The Blue Comet
Encyclopedia
"The Blue Comet" is the twentieth episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos
and eighty-fifth episode overall. It is the eighth episode of the second part of the sixth season, which was broadcast in two separate batches and the show's penultimate episode. It was written by series creator and showrunner David Chase
and Matthew Weiner
, both of whom are credited as executive producers for the episode. It was directed by frequent series director Alan Taylor
. It originally aired in the United States
on June 3, 2007, two weeks after the preceding episode.
In the episode, a mob war erupts between the Lupertazzi and DiMeo crime families, which leads to the shooting of people close to DiMeo boss
and series protagonist
Tony Soprano
(James Gandolfini
). In a parallel storyline, Tony's psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi
(Lorraine Bracco
) gains some new insight on Tony and decides to drop him as a patient.
"The Blue Comet" was filmed at Silvercup Studios
, New York City
and on location in New Jersey
and New York
in January and February, 2007. It was watched by eight million American viewers on its premiere date and received significant critical praise for its suspenseful narrative and dramatic resolution of series-long storylines; many critics have also retrospectively named "The Blue Comet" a highlight of the series. Bracco received an Emmy Award
nomination for supporting actress for her performance in the episode and it was also nominated for a Cinema Audio Society Award for sound mixing.
(Steven Van Zandt
) visits Burt Gervasi (Artie Pasquale) at his home and murders him with a garrotte. In Brooklyn
, Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent
) has a sit-down with Albie Cianflone (John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia) and Butch DeConcini (Gregory Antonacci). He makes the decision to eliminate the DiMeo family
: "We decapitate and we do business with whatever's left." After initial reluctance, Butch and Albie set Phil's plan in motion and order the murders of Tony, Silvio and Bobby Baccalieri (Steve Schirripa
). Tony is visited at Satriale's
by FBI
Agent Dwight Harris
(Matt Servitto
), who shares with him information he has gotten from a "snitch
" in regard to Phil's plan. Tony, Silvio and Bobby meet at the back room of the Bada Bing!, where Silvio informs Tony that he has killed Burt Gervasi and that many members of the DiMeo family are "getting squeezed hard" by the Lupertazzi family "to sway them towards new 'management'". The three then convene at Nuovo Vesuvio, where Tony makes the decision to have Phil murdered by the Italian hitmen they've used before.
At a dinner party with friends and colleagues, Dr. Jennifer Melfi hears again of a study that claims sociopaths take advantage of talk therapy to become better criminals. Melfi's psychiatrist, Dr. Elliot Kupferberg (Peter Bogdanovich
), also reveals to the party that Melfi is treating
Tony Soprano, which upsets her. She later reads the study and ends her professional relationship with Tony at their next appointment.
Paulie Gualtieri
(Tony Sirico
) and Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi
) arrange the murder of Phil by using Corky Caporale (Edoardo Ballerini
) as a liaison with the Italian assassins. The hitmen kill Phil's Ukrainian mistress and her father, whom they confuse for Phil. Tony and Carmela
(Edie Falco
) have dinner at Nuovo Vesuvio, where they put on a good face as they talk to Charmaine and Artie Bucco (Kathrine Narducci
and John Ventimiglia
). Janice
(Aida Turturro
) visits Tony at his house and tries to persuade him to pay for their uncle Junior
's living arrangements, but Tony refuses. Tony is later visited by Silvio, who informs him of the failed murder of Phil.
While shopping at a model train store in Lynbrook
, New York
, Bobby is encountered by two Lupertazzi soldiers
, who murder him by several gunshots to the chest. While trying to drive from the Bada Bing! parking lot, Patsy and Silvio are intercepted by two Lupertazzi members in car and a gunfight ensues, which ends when Silvio gets hit twice and is left for dead and Patsy flees. At Tony's house, Paulie tells Tony that Silvio is in a coma. Tony informs Carmela and A.J. (Robert Iler
) of these events and tells them to go into hiding; he resorts to force to make A.J. go. Carmela and Meadow
(Jamie-Lynn Sigler
) visit Janice, who is in a state of shock. Tony and his closest associates drive to a DiMeo safehouse, where they take up residence. Tony goes to sleep clutching the assault rifle Bobby gave him for his birthday
.
David Chase
, executive producer and co-showrunner
Terence Winter
, executive producer Matthew Weiner
and supervising producers and writing team Diane Frolov
and Andrew Schneider
.
