The Sopranos
The Sopranos was a U.S. television show that broadcast 86 episodes in seasonal blocks of 8-12 episodes on the cable service HBO from 1999 to 2007 about an Italian-American crime family in New Jersey. Primarily dramatically portraying the family life and criminal business enterprises of crime boss and suburban father Tony Soprano, extended sequences of comedy, fantasy, and ironic and stylized representations of violence frequently advanced the story. The show's popularity made it the most highly rated cable television program its entire final season, rivalling broadcast network television's numbers when it maintained an audience of about five million households,[1] and three times that number when an episode's subsequent airings are included (Nielsen's "coverage" rating).
Cast
For the run of the series, Tony's immediately family composed his wife Carmela (Edie Falco), eldest daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), youngest son Anthony Jr. or "A.J." (Robert Iler), and himself (James Gandolfini). His mother Livia (Nancy Marchand) died early in season two, but his uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano (Dominic Chianese) played a key role each season, as did his nephew Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) and, starting with season two, his sister Janice (Aida Turturro).
Christopher and Uncle Junior were also part of Tony's crime family, which also included, for the run of the series, Tony's consiglieri Silvio "Sil" Dante and captain Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri. Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero (Vincent Pastore) was a captain Tony, Paulie, and Sil murdered early in the series when they discovered he had turned FBI informant. Tony's guilt over murdering his longtime friend returned thematically from time to time, as did Big Pussy himself via fantasy sequences.
Other prominent crime family members included: Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo), nephew Christopher's longtime girfriend whom Tony had Sil murder late in the series when the FBI pressured her to turn informant; Robert "Bobby Bacala" Baccalieri (Steve Schirripa), uncle Junior's soldier and assistant who eventually married Tony's sister Janice and became a captain; Jewish loan shark Herman "Hesh" Rabkin (Jerry Adler), Tony's sometime advisor; John "Johnny Sack" Sacrimoni (Vincent Curatola), head of New York's Lupertazzi crime family until he is convicted and imprisoned in the final season; and Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent), who replaces Johnny Sack and is murdered in the war he starts with Tony.
Aside from criminal and family, the story incorporated many other kinds of recurring supporting characters, such as FBI Agent Dwight Harris (Matt Servitto) and Tony's non-criminal childhood friend, restaurateur Artie Bucco (John Ventimiglia). Tony's psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) played a prominent role throughout the series, appearing in almost every episode, and the show thematized Tony's ongoing psychotherapy as much as his family and criminal business. The show even occasionally portrayed Dr. Melfi's own psychotherapy sessions with Dr. Elliot Kupferberg (Peter Bogdanovich).
References
- ↑ Nielsen Media Research ratings at TVWeek.com, accessed June 14, 2007.