taking the time for a Sopranos re-watch. It only gets better with age, and it’s a remarkable snapshot of the last moments of American pop-culture before smartphones changed everything, forever.
It was Hal who really made that episode, and they gave him fantastic lines across the board to take advantage of his skills. Same with Burt Young (“Ya fuckin’ greaseball, ya!”), Steve Buscemi & several others.
Agreed about the lack of smartphones. With those, Tony wouldn’t have had the chance to pull phones out of the wall in rages, or use them to beat up Georgie the bartender.
Hal was great in a Sopranos episode as a dying Bell Labs guy named John.
John: The universe is just a big soup of molecules bumping up against one another. The shapes we see exist only in our own consciousness. (TV picture goes out.)
Paulie: You’re so fuckin’ smart… fix that TV.
John: (Laughs.) Okay…
He portrayed Twain longer than Clemens did. Always liked him
The Sopranos was incredible, period. But it was at its best when Tony was forced to operate outside of his bubble.
The episode referenced above is one of those ep’s, and that ep in particular (featuring the late Hal H) is one of the strongest pieces of writing of the entire series (which, again, was incredibly well-written).
Great reference, Dev.
If it’s been a while, I cannot recommend enough taking the time for a Sopranos re-watch. It only gets better with age, and it’s a remarkable snapshot of the last moments of American pop-culture before smartphones changed everything, forever.
It was Hal who really made that episode, and they gave him fantastic lines across the board to take advantage of his skills. Same with Burt Young (“Ya fuckin’ greaseball, ya!”), Steve Buscemi & several others.
Agreed about the lack of smartphones. With those, Tony wouldn’t have had the chance to pull phones out of the wall in rages, or use them to beat up Georgie the bartender.
Hal was great in a Sopranos episode as a dying Bell Labs guy named John.
John: The universe is just a big soup of molecules bumping up against one another. The shapes we see exist only in our own consciousness. (TV picture goes out.)
Paulie: You’re so fuckin’ smart… fix that TV.
John: (Laughs.) Okay…
He portrayed Twain longer than Clemens did. Always liked him