Those sitting down to watch The Sopranos in 1999 had no idea David Chase’s US gangster series would become a cultural touchstone that enabled other showrunners to get future acclaimed shows off the ground.
On the surface, the series was another Mafia thriller in a similar vein to Scorsese’s Goodfellas. But beyond the violence and machismo was a complex and brilliantly unpredictable drama about a dysfunctional family, with James Gandolfini’s flawed, anxiety-ridden Tony Soprano at its helm.
