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The Sopranos cast continues to be one of the greatest ever assembled on television, with stars continually popping up in other projects. Widely regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time, the HBO series centers on Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a North Jersey-based mobster struggling with panic attacks who hesitantly starts therapy with Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). Key figures in the story include his family and fellow mobsters, especially his wife, Carmela, two children Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and A.J. (Robert Iler), and his ambitious cousin and protégé, Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).

The Sopranos cast was a massive ensemble led by the late great James Gandolfini, who received six Emmy nominations and won three for his portrayal of Tony Soprano. His Mafia colleagues include the late Tony Sirico as the loyal yet volatile Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri, Steven Van Zandt as Tony's consigliere Silvio Dante, and Vincent Pastore as Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero.

I am 11 years late to this one, but watching True Detective: Season 1 has compelled me to try and squeeze some of these thoughts out of my brain. It is like trying to squeeze Pate through a plastic ketchup bottle hole. My thoughts are too meaty and chunky, and this is going to cause a huge mess.

Mild Spoilers.

True Detective aired on HBO, the historical home of quality US television. I always thought of their Show Oz as changing the game for quality long-format shows on TV, but likely the far more popular The Sopranos drowns that out. Reading on the internet, it seems that many people credit True Detective with being one of the first shows to bring Hollywood star power into a tight, 8 show format.

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey star as our Detective duo who are tasked with investigating a ritualistic, folk murder in the deep South.

Netflix’s latest trending movie, Nonnas (2025), is a delightful blend of comedy and heartfelt storytelling that will whet your appetite for both food and familial love. Set against the backdrop of an Italian restaurant, the film serves up mouthwatering dishes and emotional moments in equal measure. As viewers are transported into the world of Enoteca Maria, they experience the warmth of community, the richness of tradition, and the healing power of cooking. This movie is not just a feast for the senses but also a tribute to the enduring bonds that tie us together.

What Is the Movie ‘Nonnas’ (2025) About?

Nonnas tells the story of Joe Scaravella, portrayed by Vince Vaughn, a man grappling with the loss of his mother. In an effort to honor her memory and reconnect with his roots, Joe embarks on a journey to open an Italian restaurant in Staten Island named Enoteca Maria. What sets...

Content warning: this article contains a discussion of suicide and features spoilers for season 2, episode 6 of "The Last of Us," titled "The Price."

You'd think, by this point, that most actors would be pretty psyched to score a small yet pivotal role on the hit HBO series "The Last of Us," which itself is based on a hit series of video games by Naughty Dog that came out in 2013 and 2020. When it comes to Joe Pantoliano, though — an actor known for "Bound," "The Matrix," and "The Sopranos" — he was approached to play the important game character Eugene and just ... ended up confusing "The Last of Us" with "This Is Us."

"I thought it was that other show, 'This Is Us,'" Pantoliano told Variety in an interview about his "The Last of Us" episode. "Ken Olin was an exec [producer] on it. He's an old friend of mine. And I thought,...

Comedian Craig Ferguson is taking over as host of The CW’s Scrabble, replacing Raven-Symoné, who will remain an executive producer on the recently renewed game show.

Both Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit, hosted by LeVar Burton, have been picked up for 30-episode second seasons to air in 2026 on The CW.

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“We...

Spoilers for "The Last of Us" season 2, episode 6 follow.

Since the beginning of "The Last of Us" season 2, a name has been thrown around within the confines of Jacksonville that we've been keen to learn more about. This week, we finally got properly introduced to Eugene, the late husband of Gail (Catherine O'Hara), who we discovered was killed by Joel (Pedro Pascal) sometime between the show's two seasons. Much like how Frank was only referred to in the game but expanded on in season 1 thanks to the help of Murray Bartlett and his screen partner Nick Offerman as Bill, Eugene was a character that was only skimmed over in "The Last of Us Part II" video game. Explored through notes that Ellie (Bella Ramsey in the show) found on her travels, the live-action adaptation instead spent a healthy amount of time finding out about Eugene before Joel did the deed,...

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If you asked which brand reigns supreme in prestige television, most would say HBO. "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" are highs that television dramas have been chasing for the last two decades. HBO's judgment is not unassailable, though. The network has turned down several shows that went on to be huge successes elsewhere. One of the shows HBO rejected was "Breaking Bad," which is generally ranked alongside "Sopranos" and "The Wire" as the third node in the "television masterpiece" triptych.

Another was the series that became "Sons of Anarchy." Created by Kurt Sutter, the series is basically "Hamlet" retold with the Hells Angels. Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam) is a member of the Sons of Anarchy, a motorcycle club in northern California that makes its money running guns. The club was founded by Jax's late father, John, but these...

