It has been 25 years since The Sopranos first premiered on HBO, a crime drama centered around the life of Italian American mobster Tony Soprano as he balances his responsibilities as a father, husband, and mob boss. The series ran for six seasons before the last episode aired in 2007, leaving many viewers with unanswered questions and a sense of wanting more. While you won’t get to find out what happens to Tony after the diner scene in the finale, Sopranos fans can look forward to the release of a new documentary about the show in September called Wise Guy: David Chase And The Sopranos.
HBO will air both episodes of the two-part documentary series back-to-back on Saturday, September 7th, beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. Taking place in a familiar setting on a replica set of Dr. Melfi’s office, award-winning producer Alex Gibney sits down with the show’s creator and lead writer, David Chase, to discuss how the idea for The Sopranos came to be and how it irrevocably changed the television industry.
In the interview, Chase recalls being told repeatedly to write a show about the relationship between himself and his mother but had doubts that this storyline would intrigue viewers. To spice up the plot, Chase altered his background from being of a working-class Italian American family to being from a criminal class. While it might be hard to believe today, it was practically unheard of in the 1990s to have a lead character who possessed less than moral qualities, let alone telling the story of a brute mafia member who kills eight people throughout the series but still somehow leaves viewers rooting for him. The Sopranos gave proof of concept to the anti-hero model and without it, some of the most popular shows ever made like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Wire would not exist.
While the series has stirred up controversy in the past among organizations like the National Italian American Foundation, Order Sons of Italy in America, Unico National, and the Italic Institute of America for perpetuating negative and harmful stereotypes about Italian Americans, there is no denying its cultural impact which will be on full display during the program.
