The Sopranos

The Sopranos is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase.

References to The Sopranos in The Simpsons

Characters

Picture Character name Reference Fat Tony The character' first storyline of hiring Bart for afterschool job was inspired by same storyline GoodFellas where the young Henry Hill was hired by the local Brooklyn caporegime Paul Vario, renamed Paulie Cicero for the movie, and played by actor Paul Sorvino who was the model for the character design. Fat Tony is a pastiche of Mafia characters from movies and dramas, especially the Godfather franchise (and in later seasons The Sopranos). After 1999 when The Sopranos premiered on HBO, Fat Tony started to parody parts of the lead character Tony Soprano. In several episodes, The Sopranos intro theme ("Woke Up This Morning" by Alabama 3) is played in scenes with Fat Tony.

Episodes

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 13 291 "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" The Mafia's journey to the Simpsons' house is a spoof of the opening, complete with the show's opening theme, "Woke Up This Morning" by Alabama 3. 14 301 "Pray Anything" The title of Rev. Lovejoy's sermon in church "God: the original Toni Soprano" is clearly a reference to the TV series. 18 392 "Yokel Chords" The relationship Bart shares with his psychiatrist is reminiscent to the way that Tony Soprano and his psychiatrist form a unique bond, with Bart in depression wanting to see her, and the doctor wanting to see more of Bart. Dr. Stacey Swanson's psychiatrist, voiced by Peter Bogdanovich, parodies Dr. Elliot Kupferberg from The Sopranos, Dr. Melfi's psychiatrist who was also played by Peter Bogdanovich. 18 379 "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" When Fat Tony is driving his Lincoln Navigator in the carpool, The Sopranos theme song is heard. Additionally, several Sopranos actors (including Joe Pantoliano and Michael Imperioli) voice mob characters in this episode and that they had their real faces in this episode. Nelson says in this episode that "There is no Mafia" which is another reference to The Sopranos, where Anthony Soprano Sr. says this to his daughter Meadow. Fat Tony works, as he says, in "waste management", which is the official job of Anthony Soprano Sr. The promotional image for this episode is based on promotional material for the HBO original series The Sopranos. 19 416 "Papa Don't Leech" The scene where Homer suffocates Abe parodies The Sopranos episode "Kennedy and Heidi," in which Tony suffocates Christopher in a similar manner. 23 494 "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" The Sopranos is one of the shows shown on HBOWTIME. The characters Tony Soprano, Christopher Moltisanti, Silvio Dante, and Paulie Gualtieri were seen. 28 613 "22 for 30" Louie asked Fat Tony for the name of the secret shrink he sees. Lisa used Mafia search engine "BadaBing" for her research. The Bada Bing is the New Jersey strip club and mob hangout in 'The Sopranos". 29 634 "King Leer" Moe says he'll "go to the mattresses" with his siblings, a reference to the mob saying that become popular thanks to the movie The Godfather and the TV series The Sopranos. 31 665 "The Fat Blue Line" The rest of the Simpsons eating in another section of Luigi's (looking like the interior of Holsten's Ice Cream Shop in Bloomfield, New Jersey) while "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey plays and across the street Maggie in a Cozy Coupe-style toy car attempting to parallel park are directly recreating the series' final scene. The Italian deli and meat market where Fat Tony, Chief Wiggum and Homer eat near the end is modeled directly from Satriale's Pork Store. 34 741 "The Many Saints of Springfield" The title is referencing The Many Saints of Newark, title of the feature film and prequel to the TV series. The photograph of Fat Tony's mother or he "believes to be my mother" is a reference to the first season episode Isabella where the title Isabella (played by Maria Grazia Cucinotta) is actually a hallucination brought on by Tony Soprano's mother issues. The Italian deli and meat market next door to Legitimate Businessman's Social Club is modeled directly from Satriale's Pork Store.

Comics

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Simpsons Comics #85 The Simpson Family Circus The D'ohpranos is a parody of The Sopranos.

Video games

Picture Game Reference The Simpsons: Tapped Out

Common Cast and Crew

Cast

Picture Name Role in The Sopranos Role on The Simpsons Will Arnett Played Mike Waldrup in two episodes of Season 2. Voiced Deputy Director Gratman in "Steal This Episode". Steve Buscemi Played Tony Blundetto. Voiced himself in "Brake My Wife, Please" and Dwight Diddlehopper in "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". Maria Grazia Cucinotta Played the title Isabella in "Isabella". Voiced Francesca in "The Italian Bob". Lady Gaga Played a girl at a swimming pool in "The Telltale Moozadell". Voiced herself in "Lisa Goes Gaga". Michael Imperioli Played Christopher Moltisanti. Voiced Dante Calabresi, Jr. in "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer". Joe Pantoliano Played Ralph Cifaretto. Voiced Dante Calabresi, Sr. in "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer".

External links

• The Sopranos at the Internet Movie Database
• The Sopranos at Wikipedia

Cultural references

Television The A-Team • All in the Family • Alvin and the Chipmunks • America's Funniest Home Videos • Animaniacs • Barney & Friends • Battlestar Galactica • Baywatch • Bewitched • The Big Bang Theory • Black Mirror • Bob's Burgers • The Brady Bunch • Breaking Bad • Charlie's Angels • Cheers • The Critic • CSI • Dallas • Davey and Goliath • DC Comics • Dennis the Menace • Dilbert • Disenchantment • Doctor Who • The Dukes of Hazzard • Family Guy • The Flintstones • Frasier • Futurama • Game of Thrones • Garfield • Gilligan's Island • Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. • Happy Days • The Honeymooners • Gunsmoke • I Dream of Jeannie • I Love Lucy • The Jetsons • King of the Hill • Late Show with David Letterman • Law & Order • The Lone Ranger • Looney Tunes • Lost • Lost in Space • Married... with Children • Marvel • M*A*S*H • Matlock • Monty Python's Flying Circus • Mork & Mindy • The Munsters • The Muppets • My Little Pony • MythBusters • The Odd Couple • Orange Is the New Black • Peanuts • Pokémon • Popeye • The Powerpuff Girls • The Ren & Stimpy Show • Rick and Morty • The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show • Sailor Moon • Scooby-Doo • Sesame Street • Seinfeld • The Smurfs • The Sopranos • South Park • SpongeBob SquarePants • Stargate • Starsky & Hutch • Star Trek • Stranger Things • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Teletubbies • That '70s Show • Thriller • Transformers • The Twilight Zone • The Walking Dead • When Animals Attack! • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? • The Wonder Years • The X-Files Films 2001: A Space Odyssey • Alice in Wonderland • Alien • Alvin and the Chipmunks • Apocalypse Now • Avatar • Back to the Future • Ben-Hur • Das Boot • C.H.U.D. • Charlie's Angels • Casablanca • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • A Christmas Carol • Citizen Kane • A Clockwork Orange • Close Encounters of the Third Kind • DC Comics • Dial M for Murder • Die Hard • Dracula • The Dukes of Hazzard • The Exorcist • Fantasia • The Fly • Frozen • Garfield • Ghostbusters • The Godfather • Godzilla • Gone with the Wind • Harry Potter • Home Alone • The Hunger Games • Indiana Jones • It's a Wonderful Life • James Bond • Jaws • Jurassic Park • King Kong • Laurel & Hardy • The Lion King • The Little Mermaid • The Little Rascals • The Lone Ranger • Looney Tunes • The Lord of the Rings • M*A*S*H • Mad Max • Marvel • The Marx Brothers • The Matrix • The Odd Couple • Pirates of the Caribbean • Planet of the Apes • Pokémon • Popeye • Psycho • Pulp Fiction • RoboCop • Scooby-Doo • The Shawshank Redemption • The Shining • The Silence of the Lambs • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • The Sound of Music • Soylent Green • SpongeBob SquarePants • Star Trek • Star Wars • A Streetcar Named Desire • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Terminator • Thelma & Louise • They Saved Hitler's Brain • The Three Stooges • Thriller • Titanic • Toy Story • Transformers • When Harry Met Sally... • The Wizard of Oz Video games Angry Birds • Candy Crush Saga • Donkey Kong • Grand Theft Auto • The Legend of Zelda • Mario • Minecraft • Pokémon Magazines Cracked • MAD • The New Yorker • Playboy Books Alice in Wonderland • Ben-Hur • The Catcher in the Rye • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • A Christmas Carol • A Clockwork Orange • Dial M for Murder • Dracula • The Exorcist • Fahrenheit 451 • The Fly • Game of Thrones • The Godfather • Gone with the Wind • Goosebumps • Harry Potter • The Hunger Games • James Bond • Jaws • Jurassic Park • The Little Mermaid • The Lord of the Rings • Moby-Dick • The Old Man and the Sea • Planet of the Apes • Psycho • The Silence of the Lambs • The Shining • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • A Streetcar Named Desire • The Wizard of Oz Comics DC Comics • Dennis the Menace • Dilbert • Garfield • Life in Hell • Marvel • Mary Worth • My Little Pony • Peanuts • Popeye • Sailor Moon • The Smurfs • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Tintin • The Walking Dead Other Art references • Gilbert and Sullivan • Hindenburg disaster • References in other media