"This was uncharted territory. I mean, all of a sudden, the guy that your entire network is riding on is going to strangle somebody to death with a piece of piano wire? That had never been done..."
The "this" that David Chase refers to in the above is The Sopranos, the Emmy-winning HBO crime drama that he created 25 years ago about New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), his struggles with anxiety and the moral and ethical toll that comes with being a Mafia capo. If Tony's panic attacks don't kill him, his enemies and their itchy triggers just might. (Don't get us started on his mother.)
Tony's therapy sessions and his tumultuous family life at home laid the groundwork for a show that would become a load-bearing column for television's most recent golden age, a show that would transcend the somewhat dismissive "The Godfather for cable" vibes early marketing materials led audiences to believe and do for television what Frances Ford Coppola's Oscar-winning film did for movies. (Interestingly, Chase's original plan for The Sopranos was to do it as a feature film.)
But, as Chase revealed to the Television Academy in 2008, that ascension to being one of TV and pop culture's most memorable series was neither easy nor overnight. In honor of The Sopranos' 25th anniversary this week, watch Chase below recount the origins of his iconic show, as well as take us on a deep dive through his earlier writing credits and experiences on such shows as The Rockford Files and I'll Fly Away.
