While the majority of the country is hunkering down and social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus, they've been turning to TV—especially older shows—for comfort. We previously had writers imagine how the likes of 30 Rock and ER would handle the coronavirus, and not one to be left out, creator David Chase imagined what The Sopranos would look like in the era of COVID-19.
The Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa revealed Chase's take on how Tony (James Gandolfini), Carmela (Edie Falco) and the rest of The Sopranos characters would be doing in the current climate on their Talking Sopranos podcast.
"Things are tough right now with all the bad news and things that are going on, it's nice to have something to laugh about," Imperioli said. "David thought it was important to bring some levity to the world, and he wrote these lines about the Soprano characters relating to the coronavirus."
The lines, written by Chase and read by Imperioli and Schirripa, are if the characters found themselves self-quarantining. With the variety of characters involved, it's safe to say this not set after the events of ambiguous series finale. They include:
Tony Soprano: "Sports betting? F--king gone with the wind, along with professional sports. Me and my friends are dying over here. The president might have a point. Let's get business and manufacturing going again — by Easter, May Day, whatever the f—k."
Meadow Soprano (Jamie Lynn Sigler): "I should've gone to medical school. I feel so bad about my decision."
Carmela: "I'm so glad my daughter didn't go to medical school. Imagine where'd she be right now."
Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco): "I'm on the second line over the hospital. When and if those brave docs burn out, I'm out next."
A.J. Soprano (Robert Iler): "At one time I wanted to work for Trump. You believe it? F--k me, dude."
Carmela: "We're not doing well with the quarantine in our house. It's making me face the music that this is a dysfunctional family. But it's keeping my husband in, which is good."
Tony: "Bing f--kin' shut down, my income stream was already compromised. We can keep the pork store open, though, essential critical infrastructure. Pork!"
Listen to the podcast to hear more. For more coronavirus imagined episodes, here's what Robert Carlock had to say about 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Will Scheffer and Mark V. Olsen on Getting On and Neal Baer about ER.