The Sopranos (The Sopranos episode) The Sopranos (The Sopranos episode) "The Sopranos", also known as "Pilot", is the first episode of the HBO television drama series, "The Sopranos", which premiered on January 10, 1999. It was written and directed by the series creator and executive producer David Chase. New Jersey mobster Tony Soprano passes out while barbecuing. Tony's collapse is diagnosed as a panic attack, leading to his referral to psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. Tony is initially uncooperative, but soon tells Dr. Melfi a story about a family of ducks which nested in his swimming pool. He goes over tensions between Carmela and Meadow over a
The Sopranos of the New York City Columbus Day Parade won an injunction preventing Mayor Michael Bloomberg from inviting cast members of "The Sopranos" to participate in the parade. Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind conducted a national survey in August 2001 which polled 800 people. 37% said that they watched the show regularly, and 65% of this group (192 people, or 24% of the total) disagreed that the show portrayed Italian Americans in a negative way. Professor William Roberts was associated with the poll, and is the author of several books on modern Italian history; he commented that: "The show's inflated image of