Jesse Armstrong is back at HBO — just not with a “Succession” spinoff. The series creator makes his feature directorial debut with HBO Original film “Mountainhead,” which takes a more head-on approach to satirizing the elite. Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Ramy Youssef, and Cory Michael Smith star as four tech moguls whose bro trip gets derailed after a global financial meltdown ensues. Did they cause it? With a combined net worth of nearly $400 billion between the pals, who is really to say…

The film’s official logline reads: “A group of billionaire friends get together against the backdrop of a rolling international crisis.” Armstrong writes, directs, and executive produces the film, which was shot in Park City, Utah.

The project also reunites seven-time Emmy winner and Oscar-nominated Armstrong with his fellow “Succession” producers Frank Rich, Lucy Prebble, and producer/director Mark Mylod. Both Rich and Armstrong have overall deals at HBO.

Andor tells the story of Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, a thief-turned-Rebel spy, who joins the Rebellion against the Empire. The Star Wars series is surprisingly deep, mature, political, and thematically rich. As a result, it has established itself as one of the best shows of modern streaming, receiving rave reviews.

The series recently concluded its run with its final batch of episodes dropping online. In the process, the series set a new record that was previously unheard of, even during the peak of the cable television era that gave us hits like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos. Here is the major record Andor has set with its final episodes and why it cements the show as a modern masterpiece.

Andor season 2 breaks a major live-action TV record

Created by Tony Gilroy, Andor started life as a spin-off of the 2016 film Rogue One. Given the mixed track record of the Disney-produced Star Wars projects,...

First, there was HBO bringing superb programming to cable, then the legacy expanded to streaming on HBO Max, and now, just Max is keeping up the reputation for having some of the best shows on television. Programs like the mobster drama "The Sopranos," the brutal fantasy series "Game of Thrones," and the political satire "Veep"  not only stand out as great TV, but during their time, they were able to seep into the cultural zeigeist in a way that few are capable of achieving. But it's precisely because of this fact that viewers of Max have been spoiled for choice, meaning a number of shows on the network have somehow fallen through the cracks. 

Whether they failed to find an audience that connected with them the way they deserved, were cancelled too early, or were narratively or stylistically ahead of their time, these Max shows are of high quality but lack the reputation to match.

One of the stars of Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker, nearly backed out of appearing on the HBO show just as it was about to air. It's hard to imagine any one of the main characters in Sex and the City played by a different actress. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon are as inextricable from their characters as the series is from television history. These actresses exploded in popularity thanks to Darren Star's series, so it's hard to imagine why any of them would ever have second thoughts.

Yet, Sarah Jessica Parker did have second thoughts. On an episode of the Are You a Charlotte? podcast hosted by Davis, Parker revealed that she nearly bowed out of Sex and the City just as it was to air in 1998 (via EW). Parker talked about how, after shooting the first episode of Sex and the City...

Getting your identity right is crucial for any service. Your branding can make a world of difference when it comes to sales. HBO has been struggling with the identity of its streaming service for quite some time now.

In what has been a game of cat and mouse, HBO has had to reinvent its streaming service time and again over the past few years. And it seems like there is a new twist in the tale. And HBO can’t help but poke fun at the whole situation.

It’s another name change for HBO Max Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max is back || Image by Warner Bros. Discovery

It all began in 2010 with the launch of HBO Go. A decade later, WarnerMedia launched HBO Max, a (wannabe) streaming giant that could very well take over the world. It was WarnerMedia’s big push to give the likes...

Married at First Sight has long proven to be a reality television show filled to the brim with drama, but it’s not like the fans are complaining. As extreme an experiment as it is for the contestants, not all marriages end up sticking together for too long, and Eliot Donovan is yet another name on that list. But currently, he is gaining the limelight for different reasons.

Though he had already established himself as a tough-to-please sport right from the beginning of the show, Donovan went on to prove everyone’s assumptions about him right by ditching his first bride within days of tying the knot with her. However, while his first failed marriage was one, he recently made headlines with reports of engagement buzz with another Mafs star!

Eliot Donovan is sparking engagement rumors with Jamie Marinos Eliot Donovan and Jamie Marinos. | Credits: @eliot.donovan / Ig.

Ever since...

Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service is making headlines again, reverting its name from Max back to HBO Max this summer, just two years after dropping the iconic HBO brand. The decision seems like a dwindling move, and comparing Max to the Kardashians might seem like a stretch right now, but both have a knack for grabbing attention with bold rebrands and constant reinvention.