After the main story had been outlined, the script
for "The Blue Comet" was written by Chase and Weiner, who had been a writer and producer of The Sopranos since the show's fifth season and was promoted to executive producer during the production of the second part of the sixth season. It is Chase's twenty-ninth writing credit for the series (including story credits
) and Weiner's twelfth and final (Chase also wrote the next episode, the series finale
"Made in America
"). The penultimate episode marks the fifth time Chase and Weiner have collaborated on a The Sopranos script, following "The Test Dream" of season five and "Kaisha" (also with Winter), "Soprano Home Movies
" (also with Frolov and Schneider) and "Kennedy and Heidi
" of season six.
The cardboard cutout of the character Silvio Dante
that appears near the end of the episode in the safehouse was added by the writers as a way to give the character some sort of presence in the scene. The writers created the safehouse as an unoccupied house the family keep for emergencies and where various items, such as the promotional cutout of Silvio for the Bada Bing!, are stored. The study Melfi
is shown reading is an actual study called "The Criminal Personality", written by Dr. Samuel Yochelson and Dr. Stanton Samenow
and published between 1977 and 1986.
The episode is named after the Blue Comet
, a passenger train that was operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey
and ran between Atlantic City and Jersey City from 1929 to 1941.
In the episode, Bobby is about to purchase a Blue Comet train model just before he is murdered. A flashback
to "Soprano Home Movies
", the thirteenth episode of the season, was included in the episode.
References to real-life American Mafia
history and events were added to the script by Chase. The character Phil Leotardo's complaints about the DiMeo family
's inattention to the Mafia induction rituals closely mirror those the Mafia Commission
made about the DeCavalcante family
, which has often been regarded as a source of inspiration for the DiMeo family of The Sopranos.
The character Paulie Gualtieri
's line, "I lived through the '70s
by the skin of my nuts when the Colombos
were going at it", alludes to a mob war in the 1970s
that involved the Colombo crime family
and in particular to the battles between Mafia factions led by Joseph Colombo
and Crazy Joe Gallo. Tony Sirico
, the actor who portrays Paulie on the series, was personally involved in this conflict.
"The Blue Comet" was directed by Alan Taylor
and photographed
by Phil Abraham
. Both had worked intermittently on the show in the same capacities since the first season. The penultimate episode marks Taylor's ninth credit as director and Abraham's forty-seventh credit as director of photography; it is the final credit of the series for both. Before filming commenced, David Chase and Taylor held a pre-production director's meeting—called a "tone meeting" by the crew—in which Chase explained how he envisioned the filming of the episode's scenes in great detail and provided directions for Taylor to follow during principal photography
.
"The Blue Comet" was filmed
in January and February 2007, primarily at the show's usual filming locations: exterior and some interior scenes were filmed on location in New Jersey
and New York
while the majority of the interior scenes were shot at Silvercup Studios
, New York City
.
The Soprano residence, meat market Satriale's
, strip club Bada Bing! and Italian restaurant Nuovo Vesuvio—four of the most frequently recurring and recognizable backdrops of the series—are all featured prominently in the episode.
Some scenes were set in environments not typically featured in the series. The gunfire scene that takes place in a model railroading store was filmed on location at a store called Trainland in Lynbrook
, New York.
Scenes set at the Averna Social Club, a meeting place for the Lupertazzi family in the context of the series, were filmed at a bar on Manhattan
's Mulberry Street
, New York City.
Janice
and Bobby's residence, formerly owned by Johnny Sack
, appears briefly in the episode; the scene was shot on location in North Caldwell
, New Jersey.
of "The Blue Comet" was done by William B. Stich in close consultation with Chase. During post-production, Chase selected the music
for the episode, using previously recorded and released songs he saw fit for particular scenes and rearranged the filmed scenes into their final order.
Some filmed scenes were cut during editing. One such involved the character Burt Gervasi telling Silvio Dante that he has begun cooperating with the Lupertazzi family, a scene that was meant as a setup for the murder that ended up as the episode's opening.
, "The Blue Comet" attracted an average of eight million American viewers when first broadcast in the United States
on HBO on Sunday June 3, 2007. This was the show's second best ratings for the second part of the sixth season. Only next week's series finale
, which drew 11.9 million viewers, received higher numbers.
Much praise was directed at the episode's pacing and efficient build-up of suspense as well as the execution of the gunfire scenes toward the end of the episode. The episode was also praised for story elements concerning the escalation of the conflict between the rivaling Mafia
families of the show and for the conclusion it brought to the professional and personal relationship between the characters Tony Soprano
and Jennifer Melfi
.
Tom Biro of television
webblog TV Squad was impressed with the episode because of "the way we're beginning to close the door on the lives of some people and get an idea on who will be around at the end and who won't" and because "we're treated to something thrilling not only in story, but visually as well." Biro awarded "The Blue Comet" the site's highest score of 7.
