Like the song says, “It’s only gabagool, but I like it.” This is really a huge honor for me. The Louis Armstrong, Willie Dixon, Little Richard and Antonio Meucci of TV, and my mentor, my hero and my soul brother for life, Mr. It is my honor and pleasure to induct you to the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Uncompromising, unrelenting, innovative, idealistic, romantic to a fault, and yet a cynical, self-destructive contrarian … my kind of guy.

The industry he single-handedly made irrelevant. Now that he has accomplished this miracle, what’s he want to do? He wants to make movies. (“The Sopranos”) transformed a medium that once was … let’s face it, mostly mindless entertainment, with narrative depth, ambiguous morality, elevated anti-heroes to protagonists, and took TV from the bottom of the entertainment hierarchy, all the way to the top. But one game-changing Italian that does get the credit, at least tonight - no paperwork necessary - is the guy who revolutionized domestic adult entertainment, otherwise known as cable TV, with a little show called “The Sopranos.” Without “The Sopranos,” there would be no “Wire,” no “Breaking Bad,” no “Mad Men,” no “Boardwalk Empire,” no “Ray Donovan.” Most importantly, God forbid, no “Lilyhammer.” … And HBO would have never (made) “Game of Thrones.” You can forget about that one, too. And then, everybody knows, Antonio Meucci invented the telephone, but that rat Alexander Graham Bell filled out the paperwork. After all, everybody knows, Alessandro Volta invented the lightbulb but that shifty Thomas Edison filled out the paperwork. Now, occasionally, the game changers don’t get the credit.

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