Cleaver (The Sopranos) Moltisanti became disillusioned and slipped into a depression, throwing away his work. He later had an affair with studio vice-president Amy Safir in "D-Girl" (2x07); through her he met "Swingers" and "Made" scribe Jon Favreau, with whom he discussed his film concept. When they decide on the movie title Cleaver, Christopher mentions to Tony that the estate of Black Panther Party leader Eldridge Cleaver have filed a motion to put a hold on production because of the name association. This is never brought up again in the series and the title does not change. In "Kaisha" (6x12), he discussed the
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