Geoffrey Dunn of Metro Silicon Valley stated that "Chase
orchestrated the tension to a full crescendo."
Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle
wrote "In this penultimate episode (which David Chase
co-wrote), you can see the veil of surprise, of artistic feints, red herrings, theory-bating and any other cool narrative device totally vanish. It's as if things snuck up on us. Time is not just running out, it's almost all gone. Action needed to step forth and be counted. And so, true to form historically, the second to last episode had more than it's fair share of Big Moments." Goodman also called Bobby's death scene "priceless" and "Really well done."
Heather Havrilesky of Salon
wrote "No sad music, no slow motion, no teary funeral, no time for condolences. When the blood-dimmed tide finally rolled in during last night's penultimate Sopranos episode, an eerie quiet settled in."
Matt Roush of TV Guide
gave the episode a favorable review, writing "TV's landmark family crime drama went on a bloody rampage this week, just as we expected might happen in the next-to-last episode. [...] It was a sensational way to get us primed for Sunday's series finale."
Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune
wrote that "[The] second-to-last episode was certainly a classic" and praised it for its suspenseful storytelling.
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly
offered "The Blue Comet" a favorable estimation, writing "Every moment in this bloody, bullet-riddled penultimate episode is about regular, familiar old ways that have now gone terribly, irreversibly awry. [...] In the last hours of this epic drama, every detail glitters with bitter meaning".
Matt Zoller Seitz of Slant Magazine
described the episode as "the most atypically typical whack
-fest the show has served up in quite some time" and "an orgy of Mafia mayhem". Zoller Seitz also praised the final therapy scene between Tony Soprano and Jennifer Melfi for its depth.
Alan Sepinwall of The Star Ledger called the penultimate episode "one of the best—and certainly one of the busiest—episodes in the history of The Sopranos," further describing it as "a superb, scary, thrilling episode." He also characterized Bobby's death scene as "a little masterpiece of editing".
Brian Tallerico of UGO called the episode "mind-blowing" and "intense", wrote that "[he] really didn't expect David Chase to take his show out with this much gunfire" and gave it an "A", the site's second-highest score.
Brian Zoromski of IGN
awarded the episode a score of 9.1 out of 10, writing "Overall, 'The Blue Comet' was a very well done, sometimes shocking, build-up to next week's series finale."
was nominated for an Emmy Award
in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in "The Blue Comet" but lost to Grey's Anatomy
's Katherine Heigl
at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
. Bracco had previously been nominated three times in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for playing Dr. Melfi.
In 2008, sound mixers Mathew Price, Kevin Burns and Todd Orr were nominated for a Cinema Audio Society Award
in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Television.
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
and eighty-fifth episode overall. It is the eighth episode of the second part of the sixth season, which was broadcast in two separate batches and the show's penultimate episode. It was written by series creator and showrunner David Chase
David Chase
David Chase is an American writer, director, and producer of television series. Chase has worked in television for more than 30 years; he has produced and written for shows as The Rockford Files, I'll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure. He has created two original series; the first, Almost Grown,...
and Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner is an American writer, director and producer of television drama. He is the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner of the AMC television series Mad Men. He is also noted for his work on the HBO series The Sopranos, on which he served as a writer and producer...
, both of whom are credited as executive producers for the episode. It was directed by frequent series director Alan Taylor
Alan Taylor (director)
Alan Taylor is an American television and film director, television producer, and screenwriter. Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most notably on HBO...
. It originally aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on June 3, 2007, two weeks after the preceding episode.
In the episode, a mob war erupts between the Lupertazzi and DiMeo crime families, which leads to the shooting of people close to DiMeo boss
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
and series protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Tony Soprano
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
(James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini
James J. Gandolfini, Jr. is an Italian American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO TV series The Sopranos, about a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia...
). In a parallel storyline, Tony's psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi
Jennifer Melfi
Jennifer Melfi, M.D., is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the psychiatrist of Mafia boss Tony Soprano. She is portrayed by Lorraine Bracco.-Character description:...
(Lorraine Bracco
Lorraine Bracco
Lorraine Bracco is an American actress. She is best known for her TV roles as Dr. Jennifer Melfi on HBO series, The Sopranos, and Angela Rizzoli on the TNT series, Rizzoli & Isles...
) gains some new insight on Tony and decides to drop him as a patient.
"The Blue Comet" was filmed at Silvercup Studios
Silvercup Studios
Silvercup Studios is the largest film and television production facility in New York City. Located in the neighborhood of Long Island City, in the borough of Queens, the studio complex has been operating since 1983 in the former Silvercup Bakery building...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and on location in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in January and February, 2007. It was watched by eight million American viewers on its premiere date and received significant critical praise for its suspenseful narrative and dramatic resolution of series-long storylines; many critics have also retrospectively named "The Blue Comet" a highlight of the series. Bracco received an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination for supporting actress for her performance in the episode and it was also nominated for a Cinema Audio Society Award for sound mixing.
