How Best to Binge-Watch ‘The Sopranos’ In Less Than 30 Days (25 Years Later)
If you haven’t watched The Sopranos yet, here’s a quick viewing strategy for how to binge-watch the series now (25 years later). You can complete the entire series comfortably in 27 days. The first five seasons were made up of 13 episodes each, so you can watch those five seasons in 20 days by viewing three episodes per day and capping off the final viewing day of each season with an additional, finale episode. The sixth season had a total of 21 episodes that actually aired in a two-part rollout in 2006 (12 episodes) and 2007 (9 episodes). You can watch the entire sixth season in 7 days by taking in 3 episodes per day.
James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Toni Sirico, Steve Van Zandt, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Robert Iler, Dominic Chianese, Nancy Marchand, Vincent Pastore, Steve Schirripa are the stars of the series.
HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection
As the seasons progressed, the list of regulars, recurring actors and guest stars grew impressively and included such names as Steve Buscemi, Joe Pantoliano, Aida Turturro, Drea de Matteo, John Vantimiglia, Kathrine Narducci, Vincent Curatola, Sharon Angela, Jerry Adler, Maureen Van Zandt, Peter Bogdanovich, Frankie Valli, Peter Riegert, Robert Loggia, Michael Rispoli, Tim Daly, Patti D’Arbanville, Sofia Milos, Daniel Baldwin, Will Arnett, Matthew Weiner, Sandra Bernhard, Linda Lavin, Annette Bening, Nancy Sinatra, Ben Kingsley, Lauren Bacall and Julianna Margulies.
Credit: TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
WHY IS IT BINGE WORTHY?
A huge hit during its entire run, the saga of mob boss Tony Soprano was only the second drama series ever produced by HBO. (A prison drama called Oz was the first.) Some have called The Sopranos the best TV series ever made and the list of awards it won is huge, including 21 Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, two Peabody Awards and several Television Critics Association Awards.
The creative brainchild of executive producer David Chase, The Sopranos drew its inspiration from a combination of Chase’s fascination with the world of organized crime and his own family relationships and personal background as a New Jersey native. He originally intended to make it a movie but, with the help of producer Brad Grey, Chase ended up pitching the series to several TV networks before HBO bought in and financed a pilot episode. That episode, originally called Pilot and later retitled as The Sopranos, was actually shot in 1997, almost two years before HBO finally premiered the series.
(Top, L-R) Steve R. Schirripa, George Loros, Jerry Adler, Arthur J. Nascarella, Dan Grimaldi, James Gandolfini, Tony Darrow, Robert Funaro. (Bottom, L-R) Joseph Gannascoli, Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt. © HBO / Courtesy: Everett Collection.
Although 27 of the show’s cast members also appeared in a 1999 mobster movie called Goodfellas, most of the actors on the first season of The Sopranos were relatively unknown before the series premiered.
Times have changed since The Sopranos first aired. The series premiered a couple of years before the attacks of 9/11 and much of its social and political commentaries shift significantly in the seasons that surfaced afterward. The advancement of time is apparent in a couple of other ways, too. First, there’s the maturation of the Soprano kids (particularly A.J.) from children of the 1990s to young adults by the end of the series.
Perhaps most noticeable, though, is all the indoor smoking that takes place in bars, restaurants, cars, etc. That’s certainly not the way things are anymore.
TV Villains
Volume 1, Issue 8
TV villains usually drive the plot, are the center of attention, can say and do anything and often have more charisma than the good guys. This issue is packed with puzzles, games and trivia all centered around your favorite TV villains.
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