#tbt Did You Know An Episode Of ‘The Sopranos” Was Set In Maine?
Ohhh! Bada Bing. Tony and Meadow head to Waterville!
After I went to the movies a few weeks ago to see The Sopranos prequel, "The Many Saints of Newark", it once again piqued my interest to do a re-watch of the entire 86 episodes of the iconic HBO show, for what must be the umpteenth time at this point, and in doing so, I remembered something very specific to the state of Maine in an episode.
Season One-Episode 5, called "College" features a plot line where Tony takes Meadow to visit schools in Maine. The three stops include Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Bates College in Lewiston, and the school where the major part of the story takes place, Colby College in Waterville.
When stopping at a gas station before heading to Colby, Tony thinks he spots "Febby" Petrulio, a wiseguy who entered the witness protection program after turning state's evidence. Tony follows the car with Meadow in the passenger seat, as they wiz by a sign that says "Colby College 9 miles"
Couple of things, you will clearly notice that is not a legit Maine road sign, because these scenes were actually filmed in rural New Jersey. Later, he then phones Christopher, and gives him the Maine license plate number to track down, and a number to reach him with the correct 207 area code, and of course since it's TV, one of those 555 digits follow.
Christopher then directs Tony to a place called Peter's Hardware, located on Main Street in Waterville, which is an actual street there, but the bussiness was created for the show, since it actually doesn't exist.
When Tony and Meadow eventually get to Colby, those scenes are actually college exteriors at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, that doubled as the school.
Now, if you have never seen this particular episode, I will not give it away, but it is truly worth the viewing experience to enjoy this legendary show.