Plot
Silvio DanteSilvio Dante
Silvio Manfred Dante, often referred to as "Sil", played by Steven Van Zandt, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is the consigliere to Tony Soprano in the Soprano crime family. Silvio has one of the lowest profiles on the show. He is usually a behind the scenes figure...
(Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
) visits Burt Gervasi (Artie Pasquale) at his home and murders him with a garrotte. In Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent
Frank Vincent is an American actor, musician, author and entrepreneur. He is a favorite performer of director Martin Scorsese, having played important roles in three of Scorsese's most acclaimed films: Raging Bull , Goodfellas and Casino . He often plays a gangster and works both in features and...
) has a sit-down with Albie Cianflone (John "Cha Cha" Ciarcia) and Butch DeConcini (Gregory Antonacci). He makes the decision to eliminate the DiMeo family
DiMeo Crime Family
The DiMeo crime family, later referred to as the Soprano crime family, is a fictional Mafia family from the HBO series The Sopranos. It is thought to be loosely based on the DeCavalcante crime family, a real New Jersey Mafia family....
: "We decapitate and we do business with whatever's left." After initial reluctance, Butch and Albie set Phil's plan in motion and order the murders of Tony, Silvio and Bobby Baccalieri (Steve Schirripa
Steve Schirripa
Steven R. "Steve" Schirripa is an American actor, voice artist, producer, and comedian, best known for playing Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos....
). Tony is visited at Satriale's
Satriale's Pork Store
Satriale's Pork Store is a fictional establishment on the HBO series The Sopranos. As told in the television show, during the 1970s, the pork store was taken over by Johnny Boy Soprano, a member of The DiMeo Crime Family, when Francis Satriale failed to make payments on a gambling debt and later...
by FBI
FBI on The Sopranos
A major plotline on the fictional HBO drama The Sopranos has been the Federal Bureau of Investigation's ongoing pursuit of the DiMeo and Lupertazzi crime families. The Bureau's investigations have met with varying degrees of success...
Agent Dwight Harris
Dwight Harris
Special Agent Dwight Harris, played by Matt Servitto, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is an FBI agent assigned to Tony Soprano's case...
(Matt Servitto
Matt Servitto
Matt Servitto is an American actor, probably best known for his role on The Sopranos as FBI agent Dwight Harris. He also appeared on all 3 seasons of the Peabody Award-winning series Brotherhood as Rep. Donatello and had a guest appearance on Sex and the City as Carrie Bradshaw's editor...
), who shares with him information he has gotten from a "snitch
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
" in regard to Phil's plan. Tony, Silvio and Bobby meet at the back room of the Bada Bing!, where Silvio informs Tony that he has killed Burt Gervasi and that many members of the DiMeo family are "getting squeezed hard" by the Lupertazzi family "to sway them towards new 'management'". The three then convene at Nuovo Vesuvio, where Tony makes the decision to have Phil murdered by the Italian hitmen they've used before.
At a dinner party with friends and colleagues, Dr. Jennifer Melfi hears again of a study that claims sociopaths take advantage of talk therapy to become better criminals. Melfi's psychiatrist, Dr. Elliot Kupferberg (Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
), also reveals to the party that Melfi is treating
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
Tony Soprano, which upsets her. She later reads the study and ends her professional relationship with Tony at their next appointment.
Paulie Gualtieri
Paulie Gualtieri
Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri played by Tony Sirico, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is a caporegime and later underboss in the Soprano crime family.-Plot details:...
(Tony Sirico
Tony Sirico
Genaro Anthony "Tony" Sirico, Jr. is an American character actor who is most famous for his role as Paulie Gualtieri in the television series The Sopranos.- Background and career :Sirico was born in Midwood, Brooklyn...
) and Patsy Parisi (Dan Grimaldi
Dan Grimaldi
Daniel "Dan" Grimaldi is an American actor who is known for his roles as twins Philly and Patsy Parisi on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos.-Career:...
) arrange the murder of Phil by using Corky Caporale (Edoardo Ballerini
Edoardo Ballerini
Edoardo Ballerini is an actor, writer and director. He is best known for his work on screen as junkie Corky Caporale in The Sopranos , a hotheaded chef in the indie hit Dinner Rush , and an NFL businessman in the blockbuster Romeo Must Die...