This flip-flop, announced at Wbd’s 2025 upfront presentation, has sparked laughter, memes, and many questions. Why the change? What does it mean for subscribers? However, it seems that a name change is another approach by Wbd to strengthen its strategy, giving HBO Max a chance to boom more as a streaming platform.

HBO Max: A rebrand rollercoaster The HBO Max logo/ Credits: Warner Bros. Discovery

When HBO Max launched in 2020, it carried the prestige of HBO, a brand synonymous with quality shows like The Sopranos and Game of Thrones.

Two years ago, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav took the stage at a company press event to revel in his brilliant decision to rename HBO Max as, simply, Max. "This is a real moment for us ... This is our time. This is our chance, and everything is possible," boasted the man who can't figure out how to make money off the enduringly popular Looney Tunes brand. "I feel like, for our company, this is our rendezvous with destiny."

Today, Zaslav again took the stage at a company press event to admit he made a catastrophically stupid mistake by sheepishly announcing that as of this summer, Max will once again be known as HBO Max. I'm kidding, he's totally trying to spin this as another brilliant decision on his not-so-brilliant part.

As you might recall, the initial rebrand was met with a great deal of skepticism, if not outright hostility.

The name Max has, not a moment too soon, gotten the axe.

A little more than two years after lopping “HBO” off of the streamer’s name to create the breezily-named Max streamer, Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to reverse course. Max — the unloved mononymous identity, too cool or too anxious to acknowledge its origins — is HBO Max once more.

The Max era may be recalled as among the follies of Wbd CEO David Zaslav, whose golden touch when he ran the Discovery networks has seemed to fall away after their 2022 merger with Warner; the name change came about in May 2023. Removing the ultimate blue-chip television name — the three letters widely seen as synonymous with a luxurious sort of quality — from the Max branding was a deeply strange choice. It was the kind of decision one makes in order to prove one has the capability to take risks, whether or...

In a move that surprised absolutely no one, Warner Bros. Discovery announced today that it's changing the name of its Max streaming service to (you're not going to believe this) HBO Max. That's right, we’re going back to where it all began, with the streaming platform once more being called by its original name.

Warner Bros. Discovery broke the news today at its Upfront presentation in New York, saying that the switch back to HBO Max will take place this summer. Citing subscriber growth and brand recognition as the reasons for the change, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, has this to say:

"The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming. Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead.

The move will be accompanied by a renewed focus on the prestige programming that has defined the premium brand for decades.

Everything old is new again! At the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company announced that it was turning back time and, beginning this summer, its flagship streaming service would once again be known as HBO Max. Almost exactly two years after Wbd attempted to make Max an everything-for-everyone platform, the company is set to refocus its streaming efforts on the prestige storytelling that made HBO arguably the most influential brand in television for decades.

Key Details: Déjà vu: This summer, Warner Bros. Discovery will begin calling its streamer HBO Max once again. Return to form: The move will be accompanied by a renewed focus on prestige programming. Un-Discovered: Originally called HBO Max, the move to Max accompanied an influx of Discovery cable content. Sign Up $9.99+ / month...

Director Alan Taylor has a very particular speciality: killing characters on HBO shows. Whether it's Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, Wild Bill Hickok on Deadwood, Julius Caesar on Rome, or Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, characters best beware when Taylor approaches set.

Last year, Taylor claimed another victim: Princess Rhaenys Targaryen of House of the Dragon, who fell to her death after battling her nephews in the sky astride her dragon in the best episode of the show's second season. "It is emotional because she'd been there as a big part of Season 1, and knew that her time was coming," Taylor told Gold Derby. "There's a sadness there that the actor is not going to be around anymore, because they become such a part of the intense family. For many actors, and I think it was true of her, there's a relief as well. She savored that she knew...

After "The Pitt," a medical drama that takes place in "real time" across a 15-hour shift at a fictional Pittsburgh hospital (albeit with filming locations that include the exterior of a real Pittsburgh hospital), premiered on Max in January 2025, the series became an immediate hit ... and you might be surprised that, compared to other HBO juggernauts, it's relatively cheap to produce.

In a feature about the series' success by IndieWire, executive producer and director John Wells — who came up with the idea for the series with his fellow "ER" veterans and friends R. Scott Gemmill (who serves as showrunner) and Noah Wyle (who stars as Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch) — revealed that the series costs about $4 or $5 million per episode. For context, the first season of "The Last of Us" worked with a total budget of around $100 million, which came out to around $10 million per episode.

Wells explained to the outlet...

