Customer Reviews

The Sopranos: Selected Scripts from Three Seasons

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A truly GREAT dramatic or comedy program requires great writing and great performing. If one ingredient is missing, it falls short. This has been evident when great performers leave superbly written dramas or comedies and get into a mere star vehicle...and fail. Just look at the hapless Seinfeld cast: highly talented performers were cursed with poor or fair material. They simply could not "go home" again.

David Chase's book of Sopranos scripts is an example of superlative writing -- writing so GREAT that these scripts read like a novel. Even if you've never watched the Sopranos, these scripts will make it hard for you to put this big-sized paperback book down (and not read it AGAIN). And, most interestingly, these scripts show you how multi-layered this program is -- and leave some tantalizing questions open for YOU to decide in a more informed and satisfying way than if you only quickly viewed the final filmed product.

It's just as compelling reading these shows as watching them -- except that here you get the compete stage directions, directions to actors about their characters' motivations,
emotions and expressions. You catch every single hilarious zinger (many of which can't be posted here since it's a family site!) and every single foreshadow or callback symbol (the ducks, symbolic in the pilot, fly overhead in a V formation during the College episode) that you may have missed. This is a SUPERB book for Sopranos fans and non-Sopranos fans alike since it starts with the pilot episode, introducing the characters and the premise of a family man Mafia boss from a dysfunctional family who is in psychiatric analysis.

This book also includes four other all-time most fascinating and gripping Sopranos episodes: College (Tony takes his daughter on a college interview, sees a mob informant and strangles him); The Happy Warrior (Tony tries to keep childhood pal David Scatino away from his gambling operations but his friend insists on sneaking in, gets in debt, and his FIRST payment is his son's SUV, which Tony unsuccessfully gifts to his horrified daughter); The Knight In White Satin Armor (Tony's mistress tries to do herself in while Tony's sister Janice shows a genetic lack of impulse control by murdering her abusive newlywed mob husband); and Pine Barrens (the famous tour de farce with Christopher and Paulie getting stranded out in a cold forest after a botched attempt to kill an agile Russian gangster).

In his introduction, Chase notes how his ideal is that each episode stands alone as a separate film, a goal not always achieved but achieved in each of these selections, especially College. The writing's quality shines through with each line, each description -- even built-in directions on dialogue's timing. Some other highlights:

--PACING: When sister Janet angrily shoots her new hubby the script aims for something fast and furious. It comes across much more jarring on film.
--THE SHOW'S CREATION: Chase explains how each episode has at least three separately written strands that are literally cut and scotch taped into the script so plotlines go back and forth. Noting that The Sopranos was rejected by all four networks, Chase calls its exile to HBO "the best thing that could have happened because there's no way that the show we now see could have wound up on the screen of network television."
--NUANCES: Judge for yourself exactly how even at an early juncture Tony's not-so-Mom-of-the-year Livia wanted to see him bumped off. The scripts also bring out the lust and final-restraint in Tony's wife Carmela's wannabe affair with "schnorer" family priest Father Phil and Tony's suspicions. "What did the two of you do for 12 hours? Play name that Pope?" Tony asks her.

Like a great symphony, the final page of this book's final script (Pine Barrens) has a theme bringing this book full circle when a frustrated Tony asks his psychiatrist: "Why does everything have to be so hard? I'm not sayin' I'm perfect but I do the right...thing for my family. Doesn't that count for anything?"

Read the Sopranos book of scripts...then YOU decide...

I bought this for my son because he is a huge Sopranos fan. However, I snatched it away from him and had a great time reviewing the scripts.
When you watch the show, the dialogue is often lost or ignored because the viewer tends to be caught up in the action. By having a script handy, you get a chance to analyze the writing style. While the plots have a great deal to do with the show's ultimate popularity, the crisp and effective dialogue which remains true to each character's development is equally important.
If you are interested in learning how to write for tv or movies, the scripts are great to analyze.

The big irony is that when you read "The Sopranos: Selected Scripts from Three Seasons" expecting to have increased respect for the writers, what you come away with is even greater respect for the actors. I like to look over scripts of favorite television shows, not just to see what was changed, deleted or added to what eventually aired, but to enjoy the stage directions, where the writers work in all sorts of fun and telling details. However, compared to most other television scripts David Chase and company do not provide a lot of extra tips (neither did Shakespeare, come to think of it). Consequently, the chief attraction here for fans of the shows ends up being the dialogue that never made it to the screen along with the introduction by Chase.

Of course the introduction is insightful, albeit relatively short, as Chase talks about the creative and casting process. I particularly liked the part when he explains the multiple strands that comprise each episode (a rule clearly violated by the "College" script, which only has two) and the process by which "Soprano" scripts are written. The results are the "final" (i.e., shooting) scripts, and why the title page of each episode lists the various revisions (blue for 1st, pink for 2nd, yellow for 3rd, etc.). Unfortunately, unlike some other script collections, there are not any notations on the pages to indicate what color they are; I admit, I am curious as to what pages make it from the first draft all the way through production.

For selecting only five scripts from the first three seasons of "The Sopranos," this collection does a nice job. You have to have the "Pilot" episode and "College" is clearly the most memorable show from the first season. "The Happy Wanderer" is another pivotal episode in the show's history and "The Knight in White Satin Armor" contains one of the biggest surprises. "Pine Barrens" represents a prime example of the comic extremes of which the show is capable. So I have no complaints given the collective results. The final comment would be that it is interesting to read hour-long television scripts without teasers and four acts; just another reason to applaud HBO's efforts in this area. So, where is the script collection for "Six Feet Under"?

I've been waiting for the screen plays to be released ever since seeing the first season of THE SOPRANOS. The only draw back is the print doesn't seem dark enough. I hope it won't fade quickly. That said, it's still a great book and would make a wonderful gift to any hardcore fan of the show. Keep your fingers crossed that other scripts will soon follow.

The influence of this series in completely elevating the television medium to the level of cinema cannot be underestimated. This collection of teleplays by David Chase and his staff remains as rich as a great novel. The words jump off the page and the characterizations are vivid.
This is an excellent read.

David Chase, you are still a genius, and your achievement stands the test of time.

-Elijah Joon, author of TEMPORAL: a Novel of Consciousness and Time (Art House Essential Reading)

This item was sent to me in Sweden and arrived in truly excellent condition! It was wrapped in paper along with the USPS cover. Many thanks to him or her who wrapped this item!

I teach screenwriting at the University of New Hampshire. Most of the screenplays I use in my class I receive from the agent of an acquaintance who is a TV producer; without that direct link, my students might not have access to the vast array of great teleplays being produced today.

I am thrilled to see this book, which has published the scripts in proper teleplay format. Now any student of teleplay writing can pick it up and see proper font (Courier New, point size 12) and layout. Whether or not you're a fan of the show, this is a must-have book for any aspiring student of the teleplay.

Being female, it's difficult for me to appreciate the full context of why the Soprano's series is so appealing to men; but it surely is. To the extent that the series reflects the lives they lead, and hence, is the art by which they are most likely to identify with the dynamics, it must be successful due to its popularity. To the extent that it doesn't, it offers the opportunity to prevent lives from having to. Either way, it's a win-win situation since the positive and negative effects can be visualized and measured on the screen rather than through the high risk performance that people must try to live through to survive. Perhaps that is the series' peculiar appeal: safety and entertainment through scrutiny of what people could construe as dangerous territory involving dangerous people. To the extent that it measures a code of justice not often available to people on the outside, it serves to make the world a safer place because of its portrayals.