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American television drama series created by David Chase. It was originally broadcast in the United States on the premium cable network HBO from January 10, 1999 to June 10, 2007, spanning six seasons and 86 episodes. Since premiering on HBO, the show has been broadcast by many networks in dozens of other countries.
Set and produced in New Jersey, the series revolves around mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. The show is noted for Chase’s multifaceted, symbolism-heavy style of writing. Over the course of the series’ six-season run, Chase and his co-writers have addressed a large number of psychological, philosophical, social and political themes and motifs.
A major commercial and critical success, The Sopranos is the most financially successful cable series in the history of television and has frequently been described by critics as one of the greatest television series of all time. The show has been credited for bringing a greater level of artistry to the television medium and paving the way for many successful drama series that followed. It has also won numerous awards, including twenty-one Emmys and five Golden Globes.
A staple of American popular culture, The Sopranos has been the subject of much parody and analysis, and has spawned books, a video game, high-charting soundtrack albums, and a large amount of assorted merchandise.
Production
Conception
Prior to creating The Sopranos, David Chase had been a television writer for over 20 years and was well-known in television circles for his dark, edgy writing. He had been employed as a staff writer/producer for several television series (including Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Rockford Files, I’ll Fly Away, and Northern Exposure) and had created one original series, Almost Grown, in 1988. Before his success with The Sopranos, Chase had won two Emmy Awards: one in 1980 for writing the TV movie Off the Minnesota Strip, and one in 1978 for his work on the The Rockford Files (shared with fellow producers).
The story of The Sopranos was initially conceived as a feature film about “a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother.” After some input from his manager, Lloyd Braun, Chase decided to adapt it into a television series. In 1995, Chase signed a development deal with production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script. Drawing heavily from his personal life and his experiences growing up in New Jersey, Chase has stated that he tried to “apply [his own] family dynamic to mobsters.” For instance, the tumultuous relationship between series protagonist Tony Soprano and his mother, Livia, is partially based on Chase’s relationship with his own mother. Chase was also in therapy at the time and modeled the character of Dr. Jennifer Melfi after his own psychiatrist. Chase had been fascinated by the Mafia from an early age, having been raised on classic gangster films like The Public Enemy and the crime series The Untouchables as well as witnessing such people growing up,[4][31] and decided to use a Mafia backdrop for his show because he felt a series about a television writer in therapy would not be particularly interesting to watch. He also thought the setting would allow him to explore themes such as Italian-American identity and the nature of violence, among many others. Chase himself is Italian-American, his original family name being DeCesare.
Chase and producer Brad Grey, of Brillstein-Grey, pitched The Sopranos to several networks; FOX showed interest but passed on it after Chase presented them the pilot script. Chase and Grey eventually pitched the show to then-president of HBO Original Programming, Chris Albrecht, who recognized the originality and potential of the show, and decided to finance the shooting of a pilot episode. Albrecht is quoted as saying:
I said to myself, this show is about a guy who’s turning 40. He’s inherited a business from his dad. He’s trying to bring it into the modern age. He’s got all the responsibilities that go along with that. He’s got an overbearing mom that he’s still trying to get out from under. Although he loves his wife, he’s had an affair. He’s got two teenage kids, and he’s dealing with the realities of what that is. He’s anxious; he’s depressed; he starts to see a therapist because he’s searching for the meaning of his own life. I thought: the only difference between him and everybody I know is he’s the Don of New Jersey.
The pilot episode (called “The Sopranos” on the DVD release but commonly just referred to as “Pilot“) was shot in 1997. Chase, having previously directed episodes of The Rockford Files and Almost Grown, directed it himself. After the pilot was finished and shown to the HBO executives, the show was put on hold for a year before HBO eventually decided to produce it and ordered a full 13-episode season. The show premiered on HBO on 10 January 1999 with the pilot episode. The Sopranos is the second hour-long television drama series produced by HBO, the first being the prison drama Oz.
Casting
Season 6 cast
Like the characters they portray on the show, many of the actors on The Sopranos are Italian-American. Because Italian-American actors are often cast as Mafia-types in Hollywood productions, many cast members had appeared together in films and television series before joining the cast of The Sopranos. The series shares a total of 27 actors with the 1990 Martin Scorsese gangster film Goodfellas, including main cast members Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, and Tony Sirico. A total of eight The Sopranos actors also appeared in the 1999 comedy Mickey Blue Eyes.