Nonnas. (L-r) Joe Manganiello as Bruno and Drea de Matteo as Stella in Nonnas. Cr. Netflix © 2025. Right now, the top-streaming movie on Netflix is Nonnas, a film based on the real-life story of a restaurant owner who hired a team of Italian grandmothers to be his chefs. It features a strong ensemble cast that includes Vince Vaughn, Talia Shire, a couple of familiar faces from The Sopranos (Drea de Matteo and Lorraine Bracco), Brenda Vaccaro, Linda Cardellini, and Joe Manganiello. With a name like Manganiello, the True Blood veteran would seem like a perfect fit for a movie like this, and he spoke about how he wound up getting a role in the film. (Click on the media bar below to hear Joe Manganiello.) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Joe_Manganiello_Nonnas_.mp3 Nonnas is currently streaming on Netflix.

The post How Joe Manganiello Got A Seat At The...

Look what’s growing in the Garden State.

The Hollywood Reporter was on-site Tuesday morning when Netflix broke ground on its new East Coast home, Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth in central New Jersey. (Yes, there is a central New Jersey.) The gigantic renovation project — in which Netflix will turn a long-abandoned U.S. Army base into a dozen soundstages, a backlot, state-of-the-art postproduction facilities, general office space and basically 500,000 square feet of all things Netflix — was brought to you by one thing: tax credits.

You might want to take some notes here, California.

Before a wrecking ball even thrice ceremoniously slammed into some random, already-crumbling decommissioned military building (we were provided with hard hats, thank you for your concern), and before the pork roll, egg and cheese sandwiches were handed out to guests in attendance, including The Sopranos creator David Chase, Netflix had seven productions currently filming in New Jersey. In the coming years,...

Maine is the second most haunted state in America with over 800 sightings a year. In 2023, a record 1,364 people went missing.

Several members of the fabled improv comedy troupe The Groundlings used that as a jumping off point for the found footage horror film McCurdy Point.

It follow four friends documenting a celebratory getaway to a remote cabin in the woods of Maine, only to find themselves pulled into something far more sinister.

Ryan Gaul (“Superstore”), Kiel Kennedy, Joey Krulock, Christian Noah Roberts, Allison Dunbar (“The Sopranos”), Patty Guggenheim (“Twisted Metal”), and Laird Macintosh (“The Mick”) star.

Jeremy Brothers and Nick Paonessa co-direct from a script by Brothers and Gaul, based on an idea by Kennedy.

Brothers, Paonessa, Gaul, and Kennedy serve as producers, with Chris Gierowski (Don’t Fuck in the Woods) and Matthew Gudernatch executive producing.

“In a lot of horror movies, you can’t wait until some characters get killed off,...

One of the little ongoing mysteries in "The Sopranos" concerns Tony Soprano's finances: Exactly how much money does this guy make?

For the characters within the show, this question is important because it shows the obvious hole in Tony's cover story. How could a "waste management consultant" own all of these impressive material possessions? For viewers at home, it's important because it helps us wonder about the dynamics between Tony and the rest of his crew. How is Tony's house so much nicer than the other mob guys' houses? It makes sense after season 1 when Tony's the clear boss of the crew, but in the beginning, Tony is merely another capo serving under Jackie Aprile, Sr., played by Michael Rispoli. We know Tony's a strong earner, which is how he's able to get the top spot in the first place, but is he so much of a good earner...

Plot: In this six-episode dark comedic series, Tom Segura navigates unthinkable situations and fantasies within a cinematic world.

Review: Tom Segura likes messed-up humor. The comedian and podcaster has made a career by telling relatable yet slightly intrusive jokes. Along with his contemporaries Bill Burr and Bert Kreischer, Tom Segura’s brand of comedy is shockingly honest and shockingly blunt yet delivered in a way that makes you think as hard as you are laughing. Segura also loves the scope and scale of cinema and has channeled that into his new series, Bad Thoughts. A collection of loosely connected short films unified by episodic themes, Bad Thoughts is for fans of ambitious comedic series like Key & Peele, Louie, Better Things, and Dave, but through a twisted lens reminiscent of The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror. Hilarious and deeply disturbing at the same time, Bad Thoughts will have you laughing...

HBO productions have been an unparalleled goliath in the small screen since the advent of prestige TV, starting with The Sopranos. While the network isn’t immune to mishaps, given its years-long dominance on TV, longtime viewers have come to expect quality whenever a show releases under the HBO banner.

While this boils down to HBO’s nature of venturing into untouched territories with its stories, marking a stark departure from networks that rely on established formats, one common link among them has been their impeccable actors. With Isabela Merced proving to be the next reliable talent with The Last of US season 2, it’s safe to say this won’t be her last rodeo with the network.

