THE SOPRANOS - CHASE TO TESTIFY IN LAWSUIT BROUGHT BY JUDGE OVER SOPRANOS

The Sopranos creator, David Chase, is expected to testify in New Jersey this week in a federal lawsuit brought by former judge Robert Baer who claims that he was responsible for providing Chase with the idea for the HBO series and in developing the central characters. While acknowledging that he met with Baer and talked to him about matters related to gangland characters in New Jersey, Chase maintains that the judge's contributions were insignificant. The Smoking Gun website has posted Chase's "court certification" about the origins of the show, in which he notes that his family name was originally DeCesare; that he grew up fascinated with the movie gangster classic Public Enemy and watched The Untouchables on TV; that he followed Mafia activities in the Newark Evening News; that at 14, the mob was the subject of his oral presentation in speech class; and that his own family had "tenuous links" to the Mafia.

12/12/2007