Wednesday, May 18, 2011
‘Do You Know Who I Am?’ on Mob Wives
Renee Graziano tempts fate by hosting a Psychic Party, while Carla Facciolo loses control over her rambunctious twins and contemplates telling them the truth about their Dad's imprisonment. After Drita D'avanzo's moves to make amends are rebuffed by Renee, the domineering wise gals go head to head. Renee's inner Mafia Princess is unleashed when things take a disrespectful and dangerous turn during a night out with Karen Gravano.
"Capone Days Festival" to Honor Al Capone's Grand Niece, Deirdre Marie Capone, at Gangster Museum Grand Opening
Deirdre Marie Capone is the Guest Of Honor at the Hot Springs
, Arkansas 'Capone Days Festival' May 20, 21, 22.
She will also be signing copies of her new award winning book, Uncle Al Capone at the grand opening of The Gangster Museum.
, Arkansas 'Capone Days Festival' May 20, 21, 22.She will also be signing copies of her new award winning book, Uncle Al Capone at the grand opening of The Gangster Museum.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
"America's Most Wanted" Canceled by Fox in Budget Move, Show to Consider Syndication?
You didn't have to watch "America's Most Wanted" to be grateful it's there. For 23 years it has resided on Fox, rallying its audience into a nationwide crime watch from which everyone benefited.
The viewership was not insignificant: 5 million viewers, on average, this season.But other numbers were more impressive. Like the 1,151-and-counting worldwide captures it claimed, a public blessing for which the show, and the community it roused, could take proud credit.
No wonder if the public was shaken by the news on Monday that Fox has canceled "AMW."
Too expensive, Fox entertainment Kevin Reilly explained when making the announcement. Instead of "AMW," Fox will air weekly repeats of its prime-time entertainment series. He said there would be just four, two-hour "AMW" specials next season.
John Walsh had gotten the bad news on Sunday. Walsh, of course, is the host of "AMW" and its driving force, a man who led a crime-busting crusade in the aftermath of the abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son Adam in 1981. "I was quite surprised," he said by phone Monday afternoon from backstage at the Fox's presentation for advertisers in Manhattan. He said he told Reilly, "We performed hard for you and we had a good year. We caught more guys than we've ever caught." But that wasn't the metric that mattered to the network.
Set aside for a moment the public good "AMW" has provided. It's also been a remarkable TV institution. It premiered in April 1988 on the fledgling Fox network during a season when other freshman Fox shows included such long-forgotten fare as "The New Adventures of Beans Baxter" and "Second Chance."
It was billed as "a weekly nationwide criminal manhunt." Walsh, a former hotel executive with no TV experience, was its host, with a simple message for the law-abiding public that he deputized to help flush out the bad guys: It's us or them.
"AMW" caught on, where most of Fox's lineup failed. (In July 1989, it became the first-ever Fox program to rank first in its time slot.) It's been a fixture on the network ever since, and, since 1994, planted at 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturdays. Oh, except for a couple of months in 1996 after Fox canceled it the first time.
"The public went bananas," Walsh recalled. So did government and police officials, who regarded the show as an invaluable law-enforcement resource. The network swiftly reconsidered, and "AMW" carried on with its good work.
"It's a show that seems like it was always there," said Brad Adgate, an analyst for the firm Horizon Media. And innovative: "It harnessed the wisdom of crowds long before social media."
"AMW" had another thing going for it. No matter how aggressively the show led a fight to drain the nation's swampland of depravity, there was no danger it would ever run dry. "AMW" has content guaranteed to keep going forever.
Anyone other than Walsh might have received the news that "AMW" was being cut down with a measure of relief. After a quarter-century immersed in the dark side of humanity while keeping up a punishing schedule, he might reasonably welcome a respite now, at age 65. But he's not about to slow down.
"We're getting better at it," he said of the collective effort he and his show display. "I got better at it, smarter at it, tougher."
Walsh said there will be a couple more episodes to do for the network. Meanwhile, he'll be talking to Twentieth Television, the network's studio arm, about possible new outlets for the show. "I think this show could go into syndication big-time," he said. "And I'll do those specials, because I love the network. Who else would give the father of a murdered child a chance to host a revolutionary reality show?"
Then he had to get off the phone. He was needed onstage at the presentation. "Television is a business and I understand that," Walsh said in parting. "But you never know: We came back once, stronger than ever. ... I'm not ready to throw in the towel."
The viewership was not insignificant: 5 million viewers, on average, this season.But other numbers were more impressive. Like the 1,151-and-counting worldwide captures it claimed, a public blessing for which the show, and the community it roused, could take proud credit.
No wonder if the public was shaken by the news on Monday that Fox has canceled "AMW."
Too expensive, Fox entertainment Kevin Reilly explained when making the announcement. Instead of "AMW," Fox will air weekly repeats of its prime-time entertainment series. He said there would be just four, two-hour "AMW" specials next season.
John Walsh had gotten the bad news on Sunday. Walsh, of course, is the host of "AMW" and its driving force, a man who led a crime-busting crusade in the aftermath of the abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son Adam in 1981. "I was quite surprised," he said by phone Monday afternoon from backstage at the Fox's presentation for advertisers in Manhattan. He said he told Reilly, "We performed hard for you and we had a good year. We caught more guys than we've ever caught." But that wasn't the metric that mattered to the network.
Set aside for a moment the public good "AMW" has provided. It's also been a remarkable TV institution. It premiered in April 1988 on the fledgling Fox network during a season when other freshman Fox shows included such long-forgotten fare as "The New Adventures of Beans Baxter" and "Second Chance."
It was billed as "a weekly nationwide criminal manhunt." Walsh, a former hotel executive with no TV experience, was its host, with a simple message for the law-abiding public that he deputized to help flush out the bad guys: It's us or them.
"AMW" caught on, where most of Fox's lineup failed. (In July 1989, it became the first-ever Fox program to rank first in its time slot.) It's been a fixture on the network ever since, and, since 1994, planted at 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturdays. Oh, except for a couple of months in 1996 after Fox canceled it the first time.
"The public went bananas," Walsh recalled. So did government and police officials, who regarded the show as an invaluable law-enforcement resource. The network swiftly reconsidered, and "AMW" carried on with its good work.
"It's a show that seems like it was always there," said Brad Adgate, an analyst for the firm Horizon Media. And innovative: "It harnessed the wisdom of crowds long before social media."
"AMW" had another thing going for it. No matter how aggressively the show led a fight to drain the nation's swampland of depravity, there was no danger it would ever run dry. "AMW" has content guaranteed to keep going forever.
Anyone other than Walsh might have received the news that "AMW" was being cut down with a measure of relief. After a quarter-century immersed in the dark side of humanity while keeping up a punishing schedule, he might reasonably welcome a respite now, at age 65. But he's not about to slow down.
"We're getting better at it," he said of the collective effort he and his show display. "I got better at it, smarter at it, tougher."
Walsh said there will be a couple more episodes to do for the network. Meanwhile, he'll be talking to Twentieth Television, the network's studio arm, about possible new outlets for the show. "I think this show could go into syndication big-time," he said. "And I'll do those specials, because I love the network. Who else would give the father of a murdered child a chance to host a revolutionary reality show?"
Then he had to get off the phone. He was needed onstage at the presentation. "Television is a business and I understand that," Walsh said in parting. "But you never know: We came back once, stronger than ever. ... I'm not ready to throw in the towel."
Vincent 'Vinny Gorgeous' Basciano Could Face Death Penalty for Mob Murder
Notorious mob boss 'Vinny Gorgeous' could face the death penalty after being convicted on Monday in federal court of ordering the death of a former Mafia associate.
A jury in Brooklyn reached the verdict on its fourth day of deliberations after the month-long trial and now must decide whether he should be killed for his crime or locked up for life.
It is only the second time in 30 years that a mobster has faced the death penalty for a gangland murder.
In 1992 Thomas 'Tommy Karate' Pitera was convicted of seven murders and could have been executed, but instead the jury gave him life in prison.
There is no longer a state death penalty charge in New York but the feds are seeking the death penalty under the murder in aid of racketeering statute.
Vincent Basciano, who was known to mobsters as Vinny Gorgeous, was already serving a life sentence for an attempted murder conviction in 2007.
This time, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, murder in aid of racketeering, and an illegal gun charge in relation to the killing of a mob associate who ran afoul of the Bonanno organised crime family in 2004.
The trial featured testimony by former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, the highest-ranking member of a New York City Mafia family ever to testify against his own.
Jurors heard secret recordings by Massino in which 51-year-old Basciano admitted to the killing. Prosecutors suggested Basciano was a power-hungry gangster, 'ruthless' and 'ambitious' in his lethal methods.
Basciano gave the order to kill Randolph Pizzolo, a Bonanno associate who was gunned down in 2004 in an industrial section of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Assistant US Attorney Stephen Frank told the jury at Brooklyn federal court Basciano continued to run the crime family from behind bars.
Basciano 'ordered the murder of Randolph Pizzolo, who disrespected and disobeyed the defendant and paid for it with his life,' he said. Pizzolo's death 'would be a statement to everybody in the crime family that Vinny Basciano don't play around,' Frank added.
He suggested a secret recording which captured the gangster saying 'let him [Pizzolo] go', proved the mobster's guilt.
Despite the recordings and testimony from former mob associates of the gangster, Basciano's defence had tried to argue he wasn't involved in Pizzolo's murder. 'At times in his life, he was a hoodlum. But he didn't kill Randy Pizzolo,' George Goltzer, one of Basciano's defense attorneys, told the jury.
The defence painted half a dozen former Bonannos who testified against Basciano as ruthless murderers seeking reduced sentences at any cost.
One of them, Joseph Massino, was the Bonanno boss for two decades before turning on his own and becoming the first head of a New York crime family to testify for the government.
The case relied heavily on secret recordings between Basciano and Massino, who was wearing a wire.
The jury will return to court in a few days to discuss Basciano's penalty and determine whether or not he should be executed for his mob crimes.
Thanks to DMR
A jury in Brooklyn reached the verdict on its fourth day of deliberations after the month-long trial and now must decide whether he should be killed for his crime or locked up for life.
It is only the second time in 30 years that a mobster has faced the death penalty for a gangland murder.
In 1992 Thomas 'Tommy Karate' Pitera was convicted of seven murders and could have been executed, but instead the jury gave him life in prison.
There is no longer a state death penalty charge in New York but the feds are seeking the death penalty under the murder in aid of racketeering statute.
Vincent Basciano, who was known to mobsters as Vinny Gorgeous, was already serving a life sentence for an attempted murder conviction in 2007.
This time, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, murder in aid of racketeering, and an illegal gun charge in relation to the killing of a mob associate who ran afoul of the Bonanno organised crime family in 2004.
The trial featured testimony by former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, the highest-ranking member of a New York City Mafia family ever to testify against his own.
Jurors heard secret recordings by Massino in which 51-year-old Basciano admitted to the killing. Prosecutors suggested Basciano was a power-hungry gangster, 'ruthless' and 'ambitious' in his lethal methods.
Basciano gave the order to kill Randolph Pizzolo, a Bonanno associate who was gunned down in 2004 in an industrial section of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Assistant US Attorney Stephen Frank told the jury at Brooklyn federal court Basciano continued to run the crime family from behind bars.
Basciano 'ordered the murder of Randolph Pizzolo, who disrespected and disobeyed the defendant and paid for it with his life,' he said. Pizzolo's death 'would be a statement to everybody in the crime family that Vinny Basciano don't play around,' Frank added.
He suggested a secret recording which captured the gangster saying 'let him [Pizzolo] go', proved the mobster's guilt.
Despite the recordings and testimony from former mob associates of the gangster, Basciano's defence had tried to argue he wasn't involved in Pizzolo's murder. 'At times in his life, he was a hoodlum. But he didn't kill Randy Pizzolo,' George Goltzer, one of Basciano's defense attorneys, told the jury.
The defence painted half a dozen former Bonannos who testified against Basciano as ruthless murderers seeking reduced sentences at any cost.
One of them, Joseph Massino, was the Bonanno boss for two decades before turning on his own and becoming the first head of a New York crime family to testify for the government.
The case relied heavily on secret recordings between Basciano and Massino, who was wearing a wire.
The jury will return to court in a few days to discuss Basciano's penalty and determine whether or not he should be executed for his mob crimes.
Thanks to DMR
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Mob Bust on VH1's Mob Wives
When the Feds conduct the biggest mob bust in the history of organized crime, the fall out rocks Staten Island to its core and Renee Graziano's world starts to unravel.
Karen Gravano is forced to revisit her mafia past as she reconnects with memories of growing up as an infamous gangster's daughter. Drita D'avanzo faces the harsh realities of her husband's prolonged jail sentence which forces her to question her future as a prisoner's wife. The divide between Renee and Drita deepens when Renee receives an unexpected blow and an unlikely ally shows support.
Karen Gravano is forced to revisit her mafia past as she reconnects with memories of growing up as an infamous gangster's daughter. Drita D'avanzo faces the harsh realities of her husband's prolonged jail sentence which forces her to question her future as a prisoner's wife. The divide between Renee and Drita deepens when Renee receives an unexpected blow and an unlikely ally shows support.
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