There was disappointment amongst fans of TV classic The Sopranos as it became clear that the soon-to-be-released prequel The Many Saints of Newark will be focused a trade dispute on Planet Naboo.
The recent trailer opened with scenes of political debate amongst the Trade Federation and The Republic politicians leading many to wonder if the prequel had misunderstood the appeal of the original TV show.
“Look, I mean, anything new in the Sopranos world is going to be a good thing,” said Sopranos fan and TV blogger Stewart James.
“But, I was definitely hoping to see more of a young, swaggering Tony Soprano and his crew beginning to make their mark in the New Jersey underworld, and a bit less discussion of tax policies on an obscure planet on the other side of the galaxy.
Producer and creator of The Sopranos David Chase was unrepentant.
“I think people need to be a bit patient, here. It’s a prequel, if it’s successful, we should get to do the full prequel trilogy which means a disappointing first film, a second one that is absolutely utterly forgettable filler and then in the final film we can get to some good bits with Tony and his Mom, and maybe some exciting crimes.
“So, hang in there. There is going to be far too much stuff about inter-galactic trade in the this first film, interspersed with some bits of Tony having a fight, but not really enough to get excited about. But, stick with it and by the time we get to the third film, it’ll be great.”
The Many Saints of Newark, also known as The Sopranos: The Phantom Menace, will be released later this year.
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New podcast to re-examine 1974 case of spangles shoplifted from Chelmsford Woolworths
A major new podcast is to re-examine a 1974 case of shoplifting, in which a packet of spangles was taken from the Chelmsford branch of Woolworths.
The theft happened on the morning of September 17th and the case was closed by lunchtime when seven-year-old Billy Dustbin was given a clip round the ear by local policeman Norman Davis and told to pay Woolworths for the spangles.
It seemed to be an open-and-shut case, but was it?
“I distinctly heard a Russian accent in the precinct that morning,” said one witness.
“Billy preferred Opal Fruits,” said a friend of the supposed criminal.
“Spangles were considered a delicacy in some parts of the world,” said a professor of Spangles at Oxford University.
The presenter of the podcast is softly-spoken New Yorker Jerry Quietvoice.
“In the 1970s, there were a million packets of Spangles stolen from a million branches of Woolworths by a million little boys.”
“What makes this case so interesting?”
“Well, over the course of 2694 episodes we’ll be forensically re-examining all aspects of the case, from the uneven mix of flavours in this particular packet of Spangles to Billy Dustbin’s connections to the American military.
“We carbon-date a Spangle wrapper, thought to be a podcast first, we interview everyone involved in the case, from PC Davis’ grandson’s best friend, to Leonard Breshnev’s cleaner, and we meticulously recreate the Chelmsford branch of Woolworths to re-enact the so-called crime.”
“Join me, as I set about to conclusively prove whether or not the 1974 Chelmsford Spangles theft was perpetrated by Russian Spangle-smugglers in an attempt to embarrass the American military whilst drawing some unconvincing parallels to Trump’s Presidency and talking in a very soft voice.”
‘Crime: a Spangles story,’ is available on ITunes and other podcatchers, and will feature interminable adverts for mattresses and shaving.
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