The Sopranos

''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance family life with his role as leader of a criminal organization. These are explored during his therapy sessions with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). The series features Tony's family members, mafia colleagues, and rivals in prominent roles—most notably his wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and his protégé/distant cousin Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli).

The pilot was ordered in 1997, and the show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999. The series ran for six seasons totaling 86 episodes until June 10, 2007. Broadcast syndication followed in the U.S. and internationally. ''The Sopranos'' was produced by HBO, Chase Films, and Brad Grey Television. It was primarily filmed at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City in Queens, New York City and on location in New Jersey. The executive producers throughout the show's run were David Chase, Brad Grey, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, Ilene S. Landress, Terence Winter, and Matthew Weiner.

''The Sopranos'' is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential television series of all time. The series won a multitude of awards, including Peabody Awards for its first two seasons, 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards. It has been the subject of critical analysis, controversy, and parody, and has spawned books, a video game, soundtrack albums, podcasts and assorted merchandise. Several members of the show's cast and crew were largely unknown to the public but have since had successful careers. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America named ''The Sopranos'' the best-written TV series of all time, while ''TV Guide'' ranked it the best television series of all time. In 2016 and 2022, the series ranked first in the ''Rolling Stone'' list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time.

In March 2018, New Line Cinema announced that they had purchased a film detailing ''The Sopranos'' background story, set in the 1960s and 1970s during, and in the wake of, the Newark riots. The 2021 film, ''The Many Saints of Newark'', is written by David Chase and Lawrence Konner and directed by Alan Taylor. The film also stars Michael Gandolfini, the son of Tony Soprano actor James Gandolfini, as a young Tony Soprano.

Premise

Primarily set in New Jersey and New York City, the series follows Tony Soprano, a North Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, who tries to balance his family life with his role as boss of the Soprano family. Suffering from panic attacks, Tony engages in therapy sessions with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi off and on throughout the series. At various points in the series, Tony finds himself at odds with his uncle Junior, his wife Carmela, other mobsters within the Soprano family, and the New York City-based Lupertazzi family, putting his life at risk on multiple occasions.

Production

Conception

David Chase had worked as a television writer and producer for more than 20 years before creating ''The Sopranos''. He had been employed as a staff writer or producer for several television series, including '' Kolchak: The Night Stalker'', ''Switch'', ''The Rockford Files'', ''I'll Fly Away'', and ''Northern Exposure''. He had also co-created the short-lived original series '' Almost Grown'' in 1988.
He made his television directorial debut in 1986 with the "Enough Rope for Two" episode of ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''. He also directed episodes of ''Almost Grown'' and ''I'll Fly Away'' in 1988 and 1992, respectively. In 1996, he wrote and directed the television film ''The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime''. He served as showrunner for ''I'll Fly Away'' and ''Northern Exposure'' in the 1990s. Chase won his first Emmy Award in 1978 for his work on ''The Rockford Files'' (shared with fellow producers) and his second for writing the 1980 television film ''Off the Minnesota Strip''. By 1996, he was a coveted showrunner.

The story of ''The Sopranos'' was initially conceived as a feature film about "a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother". Chase got some input from his manager Lloyd Braun and decided to adapt it into a television series. He signed a development deal in 1995 with production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script. He drew heavily from his personal life and his experiences growing up in New Jersey, and 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. He was also in psychotherapy at the time and modeled the character of Jennifer Melfi after his own psychiatrist.

Chase had been fascinated by organized crime and the mafia from an early age, witnessing such people growing up. He also was raised on classic gangster films such as '' The Public Enemy'' and the crime series ''The Untouchables''. The series is partly inspired by the Richard Boiardo family, a prominent New Jersey organized crime family when Chase was growing up, and partly on New Jersey's DeCavalcante family. He has mentioned American playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as influences on the show's writing, and Italian director Federico Fellini as an important influence on the show's cinematic style.
The series was named after high school friends of his.

Chase and producer Brad Grey pitched ''The Sopranos'' to several networks; Fox showed interest but passed on it after Chase presented them the pilot script. They eventually pitched the show to Chris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, who decided to finance a pilot episode which was shot in 1997.

Chase directed it himself. They finished the pilot and showed it to HBO executives, but the show was put on hold for several months.

During this time, Chase, who had experienced frustration for a long period with being unable to break out of the TV genre and into film, considered asking HBO for additional funding to shoot 45 more minutes of footage and release ''The Sopranos'' as a feature film. In December 1997, HBO decided to produce the series and ordered 12 more episodes for a 13-episode season.
The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999, with the pilot, ''The Sopranos''.

''Baer v. Chase''

North Jersey prosecutor and municipal judge Robert Baer filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Chase in Trenton, New Jersey