) as a liaison with the Italian assassins. The hitmen kill Phil's Ukrainian mistress and her father, whom they confuse for Phil. Tony and Carmela
Carmela Soprano
Carmela Soprano née DeAngelis, played by Edie Falco, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the wife of Mafia boss Tony Soprano and the program's most prominent female character.-Character biography:...
(Edie Falco
Edie Falco
Edith "Edie" Falco is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her roles in Oz as Diane Wittlesey, as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, and as the titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie...
) have dinner at Nuovo Vesuvio, where they put on a good face as they talk to Charmaine and Artie Bucco (Kathrine Narducci
Kathrine Narducci
Kathrine Narducci is an American actress, mostly known for her role as Charmaine Bucco, Artie Bucco's wife, on the HBO TV series The Sopranos...
and John Ventimiglia
John Ventimiglia
John Ventimiglia is an American actor, known for his role as Artie Bucco on the HBO television series The Sopranos. He has had parts in feature films such as Cop Land, Jesus' Son, and Mickey Blue Eyes and has appeared in numerous television shows including Law & Order and NYPD Blue...
). Janice
Janice Soprano
Janice Soprano Baccalieri, played by Aida Turturro, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is Tony Soprano's elder sister. A young Janice has appeared in flashbacks, played by Madeline Blue and Juliet Fox.-Biography:...
(Aida Turturro
Aida Turturro
Aida Turturro is an American actress probably best known for playing Janice Soprano, sister of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, on the HBO TV series The Sopranos .-Personal life:...
) visits Tony at his house and tries to persuade him to pay for their uncle Junior
Junior Soprano
Corrado John Soprano, Jr., played by Dominic Chianese, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. Usually referred to as "Junior" or "Uncle Jun", he is the mentor and surrogate father for capo Tony Soprano. A younger Corrado sometimes appears in flashbacks and is played by Rocco...
's living arrangements, but Tony refuses. Tony is later visited by Silvio, who informs him of the failed murder of Phil.
While shopping at a model train store in Lynbrook
Lynbrook, New York
Lynbrook is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 19,427 at the 2010 census. The Village of Lynbrook is inside the Town of Hempstead. The Village of Lynbrook's current mayor is William Hendrick....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Bobby is encountered by two Lupertazzi soldiers
Soldato
A Soldato is the lowest level of the formal Mafia hierarchy, both in America and in Sicily. However, a soldier is much greater in rank and prestige than any ordinary associate of the crime family. In order to become a soldier, the primary requisite for an associate is to become a made man...
, who murder him by several gunshots to the chest. While trying to drive from the Bada Bing! parking lot, Patsy and Silvio are intercepted by two Lupertazzi members in car and a gunfight ensues, which ends when Silvio gets hit twice and is left for dead and Patsy flees. At Tony's house, Paulie tells Tony that Silvio is in a coma. Tony informs Carmela and A.J. (Robert Iler
Robert Iler
Robert Michael Iler is an American actor, known for his portrayal of A.J. Soprano on The Sopranos which aired on HBO from 1999-2007....
) of these events and tells them to go into hiding; he resorts to force to make A.J. go. Carmela and Meadow
Meadow Soprano
Meadow Mariangela Soprano , played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos.-Character:Meadow is the first-born child of Tony and Carmela Soprano...
(Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Jamie-Lynn Sigler is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the HBO television series The Sopranos.-Early life:...
) visit Janice, who is in a state of shock. Tony and his closest associates drive to a DiMeo safehouse, where they take up residence. Tony goes to sleep clutching the assault rifle Bobby gave him for his birthday
Soprano Home Movies
"Soprano Home Movies" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and seventy-eighth episode overall. It served as the midseason premiere to the second part of the show's sixth season, the broadcast of which was split into two...
.
Writing
The episode's general plot outline was developed collectively by the writing staff of The Sopranos, which for the second part of the sixth season consisted of showrunner and head writerHead writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
David Chase
David Chase
David Chase is an American writer, director, and producer of television series. Chase has worked in television for more than 30 years; he has produced and written for shows as The Rockford Files, I'll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure. He has created two original series; the first, Almost Grown,...
, executive producer and co-showrunner
Terence Winter
Terence Winter
Terence Winter is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire...
, executive producer Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner is an American writer, director and producer of television drama. He is the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner of the AMC television series Mad Men. He is also noted for his work on the HBO series The Sopranos, on which he served as a writer and producer...
and supervising producers and writing team Diane Frolov
Diane Frolov
Diane Frolov is an American television writer and producer. She has written for several television shows, including The Sopranos and Northern Exposure. She frequently co-writes episodes with her husband, Andrew Schneider.-Career:...
and Andrew Schneider
Andrew Schneider
Andrew Schneider is an American screenwriter and television producer, whose credits include writing for The Sopranos, Northern Exposure, and Alien Nation. He frequently co-writes episodes with his wife, Diane Frolov. In 1992 Schneider won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama...
