HBO's 'The Sopranos,' featuring some of TV's most infamous mobsters, is considered to be one the best series in the history of television. In honor of the show that premiered on Jan. 10, 1999, and had its finale in the summer of 2007, here are 10 little-known facts about the iconic series.
Back in 1999, before “The Sopranos” became recognized as one of HBO’s greatest TV hits, the fledgling show was worried that audiences would think the show was about singers instead of the mob. They decided to add the gun in the logo, but not without some initial confusion: when Jamie-Lynn Sigler auditioned for the role of Meadow Soprano, she thought the show was about opera. In honor of the show featuring some of TV’s most infamous mobsters, here are 10 little-known facts about the iconic series.
If you looked up the word patience in the dictionary, Drea de Matteo’s picture would be right next to it. It took four hours in the hair and makeup chair before every episode to achieve her character Adriana La Cerva’s mafia girlfriend look; half of that time was spent solely on her hair. Matteo also has some tattoos, so if Adriana’s arms, legs, and torso were showing in an episode, it would take an hour and a half to apply cover-up.
Maybe the storyline was a little too on the nose. The creative team behind the show was often contacted by the FBI and told that actual mobsters, whose conversations were picked up by wiretaps, had plenty to say about the show. They considered the show’s portrayal of mob life so dead-on, that they thought one of their own was working on the inside.
There was no faking authenticity when it came to the scenes at the strip club-turned-mob meeting place Bada Bing. While the rest of “The Sopranos” was filmed at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens and on location throughout New York and New Jersey, scenes at Bada Bing were filmed at the very real Satin Dolls in Lodi, New Jersey. Thanks to their growing popularity from the show, the gentleman’s club hosted “The Sopranos” viewing parties and was a stop on themed tours and sold souvenirs.
Profanity and HBO go hand-in-hand, but season one of “The Sopranos” really took that liberty and ran with it. “F-ck” was said 437 times, with 134 from Tony, 61 from Christopher, 25 from Paulie, 20 from Sil, 5 from Carmela and 192 from other characters. Season two blew that number out of the water with 715 “f-cks.”
The cast of “The Sopranos” and the 1990 film “Goodfellas” really embraced keeping things in the family: both mob-themed works featured 27 of the same actors, including Lorraine Bracco, Frank Vincent, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Pastore, Tony Sirico, Tony Lip, Nicole Burdette, Tony Darrow, John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia, Suzanne Shepherd, Frank Albanese, Paul Herman, Daniel P. Conte, Marianne Leone and Anthony Caso, among many others.
When show creator David Chase approached HBO with his idea for “The Sopranos,” he initially proposed a movie about a mob member with mommy issues who sought help from a therapist. He was later convinced by his manager, Llyod Braun, that the idea was good enough for a TV series.
Ray Liotta was a top choice for the role that eventually went to James Gandolfini. The “Something Wild” actor didn’t want to commit to starring in a TV series at the time. Not long after, he was pegged to play Ralph Cifaretto but ended up turning that role down too.
Season three was originally meant to showcase the increasingly hostile relationship between Tony and his mother Livia; he was going to try and prevent Livia from testifying against him in court. However, because of the death of actress Nancy Marchand (who played Livia), a huge chunk of the season had to be scrapped and rewritten.
“The Sopranos” series finale, and whether or not Tony lives, is considered one of the great modern cliffhangers. The final episode’s cut-to-black scene, which aired on June 10, 2007, spurred more questions than answered them. But Michael Imperioli, who played Christopher Moltisanti in all six seasons, is 100 percent sure that Tony is a dead man by series end. “David [Chase, the show’s creator] was trying to put us in the place of the last things you see before you die,” Imperioli told Vanity Fair in 2012. “You remember some little details and something catches your eye and that’s it. You don’t know the aftermath because you’re gone.”
