History of The Sopranos in Timeline

The Sopranos, created by David Chase, centers on Tony Soprano, a New Jersey Mafia boss grappling with panic attacks. He seeks therapy from Dr. Melfi, revealing his struggles balancing family and criminal life. Key characters include his wife Carmela and his cousin Christopher Moltisanti, a volatile protege. The show explores themes of family, identity, violence, and the American Dream through the lens of organized crime. Conflicts arise within Tony's Mafia family and with rival organizations, impacting his mental state and relationships. The series' complex characters and morally ambiguous narratives redefined television drama.

1977: Upstairs, Downstairs Last Won Award

In 1977, Upstairs, Downstairs was the last drama series to win the Primetime Emmy Award after it finished airing.

1978: Emmy Award for The Rockford Files

In 1978, David Chase won his first Emmy Award for his work on The Rockford Files.

1980: Emmy Award for Off the Minnesota Strip

In 1980, David Chase won his second Emmy Award for writing the television film Off the Minnesota Strip.

1986: Directorial Debut

In 1986, David Chase made his television directorial debut with the "Enough Rope for Two" episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

1988: Co-created Almost Grown

In 1988, David Chase co-created the television series Almost Grown.

1990: Actors in Common with Goodfellas

In 1990, Martin Scorsese's gangster film Goodfellas shared 27 actors with The Sopranos, including Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, and Tony Sirico.

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1991: Northern Exposure earns George Foster Peabody Award

In 1991, Northern Exposure earned a George Foster Peabody Award.

1992: Directed Episode of I'll Fly Away

In 1992, David Chase directed an episode of I'll Fly Away.

1992: Northern Exposure earns George Foster Peabody Award

In 1992, Northern Exposure earned a George Foster Peabody Award for the second consecutive year.

1993: Gandolfini's Audition Invitation

In 1993, James Gandolfini was invited to audition for the part of Tony Soprano after casting director Susan Fitzgerald saw a clip of his performance in the film True Romance.

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1995: Development Deal with Brillstein-Grey

In 1995, David Chase signed a development deal with the production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script for The Sopranos.

1996: Directed The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime

In 1996, David Chase wrote and directed the television film The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime.

December 1997: HBO Orders The Sopranos Series

In December 1997, HBO decided to produce The Sopranos series and ordered 12 more episodes, resulting in a 13-episode season.

1997: Van Zandt Invited to Audition

In 1997, David Chase invited Steven Van Zandt to audition for The Sopranos after being impressed by his appearance and presence at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction of The Rascals.

1997: The Sopranos greenlit

In 1997, The Sopranos was greenlit for production.

1997: HBO Financed The Sopranos Pilot Episode

In 1997, after pitches to several networks, Chris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, decided to finance a pilot episode of The Sopranos, which was then shot and directed by David Chase.

January 10, 1999: The Sopranos series broadcast on HBO

On January 10, 1999, The Sopranos was first broadcast on HBO, marking the premiere of the series.

1999: The New York Times Praised The Sopranos

Following its initial airing in 1999, The New York Times stated, "[The Sopranos] just may be the greatest work of American popular culture of the last quarter century."

1999: The Sopranos earns George Foster Peabody Award

In 1999, The Sopranos earned a George Foster Peabody Award.

1999: Primetime Emmy Award Nomination

In 1999, The Sopranos was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series but lost to The Practice.

1999: The Sopranos: Music from the HBO Original Series Album Release

In 1999, The Sopranos: Music from the HBO Original Series, the first soundtrack album featuring music from the series' first two seasons, was released.

2000: Weiner offered Job at The Sopranos

In 2000, Matthew Weiner wrote a script for the series Mad Men which was passed on to Chase, who was so impressed that he immediately offered Weiner a job as a writer for The Sopranos.

2000: The Sopranos wins Best Drama Series at the Golden Globe Awards

In 2000, The Sopranos earned a George Foster Peabody Award for the second consecutive year and won the award for Best Drama Series at the Golden Globe Awards.

2000: Primetime Emmy Award Nomination

In 2000, The Sopranos was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series but lost to The West Wing.

2000: Essex County denies filming permit

In 2000, officials in Essex County, New Jersey denied The Sopranos producers permission to film scenes in the South Mountain Reservation.

