With a nod to my colleague Arthur Smith, here are fourteen things I learned from reading Brett Martin's Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
In keeping with the interactive spirit of our times, you choose the correct answers
Here's Michiko Kakutani's review in The New York Times, but take the quiz first.
Answers appear at the bottom of this post. No cheating!
1) David Chase (pictured left) once described which of the following as "the best time of my life"?
A - Producing the first season of The Sopranos
B - Dropping acid and going to see 2001: A Space Odyssey
C - Listening to Andea Bocelli perform "Con te partiro" at the Metropolitan Opera
D - Hanging with Stephen J. Cannell, Steven Bocho, Roy Huggins, and other writers during his early years at Universal
2) What does David Chase say he learned from working with Stephen J. Cannell on The Rockford Files?
A - That the most important thing for your hero is that he is the smartest person in the room
B - How to make a mean margarita
C - Humor is essential to any good drama
D - Listen to input from your actors
3) David Chase reportedly loathes the work of which TWO of the following showrunners?
A - David Simon
B - Aaron Sorkin
C - Alan Ball
D - David Milch
4) When David Chase reportedly says "I did it for the money. The only time I ever did that," to what is he referring?
A - Writing for Kolchak: The Night Stalker
B - Showrunning Northern Exposure
C - Working as a male stripper
D - Producing a seventh season of The Sopranos
5) Asked to showrun The Wonder Years, David Chase came up with the idea of having Kevin Arnold converse "with the shade" of what literary figure?
A - Holden Caulfield
B - Huck Finn
C - Jem Finch
D - Oliver Twist
6) David Chase once reportedly told Sopranos writer Todd Kessler (pictured right): "I'll never truly be happy in life" until he does what?
A - Directs an Oscar-winning film
B - Becomes known as a filmmaker rather than a television producer
C - Kills a man with his bare hands
D - Climbs Mount Everest
7) In the writers' room at Six Feet Under, the character of Nate Fisher was referred to as which of the following, because he was considered the "one normal guy in a house of freaks":
A - Mary Richards
B - Lisa Simpson
C - Marilyn Munster
D - Michael Bluth
8) During the making of the HBO miniseries The Corner, series cocreator David Simon (pictured left) steered clear of the set for what reason?
A - He couldn't stand what they were doing to his book.
B - Director Charles Dutton didn't want him anywhere near the set.
C - The experience of watching his book being adapted into a film overwhelmed him emotionally.
D - He lost his GPS and couldn't find the way there.
9) When I'll Fly Away writer Henry Bromell told David Chase he wanted to go home at 6 pm a few nights a week because he had just had a baby and his wife wanted to go back to work, Chase replied:
A - "Why don't you just pack up your stuff and go home now?"
B - "Of course. What do you think, I'm a monster?"
C - "I need to know your top priority is this job, not your family. Make a choice."
D - "Don't make me sic Paulie Walnuts on you."
10) Damage's Patty Hewes was modeled after whom?
A - Matthew Weiner
B - David Milch
C - David Chase
D - Glenn Close
11) In her book Free Fire Zone, playwright turned TV writer Theresa Rebeck writes a thinly veiled essay referring to which showrunner/former boss as Caligula ("He was a terrific storyteller - and he really could write. He was also, often, a terrible human being")?
A - Matthew Weiner
B - David Milch
C - David Chase
D - David Simon
12) During NYPD Blue, Steven Bochco and David Milch (pictured right) got into a fierce, "nose to nose" argument after Milch demanded more money, but Bochco eventually felt bad and told Milch to ask him for anything he wanted and he would say OK. So what did Milch ask for?
A - More money
B - Less money
C - A promise they would lunch together once a week
D - A monthly gambling allowance
13) When a junior Mad Men writer dared to interrupt venerable screenwriter Frank Pierson's yarn about a dog one day in the writers' room with a story about his own pet, how did Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner react?
A - He took him aside and said, "Thank God; I thought that blowhard would never shut up!"
B - He took him aside and said, "No one gives a s*** about your dog."
C - He took him aside and shot him.
D - He made him watch Pierson's Cool Hand Luke and then write an essay about it.
14) Matthew Weiner is quoted in the book as saying "I'm often in the role of" which Mad Men character?
A - Don
B - Pete
C - Peggy
D - Sally
Answers
1 - B; 2 - A; 3 - B and D; 4 - B; 5 - A; 6 - C; 7 - C; 8 - B; 9 - C; 10 - C; 11 - B; 12 - C; 13 - B; 14 - D