.
After the main story had been outlined, the script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for "The Blue Comet" was written by Chase and Weiner, who had been a writer and producer of The Sopranos since the show's fifth season and was promoted to executive producer during the production of the second part of the sixth season. It is Chase's twenty-ninth writing credit for the series (including story credits
WGA screenwriting credit system
In the United States, screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by either the Writers Guild of America, East or the Writers Guild of America, West . Since 1941, the Guilds have been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a...
) and Weiner's twelfth and final (Chase also wrote the next episode, the series finale
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
"Made in America
Made in America (The Sopranos)
"Made in America" is the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and the series finale. It is the eighty-sixth overall episode of the series and the ninth episode of the second part of the sixth season, which was broadcast in two batches with a break...
"). The penultimate episode marks the fifth time Chase and Weiner have collaborated on a The Sopranos script, following "The Test Dream" of season five and "Kaisha" (also with Winter), "Soprano Home Movies
Soprano Home Movies
"Soprano Home Movies" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and seventy-eighth episode overall. It served as the midseason premiere to the second part of the show's sixth season, the broadcast of which was split into two...
" (also with Frolov and Schneider) and "Kennedy and Heidi
Kennedy and Heidi
"Kennedy and Heidi" is the eighteenth episode of the two-part sixth season—the sixth episode of the second part—of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and the show's eighty-third overall episode. It was written by Matthew Weiner and series creator and showrunner David Chase,...
" of season six.
The cardboard cutout of the character Silvio Dante
Silvio Dante
Silvio Manfred Dante, often referred to as "Sil", played by Steven Van Zandt, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is the consigliere to Tony Soprano in the Soprano crime family. Silvio has one of the lowest profiles on the show. He is usually a behind the scenes figure...
that appears near the end of the episode in the safehouse was added by the writers as a way to give the character some sort of presence in the scene. The writers created the safehouse as an unoccupied house the family keep for emergencies and where various items, such as the promotional cutout of Silvio for the Bada Bing!, are stored. The study Melfi
Jennifer Melfi
Jennifer Melfi, M.D., is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the psychiatrist of Mafia boss Tony Soprano. She is portrayed by Lorraine Bracco.-Character description:...
is shown reading is an actual study called "The Criminal Personality", written by Dr. Samuel Yochelson and Dr. Stanton Samenow
Stanton Samenow
Stanton Samenow is an American psychologist and writer."Dr. Stanton Samenow received his B.A. from Yale University in 1963 and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1968...In 1978, Dr. Samenow entered the private practice of clinical psychology in Alexandria, Virginia...
and published between 1977 and 1986.
The episode is named after the Blue Comet
Blue Comet
thumb|right|New Jersey Southern RR and connectionsThe Blue Comet was a named passenger train operated by Central Railroad of New Jersey from 1929 to 1941 between the New York metropolitan area and Atlantic City. Designed by Central Railroad of New Jersey president R.B...
, a passenger train that was operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
and ran between Atlantic City and Jersey City from 1929 to 1941.
In the episode, Bobby is about to purchase a Blue Comet train model just before he is murdered. A flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
to "Soprano Home Movies
Soprano Home Movies
"Soprano Home Movies" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and seventy-eighth episode overall. It served as the midseason premiere to the second part of the show's sixth season, the broadcast of which was split into two...
", the thirteenth episode of the season, was included in the episode.
References to real-life American Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
history and events were added to the script by Chase. The character Phil Leotardo's complaints about the DiMeo family
DiMeo Crime Family
The DiMeo crime family, later referred to as the Soprano crime family, is a fictional Mafia family from the HBO series The Sopranos. It is thought to be loosely based on the DeCavalcante crime family, a real New Jersey Mafia family....
's inattention to the Mafia induction rituals closely mirror those the Mafia Commission
The Commission (mafia)
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia. Formed in 1931, the Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title, with a ruling committee, consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit...
made about the DeCavalcante family
DeCavalcante crime family
The DeCavalcante crime family is an organized crime family that controls organized crime activities in Elizabeth, New Jersey and surrounding areas in the state, despite operating on the other side of the Hudson River in New York, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia...
, which has often been regarded as a source of inspiration for the DiMeo family of The Sopranos.
The character Paulie Gualtieri
Paulie Gualtieri
Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri played by Tony Sirico, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is a caporegime and later underboss in the Soprano crime family.-Plot details:...
