The Sopranos ranked first in "Rolling Stone"'s list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time. In March 2018, New Line Cinema announced that they have purchased a film detailing the "Sopranos" background story, set in the 1960s during the Newark riots. Titled "The Many Saints of Newark", it is written by David Chase and Lawrence Konner and will be directed by Alan Taylor. David Chase had worked as a television producer for more than 20 years before creating "The Sopranos". He had been employed as a staff writer or producer for several television series, including "", "Switch", "The Rockford Files",
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