And nobody has been more dedicated that "Soprano Sue," otherwise known as Sue Sadik. The 42-year-old Sadik, who runs a courier service business in Jersey City and resides in Clifton, operates the web site, www.sopranosuesightings.com, that provides devoted fans with a recap of the episode the morning after it airs, information about the cast and crew, numerous pictures of the various locations in New Jersey where the show has been filmed and even a section known as Shades of Death.
"I had started to notice a pattern on the show of how people died on the show, what episodes and other factors. That enabled me to predict who will be bumped off next and when," said Sadik.
Sadik not only has the website but also runs the Sopranos-based Bada-Bing Blog on www.nj.com. She gives recaps on several radio stations across the country and is a consultant on the Soprano Reality Tour, the bus tour where fans travel through several NJ towns where fans can see such icons as the Pizzaland that shows up in the show's credits.
But Sadik's love of the show has prompted her on many occasions to go to the most remote locations where the Sopranos have been filmed.
"I once drove about a hundred miles down to South Jersey to see the filming of the famous Pine Barrens episode. That only happened because I was able to put together some information here, some rumors and my knowledge of New Jersey," said Sadik, who was a geography major at William Paterson University and a private detective for five years.
Her routine for putting together the website requires that she leave her home at 4 in the morning on Mondays to arrive at her job by 5. At work, she then watches the Sopranos on tape if she hasn't been able to stay up the Sunday night before, or and then she starts searching the web to find out news and other items for the Bada-Bing Blog, for the Soprano Sue web site and other media outlets that require her expertise.
"If you don't keep on top of this, the fans will get on you in a hurry. Sometimes, I have to post on the web that I may be delayed. I have a life too."
Sadik in fact does have a life outside of her interest in the show. Sadik is also studying web design and writes for the school newspaper at Passaic County Community College. She also likes to kayak down the Hackensack River with her husband of 13 years, George.
For "Soprano Sue," the show has allowed her to meet actors, and she even became friends with Vincent Pastore, who played Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero until he "swam with the fishes" a few seasons ago. And John Lauder, a resident of Kearny, who she refers as "Gramps" who has done some acting work on the show.
But her interest in the show wasn't immediate. Sadik had heard about the show because the singer Steven Van Zandt had a role on the show in the initial season and Van Zandt was publicizing the show, and she wondered what was the big deal. But soon the Sopranos won her over.
"Because it's well written, they have tremendous talent and it brings tremendous soul," said Sadik.
Sadik also credit's the show's good quality to creator and veteran TV producer David Chase, who grew up in Clifton and North Caldwell.
The Sopranos cast and crew also know who she is and have grown to respect her, as seen in the hundreds of photos Sadik has of herself posing with cast members like as James Gandolfini , Jamie-Lynn Discala and Frank Vincent. She also showed off her "shrine" of Sopranos memorabilia, including a Sopranos poster and a Soprano's sports jersey with "TONY 1" on the back.
She also said that her relatives come to her to get tapes of the show since they don't have HBO. Her neighbors don't know that she's Soprano Sue, her co-workers at the job are fascinated by her devotion and her husband George, also a big fan of the Sopranos, has never been "unsupportive of his wife's hobby."
But for Sue, when the show ends, life goes on.
"You have to constantly adapt. If you had told me twenty years ago that I would have a web site and I would be involved in web design, I would have just laughed."
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