's line, "I lived through the '70s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
by the skin of my nuts when the Colombos
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
were going at it", alludes to a mob war in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
that involved the Colombo crime family
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
and in particular to the battles between Mafia factions led by Joseph Colombo
Joseph Colombo
Joseph "Joe" Colombo, Sr. was the boss of the Colombo crime family, one of the "Five Families" of the Cosa Nostra in New York.-Background:...
and Crazy Joe Gallo. Tony Sirico
Tony Sirico
Genaro Anthony "Tony" Sirico, Jr. is an American character actor who is most famous for his role as Paulie Gualtieri in the television series The Sopranos.- Background and career :Sirico was born in Midwood, Brooklyn...
, the actor who portrays Paulie on the series, was personally involved in this conflict.
Filming
Alan Taylor (director)
Alan Taylor is an American television and film director, television producer, and screenwriter. Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most notably on HBO...
and photographed
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
by Phil Abraham
Phil Abraham
Phil Abraham is an American film and television cinematographer and director. He worked on all six seasons of The Sopranos, initially as a camera operator, then as a cinematographer and eventually as an episodic director...
. Both had worked intermittently on the show in the same capacities since the first season. The penultimate episode marks Taylor's ninth credit as director and Abraham's forty-seventh credit as director of photography; it is the final credit of the series for both. Before filming commenced, David Chase and Taylor held a pre-production director's meeting—called a "tone meeting" by the crew—in which Chase explained how he envisioned the filming of the episode's scenes in great detail and provided directions for Taylor to follow during principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
.
"The Blue Comet" was filmed
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
in January and February 2007, primarily at the show's usual filming locations: exterior and some interior scenes were filmed on location in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
while the majority of the interior scenes were shot at Silvercup Studios
Silvercup Studios
Silvercup Studios is the largest film and television production facility in New York City. Located in the neighborhood of Long Island City, in the borough of Queens, the studio complex has been operating since 1983 in the former Silvercup Bakery building...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The Soprano residence, meat market Satriale's
Satriale's Pork Store
Satriale's Pork Store is a fictional establishment on the HBO series The Sopranos. As told in the television show, during the 1970s, the pork store was taken over by Johnny Boy Soprano, a member of The DiMeo Crime Family, when Francis Satriale failed to make payments on a gambling debt and later...
, strip club Bada Bing! and Italian restaurant Nuovo Vesuvio—four of the most frequently recurring and recognizable backdrops of the series—are all featured prominently in the episode.
Some scenes were set in environments not typically featured in the series. The gunfire scene that takes place in a model railroading store was filmed on location at a store called Trainland in Lynbrook
Lynbrook, New York
Lynbrook is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 19,427 at the 2010 census. The Village of Lynbrook is inside the Town of Hempstead. The Village of Lynbrook's current mayor is William Hendrick....
, New York.
Scenes set at the Averna Social Club, a meeting place for the Lupertazzi family in the context of the series, were filmed at a bar on Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Mulberry Street
Mulberry Street (Manhattan)
Mulberry Street is a principal thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York. The street was listed on maps of the area since at least 1755. The "Bend" in Mulberry in which the street changes direction from southwest to northeast to a northerly direction was to avoid the wetlands surrounding the Collect Pond...
, New York City.
Janice
Janice Soprano
Janice Soprano Baccalieri, played by Aida Turturro, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is Tony Soprano's elder sister. A young Janice has appeared in flashbacks, played by Madeline Blue and Juliet Fox.-Biography:...
and Bobby's residence, formerly owned by Johnny Sack
Johnny Sack
John "Johnny Sack" Sacramoni, played by Vince Curatola, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was the longtime underboss and later the boss of the powerful Brooklyn-based New York City Lupertazzi crime family...
, appears briefly in the episode; the scene was shot on location in North Caldwell
North Caldwell, New Jersey
-Local government:North Caldwell is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office...
, New Jersey.
Post-production
The editingFilm editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
of "The Blue Comet" was done by William B. Stich in close consultation with Chase. During post-production, Chase selected the music
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for the episode, using previously recorded and released songs he saw fit for particular scenes and rearranged the filmed scenes into their final order.
Some filmed scenes were cut during editing. One such involved the character Burt Gervasi telling Silvio Dante that he has begun cooperating with the Lupertazzi family, a scene that was meant as a setup for the murder that ended up as the episode's opening.
Ratings
According to Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, "The Blue Comet" attracted an average of eight million American viewers when first broadcast in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on HBO on Sunday June 3, 2007. This was the show's second best ratings for the second part of the sixth season. Only next week's series finale
Made in America (The Sopranos)
"Made in America" is the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and the series finale. It is the eighty-sixth overall episode of the series and the ninth episode of the second part of the sixth season, which was broadcast in two batches with a break...