August 2001: Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind conducts national survey

In August 2001, Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind conducted a national survey about the show The Sopranos. 37% of 800 people polled watched the show regularly, and 65% of this group (192 people, or 24% of the total) disagreed that the show negatively portrayed Italian Americans.

2001: Primetime Emmy Award Nomination and AFI Award

In 2001, The Sopranos was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series but lost to The West Wing and The Sopranos won American Film Institute's Drama Series of the Year Award in 2001.

2001: The Sopranos – Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Series Album Release

In 2001, The Sopranos – Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Series, a double-disc album containing songs and selected dialogue from the show's first three seasons, was released.

2001: American Psychoanalytic Association presents awards to The Sopranos

In 2001, the American Psychoanalytic Association presented The Sopranos producers and writers with an award for "the artistic depiction of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy". They also presented Lorraine Bracco with an award for creating "the most credible psychoanalyst ever to appear in the cinema or on television."

2002: TV Guide Ranked The Sopranos Fifth

In 2002, TV Guide ranked The Sopranos fifth on their list of the "Top 50 TV Shows of All Time".

2002: Injunction prevents Sopranos cast from participating in Columbus Day Parade

In 2002, organizers of the New York City Columbus Day Parade won an injunction preventing Mayor Michael Bloomberg from inviting cast members of The Sopranos to participate in the parade.

2003: Joe Pantoliano wins Emmy Award

In 2003, Joe Pantoliano won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his role in The Sopranos.

2003: Primetime Emmy Award Nomination

In 2003, The Sopranos was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series but lost to The West Wing.

January 2004: Nielsen Ratings Change

Prior to January 2004, Nielsen reported aggregate numbers for cable networks, so ratings for The Sopranos' first four seasons are not entirely accurate.

October 2, 2004: James Gandolfini appears on Saturday Night Live

On October 2, 2004, James Gandolfini appeared on Weekend Update as a "New Jersey Resident" on Saturday Night Live to comment on the recent resignation of New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey. The character was clearly meant to be Tony Soprano.

2004: Michael Imperioli and Drea de Matteo win Emmys

In 2004, Michael Imperioli and Drea de Matteo won Emmy Awards for their supporting roles on The Sopranos.

2004: Primetime Emmy Award Win

In 2004, The Sopranos won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, becoming the first cable TV series to win the award.

2005: Sopranos pinball machine released

In 2005, Stern Pinball released a Sopranos pinball machine designed by George Gomez.

November 2006: The Sopranos: Road to Respect video game released

In November 2006, The Sopranos: Road to Respect, a video game based on the series, was released by THQ for the PlayStation 2.

2006: The Sopranos ineligible for Emmy Award

In 2006, The Sopranos was ineligible for an Emmy Award for acting. However, the show did release its sixth season on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD.

2006: Sixth season released on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD

In 2006, the sixth season of The Sopranos was released on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD.

June 10, 2007: The Sopranos series finale on HBO

On June 10, 2007, The Sopranos aired its final episode on HBO, concluding its six-season run.

December 19, 2007: Federal Jury Dismisses Robert Baer's Claims

On December 19, 2007, a federal jury ruled against Robert Baer, dismissing all of his claims in a breach of contract lawsuit against David Chase regarding the creation of The Sopranos.

2007: Channel 4 Named The Sopranos Greatest TV Series

In 2007, Channel 4 (UK) named The Sopranos the greatest television series of all time.

2007: The Sopranos influenced cable series

In 2007, Hal Boedeker stated that The Sopranos was widely influential for revealing that cable would accommodate complex series about dark characters.

2007: PopMatters Praised The Sopranos

In 2007, Roger Holland of PopMatters wrote, "the debut season of The Sopranos remains the crowning achievement of American television."

2007: The Sopranos ineligible for Emmy Award

In 2007, The Sopranos was ineligible for an Emmy Award for acting. Also in 2007, the sixth season was released on HD DVD.

2007: Primetime Emmy Award Win

In 2007, The Sopranos won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, becoming the first drama series since Upstairs, Downstairs in 1977 to win the award after it had finished airing.

2007: The Sopranos Influences Television Dramas

In 2007, Time Magazine editor James Poniewozik wrote that The Sopranos showed just how complex and involving TV storytelling could be, inspiring an explosion of ambitious dramas on cable and off.

2007: Sixth season released on HD DVD

In 2007, the sixth season of The Sopranos was released on HD DVD.

2008: Complete series box set released

In 2008, a complete series box set of all six Sopranos seasons was released on DVD.