Isabela Merced might be HBO’s next reliable asset moving forward A still from The Last of Us Season 2 | Credit: HBO

Longtime HBO viewers would be familiar with HBO’s history of working with the same actors,...

Poorna Jagannathan went from playing a beloved mother on Never Have I Ever to being a terrifying mob boss on the hit Hulu comedy Deli Boys. And while there are plenty of strong and terrifying women that Jagannathan could have found inspiration from with the character of Lucky, she ended up looking to an unlikely source to find the character: Bravo. The reality television network is home to many shows, including The Real Housewives franchise. Which is where Jagannathan turned to discover what kind of mob boss Lucky was.

In an exclusive to People, Jagannathan said that she tried to watch things like The Sopranos, which had James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano, and documentaries on crime families, but what she found the most helpful was The Real Housewives of Orange County. She did not say if there was a specific housewife that she watched or modeled her character after. However,...

Whether or not you have strong Italian roots, Netflix's Nonnas is for you. Most people can identify with comfort food when it's needed. With Nonnas, which was released on your favorite streamer on May 9, the comfort comes from taste and preparation.

The story was written by Liz Maccie and directed by her husband, Stephen Chbosky. The movie is a drama, but ultimately a heartwarming one. It's about family and friends and finding those people all over again.

As far as the cast, you will recognize most of the actors. In fact, you probably have seen much of their work. These are the people you need to know.

Cast of Nonnas is as delicious as the foodLorraine Bracco as Roberta

Bracco actually lives in Sicily part of the year, so she was perfectly cast for the role of Roberta, an outspoken nonna who has issues dealing with her Bolognese counterparts.

Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar have selected their next project — and it's a pretty original one. The two '90s icons will join Annie Murphy, Josh Gad, and Elizabeth Hurley for Breaking Bear, an animated series produced by streaming service Tubi, and it's apparently a mash-up betweenYogi Bear and mobster staple The Sopranos. Bring out the Gabagool, Boo-Boo! This time it's the bears who are hunting criminals.

Per Deadline's report, the adult animated series will see Fraser and Gellar as members of a "dysfunctional family of bears who go full criminal to stop frackers, mobsters, and a psychotic wolf pack from destroying their home. As they spiral deeper into the criminal abyss, they face off against biker gangs, an egomaniacal news anchor, and their own spectacular talent for self-sabotage." The two actors will executive produce alongside Gad and Julien Nitzberg. Tom DeLonge will also participate as executive producer with...

Cited as one of the true game-changers in television history and maybe the greatest show in the history of the medium, it’s hard to find someone who straight-up hates The Sopranos. But there is one prestige name that wouldn’t have minded seeing the show sent to long term parking. No, not Daniel Radcliffe but rather Martin Scorsese, who it turns out has zero appreciation for The Sopranos.

Martin Scorsese’s disinterest in The Sopranos is well-documented, but David Chase offered some elaboration on what kept the director from ever seeking a second opinion. “Marty Scorsese doesn’t like the show. He said, ‘I don’t get it’ – it’s like all these trees and sh*t…It’s very simple. He grew up in New York in Little Italy, and there is Five Families organized crime there. That’s what he depicted. I grew up in New Jersey...

The ingredients are simple, the cooking process unhurried and the history rich. The Italian dishes honored in director Stephen Chbosky’s sentimental dramedy “Nonnas” don’t come from professionally trained chefs, but from women of Italian heritage whose flavors have been perfected over generations. Each forkful packs a tasty homage to where they come from and to the people who loved them. And some of the film’s components are indeed authentic: Liz Maccie’s screenplay provides a fictionalized take on how Jody Scaravella opened Enoteca Maria, a real-life Italian restaurant where grandmothers cook.

Mta worker Joe (Vince Vaughn) has just lost his mother. The opening sequence shows him as a child observing as his mother and “nonna” (or grandmother) cook a feast for friends and family. Those halcyon days appear soaked in an ethereal lighting to convey nostalgia. In the present, when everyone has left the funeral, it’s...

The one-take Steadicam shot in Goodfellas, a three-minute-long scene that takes Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and Karen Friedman (Lorraine Bracco) through the famous Copacabana nightclub, is one of the most celebrated scenes of Martin Scorsese's career. But Bracco gives all the credit for her performance in the scene to the late Liotta. She recently discussed the scene with Collider's Steve Weintraub during an interview for her new culinary comedy Nonnas. Says Bracco of the scene, which is part of a film that she is "very proud" of:

"I was clueless. Thank God for Ray Liotta, God bless his soul. He was my mentor in making Goodfellas. He would put me on my mark. You can see, he drags me through. I just followed Ray, really. And it's true, it's been one of the great steadicam shots in movie history, so I was lucky."

