It’s the setting of what might be one of the most talked about series finales in television history, that diner booth from the final episode of The Sopranos where Tony (James Gandolfini) and Carmela (Edie Falco) Soprano sat to grab a bite to eat in a New Jersey diner when a suspicious patron walks in and the screen cuts to black leaving viewers to wonder exactly what happened next. Now, that iconic piece of television and pop cultural history has sold at auction for a huge price. According to CNN, the original “booth that the Soprano Family sat in for the final scene” recently sold at auction on eBay for $82,600 — and it didn’t include the jukebox.
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Per the auction site, there were 238 bids on the booth, which included both seats, table, and divider wall with a plaque reading “Reserved for the Sopranos Family”. The booth was sold on eBay by the owners of Holsten’s Ice Cream in Bloomfield, New Jersey. They are presently renovating the shop and noted in the listing that while they didn’t necessarily want to sell the original booth, given its age and condition it was necessary.
“The time has come. All good things sometimes need an upgrade,” a post from the owners read. “The famous [Sopranos] booth is getting a much-needed face-lift. Please understand that we don’t want to do this. But the integrity of the booth [is] now compromised. They have been repaired many times and this furniture is over 60 years old.”
What Actually Happened in The Sopranos Finale?
While what happened after the cut-to-black has become one of television’s biggest debates, Sopranos creator David Chase confirmed a few years ago that the viewers who assumed that the man who entered the diner killed Tony Soprano were correct and that the plan was always to have Tony die, though how it went down in the finale wasn’t exactly always the plan.
“Because the scene I had in my mind was not that scene. Nor did I think of cutting to black,” Chase said. “I had a scene in which Tony comes back from a meeting in New York in his car. At the beginning of every show, he came from New. York into New Jersey, and the last scene could be him coming from New Jersey back into New York for a meeting at which he was going to be killed.”
Chase went on to explain that when he was driving around one day, a chance discovery of a 2-hour diner shifted his idea for the ending and led to how the final episode of The Sopranos played out.
“But I think I had this notion — I was driving on Ocean Park Boulevard near the airport and I saw a little restaurant,” he said. “it was kind of like a shack that served breakfast. And for some reason I thought, ‘Tony should get it in a place like that.’ Why? I don’t know. That was like, two years before.”
An Original Friends Script Also Recently Sold At Auction
The Sopranos booth isn’t the only piece of television history that recently sold at auction. Back in January, two original scripts from the television series Friends sold at auction for around $36,000 total. The scripts — which had been found in a trash can at Fountain Studios back in 1998, were from the two-part Season 4 finale of the series, “The One with Ross’s Wedding” which were set and filmed in the UK.
“I just can’t believe the result and the impact this find has had,” head of operations at Hanson Ross Amanda Butler said. “Bidders went crazy for these scripts.”
What do you think about The Sopranos booth selling at auction? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!
