will not be damaged, and he will be able to claim insurance compensation. Mahaffey, whom Tony calls a "degenerate gambler", is in debt to Tony and Hesh Rabkin, an old Jewish friend of Tony's father. Tony, driving, runs Mahaffey down, breaking his leg. He then concocts a scheme for Mahaffey's company to make insurance claims payable to non-existent clinics in order to pay off his debts, and he is forced to comply. At Tony's son's birthday party, Christopher, bitter about not receiving recognition for killing Kolar, tells Tony he is thinking of turning his life story into a Hollywood script, which Tony angrily forbids. Driving Livia to the party, an embittered Junior says, "Something may have to be done about Tony". Livia silently looks the other way, with a hint of a smile. Deceased Emil Kolar: Shot in the back of the head by Christopher Moltisanti. Cultural references Voicing his discontent to Dr. Melfi about the current trend of people to publicly discuss their personal problems, Tony mentions the Sally Jessy Raphael Show. When disposing of Emil Kolar's body, Christopher says to "Big Pussy," "Louis Brasi sleeps with the fishes." Pussy corrects him, "Luca Brasi." The character Brasi, and the phrase "sleeps with the fishes," are from The Godfather. Angrily speaking to Christopher, Tony mentions Henry Hill whose life story was documented in the true crime book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family and subsequently adapted into the film Goodfellas. Production Pre-production for the pilot commenced in the summer of 1997, a year and a half before the series debuted on TV. The episode was filmed in August 1997 and completed by October 1997. Despite being well received by Chase's closest friends and the cast and crew who watched it, Chase feared the pilot would not be picked up by HBO and, in that case, planned to ask the network for additional money to shoot another 45 minutes and turn it into a feature film. Chase was also pressured by another, completely new development deal offered to him by another network, which he kept postponing until he heard HBO's verdict on The Sopranos. Right before Christmas of 1997, David Chase received a phone call and learned that HBO did like the pilot and ordered a full season, all of which happened about two hours before the deadline for accepting the other network's deal. Chase was relieved as if "let out