Bracco was nominated for Best...

What if there was a new animated mobster show, but all the main characters were bears? That's the premise of Tubi's Breaking Bear, which will serve as an ursine-themed parody of more serious fare like The Sopranos. And some cinematic and geek icons have already been cast as the voices of the bears and characters who surround them.

Deadline has all the details on the cast. Oscar-winning actor Brendan Fraser will play a bear called Jer, the oldest of the sibling bears who form the main characters of the show. He fancies himself a smart bear, but is in fact incredibly dimwitted and usually causes a lot of trouble with his stupidity.

Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar is playing a smarter bear, a female one called Blair. "Constantly overlooked, Blair’s the one who ends up cleaning up her brothers’ messes and keeping the family alive – whether they notice or not,...

Martin Scorsese is not a fan of The Sopranos.

That intel come from Sopranos creator David Chase himself, who appears on The Hollywood Reporter‘s It Happened in Hollywood podcast along with filmmaker Alex Gibney, director of the 2024 doc Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos.

In the doc, Chase says, “Marty Scorsese doesn’t like the show. He said, ‘I don’t get it – it’s like all these trees and shit.’”

Chase goes on to postulate that the Goodfellas director couldn’t identify with a mafia epic told in the sprawling, wooded suburbs of New Jersey, as opposed to one set in the urban jungles of New York City, where Scorsese grew up.

On the podcast, I bring up the moment, asking Chase, “Was [Scorsese] really not a fan of The Sopranos? Did he ever go on the record to say that?”

“Yes, he did,” Chase replies.

Scorsese said...

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav believes “this is the strongest HBO has ever been” in its 53-year history, with a pop-culture mojo reminiscent of NBC’s “must-see TV” era.

Speaking to Wall Street analysts on Wbd’s first-quarter earnings call, Zaslav saluted HBO and Max content chief Casey Bloys as a “generational talent,” noting his senior leadership team has been together for 15 years. Coming off the success of The White Lotus and the current quarter’s The Last of Us, Wbd’s shareholder letter and earnings release prior to the call foregrounded HBO.

When an analyst lobbed a softball over the plate – “how is HBO able to turn out so many standout hits like this?” – Zaslav pounced. “The idea of, it’s not how much, it’s how good is something we identified,” he said. “We’re not going to flood the zone. We want to be telling the...

Breaking Bear has just been announced, and the animated show is set to feature a standout voice cast that includes Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Fraser will be best known to many for leading the cast of The Mummy (1999) and its two sequels, but he has also appeared in a host of other film projects, recently experiencing a major acting comeback with his Oscar-winning performance in The Whale (2022). Gellar, on the other hand, rose to fame around the same time with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and recently appeared in Dexter: Original Sin.

Per Deadline, Fraser, Gellar, Annie Murphy, Elizabeth Hurley, and Josh Gad have been cast to lead Breaking Bear, a new adult animated series from Tubi. The series, which is created by Julien Nitzberg, is said to parody the tropes of mobster movies, with the report stating that the show will be akin to a comedic combination of Yogi Bear and The Sopranos.

The Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco might live mainly in The Hamptons these days, but she hasn’t forgotten about the house she bought in Italy in 2020 for a mere $1 price tag. Bracco, who played psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi on the HBO crime drama from 1999 to 2007, recently spoke with the Wall Street Journal, where she revealed she still owns the property in Sambuca di Sicilia, a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, where her father’s family is from. The Emmy-nominated actress purchased the house in 2020 and documented her renovation of the rundown abode on the HGTV series My Big Italian Adventure. “I still have my 200-year-old villa in Sambuca di Sicilia, in Sicily. I bought it for one euro in 2020,” she told the outlet. “The sparse town was hoping to attract residents. My renovation was featured on the TV series My Big Italian Adventure. The people there are so warm.

Exclusive: Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek), Elizabeth Hurley (The Royals) and Josh Gad (Frozen) will lead the voice cast for Tubi’s new adult animated series Breaking Bear.

The series parodies the tropes of mobster dramas, comically combining elements of characters like Yogi Bear with series like The Sopranos. It hails from Julien Nitzberg (The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia), Evoke Entertainment and Tom DeLonge’s To The Stars Media.

