The distinguished documentarian Alex Gibney has turned his attention to the distinguished contrarian David Chase. This two-part docuseries opens with Gibney and Chase seated in an eerie replica of Dr. Melfi’s sanctum sanctorum.

I wonder if I can get one of those for Adrastos World HQ? Never mind, I’d have no idea where to fit it. I think our cats would dig that glass coffee table. It would be nice and cool during a New Orleans summer.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Alex Gibney’s swell new HBO documentary, Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos.

Dr. Melfi’s office was round. I always assumed it was that shape because it gave Tony no corner to hide or skulk in. Tony Soprano was big on skulking. It’s what gangsters do.

My name is Adrastos and I’m a Sopranos obsessive. The only book I had in the hospital last February was The Sopranos Sessions by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall. There were many hospital scenes in the series, so I found the book oddly comforting. A different reaction than Paulie Walnuts who went to a psychic after visiting Christopher in the hospital in From Where To Eternity:

Christopher was a junkie who went to rehab, then to AA. One of my favorite scenes in the series was the wise guy intervention:

That did not go well. I hope there’s no such thing for Sopranos addicts. If there is, I’m in trouble.

I’ve always admired the code David Chase brought to The Sopranos: play it straight without compromise. That’s not 100% true. Chase originally planned to kill off Tony’s monster mom Livia at the end of the first season. Nancy Marchand asked Chase to spare her because she had cancer and wanted to keep working. Chase granted her absolution. It spared us from seeing Tony smother his mother with a pillow. She did, however, have it coming.

The other bending of the Chase code came with the whacking of Drea de Matteo as Adriana. She was a well-loved member of the cast, so they did not show her execution at the hands of Silvio. We see her crawling and hear the shot. RIP, Ade.

As a Sopranos obsessive, I only learned a few new things from Wise Guy:

• Edie Falco called Chase “the master cylinder” because any script changes had to be approved by him.
• All the writers had what Terry Winter describes as “the same mother.” A gaggle of Livias? Oy, just oy.

Terry Winter went on to create another of my favorite HBO series Boardwalk Empire. He’s a helluva storyteller. His shtick about convincing Tony Sirico to mess up his hair for the Pine Barrens episode is classic. Paulie Walnuts don’t play that. Like the guy in Werewolves Of London, his hair was perfect.

Holy Talking Sopranos Wing-o-Meter, Batman.

David Chase is an interesting figure. His demeanor is dour, but his wit is sharp. In the pilot, Tony told Dr Melfi that he felt like a “sad clown.” That fits Chase to a tee. He never wanted to be a TV writer, then created the greatest series in the history of the medium.

Chase has always felt like an outsider. His family Anglicized their name from DeCesare, which he had to explain repeatedly after The Sopranos became a hit. Steven Van Zandt was reluctant to audition until Chase informed him that he was indeed a paisan. I identify with this because my papou did likewise, transforming Athanasopoulos to Athas. Every time I fill out a form, I bless my papou.

Italian American families are similar to Greek American families, so there are many parallels. The sanctity of Sunday dinners was one thing, another was the hazing of in-laws until they could prove they belonged. My mom went through that when my dad was away during World War II. She emerged triumphant and friends with her sisters-in-law. Like Livia, my yiayia was a different story but I’ll save that for another time.

I have a minor quibble with Wise Guy. I’m also a Rockford Files obsessive. Chase’s big break was working on that show, so I wish Gibney had spent some time on that formative period in Chase’s professional life. James Garner was a huge influence on Chase’s style as a showrunner. In another interview, Chase said that Garner taught him how to treat people at the workplace. He certainly didn’t learn that from his mother.

Chase’s time on The Rockford Files also foreshadowed The Sopranos. He wrote an episode about Jim going to New Jersey and dealing with some wise guys, Just A Coupla Guys. It was a backdoor pilot that didn’t fly in 1980 but sowed the seeds the sprouted into The Sopranos. End of gardening metaphor. I shouldn’t use them. I have a black thumb.

I’m also convinced that the great opening credits of Rockford inspired the opening credits of Chase’s masterpiece:

Let’s hop in the car and watch the trailer for Wise Guy:

Another thing Gibney did right was NOT to obsess out over the series finale. Its ambiguity drives many fans crazy. I think it was a stroke of genius: we’re still talking about it 17 years later. I dig Little Steven’s take on it, “The director yelled cut and the actors went home.”

The Sopranos are rarely far from my thoughts. I wondered what David Chase thought of the controversy over whether The Bear is a comedy. I dig that show but The Sopranos was funnier. Nobody thought it was a comedy even though there was more laughing than whacking. What can ya do?

When I’m back at full-strength, I hope to revive The Sunday Dozen. Near the top of my list is a listicle about my favorite Sopranos episodes. This review may give me the impetus to do it at long last. Thanks, Alex Gibney and David Chase. I needed some inspiration.

Grading Time: I give Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos 4 stars and an Adrastos Grade of A.

The last word goes to Journey: