The Sopranos (TV Series)

Watching Too Much Television (2002)

Vondie Curtis-Hall: Maurice Tiffen

Quotes 

• Maurice Tiffen : [after receiving their share of the profits from the HUD scam from Silvio, referring to their financial disagreement]  Listen, I've been wanting to say this: no hard feelings, huh?

  Assemblyman Zellman : No, of course not

  Maurice Tiffen : You sure you're alright?

  Assemblyman Zellman : I'm fine

  Maurice Tiffen : You're just being... awfully quiet

  Assemblyman Zellman : I don't know, tired

  Assemblyman Zellman : [while they leave The Bada Bing strip club]  You ever feel bad about any of this?

  Maurice Tiffen : What'd you mean?

  Assemblyman Zellman : When I think about when we started out...

  Maurice Tiffen : [amused, interrupts him]  You know I used to think what I did made a difference: the anti-drug programs, the voter drives, but over the years, it's like "shoving shit against the tide", you know that?

  Assemblyman Zellman : I guess

  Maurice Tiffen : Yeah, you cut corners but you help out: do the best you can. Hey, if it ain't us, it's gonna be somebody else. Really, I mean, what're we supposed to be? The only "honest men?"

  Assemblyman Zellman : We were gonna lead a "revolution"

  Maurice Tiffen : [amused]  Revolution? The revolution got sold

• Assemblyman Zellman : [while in Maurice's den]  The fact is, these people are criminals: their drug addicts and dealers who've been occupying that house illegally

  Maurice Tiffen : [referring to Dr. Ira Freid]  What about the police? Get the seller, what's his name? The urologist? Get him to make the call

  Assemblyman Zellman : [irritated]  Their crack addicts: they'll be back in two hours

  Maurice Tiffen : [referring to the real estate scam their involved in with Tony and Ralphie]  The deal was for me to effectuate the purchase of the houses: period

  Assemblyman Zellman : I realize that

  Maurice Tiffen : Nobody mentioned anything about violence, we renounced it, remember?

  Assemblyman Zellman : I'm in a "bind" here

  Maurice Tiffen : I appreciate that, but what'd you expect me to do?

  Assemblyman Zellman : Get some of your "people" to handle it

  Maurice Tiffen : [confused]  what "people"?

  Assemblyman Zellman : Well, we can't send whites in there: people of color. You run a youth outreach program, don't you?

  Maurice Tiffen : I'm on the board

  Assemblyman Zellman : Fine, I understand that. How about you take the seven thousand this is costing, out of your end, then?

  Maurice Tiffen : Oh, come on, you know what I pay in child support to my first wife? The chances I'm taking with this thing, I'm putting it all on the line if I get caught

  Assemblyman Zellman : So, you get some kids, gangbangers, whatever: you throw them some money. When you think about it, from a policing standpoint, it's just one group of recidivists beating on another

  Maurice Tiffen : Stop trying to justify it, it's about the seven grand

  Assemblyman Zellman : [before putting his coat and leaving]  Let me tell you something else, guys like Tony, you don't fool around with these people

• Assemblyman Zellman : [while in the sauna room]  summer of sixty-seven we're both home on break. I was interning at the state legislature, what were you doing?

  Maurice Tiffen : East Newark Co-op

  Assemblyman Zellman : Right but come July

  Tony Soprano : The Newark riots

  Ralph Cifaretto : What a fuckin summer that was

  Assemblyman Zellman : Later that year Maurice and I have to organize one of the first all black voting drives

  Tony Soprano : Maurice, were you around for Anthony Imperiale? The "white knight"?

  Maurice Tiffen : Around? Who do you think he was fighting against?

  Assemblyman Zellman : Italian pride "keep Newark white"

  Maurice Tiffen : Spying Klansman: some of those boys

  Ralph Cifaretto : So, this group you got now, the Urban Housing League, what's the story there?

  Maurice Tiffen : Like many non-profits, we've fallen on hard times. Republican administration plus proliferation of new charities post 9/11

  Tony Soprano : Sounds like you three got a lot to talk about. I'm going to hit the showers. Maurice: nice meeting ya

  Maurice Tiffen : Same here

  Assemblyman Zellman : I took the liberty of filling in Maurice on the broad strokes

  Ralph Cifaretto : Ok we got a guy Dr. Fried, his an Urologist. We're going to give him half a million of our money, have him grab these four houses on Garside Street for a hundred and twenty-five a piece

  Maurice Tiffen : The old first ward

  Ralph Cifaretto : Once we own the houses we got an appraiser who'll "play ball" and his going to appraise them in the three hundred thousand dollar range. What you do Maurice is you take the phony appraisals to HUD tell them the Urban Housing League will buy these shit holes and convert them into low cost housing for working families

  Ralph Cifaretto : Once HUD guarantees the mortgage app you take it to the bank, they cut a check and we work it up nice

  Maurice Tiffen : At which I assume my organization fails to make the mortgage payments

  Assemblyman Zellman : Unforeseen construction delays and repeated vandalism forced the project into disillusion. We all walk away from the houses

  Ralph Cifaretto : Your cut will be in the ten percent of the profit range

  Assemblyman Zellman : My office will write a letter in strong support of your application

  Maurice Tiffen : Sounds about right