I read a lot of posts in the past who would be Tonys successor.

If Tony was killed in the last episode. Who do you think is the next boss after Tony?

I think the next guy would be Paulie.

I think the Lupertazzis take over Jersey. They put Paulie in as defacto boss of Jersey, while officially being a Luper captain that kicks up directly to Butchie and the Luper admin. I think Paulie was in on whacking Tony, too. David Chase, or one of the show's other writers, should do some Sopranos novels. I understand the concept of letting the show be great as it was, but there are just too many fans that are craving more of this story.

Sil would be boss. While he recovered, Paulie would be acting.

Silvio was never living through the coma is what the show intends you to believe.

If you believe Tony dies is the final scene, I think it's about who you feel kills him, or aids in doing so.

I personally subscribe to the theory that Patsy has given Tony up to New York in the end, yet still can see several different possibilities as a viable candidate.

One thing I feel holds true no matter your idea of who may or may not have taken over as boss if Tony was killed, Carlo had become a federal informant and was about to give up anyone in the Soprano faction that realistically would have stepped in to a boss role, Patsy included as he and Carlo shared a book/shy operation. Not to mention everyone but Paulie was directly or indirectly earning off construction which was Carlo's racket.

Given the idea that Paulie never earned legitimate income and lived strictly off the juice of his bookmaking points plus scores on the side, Paulie seemingly would be still named in whatever RICO trial against the Soprano Family was presented by Carlo informing, as Paulie would have likely been implicated in at least one murder minimum given the information Carlo would have known. Same with Silvio, if he was up from the Coma he goes away for the murder of Fat Dom (Carlo implicates Silvo as a direct witness, Muder 1).

So I feel that regardless of the status of his coma Silvio is likely out of the picture of who may be in charge, as is Paulie because they both are almost surely indicted in the RICO case on testimony from Carlo.

I think an unlikely but realistic person to emerge from the hypothetical RICO trial is Benny Fazio, as his star was rising over the final 2-3 seasons but he was never mentioned implicitly in any of the higher earning affairs (mainly construction being an Aprile Crew racket, as Benny came up with Chris) and seemingly handled muscle work until he steadily grew up over the course of the show handling more serious tasks.

This is just food for thought, it's all fan theory.

Good call, Carlos can send a lot of guys to prison. Paulie would escape that as he had a no show job at Barone Sanitation. Larry would be a good bet to fill the role of Boss, but we might have to look at the old retired members to fill in the spot.

Murf?

Sure, Lupo would pull a Gigante better then the Chin himself
Uncle Pat, and Bebby are two I can think of. Bebby was in on trying to kill Tony in the first season. He was later transferred to Tony's old crew. If someone in the family wanted to make a move on Tony, it would be him, as old as he is, he still had respect in the family for only being a soldier. Larry is the natural choice for being boss IMO. Uncle Pat would make a good Consiglieri.

Everyone needs to realize those guys have all legitimately shelved been for age/health reasons.

Paulie no longer has a no-show job at Barone by series end, it has been consolidated and sold to Cinelli Sanitation (Lupertazzi controlled) by Jason Barone after Dick Braone dies. As I stated in my earlier post, Paulie is subject to at least 1 murder that Carlo knows about, plus his bookmaking. That alone without any proof of legitimate income and his decades of criminal history nets him heavy jail time in any successful RICO case against the Soprano's. Paulie unfortunately likely dies in jail when named by Carlo in a RICO trial.

As for Murf, Uncle Pat and Bebby, they hold zero weight on the street or honestly anywhere else for that matter to those who didn't know them personally. There is non-existent respect for Junior Soprano or any of his one time crew members by shows end. Anyone with junior who intended to stay in the picture realigned with Tony's crew much earlier on after the power struggle. Bobby literally comes to Tony hat in hand "to the victor goes the spoils".
Murf Lupo? He was semi-retired to Florida and seemingly moves there full time to live out his years by shows end, nobody ever asked him a single question regarding anything or anyone. He was seemingly a higher ranking associate of Junior's once upon a time who in a hypothetical timeline of who becomes boss after Tony maybe dies, ins't even talked about in discussion. Zero percent chance Murf takes over even simply in name as an advisory capacity figurehead, even if he stayed in Florida full time. He was essentially semi-retired/shelved for the nearly the entire series, and surely long out of the picture by shows end. He flies up from Florida on his own money to check on Junior as an old friend, not as his dying once Capo, he is far removed from his days of power, if he ever really had any.
It's the same reality with Bebby who is another of Juniors guys who falls completely out of any power he may've had. Also Bebby as underboss was labelled as "ailing in health" and after his sentence, who knows if he lived or was doing 20+ years, all we know for sure is there is never a mention of him after season one and he surely isn't in contention as boss, if he hasn't passed away already from health.

Lastly Uncle Pat, had been shelved over a decade for health reasons, yes the hiccups story was meant to be amusing, but the fact remains the guy isn't healthy enough to live unsupervised, yes he was surely a stand up guy, man's man type, but that doesn't change the fact that he's in his 80s but this time and certainly isn't being asked to come out of being health retirement he asked for just to weather the storm for the Family.

Even Larry Barese at his age is left with uncertainty in the show going back to retrial for the '99 RICO case he got a mistrial in

These are people likely not even contacted directly with information about Tony and Phil having a war, or the casualties or the war. Does anyone here really think Patsy, Benny, Walden, Little Paule etc at any point maybe called Murf in Florida to ask advice or even just keep him informed? Or Visit Beppy/Larry in jail for advice.