The main cast was put together through a process of auditions and readings. Actors often didn’t know whether David Chase liked their performances or not. Michael Imperioli, who beat out several actors for the part of Christopher Moltisanti, recalls “He’s got a poker face, so I thought he wasn’t into me, and he kept giving me notes and having me try it again, which often is a sign that you’re not doing it right. I thought, I’m not getting this. So he said, ‘Thank you,’ and I left. I didn’t expect to hear back. And then they called.” James Gandolfini was invited to audition for the part of Tony Soprano after casting director Susan Fitzgerald saw a short clip of his performance in the 1993 film True Romance. Lorraine Bracco, who had previously played the role of mob wife Karen Hill in Goodfellas, was originally asked to play the role of Carmela Soprano. She took the role of Dr. Jennifer Melfi instead because she wanted to try something different and felt the part of the highly educated Dr. Melfi would be more of a challenge for her. Tony Sirico, who has a criminal background, signed on to play Paulie Walnuts as long as his character was not to be a “rat.” David Chase invited musician “Little Steven” Van Zandt (known as the guitarist of Bruce Springsteen‘s E Street Band) to audition for a part in his series after seeing him live at the 1997 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony and being impressed with his appearance and presence. Van Zandt, who had never acted before, eventually agreed to star on the show on the condition that he didn’t take a part a professional actor was also trying out for. Chase then created the character of Silvio Dante especially for Van Zandt. Silvio Dante’s wife on the show is played by Van Zandt’s real-life wife.
With the exception of Oscar nominee Lorraine Bracco (Goodfellas), Dominic Chianese (The Godfather Part II, along with stage work) and Emmy-winner Nancy Marchand (Lou Grant), the cast of the debut season of the series was made up of largely unknown actors. After the breakthrough success of the show, many cast members were noted for their acting ability and received mainstream attention for their performances. Subsequent seasons saw some well-known actors (Joe Pantoliano, Steve Buscemi, Frank Vincent) join the cast.
Crew
Series creator David Chase served as show runner, executive producer, and head writer during the eight years the show was in production. In addition to writing several episodes per season, he would oversee all the editing and do extensive re-writing of episodes written by other writers. Many members of the creative team behind The Sopranos were handpicked by Chase, some being old friends and colleagues of his, others were selected after interviews conducted by producers of the show.
Many of the show’s writers wrote for television prior to the The Sopranos. Writing team and married couple Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, who together wrote or co-wrote 19 episodes of the series between 1999 and 2006, had worked with Chase on Northern Exposure. During the early stages of the show’s development, Chase approached the two about a position as staff writers. Two-time Emmy Award-winner Terence Winter, who became a writer for the show during its second season, practiced law for two years before deciding to pursue a career as a screenwriter, eventually catching the attention of Chase. Matthew Weiner, a staff writer during the show’s final three seasons, wrote a spec script for a show called Mad Men in 2000 (it was eventually produced by AMC in 2007). The script was passed on to Chase who, after reading it, was so impressed that he immediately offered Weiner a job as a writer for The Sopranos. Two cast members have also written episodes for the show: Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher Moltisanti, is also a screenwriter and has written five episodes of the series, many of which deal with Italian-American issues; Toni Kalem, who plays Angie Bonpensiero, also wrote the season five episode “All Happy Families…“.
Before directing The Sopranos, many of the directors worked on other television series. Many of the directors also have backgrounds in independent films. The main directors of the series were Tim Van Patten (20 episodes), John Patterson (13 episodes), Allen Coulter (12 episodes), and Alan Taylor (9 episodes), all of whom have a background in television. Recurring cast members Steve Buscemi and Peter Bogdanovich have also acted as directors for the series, Buscemi having directed four episodes and Bogdanovich one. David Chase directed two episodes himself, the pilot and the series finale. Alik Sakharov was the show’s original director of photography, later alternating episodes with Phil Abraham. The show’s photography and directing is noted for its feature film-quality. This look was achieved by Chase collaborating with Sakharov: “David wanted a look that would have its own two feet. [...] From the pilot, we would sit down with the whole script and break the scenes down into shots. That’s what you do with feature films.”
