Oh yes! The Tony and Paulie scenes could've gone either way. One of the most touching scenes for me, though, that affected me the most in that episode, was the one where Tony's on the balcony and hear's Paulie in his room laughing, looks in the window of Paulie's room and sees him sitting there, alone, on the foot of the bed, watching some dumb comedy and laughing his butt off. There was something quite poignant about that scene.
If he was watching "Too Close for Comfort" or even "Three's A Crowd", I'd agree 100%. But come on, "Three's Company" was pure comedy gold, especially when Cousin Cindy was the housemate.
But, more to the point, you said it perfectly. There was something so wonderful about Tony watching Paulie laugh at the show, particularly since the viewer (at least me) assumed Paulie was talking/laughing out of turn with someone else. The look Tony had was similar to the opening scene, when he rolled out of bed and saw Paulie walking up the driveway. Tony's smile at seeing his friend soon turned pensive, as he realized Paulie couldn't be coming by so early unexpectedly with anything good. That foreshadowed so much.
My wife and I don't know what we're going to do when this show ends. Divorce may not be too far away.
