The Sopranos Wiki¶
It's good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that, I know. But lately I'm getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over. Tony Soprano, in the first therapy session of the first episode
An open, community-maintained reference to The Sopranos — David Chase's HBO series, its 86 episodes, the people who made it, and the argument about how it ends.
Two things live here side by side. The first is a reference work: every episode with its writer, director, and air date; who's who; what it won; where it was shot. The second is an analysis of what the show is actually doing with therapy, with dreams, with food, and with a man who wanted to be told he was a good person by someone qualified to judge.
The short version of why it needs a wiki: The Sopranos is a series about a man who goes into therapy to get better and uses it, instead, to get more comfortable. Watching him do that over six seasons — and watching yourself root for him anyway — is the whole thing.
Start here¶
-
Where to begin, what to watch for, and the four episodes that tell you whether this show is for you.
-
What actually happens at Holsten's, everything Chase has said since 2007, and why the page won't tell you who's right.
-
The Sopranos, the Moltisantis, and the DiMeo family org chart.
-
All six seasons, all 86 episodes, with writers, directors, and air dates.
The series at a glance¶
| Created by | David Chase |
| Network | HBO |
| Original run | January 10, 1999 – June 10, 2007 |
| Seasons / episodes | 6 / 86 |
| Primetime Emmys | 21 wins from 111 nominations |
| Outstanding Drama Series | 2004 and 2007 — the first cable series ever to win it |
| Golden Globes | 5 wins |
| Peabody Awards | 2 (2000, 2001) |
| Peak audience | 13.4M (S4 premiere) · 11.9M (finale) |
| Season | Episodes | Aired | Avg. US viewers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Jan–Apr 1999 | 3.46M |
| 2 | 13 | Jan–Apr 2000 | 6.62M |
| 3 | 13 | Mar–May 2001 | 8.87M |
| 4 | 13 | Sep–Dec 2002 | 10.99M |
| 5 | 13 | Mar–Jun 2004 | 9.80M |
| 6 | 21 | Mar 2006 – Jun 2007 | 8.60M / 8.23M |
Plus The Many Saints of Newark (2021), the prequel film in which James Gandolfini's son plays his father's character.
Read the analysis¶
- Themes — decline, therapy culture, and a man who wants absolution without change
- Tony's Arc — the case that he never changes, and the case that he does, twice
- Therapy & Melfi — the structural invention that made the show possible
- Reading the Ending — four interpretations, no verdict
- Dreams & Symbolism — the fish, the horse, the Test Dream
- The Women — Carmela, Melfi, Livia, Adriana, Janice, Meadow
- Music — Chase picked every needle drop himself
- Comedy — the most underrated thing about it
Data¶
- Complete awards tables — 21 Emmys, and the two years it finally won the big one
- Ratings — season by season, and the finale
- Body count — who dies, who orders it, who does it
- Quote index — sourced by episode
- Charts — visual breakdowns
About this project¶
Everything here is plain Markdown in a public repository, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections are the most useful contribution you can make — see Contributing.
Not affiliated with anybody
An independent fan project. Not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery, or David Chase. No script text or copyrighted imagery is reproduced beyond brief quotation for commentary and criticism. The site carries affiliate links and accepts contributions — see Support the Project.