The Series¶
Every episode is somebody's favorite episode. A defensible claim about this show and almost no others
Eighty-six episodes across six seasons, January 10, 1999 to June 10, 2007.
The seasons¶
| Season | Eps | Aired | Avg. viewers | The season in one line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Jan 10 – Apr 4, 1999 | 3.46M | A capo has a panic attack, starts therapy, and goes to war with his uncle and his mother |
| 2 | 13 | Jan 16 – Apr 9, 2000 | 6.62M | Somebody close to Tony is wearing a wire |
| 3 | 13 | Mar 4 – May 20, 2001 | 8.87M | Livia dies, Ralph arrives, and the kids stop being kids |
| 4 | 13 | Sep 15 – Dec 8, 2002 | 10.99M | The money gets tight and the marriage doesn't survive it |
| 5 | 13 | Mar 7 – Jun 6, 2004 | 9.80M | The class of '04 comes home from prison |
| 6 | 21 | Mar 12, 2006 – Jun 10, 2007 | 8.60M / 8.23M | Tony is shot, sees the other side, and comes back worse |
Season 6 was released in two parts — 12 episodes in 2006, 9 in 2007 — but it is one season, and it plays as one.
Also¶
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The Many Saints of Newark — 2021
The prequel film. Newark, 1967 and after. Michael Gandolfini plays the role his father originated.
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The sequel that keeps almost happening, where the cast went, and what the show did to television.
The shape of the run¶
Seasons 1–2 build the machine. The premise — mob boss in therapy — is doing double duty as exposition, and Chase uses Melfi to explain a world he'd otherwise have to stop and explain. The Big Pussy arc gives season 2 a spine that season 1 doesn't quite have.
Season 3 is where it becomes a novel. Livia dies (of necessity — Nancy Marchand had died in June 2000), and the show loses the antagonist it was designed around. What replaces her is diffuse and worse for Tony: his children growing up, his own appetites, and Ralph.
Season 4 is the most divisive and, on rewatch, among the best. Almost nothing happens for eleven episodes — the earners aren't earning, the schemes are small and grubby — and then "Whitecaps" burns the marriage down. It's a season about money and it's structured like one.
Season 5 is the most conventionally satisfying: a clean premise (men released from long sentences trying to re-enter a business that moved on), a great guest performance from Steve Buscemi as Tony Blundetto, and "Long Term Parking."
Season 6 is the argument. Part one puts Tony in a coma and gives him an alternate life; part two systematically removes every reason to hope he learned anything. It contains the show's most experimental hour and its most brutal, and then it stops mid-sentence.
Who made them¶
The writers' room was small and stayed small. David Chase wrote or co-wrote 2–7 episodes a season and rewrote nearly everything else. Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess came with him from Northern Exposure. Terence Winter joined in season 2 and became the show's other defining voice. Matthew Weiner was hired in season 5 after Chase read his Mad Men pilot script.
On the directing side, Tim Van Patten did the most (20 episodes), followed by John Patterson (13), Allen Coulter (12), and Alan Taylor (9). Chase directed exactly two: the pilot and the finale.
Notable one-offs: Steve Buscemi directed "Pine Barrens" before he was cast in the show. Peter Bogdanovich directed "Sentimental Education" while also playing Melfi's own therapist. Mike Figgis, Lee Tamahori, and Rodrigo García each took an episode.
Full detail: The Writers' Room · The Directors