THE SOPRANOS QUIZ

Think you know HBO's most famous family? Take this quiz, from the BRI. (Answers to the quiz are available here.)

1. Creator David Chase wanted to call the show The Sopranos, but HBO originally said no. Why?
a) Executives from HBO thought Soprano sounded Greek, not Italian. Who would want to watch a show about Greek mobsters?
b) It wasn't "authentic enough." They suggested The Fratiannos, but backed away when Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno's family threatened to sue.
c) They were afraid the viewers would think the show was about opera singers. They suggested Family Guy, but backed away when Fox debuted a show with that name.

2. Which of the following other titles were also considered before HBO finally gave in?
a) Red Sauce
b) Made In New Jersey
c) The Tony Files
d) All of the above

3. How did James Gandolfini (a.k.a. Tony Soprano) take up acting?
a) "I was shy in high school. I thought acting would be a great way to meet girls. It was."
b) "I didn't want a job where I had to work in an office all day."
c) "I got tired of working for the phone company. It was either acting or singing, so I flipped a coin. It came up heads—acting."
d) "A friend took me to an acting class, and I was scared to death. That made me really mad, so I stayed. I don't know why."

4. Who said, "Hit them over the head with a baseball bat, and they come around," and, "I'm come come back here and carve my initials in your forehead. You better show me the respect I deserve!"
a) Jamie-Lyn Sigler (Meadow Soprano) said it to David Chase, when he refused to give her a raise.
b) Tony Sirico, the actor who plays Paulie Wlanuts, who really was a gangster in the 1970s. He made the threats during a confrontation with a discotheque owner.
c) Dominic Chianese, who plays Uncle Junior, told stories to David Chase about his uncle, who though the only way to get respect from restaurant workers was to threaten them.
d) Chase heard Nancy Marchand (Livia Soprano) say it to her husband on the phone, so he used it in episode 6, when Tony threatens Anthony Jr.'s football coach.

5. What is a goomah?
a) The same as a borgata—a crime family
b) The same as a jamook—an idiot or a loser
c) The same as a comare—a mobster's mistress
d) The same as a mannagge—a war with another clan or family.

6. What was one of the challeneges Michael Imperioli had to overcome to play Tony Soprano's nephew, Christopher Moltisanti?
a) Learning how to drive.
b) Learning how to act. He'd done a few small rolls before, but never studied the craft.
c) Overcoming his stutter.
d) The Jersey accent. He was raised in North Dakota.

7. What is an "executive game"?
a) A financial scam that cheats wealthy investors by selling them stock in fake companies.
b) An exclusive, high-stakes poker game for celebrities and rich people.
c) A code name for a sporting event that has been fixed in advance by paying key players to lose.
d) The title of episode 12, where Tony wants to join a private country club but can't because golf is an, "executive game" and he's the "wrong kind of executive."

For the answers to this quiz, click here.