Tag Archives: Pod Yourself A Gun

204: Commendatori, With Drew Magary Formerly Of Deadspin

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And we’re back! Pod Yourself A Gun: A Sopranos Podcast has returned from our self-imposed hiatus to discuss episode four of season two (204), “Commendatori.” Or, as it’s known in It’s Always Sunny naming convention, “The Gang Goes To Italy.”

Joining us for this episode is columnist/writer/author Drew Magary, formerly of Deadspin, currently of GenMag and Vice. Drew was a semi-regular guest on our other podcast, the FilmDrunk Frotcast, though this is the first time we’ve had him on since his brain exploded and he almost died, and since his company got bought by private equity ghouls and the entire staff quit in protest.

2019 was an eventful year for Drew! But mostly he’s just here to discuss “Commendatori,” one of my personal favorite episodes of Sopranos. Reportedly this episode was one of David Chase’s least favorite (even though he wrote it) and in fact it was the first (and only) episode Chase brought up in this 2019 interview when asked if there were any episodes he wishes he could do over. Apparently he thought Sofia Milos was too sexy as the mob boss.

Whatever the case, I love this episode (I made an entire dish based on it for this cooking challenge), partly because the episode is peak Pauly Walnuts. Here he’s been basing basically his entire life and persona on this idea of coming from Italy and being Italian and then he finally goes there and the food is weird and the people are kind of rude and everyone thinks he’s a dumb asshole.

When he sees the old man on the waterfront and says, “Commendatori, buongiorno!” and the old man asks “Are you with NATO? You cut our ski lift cable,” (in Italian, which Pauly can’t really understand) it’s one of the best moments in the entire series.

It’s also the first time we meet Furio, and it opens with a car jacking scene in which the actor who plays the annoying rich kid went on to write Pan and Wonder Woman.

As always, if you like the show, leave us a review, and maybe even throw us a few bucks on Patreon. If you don’t, well, va fongool.

Pod Yourself A Gun 14: Guy Walks Into A Psychiatrist’s Office

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In episode 14, season one of The Sopranos is over and season 2 begins!

“Season Two opens with the aftermath of the federal crackdown: Junior’s in jail, Melfi refuses to see Tony, Christopher’s expanding into new business ventures, Pussy is still missing…and Tony’s adjusting to life as the new boss. To complicate matters even more, Tony’s free-spirited sister Janice arrives to take care of Livia.”

In “Guy Walks Into A Psychiatrist’s Office,” which originally premiered January 16th, 2000, sees Tony making nice with Big Pussy, Christopher running a pump and dump scheme while getting deeper into heroin, and the first appearance of Aida Turturro as Tony’s sister Janice, one of the all-time great TV characters and very triggering according to Matt. I think we all know at least one Janice.

It’s also the first time we meet Matt Bevilaqua, played by Lillo Brancato Jr., previously of A Bronx Tale, who would go on to do eight years in prison for his part in a botched burglary during which an off-duty police officer was killed. That’s pretty dark, but the important thing to remember is that this episode is full of important trivia, some of which we remember. Give it a listen or va fongool.

Pod Yourself A Gun 13: I Dream Of Jeannie Cusamano, With Laremy Legel

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This week on Pod Yourself A Gun, we’re discussing episode 13, “I Dream Of Jeannie Cusamano,” the season one finale of the Sopranos and thus the season one finale of Pod Yourself A Gun. In this episode, all of the Sopranos biggest season one storylines come to a head, and many to a resolution. Tony finds out his mother and uncle conspired to try to have him whacked. Carmela realizes Father Phil is a fuckboi. Dr. Melfi puts her cards on the table and tells Tony what she suspects about his mother. Tony becomes a physical threat to Dr. Melfi. Tony removes a suspected snitch from his crew and comes clean to his remaining guys about seeing a shrink.

In one of season one’s best episodes and arguably one of the best season finales of any show, we get a culmination of the themes introduced with a few intriguing questions left to explore. It seems to come from a time when prestige TV seemed to think it owed us more in terms of catharsis and closure. It ranges from dramatic and thrilling (Jimmy Altieri’s death, Tony flipping the table on Dr. Melfi) to introspective and psychological (Carmela calling out Father Phil, Livia’s psychosomatic dementia) to the kind of comedy that really only the Sopranos could do and maybe hasn’t been done the same since (Mikey Palmice’s death scene, one of the greatest in TV history, and one of the best lines in the show, “cunnilingus and psychiatry brought us to this!”).

