Mob scene: Fans, stars of The Sopranos’ gripped by hit HBO series

Kimberley McGee

Thursday, March 29, 2001 | 8:52 a.m.

Unless you sleep with the fishes, you've probably heard the name over the airwaves, around the watercooler or in your circle of friends.

It's big, baby, and the country as well as Las Vegas is in its grip.

The HBO mob series "The Sopranos" has moved in on network ratings and become the first cable television show ever to draw an audience as large as prime-time television shows such as NBC's hits "ER" and "The West Wing."

"The Sopranos" has dazzled jaded urbanites with its portrayal of social contradictions and controversy such as that of the lead character, mob boss Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, who seeks out a therapist to calm his guilty conscience.

The characters can be as warm as apple pie or chillier than a plate of cold cuts.

Either way, audiences are eating them up.

A record 11.3 million viewers in 6.8 million homes tuned into the show's third-season March 4 premiere, according to the Nielsen Ratings.

This isn't an average TV show, said Matt Roush, television critic for TV Guide and USA Today.

"To me it's more like an epic film, a miniseries of sorts," Roush said. "They don't have to have a payoff every 15 minutes to go to a commercial break."

Unlike on a network television show, which must constrict language, nudity and violence, HBO pushes the boundaries of sex scenes and social norms.

"People know it's a special show and they know it's a premium television show and they have to pay a premium to watch it," Roush said.

Or search out a friend with an HBO connection.

"This has become a reason for people to get together," Roush said. "If you aren't watching it, there is a tendency to feel left out."

In all fairness, the show doesn't appeal to everyone. In fact, it may hit too close to home for some.

"Why should I watch it? I lived it," quipped Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a former attorney for purported Mafia players.

Goodman, who had a role in the Las Vegas-set mob movie "Casino," said if he was offered a part on the show, "I'd accept."

The show has certainly clicked in Las Vegas. Locals gather on Sunday nights to watch at homes and restaurants. Cast members regularly visit the city to promote the show, as well as pose for photos and grant interviews to a popular fan website based in Las Vegas.

Mob mentality

Each Sunday Devin Reiss and a handful of friends gather at his Henderson home to cook an authentic Italian dinner, drink wine and watch "The Sopranos."

"It's different than what you can see on network TV, and we like to get together on Sunday, unwind before the work week," Reiss, a partner with Realty 500 Reiss Corporation, said.

On a recent Sunday two female characters on the show battled over a missing leg prosthesis and a shadily inherited record collection.

Meanwhile Reiss, and fellow fans Brad Packer and Brian Singleton, debated which character had the temerity to do more evil.

It was a match of wits, both onscreen and off.

That's the draw, Packer, public relations manager at the Venetian, said.

"This show seems to breed getting together as a group and watching," he said. "You get to eat, drink and be mobsters for a while."

The show's honor-among-thieves premise attracted Karin Gregorec, an employee with Geekazoid and Friends, a computer Internet host company in east Las Vegas.

"It sounds crazy but in a strange way I respect some of their ethics," she said of "The Sporanos' " characters. "There's no maybe. They don't go back on their word. A handshake is a handshake."

When her busy schedule allows, Gregorec watches the show with fellow fans. If not, she catches up on the weekdays with videotapes passed around within her circle of friends.

She doesn't want to be left out of the loop.

"We all like it and we can all relate to it and eat Italian that night," she said.

A local couple have shunned parties for a more private viewing.

Jinette Denger, owner of Service Brokers, an Internet marketing business, and her police officer husband, Kai, trade their workweek struggles for an hour with the Soprano clan.

"It's an event," Denger said. "The kids are immediately put to bed and we sit down together. We even upgraded to digital (cable), it's that bad" of an addiction to the show.

John Tunney, owner of Olio! at the MGM Grand, understands. He coupled his need to see the show with his long hours as owner of the neo-Italian eatery to create a "The Sopranos" soiree each week in the restaurant's private screening room.

The dinner party for 20 fans includes wine and dishes featured on the show, such as Rigatoni Bolognese and Zucchini Flowers, for $105 per person. The five-course meal is followed by an ice cream dessert from the restaurant's wall of gelato.

"I love the show so I thought, 'Let's make a party out of it,' " Tunney said.

Web connection

The Web has spawned a fan base that is hungry for "The Sopranos" information.

A local Web designer was one of the first to get in on "The Sopranos" action in October 1999 with Sopranoland.com.

Las Vegan Ivy Hover created the site as a way to experiment with page design, as well as work through the grief of losing her 36-year-old husband, Kevin Kew, to kidney failure earlier that year.

The endeavor became a full-time job.

"I never thought I'd be an expert on a TV show," Hover said. "But the characters, the plot are not contrived. People can relate to them."

Within six months she downloaded the first and second seasons' transcripts, and obtained photos and interviews with cast members.

Fans follow the cast members offscreen because they seem so down to earth, Hover said.

"They are not huge stars," Hover said. "They are just people like you and me doing something that they like and they were fortunate that they got to do it."

Andrea Sacker, fan-club producer for the Internet television guide gisttv.com, said that aside from the official HBO site, Sopranoland.com has the most innovative and current information on the Web.

"It was the best site out there," Sacker said. "It has the most extensive research, features and it's always up to date."

"The Sopranos" cast members have learned of Sopranoland.com through fans and word-of-mouth.

Dominic Chianese, who plays Corrado "Junior" Soprano, Steve Schrippa (Bobby Baccalieri) and James Cerbone (Jackie Aprile, Jr.) are among those who have been interviewed for the site.

Schrippa, a supporting character for the past three seasons, left his post as the Riviera's entertainment director last May to work as a full-time actor.

Between gigs in New York and Hollywood, Schrippa lives in Las Vegas until "The Sopranos" begins taping each Aug. 1.

"Besides the HBO 'Sopranos' site, there's no other that's as knowledgeable," Schrippa said of Sopranoland.com. "I don't think there's a better one than that."

The big break

Also interviewed for Sopranoland.com site was Christopher Quinn, who played Rusty Irish during the show's first season. He was one of the first cast members to be cut from the show.

His character's unintentional -- and assisted -- leap from a bridge was a break for him. He is a member of the elite "sleeps-with-the-fishes" crew of characters killed off the show.

"I'm the one people remember dying in the promo for the first season," Quinn said.

It's a living. Quinn, who works for the New York City Department of Transportation, recently bought a 100-year-old Victorian home with his earnings.

He will continue to look for acting parts, but would rather be home installing wood floors with his wife, Nanette Fuentes, an administrator at Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a part-time actress.

"I was in on something that had a great buzz, and still does," Quinn said. "It meant a lot to me that I was able to be part of the incredible allegory of the American dream."

Vincent Curatola, who plays Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni, said that if it weren't for the fans the show wouldn't be a monster hit, and he wouldn't be Las Vegas-bound for numerous appearances.

"We get out there every couple of months, four or five of us from 'Sopranos,' just (promoting) us," he said of the casts frequent visits. "(Fans) seem to crave contact with us. We'll just show up and they call us over. It's phenomenal."

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