Kaisha (The Sopranos) to hire to find Adriana and instead calls the roofing subcontractor. The Baccalieris, DeAngelis, and Moltisantis join the Sopranos at their home for Christmas Eve. A.J. arrives with Blanca and Hector and introduces them to his family. Hugh remarks on Blanca's necklace, which A.J. bought for her. In another room, Carmela and Tony discuss Blanca. Carmela does not approve of her age or race, but Tony seems more accepting. When Tony suggests to A.J. that he could have helped with the necklace because he "[has] a guy," A.J. assertively dismisses him by saying, "I have a job." Meadow calls her
The Sopranos pilot episode which was shot in 1997. Chase directed it himself. They finished the pilot and showed it to HBO executives, but the show was put on hold for several months. During this time, Chase considered asking HBO for additional funding to shoot 45 more minutes of footage and release "The Sopranos" as a feature film. In December 1997, HBO decided to produce the series and ordered 12 more episodes for a 13-episode season. The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999 with the pilot episode. "The Sopranos" was the second hour-long television drama series produced by HBO, the