College (The Sopranos) College (The Sopranos) "College" is the fifth episode of the first season of the HBO television drama series "The Sopranos", which originally aired on February 7, 1999. It was written by co-producer James Manos Jr. and series creator/executive producer David Chase and directed by Allen Coulter. The episode was rated as the best of the series by "TIME" magazine, and was ranked #2 on "TV Guide"s list of "Top 100 Episodes of All Time". "* = credit only" Tony takes Meadow on a trip to Maine to visit three colleges she is considering. Having looked at Bates College they then
The Sopranos New Jersey organized crime family when Chase was growing up, and partly on New Jersey's DeCavalcante family. He has mentioned American playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as influences on the show's writing, and Italian director Federico Fellini as an important influence on the show's cinematic style. The series was named after high school friends of his. Chase and producer Brad Grey pitched "The Sopranos" to several networks; Fox showed interest but passed on it after Chase presented them the pilot script. They eventually pitched the show to Chris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, who decided to finance a