The Sopranos Are Still Flying High

Although the "Sopranos" series has ended, it still provides good entertainment. The latest developments come from the environmentalist Al Gore. It seems that the former US vice-president is a die-hard fan of the show. The final episode was aired on June 10, just as Al Gore was on a flight to Istanbul for an appearance. Having to miss the final episode proved unbearable to Gore, so he pulled a few strings.

Al Gore is currently very well known for his "An Inconvenient Truth" documentary, which was distributed by Paramount Studios. Brad Grey is the current chairman at Paramount, but he is also an executive producer of "The Sopranos". Since Grey and Gore are friends, the latter requested a small favor. Namely, he wondered if he could obtain a copy of the final episode before it aired.

Brad Grey's initial response was a ("are you kidding me?") no. Turns out that Gore was not the only one who asked for such a favor, but this final episode was the most prized asset of the studio at the time, no one was to have it beforehand.

Then, after some sleepless nights, Grey's conscience kicked in. So he decided to let Al Gore have a copy of the final episode, but only if he watched it at the same time as everybody else. So he put the final episode on a tape, then placed the tape in a special steel case, that could only be opened with a unique code. Gore had this case delivered to his plane in Chicago and was told at what specific time he should call Grey for the combination.

Needless to say, Gore tried his best to open the case as soon as possible, but he could not hack it. When the time came for the show to be aired in the US, Gore made the phone call, got the combination and enjoyed the final episode of "The Sopranos" just like anyone else. Except he did it several thousand miles above the rest of the world.

As a sign of gratitude, Gore sent his friend Grey a picture of him trying to open the steel case without the combination. It seems that Grey was so amused by this that now he keeps the picture on his desk.