, which drew 11.9 million viewers, received higher numbers.
Critical response
"The Blue Comet" received very positive critical reviews following its original broadcast and has since then frequently been named by critics as one of the best episodes of the series.Much praise was directed at the episode's pacing and efficient build-up of suspense as well as the execution of the gunfire scenes toward the end of the episode. The episode was also praised for story elements concerning the escalation of the conflict between the rivaling Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
families of the show and for the conclusion it brought to the professional and personal relationship between the characters Tony Soprano
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
and Jennifer Melfi
Jennifer Melfi
Jennifer Melfi, M.D., is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the psychiatrist of Mafia boss Tony Soprano. She is portrayed by Lorraine Bracco.-Character description:...
.
Tom Biro of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
webblog TV Squad was impressed with the episode because of "the way we're beginning to close the door on the lives of some people and get an idea on who will be around at the end and who won't" and because "we're treated to something thrilling not only in story, but visually as well." Biro awarded "The Blue Comet" the site's highest score of 7.
Geoffrey Dunn of Metro Silicon Valley stated that "Chase
David Chase
David Chase is an American writer, director, and producer of television series. Chase has worked in television for more than 30 years; he has produced and written for shows as The Rockford Files, I'll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure. He has created two original series; the first, Almost Grown,...
orchestrated the tension to a full crescendo."
Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
wrote "In this penultimate episode (which David Chase
David Chase
David Chase is an American writer, director, and producer of television series. Chase has worked in television for more than 30 years; he has produced and written for shows as The Rockford Files, I'll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure. He has created two original series; the first, Almost Grown,...
co-wrote), you can see the veil of surprise, of artistic feints, red herrings, theory-bating and any other cool narrative device totally vanish. It's as if things snuck up on us. Time is not just running out, it's almost all gone. Action needed to step forth and be counted. And so, true to form historically, the second to last episode had more than it's fair share of Big Moments." Goodman also called Bobby's death scene "priceless" and "Really well done."
Heather Havrilesky of Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
wrote "No sad music, no slow motion, no teary funeral, no time for condolences. When the blood-dimmed tide finally rolled in during last night's penultimate Sopranos episode, an eerie quiet settled in."
Matt Roush of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
gave the episode a favorable review, writing "TV's landmark family crime drama went on a bloody rampage this week, just as we expected might happen in the next-to-last episode. [...] It was a sensational way to get us primed for Sunday's series finale."
Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
wrote that "[The] second-to-last episode was certainly a classic" and praised it for its suspenseful storytelling.
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
offered "The Blue Comet" a favorable estimation, writing "Every moment in this bloody, bullet-riddled penultimate episode is about regular, familiar old ways that have now gone terribly, irreversibly awry. [...] In the last hours of this epic drama, every detail glitters with bitter meaning".
Matt Zoller Seitz of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
described the episode as "the most atypically typical whack
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
-fest the show has served up in quite some time" and "an orgy of Mafia mayhem". Zoller Seitz also praised the final therapy scene between Tony Soprano and Jennifer Melfi for its depth.
Alan Sepinwall of The Star Ledger called the penultimate episode "one of the best—and certainly one of the busiest—episodes in the history of The Sopranos," further describing it as "a superb, scary, thrilling episode." He also characterized Bobby's death scene as "a little masterpiece of editing".
Brian Tallerico of UGO called the episode "mind-blowing" and "intense", wrote that "[he] really didn't expect David Chase to take his show out with this much gunfire" and gave it an "A", the site's second-highest score.
Brian Zoromski of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
awarded the episode a score of 9.1 out of 10, writing "Overall, 'The Blue Comet' was a very well done, sometimes shocking, build-up to next week's series finale."
Awards
In 2007, Lorraine BraccoLorraine Bracco
Lorraine Bracco is an American actress. She is best known for her TV roles as Dr. Jennifer Melfi on HBO series, The Sopranos, and Angela Rizzoli on the TNT series, Rizzoli & Isles...
was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in "The Blue Comet" but lost to Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
's Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Marie Heigl is an American actress and producer. She is possibly best known for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on ABC's Grey's Anatomy from 2005 to 2010, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series in 2007...
at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
. Bracco had previously been nominated three times in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for playing Dr. Melfi.
In 2008, sound mixers Mathew Price, Kevin Burns and Todd Orr were nominated for a Cinema Audio Society Award
Cinema Audio Society Awards
Cinema Audio Society Awards or The C.A.S. Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing. The awards are presented by the Cinema Audio Society and began in 1994.It hands out awards for three categories:*Feature films...
in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – Television.