{"id":204300,"date":"2019-02-27T04:45:50","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T09:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=204300"},"modified":"2019-02-27T04:45:50","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T09:45:50","slug":"the-sopranos-creators-look-back-at-a-tv-show-that-slayed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/02\/27\/the-sopranos-creators-look-back-at-a-tv-show-that-slayed\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Sopranos’ creators look back at a TV show that slayed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The reason was simple: The TV show was \u201cThe Sopranos,\u201d which this year is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its premiere on HBO. The six-season show would win 21 Emmys and become the first cable series ever to win the Emmy for outstanding drama series. (File Photo<\/a>: The Sopranos\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2014 Back in 1997, then-up-and-coming actor Michael Imperioli was mulling two work offers: a cable TV show pilot and a small role in a Woody Allen film.<\/p>\n

The script for the TV show didn’t initially seem so special to him. \u201cI was not blown away by the pilot,\u201d he admitted. On the other hand, he had long admired Allen and was being offered a spot in his movie \u201cCelebrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imperioli couldn’t do both and was leaning toward doing the film. \u201cThat would have been the dumbest mistake of my life,\u201d he says now with a laugh.<\/p>\n

The reason was simple: The TV show was \u201cThe Sopranos,\u201d which this year is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its premiere on HBO. The six-season show would win 21 Emmys and become the first cable series ever to win the Emmy for outstanding drama series. It also earned Imperioli an acting Emmy in 2004.<\/p>\n

More than awards, the show about mid-level gangsters in New Jersey proved that audiences could handle morally complex anti-heroes, paving the way for shows like \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d and \u201cMad Men,\u201d and marking the beginning of the time when TV started eating cinema’s lunch.<\/p>\n

Creator, showrunner and head writer David Chase says all he wanted to do was create a show that he and his friends would like to watch. He had toiled in frustration within the strict confines of network TV for years, on such shows as \u201cThe Rockford Files\u201d and \u201cNorthern Exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI must admit that a lot of what I went into ‘The Sopranos’ with was anger. I was angry about all my years in network TV. And I’m one of the lucky ones. I worked for some really talented people and with some really talented people,\u201d Chase says.<\/p>\n

He recalled that a high-level executive at NBC had advocated for something called LOP, which stood for \u201cleast offensive programming.\u201d Chase chafes at the notion: \u201cIt makes for a very bland mixture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sopranos\u201d was anything but bland. It followed the depressed mafia boss Tony Soprano balancing his ruthless illegal business with raising a family. There was brutal violence, infidelity, pasta and loyalty and dishonour. James Gandolfini played Tony with equal parts ferocity and tenderness.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo interact with him was to make a deal with the devil. You would be ethically compromised. And I sort of wanted to show how easily that happens, what that really means. At the same time, I didn’t want to do a morality story,\u201d Chase says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess the largest thing that I was trying to bring out was it’s a pretty cold universe. It’s a very cold universe. But we have this thing called love which we can use against that. That’s about the only weapon we have. That’s where I found myself thinking a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chase wanted to make scenes longer if they needed to be \u2014 or shorter \u2014 and let his stories unfold slower than a network show. He initially just wanted to make a self-contained mini-movie each week and had to be convinced to continue the story lines (He worried he’d make something like \u201cDallas.\u201d) HBO, he said, never tried to meddle.<\/p>\n

With his hit show, Chase also proved that audiences were smarter than what they’d been given credit for by network honchos. Fans would tune in to see complicated people in often messy situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was very important to me: Not talking down to people. You cut off so much when you do it the other way. There’s so much richness in life and to exclude parts of it is crazy if you’re creating something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imperioli, who was a believer as soon as he actually saw the show’s pilot, credited Chase for bringing a cinematic quality to TV. A stunning cast \u2014 including Edie Falco, Annabella Sciorra and Lorraine Bracco \u2014 didn’t hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that people loved about gangster movies and ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Goodfellas’ and all that stuff, all of a sudden was in your living room on a weekly basis, in a novelistic, serialized fashion,\u201d Imperioli said. \u201cThat was really groundbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before it signed off for good 12 years ago, \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d left behind something that continues to be debated \u2014 a cut-to-black finale that left everything ambiguous.<\/p>\n

Even the cast was divided. Imperioli and Gandolfini joined more than a half-dozen cast members in a viewing party in Miami. \u201cEverybody was pretty shocked. No one really expected it to be that abrupt, I think, and that ambiguous,\u201d Imperioli says. \u201cThe room was kind of torn on whether they liked that or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans of the show won’t have to mourn much longer since Chase has a prequel film planned for 2020 called \u201cThe Many Saints of Newark.\u201d Chase and \u201cSopranos\u201d veteran Lawrence Konner have written the script and it will be set in the 1960s during the Newark, New Jersey, riots which Chase witnessed.<\/p>\n

In crafting the film, Chase reacquainted himself with the songs and cultural touchstones of the period, as well as watching a few old episodes of \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d to ensure the timeline fits. Should fans expect a few inside jokes? \u201cI sure hope so,\u201d Chase answered.<\/p>\n

He admits to some nerves about the film’s reaction: \u201cI think there’s always pressure in following something, right? And ‘The Sopranos’ was such a hit, such a big explosion. How do you do that twice?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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