The Sopranos (The Sopranos episode) room of Satriale's Pork Store as part of an ongoing dispute involving Tony's sanitation business. Chris follows the advice of Soprano soldier Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero and they bury the body to avoid police investigation. By beginning a new enterprise inspired by his MRI, Tony demonstrates his suitability as an innovative mob leader. Mahaffey, a compulsive gambler who is in debt to Tony, is intimidated into making false claims to pay out to his crime family. Herman "Hesh" Rabkin, an old Jewish friend of Tony's father, gives Tony advice on this scheme and on problems with Tony's Uncle Junior, who
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