Music
The Sopranos is noted for its eclectic music selections and has received considerable critical attention for its effective use of previously recorded songs. Series creator David Chase personally selects all of the show’s music with producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak, sometimes also consulting Steven Van Zandt.[47] The music is usually selected once the production and editing of an episode is completed, but on occasion sequences will be filmed to match preselected pieces of music.
Stylistically, the music on the show can range from mainstream pop (Britney Spears, The Bangles) to ’60s British rock (The Kinks, The Rolling Stones) to classic jazz and soul (Ella Fitzgerald, Ben E. King) to hip hop (Xzibit, Time Zone), often within the span of a single episode.
The opening theme is “Woke Up This Morning” (Chosen One Mix), performed by British band Alabama 3 (known as A3 in the U.S. to avoid confusion with the country group Alabama). Different songs are played over the closing credits of each episode. Many songs are repeated multiple times through an episode, such as “Living on a Thin Line” by The Kinks in the season three episode “University“and “Glad Tidings” by Van Morrison in the season five finale “All Due Respect“. Other songs are heard several times throughout the series. A notable example is “Con te partiro,” performed by Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, which serves as something of a theme song for the character of Carmela Soprano.
A notable aspect of the show is its sparse, often minimalist use of incidental music. While most television series rely on musical scores to emphasize tension or dramatic moments, The Sopranos rarely if ever uses this resource. The most brutal scenes are often unaccompanied by any sort of background music.
Two soundtrack albums containing music from the series have been released. The first, titled The Sopranos: Music from the HBO Original Series, was released by Sony Music Entertainment on 14 December 1999. It contains selections from the show’s first two seasons and reached #54 on the U.S. Billboard 200. A second soundtrack compilation, titled The Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Original Series, was released on 8 May 2001, also on Sony. This double-disc album contains songs and selected dialogue from the show’s first three seasons. It reached #38 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
Sets and locations
On the set of The Sopranos in New Jersey during the shooting of the final episode.
Most of the exterior shots of the series were filmed on location in New Jersey, with the majority of the interior shots—this includes most indoor shots of the Soprano residence, the back room of the strip club Bada Bing!, and Dr. Melfi‘s psychiatrist‘s office—filmed at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens, New York City.
The pork store, a frequent hangout for the mobsters on the show, was in the pilot known as Centanni’s Meat Market, an actual butchery in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The meat market was supposed to be a recurring location but because it was a real business it could not keep closing for shooting. After the series was picked up by HBO, the producers leased a building with a store front in Kearny, New Jersey. For the remainder of the production period, this building served as the shooting location for scenes outside and inside the pork store, now renamed Satriale’s. After the series ended, the building was demolished. Bada Bing!, a strip club owned and operated by the character Silvio Dante on the show, is an actual go go bar on Route 17 in Lodi, New Jersey. Exteriors and interiors (except for the back room) are shot on location. The club is called Satin Dolls and was an existing business prior to the show starting. The club continued to operate during the eight years the show was filmed there and continues to do so now. As such, a business arrangement was worked out with the owner. Locations manager Mark Kamine recalls that the owner was “very gracious” as long as the shooting didn’t “conflict with his business time.” All the exterior and some interior shots of the Soprano residence were filmed on location at a private residence in North Caldwell, New Jersey.
Title sequence
The Sopranos title screen
A recognizable part of The Sopranos is the program’s opening title sequence. Tony Soprano is seen emerging from the Lincoln Tunnel and entering the New Jersey Turnpike. Numerous landmarks in and around Newark, New Jersey are shown. The sequence ends with Tony pulling into the driveway of his suburban home. David Chase has said that the goal of the title sequence was to show that this particular Mafia show was about New Jersey, as opposed to New York, where most such dramas have been set.
In the first three seasons, between Tony leaving the tunnel and entering the New Jersey Turnpike, an image of the World Trade Center towers can be seen in his side rear-view mirror. After the September 11, 2001 attacks that destroyed the towers this shot was removed, beginning with the show’s fourth season.
