The Sopranos Complete Series Blu Ray Torrent
Brandi Baylon
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.[2] 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,[3][4][5][6][7][8] and has been credited with helping to start the Second Golden Age of Television.[9] 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,[10] a video game,[11] soundtrack albums, podcasts and assorted merchandise.[12] Several members of the show's cast and crew were largely unknown to the public but have since had successful careers.[13][14][15][16] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America named The Sopranos the best-written TV series of all time,[17] while TV Guide ranked it the best television series of all time.[18] In 2016 and 2022, the series ranked first in the Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time.[7][19]
David Chase had worked as a television writer and producer for more than 20 years before creating The Sopranos.[23][24] 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.[25] He had also co-created the short-lived original series Almost Grown in 1988.[26][27] 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.[28][29] By 1996, he was a coveted showrunner.[30]
The story of The Sopranos was initially conceived as a feature film about "a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother".[26] Chase got some input from his manager Lloyd Braun and decided to adapt it into a television series.[26] He signed a development deal in 1995 with production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script.[24][28][32] 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".[31] 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.[31] He was also in psychotherapy at the time and modeled the character of Jennifer Melfi after his own psychiatrist.[33]
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.[34] 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.[30][35][36]The series was named after high school friends of his.[23][33]
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,[24] 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.[24][28][40]The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999, with the pilot, The Sopranos.
Many of the actors on The Sopranos are Italian American from the New York City area, like the characters they portray, and many appeared together in films and television series before joining the cast of The Sopranos. The series has 27 actors in common with the 1990 Martin Scorsese gangster film Goodfellas, including main cast members Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, and Tony Sirico.[45]
The cast of the debut season of the series consisted of largely unknown actors, with the exception of Bracco, Chianese, and Nancy Marchand, but many cast members were noted for their acting ability and received mainstream attention for their performances.[24][56]Subsequent seasons saw established actors Joe Pantoliano, Robert Loggia, Steve Buscemi, and Frank Vincent[57] join the starring cast, along with well-known actors in recurring roles such as Peter Bogdanovich, John Heard,[58] Robert Patrick,[59] Peter Riegert,[60] Annabella Sciorra,[57] and David Strathairn.[61]
Many of the show's writers had worked in television before joining the writing staff of The Sopranos. The writing team and married couple Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess worked on the series as writers and producers from the first to the fifth season; they had previously worked with Chase on Northern Exposure.[69]Terence Winter joined the writing staff during the production of the second season and served as executive producer from season five onwards. He practiced law for two years before deciding to pursue a career as a screenwriter, and he caught the attention of Chase through writer Frank Renzulli.[30][70]
Matthew Weiner served as staff writer and producer for the show's fifth and sixth seasons. He wrote a script for the series Mad Men in 2000 which was passed on to Chase, who was so impressed that he immediately offered Weiner a job as a writer for The Sopranos.[71]Cast members Michael Imperioli and Toni Kalem portray Christopher Moltisanti and Angie Bonpensiero respectively, and they also wrote episodes for the show. Imperioli wrote five episodes of seasons two through five, and Kalem wrote one episode of season five.[72][73]
Other writers included Frank Renzulli, Todd A. Kessler (co-creator of Damages), writing team Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider who worked with Chase on Northern Exposure, and Lawrence Konner, who co-created Almost Grown with Chase in 1988. In total, 20 writers or writing teams are credited with writing episodes of The Sopranos. Of these, Tim Van Patten and Maria Laurino receive a single story credit, and eight others are credited with writing a sole episode. The most prolific writers of the series were Chase (30 credited episodes, including story credits), Winter (25 episodes), Green and Burgess (22 episodes), Weiner (12 episodes), and Renzulli (9 episodes).
Many of the directors had previously worked on television series and independent films.[57] The most frequent directors of the series were Tim Van Patten (20 episodes), John Patterson (13 episodes), Allen Coulter (12 episodes), and Alan Taylor (9 episodes), all of whom have a background in television.[57] Recurring cast members Steve Buscemi and Peter Bogdanovich also directed episodes of the series intermittently.[74][75]Chase directed the pilot episode and the series finale.[76]Both episodes were photographed by the show's original director of photography Alik Sakharov, who later alternated episodes with Phil Abraham.[77]The show's photography and directing is noted for its feature film quality.[78][79]This look was achieved by Chase collaborating with Sakharov. "From the pilot, we would sit down with the whole script and break the scenes down into shots. That's what you do with feature films."[77]
The Sopranos is noted for its eclectic music selections and has received considerable critical attention for its effective use of previously recorded songs.[80][81][82][83]Chase personally selected all of the show's music with producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak, sometimes also consulting Steven Van Zandt.[80] The music was usually selected once the production and editing of an episode was completed, but on occasion sequences were filmed to match preselected pieces of music.[66]
The show's opening theme is "Woke Up This Morning" (Chosen One Mix), written by, remixed and performed by British band Alabama 3.[84] With few exceptions, a different song plays over the closing credits of each episode.[82] Many songs are repeated multiple times through an episode, such as "Living on a Thin Line" by The Kinks in the season three episode "University" and "Glad Tidings" by Van Morrison in the season five finale "All Due Respect".[82] Other songs are heard several times throughout the series. A notable example is "Con te partirò", performed by Italian singer Andrea Bocelli,[85]which plays several times in relation to the character of Carmela Soprano.While the show utilizes a wealth of previously recorded music, it is also notable for its lack of originally composed incidental music, compared with other television programs.[86]
The majority of the exterior scenes taking place in New Jersey were filmed on location, with the majority of the interior shots filmed at Silvercup Studios in New York City, including most indoor shots of the Soprano residence, the back room of the strip club Bada Bing!, and Dr. Melfi's office.[56] The pork store was called Centanni's Meat Market in the pilot episode, an actual butchery in Elizabeth, New Jersey.[91]After the series was picked up by HBO, the producers leased a building with a storefront in Kearny, New Jersey[91] which served as the shooting location for exterior and interior scenes for the remainder of production; renamed Satriale's Pork Store.[91]After the series ended, the building was demolished.[92]
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