December 2009: The Sopranos Named Best Series of the Decade

In November and December 2009, many television critics named The Sopranos the best series of the decade and all time in articles summarizing the decade in television.

2009: First season released on Blu-ray

In 2009, the first season of The Sopranos was released on Blu-ray.

2010: Opening Title Sequence Ranked

In 2010, the show's opening title sequence ranked No. 10 on TV Guide's list of TV's top 10 credits sequences, as selected by readers.

2013: Ranked by TV Guide and Writers Guild of America

In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Sopranos No. 2 in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time, and the Writers Guild of America named it the best-written television series of all time, TV Guide ranked it as the greatest show of all time.

2013: Vince Gilligan comments on Tony Soprano's influence

In 2013, shortly after James Gandolfini's death, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan said, "Without Tony Soprano, there would be no Walter White."

October 1, 2014: Blu-ray release

On October 1, 2014, The Sopranos was released on Blu-ray.

2014: Complete series box set released

In 2014, a complete series box set of The Sopranos was released.

2015: The Hollywood Reporter Survey Result

In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter survey of 2,800 actors, producers, directors, and other industry people named The Sopranos as their #6 favorite show.

2016: Sepinwall and Seitz Ranked The Sopranos

In 2016, Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz included The Sopranos in their book TV (The Book) as the 2nd greatest American television series of all time, behind only The Simpsons and ahead of The Wire.

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TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time

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2016: Rolling Stone Ranked The Sopranos First

In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked The Sopranos first on the magazine's list of 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

March 2018: New Line Cinema purchases Sopranos background story film

In March 2018, New Line Cinema announced that they had purchased a film detailing The Sopranos background story, set in the 1960s and '70s during, and in the wake of, the Newark riots.

March 2018: New Line Cinema Purchased "The Many Saints of Newark" Film

In March 2018, New Line Cinema purchased a film project set in the 1960s and 1970s detailing the background story of The Sopranos, focusing on the Newark riots.

September 2019: The Guardian Ranked The Sopranos First

In September 2019, The Guardian ranked The Sopranos first on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century.

March 13, 2020: Drea de Matteo and Chris Kushner began hosting re-watch podcast

On March 13, 2020, Drea de Matteo and Chris Kushner began hosting a re-watch podcast called Made Women.

April 6, 2020: Talking Sopranos podcast begins

On April 6, 2020, Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa began hosting a podcast called Talking Sopranos.

September 2020: Talking Sopranos podcast reaches 5 million downloads

By September 2020, the Talking Sopranos podcast had reached over five million downloads.

September 17, 2020: Imperioli and Schirripa sign book deal

On September 17, 2020, Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa signed a deal with HarperCollins book imprint William Morrow and Company to write an oral history of The Sopranos.

September 25, 2020: Initial release date of The Many Saints of Newark

The film The Many Saints of Newark was initially scheduled to be released on September 25, 2020, but the release was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 2021: Talking Sopranos podcast wins Webby Award

In May 2021, the Talking Sopranos podcast won a Webby Award for Best Television & Film Podcast by method of "People's Voice Winner".

October 1, 2021: The Many Saints of Newark released

On October 1, 2021, The Many Saints of Newark was released in theaters and on HBO Max.

November 2, 2021: Woke Up This Morning released

On November 2, 2021, the book "Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of The Sopranos" by Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, was released.

Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of The Sopranos

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2021: Empire Ranked The Sopranos First

In 2021, Empire ranked The Sopranos at number one on their list of The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

2021: Release of "The Many Saints of Newark"

In 2021, the film "The Many Saints of Newark", a prequel to The Sopranos, was released. It was written by Chase and Lawrence Konner, directed by Alan Taylor, and starred Michael Gandolfini as a young Tony Soprano.

2021: The Many Saints of Newark film released

In 2021, the film The Many Saints of Newark was released. It was written by David Chase and Lawrence Konner and directed by Alan Taylor. Alessandro Nivola was cast in the film as Christopher Moltisanti's father Dickie, and Michael Gandolfini, James Gandolfini's son, as the younger version of Tony Soprano.

2022: Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler reprise roles in Chevrolet commercial

In 2022, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler reprised their roles as Meadow and A.J. Soprano in a Chevrolet television commercial initially broadcast during Super Bowl LVI. The ad recreates the opening-title sequence of The Sopranos, with Meadow driving a Silverado EV.