You probably missed this surprising ‘Sopranos’ Easter egg in ‘Tulsa King’ but we don’t blame you
With its recently aired episode 8, 'Tulsa King' Season 3 dropped an unexpected Easter egg that has got fans all excited. Titled 'Nothing Is Over', the latest episode of the Taylor Sheridan show included a subtle nod to one of the greatest television shows of all time, i.e., 'The Sopranos'. Actor Robert Patrick, who plays the character of Dunmire, improvised the line "How's your b***s, Manfredi?" while referring to Sylvester Stallone's Dwight Manfredi. This line itself is a reference to 'The Sopranos' in which Patrick appeared as well, portraying the character of Tony Soprano's childhood friend and degenerate gambler David Scatino.
Patrick recently renewed his popular Love Ride charity event, and it was in this connection that he sat down with Grant Hermanns from ScreenRant for an interview. During the course of the conversation, Patrick explained that he improvised the line "How's your b***s, Manfredi?" as a reference to 'The Sopranos' and the character of James Gandolfini, who happened to deliver the line on the legacy HBO show.
Patrick commented, "How did you like that episode where I said, 'How's your b***s, Manfredi?" When I rushed the big distillery, they're promoting their new product, and they're rolling out the barrels. I interrupted, I just say, "F**k it, I'm gonna go down there. It should be my night. I'm starting to fight back a little bit." And as I got out of the car, Sly's coming up to me, and as I'm walking up, I just went, "How's your balls, Manfredi?" I just ad-libbed it. After the take, I said, "What do you think of that?" He goes, "'How's your b***s?' Where the f**k did you get that?" "That's Jimmy Gandolfini."
Patrick then went on to explain that while filming for 'The Sopranos', he was attempting to get on the late Gandolfini's nerves as that would prompt the latter to deliver a naturalistic performance. It is with this aim in mind that he went on to instigate the late star: "...w I was shooting The Sopranos, I was trying to get under Jimmy's skin a little bit, and goad him into really beating the shit out of me. The next day, he had to slap me around as David Scatino. I said something like, "Hey, Jimmy, tomorrow, make sure you show up bringing your A-game." And he looked at me like, "Bring my A-game?" And he flicked a cigarette at me, and he said, "All right, I'll bring my A-game." The next day, he walks in, the first thing he says to me is, "How's your balls?" (Laughs) I was thinking about it, having The Sopranos experience, how to tie that in."
By dropping a line from 'The Sopranos' on 'Tulsa King', Patrick effortlessly tied the two shows together. It did come across as well justified since both the shows figure somewhere in the same universe of crime and mobsters. Patrick further remarked that he considered the Easter egg to bring forth fans of 'The Sopranos' to like 'Tulsa King'. The Paramount+ show drops new episodes every Sunday.