To discuss this week’s episode, our guest is Laremy Legel, former critic at Film.com, author of Film Critic, long time friend of the pod and Matt and Vince’s co-star in Whoop Dreams, a documentary about the Gathering Of The Juggalos. He joins your regular hosts, Matt Lieb from Good Mythical Morning, The Star Wars Show, and Newsbroke on AJ+ and Vince Mancini, Senior Film And Culture writer at Uproxx. Please enjoy, but if you don’t, as always, va fongool.

Pod Yourself A Gun 12: Isabella

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This week on Pod Yourself A Gun, we discuss episode 12 from season 1 of the Sopranos, “Isabella” – where Tony is deep in depression about the disappearance of his friend (and possible snitch) Big Pussy. As we near the end of the first season of the Sopranos, and the first season of Pod Yourself A Gun, Matt and Vince have decided that all of you listeners out there deserve an episode of this show with NO GUEST and just the pure, unadulterated analysis of your loyal PYAG hosts. Just the raw shit, no filler. And what better episode to do this than Isabella, which has zero nudity. That’s right, ZERO.

Bada B-stories:

-Tony is depressed

-JR puts a hit out on Tony

-Livia is losing her mind

-Tony meets Isabella, who may or may not be Tyler Durden

Enjoy, please review and comment, email us at frotcast@gmail.com, voicemail 415 275 0030, and donate at Patreon.com/frotcast. We love you, and don’t stop believin.

 

Pod Yourself A Gun 11: Nobody Knows Anything, With Joey Devine

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It’s time for another hilarious, informative, and not-nearly-frequent-enough episode of the world’s premier Sopranos podcast, Pod Yourself A Gun. This week Matt Lieb and Vince Mancini are talking season one, episode 11, “Nobody Knows Anything.” Our guest is Joey Devine from the world famous NBA podcast, Roundball Rock.

In episode 11, which premiered March 21st, 1999, Pussy has a bad back and might be a snitch, dirty detective Vin Makazian is sick of the way Tony has been treating him, Junior learns new secrets from Livia, and we meet a smattering of new characters — including Debbie, the madame with a heart of gold, Mikey Palmice’s wife, the mysterious and wonderful bordello doctor known only as “Dr. Mop and Glow,” and a reference to “the Jonas Salk of backs.” This episode also marks the first time we hear Pauly Walnuts’ Godfather theme car horn. So many things to discuss!

Download it now and tell all of your friends.

Tony ringing the bell

Pod Yourself A Gun 10: A Hit Is A Hit, With Miles Gray

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Miles Gray from The Daily Zeitgeist podcast joins Matt and Vince this week to discuss Sopranos episode 10, “A Hit Is A Hit,” released March 14th (Pi Day!), 1999. In this episode, Pauly, Pussy, and Christopher kill a drug dealer for a big score, and everyone has their own ideas what to do with the money. Tony wants to fund an IPO, Carmella wants to play the stock market, and Christopher bankrolls Adriana’s music producing ambitions.

Meanwhile, “gangsta rapper” Massive Genius (played by Bokeem Woodbine) finagles a sitdown with Hesh, who Massive G believes owes royalties to a distant relative. Adriana signs up an old friend for some studio time, and Tony decides to play golf with his neighbor, Dr. Bruce Cusamano, an Amerigan, or a Wonderbread Wop, hoping for some hot stock tips but instead becoming a dance bear for the country club squares.

A lot people have said this is one of the Sopranos worst episodes, but notwithstanding some poor writing of the black characters, I (Vince) think this is actually one of the better episodes of this season. I read it as foreshadowing all the dumb bullshit people blew their money on in the early aughts, when everyone suddenly decided they were a stock picker and real estate speculator. It also, yet again, is unsparing towards all the characters, gangster or straight, Wonderbread Wop or goombah. Everyone is their on distinctive flavor of A-hole, and isn’t that just like life?

We finish things off discussing which of the Sopranos characters, if any, wouldn’t have voted for Trump.

If you like the show, give us a review! Donate at Patreon.com/Frotcast. Email us at frotcast@gmail.com, leave us a voicemail at 415 275 0030.

Pod Yourself A Gun 7: Down Neck, With Justin Halpern

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TV and book writer Justin Halpern (Shit My Dad Says, I Suck At Girls, Powerless, iZombie, Surviving Jack, the upcoming Harley Quinn series) joins Vince and Matt this week to discuss episode seven of the Sopranos, “Down Neck,” released February 21, 1999. Among other things, this episode was the only episode of the Sopranos directed by a woman and was the first ever screen credit for future Creed star Michael B. Jordan. It also consists partly of flashbacks to Newark in 1967, the reported setting of the Sopranos prequel movie, The Many Saints Of Newark.

Tony will be played by his son, Michael Gandolfini in the film, which is interesting considering Gandolfini is 19, and in this episode, with the flashbacks set in the same year, the actor who plays Tony is about 10. Marone, talk about a discrepanzool, am I right??

Incidentally, the actor who plays Tony in this episode, Bobby Boriello, also played young Howard Stern in Private Parts and young Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. We dive into all the episode’s themes, including your favorite recurring segments, Bada B Stories, Gabba Vafongool, Malapropism Corner, It’s the 90s, and the Wayback Machine, where we travel back to 1999 and see how mean people were to Monica Lewinsky. Enjoy, and don’t stop believin!

Pod Yourself A Gun 6: Pax Soprana, With Sopranos Sessions Co-Author Matt Zoller Seitz

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In this episode of Pod Yourself A Gun, we’re talking episode six of The Sopranos, “Pax Soprana,” released February 14th, 1999 (happy belated Valentine’s Day to all the lovers out there).

At Tony’s suggestion, Junior is made acting boss after Jackie dies. In therapy, Tony surprises Dr. Melfi with an admission. Carmela and Irina (Tony’s mistress) both suffer as Tony’s libido takes a nosedive.

Lots of topics to dive into in this episode, including Tony’s most overt come on to Dr. Melfi to date (ever?), and some of his creepiest interactions with his poor goomar, Irina. Meanwhile, Junior is torn between being a Godfather and being a grumpy ass Fox News grandpa, Livia is manipulating Junior, Junior is taxing Hesh, Carmella is sweating Tony, Mikey Palmice is throwing people off of the bridge at Patterson Falls to make it look like a suicide, and Father Phil even gets a brief bit of screentime, reprising his role as the king of all f*ckboys.

Our guest this week is New York Magazine television critic and RogerEbert.com editor at large Matt Zoller Seitz, who co-authored The Sopranos Sessions with Alan Sepinwall and originally covered the series for the Newark Star-Ledger.

Enjoy and please give us a review and rating on iTunes! (Unless you hate it, in which case don’t do that).

Pod Yourself A Gun 5: College, With Francesca Fiorentini

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In “College,” The Sopranos basically became the critically acclaimed blueprint for future prestige TV dramas that makes it worth doing a whole podcast about. It’s when the show first came into its own. After a series of sitcommy, lighter-but-solid episodes, Tony takes Meadow to tour colleges in Maine, where he sees an infamous snitch. Meanwhile, Carmella tries to come to terms with the guilt of being a mob wife during her emotional one-night stand with Father Phil.

Francesca Fiorentini from The Bitchuation Room and The Young Turks joins Vince Mancini and Matt Lieb in the studio this week to discuss the episode, with all your favorite segments: the Wayback Machine, It’s the 90s, Bada B-Stories, and Gabba Va Fongool. We get an explanation of “Ugotz” from Stevie B, and for the first time ever on Pod Yourself A Gun, your voicemails. You can leave us a voicemail at 415 275 0030, support us at Patreon.com/Frotcast, and don’t forget to rate and review on iTunes! It really helps our visibility. Thank you all for listening, and as always, va fongool.

Pod Yourself A Gun 4: Meadowlands, With Felix Biederman From Chapo Trap House

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Felix Biederman (@ByYourLogic), Chapo Trap House’s premiere Sopranos enthusiast, joins Pod Yourself A Gun this week to discuss Sopranos episode 4, Meadowlands. The Sopranos is still finding its voice in this episode, though there are glimpses of what it would eventually become. Our discussion brings us to such topics as the Three 6 Mafia, the size of polo shirts in the late 90s, the coolest Jewish kid in middle school, AJ’s taste in Gnu Metal, the merits of the N64 controller, and the first appearance of crooked detective Vin Makazian. There’s also pager pranks, 90s websites, the ouvre of Ulver, a real-life mafia hit this week, and the question of whether today’s gangsters are modeling themselves on The Sopranos the way the Sopranos characters modeled themselves on The Godfather. Oh, also, it’s 16 minutes of riffing before we actually start discussing thE episode. You all should probably know that going in. They were pretty good riffs though.