Created by Nitzberg, Breaking Bear is billed as “a fur-flying, law-breaking, forest-saving rampage following a dysfunctional family of bears who go full criminal to stop frackers, mobsters, and a psychotic wolf pack from destroying their home. As they spiral deeper into the criminal abyss, they face off against biker gangs, an egomaniacal news anchor, and their own spectacular talent for self-sabotage.

Charley Scalies, best known for portraying Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa on HBO's The Wire and Tony Soprano's high school football coach in The Sopranos, has sadly passed away. The actor died on Thursday, May 1, at a nursing facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. His daughter, Anne Marie Scalies, told The Hollywood Reporter that Scalies had a long battle with Alzheimer's. A Philadelphia native, Scalies looked at all of his roles as a humbling experience, sharing in a 2015 interview that the thing that made him smile was knowing his great-grandchildren and beyond would "get to see what Poppi looked and sounded like." He was 84.

In The Wire, Scalies starred in the entire second season of the HBO series. The show takes a closer look at the narcotics scene in Baltimore through the eyes of law enforcers, drug dealers, and users. He portrayed Thomas Pakusa, nicknamed Horseface, an incarcerated former Ibs Local 1514 longshoreman from the port of Baltimore.

Aside from the physical difficulties Christina Applegate faces as someone with multiple sclerosis, the “Dead to Me” actress revealed she also has to deal with unkind speculation about how she might have contracted the degenerative disease — in addition to bizarre “cure” suggestions.

Applegate, along with fellow Ms sufferer and acrtess Jamie-Lynn Sigler, joined Conan O’Brien on Monday’s episode of his “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast via video.

“I think that the first thing that I hear from people is, ‘How did you get it?'” she told O’Brien. “Meaning, I must have done something wrong in my life to have this disease. I did it to myself. I had breast cancer as well. So, ‘Oh, you must have done something.'”

She continued, noting that she is “used to” the stigma now. “But for a while it was so hard to swallow because, why the F would...

The late Charley Scalies was a renowned actor who you might recognize from The Wire or The Sopranos. He brought such grit and screen presence to his roles that one couldn’t help but admire the kind of artist he was.

With every role he played, Scalies made it seem like he was born for it, and in doing so, he gave life to characters who might have otherwise been forgotten or overlooked. His journey in Hollywood might be lesser known, but his impact will linger in the hearts of people who understood his talent.

Remembering the legacy of late Charley Scalies Charley Scalies in The Sopranos | Credits: HBO

As per reports from RadarOnline, Charley Scalies passed away on May 1, 2025, after going through a year-long battle with Alzheimer’s. He died peacefully at the age of 84 in a nursing facility in Pennsylvania. In his final moments, Scalies was surrounded by his family and loved ones.

Tulsa King has cast famed comedian Kevin Pollak for a major role in Season 3. The Sylvester Stallone-starring crime drama was renewed for a third season in March.

Pollak will be joining the Paramount+ series as FBI Special Agent Musso, who enters the story "with an axe to grind." Agent Musso is certain to cause problems for Dwight "The General" Manfred (Stallone) as he establishes a mafia foothold in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This role will be as a series regular, making Pollak's part much more than a guest appearance.

Kevin Pollak Joins Tulsa King Season 3

"I’ve been an admirer of Sly’s throughout his entire career and could not be more excited to be a part of this stellar cast and extraordinary production," Pollak said in a statement.

Pollak is no stranger to the mob drama genre, as he memorably played corrupt casino boss Phillip Green opposite Robert De Niro...

When you are looking for a new show to watch, the decision can be made around many factors like the cast, directors, and writers; lately, those are not the only factors that make a show good. Increasingly, people look at production houses as a key factor in bringing quality to shows.

Networks like HBO gave us The Sopranos and Game of Thrones, AMC with Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, and AppleTV+ with Ted Lasso and Severance—you get the idea. One such cable network that has been killing it with banger shows is FX, which creates shows that capture the interest of audiences and critics alike.

A still from the FX series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The network produces original series for auteur-driven projects, which gives the writers and directors creative freedom, thus appealing to a large audience with its quality and uniqueness. It often explores darker, more...

Character actor Charley Scalies, who had roles in the hit HBO dramas The Wire and The Sopranos, has died. He was 84. The passing was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, with Scalies’ daughter Anne Marie Scalies telling the outlet he died on Thursday (May 1) in a Pennsylvania nursing home after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Born on July 19, 1940, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Scalies started his career performing on stage at community and dinner theater productions in the early 1990s, appearing in the likes of Guys and Dolls, Chicago, and The Wizard of Oz. He made his on-screen debut in 1995 alongside Al Pacino in the James Foley-directed movie Two Bits. That same year, Scalies also appeared in the Terry Gilliam film 12 Monkeys and the Finnish-American thriller Condition Red. On the small screen, Scalies played Sgt. Sal Burns in two episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, based on the book by David Simon.

