Template talk:The Sopranos

Fictional universe vs. the series

After adding the timeline and family tree, I realized what's really needed is to separate links related to the show's fictional universe from those related to the series. All but one of the links in the template (as of 00:06, 8 January 2007 (UTC)) are for the fictional universe; the one exception is the episode list. With some reformatting, the episode list could be pulled out and grouped with links to the writers and directors, awards and nominations, and the DVDs. 66.167.137.21 00:06, 8 January 2007 (UTC).

how come some of the names are in italics? at first, i thought it was because the characters were dead but melfi is alive and has italics and phil and richie are dead and their names aren't italicized —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.146.120.126 (talk) 06:50, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Bobby Baccalieri

I've been trying to move Bobby Bacala up to the primary characters section, but I keep getting stopped by a moderator. If Bobby Baccalieri is a larger character than Big Pussy Bonpensiero, yet he is up there and Bobby is not.

Primary characters are based on contracts from the distributor. Most of the time, that means that an actor who is credited with being in the episode, but isn't, is on contract to be credited with being in the episode regardless of whether or not s/he make an appearance. That's what it's based off of, just like other television templates. IMDb is a good source for determining this, as well as billing order (i.e., the order the actors' names appear in the credits). Steve R. Schirripa is only credited with playing Bobby in episodes Bobby appears in, therefore, according to HBO, Schirripa isn't a main cast member, hence… Bobby isn't a primary character. Vincent Pastore is credited in all 26 episodes from seasons one and two as playing Big Pussy Bonpensiero, despite only appearing in 21 of the 26 episodes in the first two seasons. On a more superficial level, Big Pussy Bonpensiero was a main character from the beginning. The fact that Bobby appears in more episodes than him is meaningless, because one can counter-argue that Pussy's character was longer (from the start to finish of the show, despite being killed off in "Funhouse" . Bobby was an add-on character that first appeared in the second episode of Season 2, Do Not Resuscitate. In retrospect, Bobby is not a larger character than Pussy based on the fact that Pussy was always intended to be included in the show, and he continues to haunt Tony, Silvio and Paulie years after his death and seasons after his story arc. Bobby was never a powerful enough character to fit these shoes. All in all, the difference between primary and secondary characters is based on contracting, which is based on fact. If we did it your way, we wouldn't be adhering to WP:Neutral point of view since the division of primary and secondary characters would be based only on opinion. Geeky Randy (talk) 18:21, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Pizza Land

Should Pizza Land be included on this template in the related section? I think it should because while the local pizzeria has nothing to do with the show itself, its inclusion in the opening sequence is what made it quite notable and a local tourist destination. Another editor who has talked about his disagreements with me on this says it shouldn't. I'm looking for views of other editors to see whether or not the article should be included. --WikiCleanerMan (talk) 21:32, 11 October 2021 (UTC)

Turning this into an Rfc. --WikiCleanerMan (talk) 23:57, 13 October 2021 (UTC)

• (Summoned by bot) not sure I have a clear opinion here, but a question: are there sources that are primarily about the Sopranos which talk in a nontrivial way about Pizza Land? Or are we relying on sources about Pizza Land which mention that it was in the Sopranos? Based on the answer, I'd probably lean towards inclusion/exclusion, respectively. — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 00:43, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

  Pizza Land is currently a stub article. Two of the sources are outdated. Source number four is an NJ.com article about the business but mentions how Sopranos fans from all over the country visit the place. So it has become a tourist destination as stated above. But I have found an article about how it still benefits from its inclusion from being in the opening sequence. And shows a picture of their tribute to James Gandolfini when he died in 2013. There is a Barstool Sports video about it on YouTube where it's just David Portnoy eating a slice and giving a review of it. Not much of a practical source. There is this short NYTimes article about it, but kind of trivial information. The rest are blog posts or social media posts that don't count for much on Wikipedia. So you kind of get half and half. --WikiCleanerMan (talk) 01:43, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

• I am not seeing the notability of the place, either within the article or on its own. Happy Days ran for 10 years - four years longer than The Sopranos - and yet the common restaurant where most of the characters hung out is barely even mentioned in the article about the show. - Jack Sebastian (talk) 01:57, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

  It was also featured on one episode of Law and Order, but I do see your point. But I found a Reuters article about it and other locations used on the show. --WikiCleanerMan (talk) 02:14, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

  Eater article that has a bit more information. --WikiCleanerMan (talk) 02:17, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

• Do not include. The Pizza Land article has almost no meaningful content at all, never mind having substantial relevant content for a worthwhile Navbox entry. The fact that Pizza Land appears in the opening sequence is incidental trivia. I do not believe we normally make similar inclusions in other comparable cases. Alsee (talk) 14:48, 16 October 2021 (UTC)
• Do not include per Alsee, the connection is too trivial for inclusion in THIS article. Pincrete (talk) 17:15, 24 October 2021 (UTC)