With last week’s brouhaha over cast members of “The Sopranos” planning to attend – and some said thereby taint – tomorrow’s Columbus Day parade, the line between TV and reality was once more blurred in this city, where the mob opera’s characters have been adopted as our first family.
In fact, a New York Post online poll revealed that New Yorkers are just as concerned about another episode about Columbus Day, which was a recent plot line.
According to The Post’s Internet poll, many viewers despised the episode – which focused on anti-Italian sentiment on the national holiday – with some fans saying whoever was responsible should be “whacked.”
That probably won’t happen, as the episode was co-written by Michael Imperioli, who plays newly promoted capo Christopher Moltisanti.
But the fervent response to the poll was further evidence that many New Yorkers have become so obsessed with HBO’s mob drama that every plot twist – or sidetrack, as many regarded Episode 3 – has spawned disgruntled dialogue at water coolers around town.
One poll respondent, baffled by the relevance of Episode 3 to the Mafia underworld, wrote: “The Sopranos . . . is now about as daring and exciting as ‘Bonanza.’ ” Another commented: “If this was the first season of ‘The Sopranos,’ HBO would have no choice but to pull it off the air.”
So are fans angry enough to dump “The Sopranos” for the remainder of the season? Fuhgedaboudit – that ain’t gonna happen!
The show’s ratings are holding steady this season at about 11 million viewers per week. It is the highest-rated cable drama ever and is seen by more people than most broadcast network shows.
But, according to about 2,400 Post poll participants, the show about a New Jersey crime family could use bit of a shakedown. According to our poll, about 60 percent of respondents want to see more mob action in “The Sopranos,” and say this season has become sleepy and melodramatic.
Thirty-two percent think the show has only been “pretty good” this year, while about 22 percent said the series was “somewhat disappointing.” Just over 20 percent say it has been “excellent.”
Chief among the beef of some fans is that the show’s writers have left viewers hanging over some of the best storylines from last season – such as what happened to the Russian mobster and his cronies who had it out for Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) last year? And a few of this season’s plot lines seem to have stalled, some say.
More than 17 percent of poll participants want to see more of sexy Adriana (Drea De Matteo), Moltisanti’s girlfriend, who got caught in an FBI sting in Episode 2. She was asked to wear a wire, yet has hardly appeared since, some fans complained.
“Last Sunday’s show was the weakest of the season and the previous shows are going downhill also,” wrote a Post reader at http://www.nypost.com. “Do they have new writers? What happened to the girl that’s supposed to be FBI? What about Dr. Melfi’s rape? I used to wait anxiously for Sunday’s show, but . . . ‘The Sopranos’ is not what is used to be.”
About 29 percent of those polled say they want more Tony Soprano-based plots during the second half of the season, while almost 33 percent say they want to see troublemaker Ralphie Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) get whacked.
More than 21 percent of those polled say they want Tony’s wife Carmela (Edie Falco) – who seems to have spent almost every episode of the season so far flirting with capo Furio Giunta (Federico Castelluccio) – to have an affair.
And, by the way, poll participants were evenly divided in their reaction to last week’s roll in the hay by Mr. and Mrs. Soprano.
“It’s about time,” some said, while someone else commented, “Yuck, it’s a bit like finding out your parents actually ‘do it.’ “
THE PLOT THICKENS – POLL
How do you rate the new season of “The Sopranos” so far?
Excellent 20.6%
Pretty Good 32.2%
Average 15.4%
Somewhat Disappointing 21.6%
Extremely Disappointing 10.1%
Did you like the Tony-Carmela sex scene in last Sunday’s episode?
Yes 48.6%
No 51.4%