Today The Sopranos is widely regarded as one of the best television shows of all time. In the late '90s and early 2000s we lived in an ocean of exceptional television–dramas that dared to be unconventional, with troubled, complicated characters, and higher-than-ever writing and production quality. "It's not TV, it's HBO," the channel bragged. This was the beginning of prestige tv.

But The Sopranos is only about organized crime on the surface. The pilot begins with Tony starting therapy because he's having panic attacks. Even though Tony's not completely sure therapy works, he keeps coming back because he's afraid no one else will take him–or his pain–seriously. And he's worried that, actually, none of it matters at all.

1999 FOREVER'S theme song is "In the Freezer" by Sophie Strauss

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SOURCES:

• Brett Martin, Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution, 2014.
• James Andrew Miller, Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, 2021.
• Emily Nussbaum, I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution, 2020.
• Willy Staley, "Why Is Every Young Person in America Watching 'The Sopranos'?", The New York Times Magazine, 2021.