Remember Robert Iler from The Sopranos? The former child actor is most notable for his portrayal of A.J. Soprano, the son of Carmela and Tony Soprano and the younger brother of Meadow Soprano. He played this for almost a decade, and unfortunately, it took a toll on him that he decided to quit acting.

The show was one of the most successful HBO franchises, and the pressure to maintain that quality had its effect on the actors, particularly Iler. He was only 12 years old when he shot the pilot episode, and he spent a huge chunk of his teenage life working on television.

What happened to Robert Iler after The Sopranos ended? Robert Iler in The Sopranos / Credits: HBO

After Robert Iler’s stint in The Sopranos, fans have never seen him in any show or movie as he decided to leave acting altogether. What could have made him...

Note: This story contains spoilers from “The Righteous Gemstones” Season 4, Episode 9.

Over the course of six years, “The Righteous Gemstones” took some wild turns. What started as a plot to steal money from a megachurch to cover up an affair morphed into a saga about a money-losing teenage Jesus show — or “Teenjus” — by Season 4. But even in its own wild universe, the series finale of Danny McBride’s HBO comedy feels surprising.

Most of Season 4 follows the Gemstone family facing off against Cobb Milsap (Michael Rooker), a former family friend who has grown to resent the Gemstones’ wealth. The penultimate episode sees Cobb dying in his own gator pit. In “That Man of God May Be Complete,” his son Corey (Seann William Scott) steps in to finish the job. After asking this family for $7 million, Corey goes on a rampage, shooting Jesse (McBride), Kelvin (Adam DeVine) and Judy (Edi Patterson) in their lake house.

Charley Scalies, who starred in the second season of The Wire and also appeared on The Sopranos, died May 1 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 84.

Scalies died in a nursing facility in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, his daughter Anne Marie Scalies confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Best known first and foremost as a husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend, a public obituary for the actor states. “Professionally, Charley Scalies was an American actor and former business executive whose life reflected a rich blend of professional achievement, creative passion,...

Charles “Charley” J. Scalies, Jr., who was best known for his portrayal of Thomas “Horseface” Pakusa on “The Wire,” died Thursday, May 1, from complications associated with Alzheimer’s. He was 84.

Scalies’ death was confirmed by his family.

“Professionally, Charley Scalies was an American actor and former business executive whose life reflected a rich blend of professional achievement, creative passion, and a true joy for life. His favorite audience was always seated around the dinner table,” the family wrote in an obituary.

In addition to “The Wire,” Scalies also appeared in five seasons of “The Sopranos” as Coach Molinaro. In a 2015 interview, he told Matthew Toffolo that having the opportunity to be part of two major series was “humbling.”

The actor added that he especially appreciated that the shows will give his family the opportunity to remember him for a long time. “But the thing that really makes me smile is knowing my great grandkids,...

Charley Scalies, an American actor who appeared in two of HBO’s most celebrated series, “The Wire” and “The Sopranos,” died May 1 after a battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 84.

His death was confirmed via an online obituary.

“[He was] best known first and foremost as a husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend,” the obituary read. “Professionally, Charley Scalies was an American actor and former business executive whose life reflected a rich blend of professional achievement, creative passion, and a true joy for life. His favorite audience was always seated around the dinner table.”

Scalies starred in Season 2 of “The Wire.” He appeared in all 12 episodes as Horseface, an imprisoned Baltimore longshoreman and member of Ibs Local 1514 with an emphatic allegiance to his criminal boss, Frank Sobotka.

In “The Sopranos,” Scalies appeared in the Season 5 episode “The Test Dream” as Tony’s high school football instructor, Coach Molinaro. His character manifests in Tony’s dream,...

Charley Scalies, a character actor who appeared in HBO’s The Wire and The Sopranos and was a former business executive, died May 1 at the age of 84 following a protracted battle with Alzheimer’s.

The news was confirmed via a public obituary and his daughter Anne Marie Scalies’ statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Best known first and foremost as a husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend,” the obit read, “whose life reflected a rich blend of professional achievement, creative passion, and a true joy for life. His favorite audience was always seated around the dinner table.”

Born Charles J. Scalies, Jr. on July 19, 1940 in Philadelphia, the performer entertained patrons of his father’s pool hall in South Philly with impressions and jokes beginning at a young age. He graduated from St. Joseph’s College and began performing on stage via community and dinner theater productions in the early ’90s. These roles...