I think the harsh reality is that no major older character seemingly could make it past a RICO trial with Carlo as the key witness. We all want some/all to beat the case but if without Silvo and Bobby to convict, if Tony does really get murdered any RICO case against the family comes down that much harder on top guys left, like Paulie, Patsy, etc. Carlo rolls on everyone that isn't dead yet, and with that the only guys left are the younger guard. The background characters we know little about but begin to see more frequently as the show concludes.

Whenever I come to this conclusion I can't help but think that Chris would have literally inherited the entire family if he makes it to the end of the show and NY doesn't have him killed as well in the process like Bobby and SIl. He was the highest up, while also being the youngest with no legitimate criminal history to date, Chris likely would have taken over the Family if still alive even from jail as his sentence would have been most lenient for lack of criminal history. But again, simply food for thought, it's just fan theory.

I was talking about Giuseppe "Bebby" Scerbo, not Joe "Bebby" Sasso. Sasso was facing life the last time we got a glimpse of him in season 4 at Junior's trial. Scerbo is the one that stands in as an aide to Junior, when Bobby can not take care of him. He was with Uncle Pat at the mental ward, when Junior was talking about breaking out, and again when Junior forgot all about it. That is the guy I am thinking of.

I knew who you were talking about, the same argument made about Murf Lupo is redundant for Bebby Scerbo. Let's be real he was a fringe character in the show in his 70s and 80s that was essientially shelved after junior went down. All these guys from Junior's crew that Tony inherited or put elsewhere to be watched closely, where was Bebby Scerbo. Same as Murf, never once called, consulted, or asked a single question pertinent to the Family. A relic of Junior's old crew and certainly not being reached out to by younger generations of mobsters who realistically may not have known him if at all.

Food or thought, if Carmine Lupertazzi legitimately didn't know who Paulie Galtieri or Ralph Ciffaretto were, during the time they were the longest serving and highest earning members of his families Jersey faction respectfully, it's safe to assume Bebby Scerbo, similar to Murf was a one time higher ranking Junior Soprano associate likely unknown in New York by Butch, Albie, Little Carmine, etc.. anyone left in NY to put the pieces back together. Likewise in Jersey, if Tony dies, Paulie would literally be the only active member aware of Bebby still being alive and certainly not calling him to invite him come take over the family.

After Tony's murder,there is no Soprano Family to speak of. Assuming that it was the Lupertazzi Family that killed him,(since no one else had a motive to do so, or the power to pull it off) there is no incentive to give Paulie anything but a bullet in his head.
If Paulie helped to set Tony up,he's branded as a traitor by the Luppertzzi's and in line to be the next to go(just like Caponigro got double-crossed when he hit Bruno).
If he didn't set Tony up,then I doubt that he would be made even a token Boss.
Paulie is really the only one left as far as being a major player in the Soprano business. The smart move is to swoop in,take over the whole operation,and put Paulie to sleep.

IMHO,there is no business sense in giving Paulie any of the Soprano business,or bringing him into the Luppertazzi Family.

He would be a permanent pain in the ass,and would never be trusted to not make some kind of move against Butchie,(or whoever)
Bottom line,with Tony dead,and Sil beyond recovery,there is no need for the Lupertazzi's to give anything to anybody outside of the Family.
Take out Paulie,and they get the whole enchilada.

I'd say Patsy would take over, he's low key and I reckon he has leadership qualities

From solider to boss is a pretty good move for someone that got the shit beat out of them by a mild mannered cook.

Paulie if he was not killed too.

I understand you reservation about a lower level character like Benny rising that far. But the Fact is from season 3-6 he gets out of jail, aligns with Pauly then Chris. Gets a no-show job at the Esplanade, drives for Tony as boss and bodyguards Carmella & the kids, drives for Silvo as acting Boss, guards Tony in ICU. Gets his button, Is tasked with finding Vito, and to be fair in the end of the series is part of a two man hit team with Walden Belfiore to track down and murder Phil (1 of the 5 bosses of New York). For Benny this marks revenge on a former New York capo who had once beaten him severely and left him hospitalized to send a message by beating up Tony's driver and Chris's friend.
Couple this with Larry Barese being his godfather and being one of the few Soprano Family members not targeted specifically by New York at shows end, this bodes well for Benny who at shows end is in significantly safer standing with both the law and the Lupertazzi Family than almost any other character left still in the fold of street life for New Jersey.

Family structure

Administration
Boss - Patsy Parisi
Underboss - Albert Barese
Consigliere - Silvio Dante (possibly, he ended up in hospital though and might not make it)

Capos
Soprano/Moltisanti crew - Benny Fazio
Bacala crew - 'Tony Black' Maffei
Spatafore crew - Paulie Gualtieri
Barese crew - Nicky Spagsnelli (he was at the hospital when Tony was comatose)

it was make believe, why the hypothericals?

The Sopranos was make believe? Get out of here. No way.

Realistically if and when Carlo testifies the family is pretty much decimated. Maybe the Lupertazzi family gobbles what's left up and reassignes who is left into other crews in their family. Or takes who is left of the Soprano family and turns it into a crew and assigns someone from their family as capo.

I think NY would’ve put a puppet boss in Jersey for sure.