Tony Scali

Commissioner **Anthony 'Tony' Joseph Scali** is the main titular character of the series featured on the ABC channel, *The Commish.* He is the commissioner of the Eastbridge Police Department in Eastbridge, New York, the husband of Rachel Scali, the father of their two children David Scali and Sarah Scali, best friend of the Eastbridge Chief of Detectives Lieutenant Paul 'Paulie' Pentangeli, a kind boss for his assistant Lucille Carter, a mentor of his subordinates Head Detective and former FBI agent Cydavia 'Cyd' Madison, Sergeant Stanley 'Stan' Kelly, Officer Carmela Pagan, Detective Ronnie Lopez, and officer Ricky Caruso. His friends and families called him Tony while his employees usually called him boss or skipper.

Tony is the youngest police commissioner in New York state, even all of the United States. He was only 38 years old at the beginning of the series and have been working in Eastbridge for a couple of years after being promoted to a commissioner rank. Despite his age, Tony is very intelligent and astute. People usually underestimate him because of his young age and his physical appearance, which is short, bald, and stocky, a lot of criminals and bureaucrats look down on him.

However, a lot of his peers and employees respect him so much because he is a kind and fair man. Although Tony can be fair, he has a short temper especially when something annoys him or frustrates him. Tony is an empathetic man, especially regarding the victims of crimes; he always shows kindness towards them and tries so hard to help them to the best of his abilities. He orders his police officers to do the same; treat the victims as humans first, statistics second.

### Family Man

Tony is a very devoted husband and father, as he loves his wife and son very much. He loves Rachel so much, claiming that she is his soulmate, and he wouldn't know what to do if she die first before him.

He met Rachel when they were still in Brooklyn during high school, and had been dating since they were sixteen years old. When he married Rachel, he converted from Catholicism to Judaism and moved from Brooklyn to Eastbridge. The two of them have been married for 20 years since they graduated from high school.

#### Rachel (wife)

Rachel is the only woman he ever slept with before and after marriage, which sometimes makes her wonder whether her husband is missing out to be with other women. Tony convinces her that she is the only woman he ever wants to be with forever.

#### David (son)

As a father, Tony also dots on David, his firstborn son. He never forgets to shower him with affection and occasionally some discipline. He always gives some advice to David, especially about his work and he's willing to help his son with any kind of problem. Tony, however, will not hesitate to reprimand and punish his son whenever he's doing bad things.

#### Arnie (brother in-law)

Tony only tolerates his wife's brother, Arnie Metzger, who lives in the house with him. Arnie is a muncher and never thanked Tony for all of his help with the living situation and money. Tony is trying to be patient with Arnie because Rachel asks him to and David seems to like his uncle. He and Arnie argue all the time, especially about money and career opportunities. Despite this, Arnie respects Tony as a police commissioner, and even defends his dangerous occupation. Arnie believes that Tony is a good person, although he will never say it out loud.

#### Al and Mary (parents)

Everyone credited Mary Scali, Tony's mother, for raising him well and influencing her son to do kind things. Tony is a very compassionate person and always helps other who needs it, which Mary is proud of. Unfortunately, when Mary is having an affair with a mob boss Jimmy Malloy, Tony questions every life lessons his mother ever gave him. For a while, Tony doesn't know what to do with his mother's infidelity. One of the reasons why Tony wants to be a cop is because his father Al Scali was also a cop. For a while, Tony looked up to him as he was very proud of his father. But after the way his father treats his mother coldly and seems out of love, which resulted from his mother's affair, Tony's relationship with his parents, especially with his father, turns sour.

#### Ben (father in-law)

Tony is very protective of Rachel, especially of her estranged dad Ben Metzger. He knows that Ben is a liar and a charlatan, always asking for money without her knowing, so he never tells Rachel about whatever schemes her father concocts. Although it seems Rachel knows that her father never keeps any promises, she pretends not to be hurt, which only makes Tony more protective of her. When Ben is a suspect in an arson and murders case, Tony has to investigate it. Rachel asks whether Tony thinks that her father is guilty, but he says that he doesn't think he's a murderer. A compulsive liar, maybe. But not a murderer or even an arsonist.

#### Sarah (daughter)

Sarah is Tony's daughter who he adores so much. He and Rachel tried to conceive of a second child, especially since Rachel wants to have a baby girl. However, the doctor says that the pregnancy might have some complications, and it might result in Sarah being a mentally challenged child. At first, Tony and Rachel are upset and afraid because it means they are going to face some difficulties in the future. They have to accept that there is a possibility that Sarah needs some special needs education and care. They contemplate the idea of terminating the pregnancy, but Tony thinks that they will love the child no matter what.

##### Unnamed Brother (retconned)

Tony mentioned that he has a brother who is never mentioned again in early episodes, and they retconned him as the only child later.

### Best Friend 'Till The End

Tony's best friend since childhood is Paulie Pentangeli, the Eastbridge Chief of Detectives in his precinct. Paulie is a tall and handsome man who seems to be unlucky in love. They are very close like brothers and have known each other since they were little children in Brooklyn. They both applied for the Police Academy together, and they became police detectives at the same time. Tony mentions that he loves Paulie so much like a brother, and the duo has always been together until one of their friends Vinnie Raposo got killed. It put a strain on their friendship, so Paulie moved to Los Angeles, California and Tony moved to Eastbridge with Rachel.

Paulie moves to Eastbridge and works side-by-side with Tony again as a detective, but it's obvious that Paulie likes to bend the law, unlike Tony who is very strict with Law and Order. The two sometimes argue about the schematic of crimes and how to do it, and it frustrated both of them. Other than that, the two are still close to each other. Tony always says that he trusts Paulie with his life, which is true because Paulie would do anything for Tony.

### The Mentor

Tony is considered to be a mentor, a respectable associate, a teacher, a commendable leader, and a friend by many of the police officers in the Eastbridge Police Department. He has a very casual relationship with his subordinates, as he treats them like co-workers and friends, although he is still being respected by everyone. He jokes around with them, sometimes even giving them romantic advice and sleuthing advice. However, he will not hesitate to give the officers riot acts when they are being disrespectful or breaking the law.

#### Stan (friend)

Stan Kelly is a young police officer who has been working under him for a couple of years. An emotional and sometimes naïve man, Stan is usually being consoled by Tony and he tries to teach him how to be a better cop. Tony considers Stan as his younger brother he never had, and occasionally gives him some advice about relationships, career, and life in general. They are very close as they have a familial relationship, and Tony would do anything to help the young officer to be a better person. Unfortunately, Stan tragically died from a car bomb, and Tony is very devastated with his death, and it takes a long time until he can get over it.

### Trivia

* Michael Chiklis' character was at least ten years older than his age at the time.
* At one point, the network worried that his weight loss would have an effect on the ratings and reportedly asked him to stuff his clothing.
* He also was encouraged to not shave his head to look still older.
* The character Tony Scali was based on the real-life 30th Commissioner of New York City's Department of Correction, **Anthony Schembri**

### Real Life Tony Scali

Michael Chiklis explains on an interview that his character was based on a real life commissioner named Anthony Schembri, a funny nonsense kind of person and they are friends in real life. Anthony Schembri became the consultant of the show for years.