Who knew that tree-hugging ex-politicians loved “The Sopranos”? It turns out that Al Gore is a die-hard fan, but when the series finale loomed in early June, he and his wife, Tipper, had to be on a plane for an appearance in Istanbul.
So Mr. Gore, now better known as the star of “An Inconvenient Truth” than as the former vice president of the United States, called Brad Grey, the chairman of Paramount whose studio distributed his documentary, for a favor. Mr. Grey is also an executive producer of “The Sopranos,” from his previous incarnation as a Hollywood manager. Could Mr. Gore get an advance copy of the final episode, he wanted to know?
No way, said Mr. Grey. “I’ve turned down everyone who’s asked,” he recalled telling Mr. Gore. That episode was the holy grail, and he couldn’t risk it being leaked.
But after a night of tossing and turning, Mr. Grey had a change of heart. On the Sunday of the finale, he had a Halliburton-made steel case, containing a copy of the episode, delivered to the tarmac where Mr. Gore’s plane sat in Chicago. The case was locked with a code (some might call it a “lockbox”). Mr. Gore could not open it until the plane was in the air, when he was instructed to call Mr. Grey’s office for the numeric code. Mr. Gore sent Mr. Grey a photo of himself trying to pry open the case, which Mr. Grey now keeps on his desk.
And unlike that final episode, this story had a postscript. After the tale of Mr. Gore’s special delivery made the rounds of Hollywood political circles, the Republican candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani called Mr. Grey, a longtime friend, to complain. Why didn’t he get a special “Sopranos” delivery, too?
I know this is intended as a “fun” story, but it strikes me as stupid. At some point, shouldn’t we expect people to behave like grown ups?
Does he make his lackeys take out all the green m&ms before eating a bag, too?
You see a problem with Gore asking a friend (distributor of a film that made a s***load of money for the company) for an advance copy of the episode? Or was it the Guiliani reaction that you thought was immature?
I like that Gore, seeing the humor in the great lengths to which the producer went to safeguard the tape (and rightfully so), sent him a photo of him trying to break into the box. He’s actually a very funny guy.
If you say so. I’m not even going to waste time deconstructing the triviality of the story. Suffice it to say that it depresses me to think that a TV show is taken so seriously.
If you say so. I’m not even going to waste time deconstructing the triviality of the story. Suffice it to say that it depresses me to think that a TV show is taken so seriously.
I do say so. Look around, and you’ll find that that’s the general opinion of those who actually know him.
So it’s the fact that a lot of people liked the Sopranos that you find depressing? Or that someone likes it so much that they try to get a copy? I’ve asked people to tape a particular episode of some show because I couldn’t watch it. The fact that Gore knows the producer means he can ask for a copy in advance. Big deal.
Of course it’s a trivial story. Why you seek to elevate it to some attack on Gore (or is it on our society in general? I don’t know) is beyond me.
"Does he make his lackeys take out all the green m&ms before eating a bag, too? "
I agree that the article was supposed to be funny, but it also seems to be an extension of Gore’s personality: “I’m Al Gore. I shouldn’t have to wait for the debut like the little people.”
“I like that Gore, seeing the humor in the great lengths to which the producer went to safeguard the tape (and rightfully so), sent him a photo of him trying to break into the box. He’s actually a very funny guy.”
The fact that Gore knows the producer means he can ask for a copy in advance. Big deal.
You can take this as either a “Big deal” or as a sad commentary on the fact that people simply have no ability anymore to wait for anything. I’m certain that Gore has the capability to tape the Saprano’s so it certainly wasn’t an issue of not being able to ever watch it.
To me it’s just another, although amazingly tiny and insignificant, indication of the mindset of politicians in general and a reflection of society in general. Certainly Al Gore has the capability to get am advanced copy, but wow, what an amazing waist of time and resources all because “I don’t want to wait!”
Not ripping Gore, but mostly politicians in general and to a lesser extent society in general. We have a Governor in our state that flies back and forth to the capital almost every day to the tune of 12K+ tax payers dollars, all because he didn’t want to live in the governors mansion. Granted this is nowhere near that and it wasn’t tax payer dollars, but really would it have killed him to watch it later? That is what’s sad to me.
seeing the humor in the great lengths to which the producer went to safeguard the tape.
Maybe it’s just me but I’m failing to see the humor aspect. “Ha Ha Ha I made you jump thru hoops to make you protect you assets all so, I could watch the show before everyone else!!!”. Not funny. I know people like this that have little or no respect for what others have to do to get THEM what they want. It’s not funny, no matter how clever the picture, to me and I suspect it’s not to others either.
I try to make it a habit not to defend Gore, but he wasn’t trying to see it BEFORE anyone else. He was going to be on the plane when it aired and was hoping to see it while on the plane. Hence, he could see it at approximately the same time as anyone else. Not much better I realize.
I’m looking at it this way. Obviously great pains had to be taken to “Secure” the footage. Alot of resources were spent doing so. I’d also guess that this was likely a last minute thing, could be wrong about that though. I’m wondering what kind of a mentality does a person have to have in order to believe that they can or should create a situation that causes others to jump thru hoops for their convenience about such a trivial thing as a TV show?
Honestly put yourself in the same situation. You have a college buddy that is a friend of Hollywood producer of your favorite show. You will be on a business trip that will cause you to be on a plane during the showing of the season finally. Do you actually call this friend up and ask him to send you a copy knowing that he will have to make several phone calls, create a secure package a code and then call and give you that code, packaging, shipping, security etc etc so that you can watch it when you get to the hotel or do you press a few buttons on your DVR/VCR and record the damn thing so you can watch it when you get home? Frankly I would be out and out embarrassed to even make such a request.
The fact that Gore knows the producer means he can ask for a copy in advance. Big deal.
You can take this as either a “Big deal” or as a sad commentary on the fact that people simply have no ability anymore to wait for anything.
Sad, isn’t it? I remember reading this story on my blackberry while camped out on the sidewalk waiting for my iphone, thinking “what kind of person does that, anyway?”
It’s OK I would have hammered you if this was about Bush too. I’m not much of a partisan, so feel free to support Gore anytime, well unless he’s asking someone to send him a copy of TV show that he could record and watch later or if it does turn out that he has someone sort his M & M’s for him.