The Sopranos (The Sopranos episode) not be picked up by HBO and, in that case, planned to ask the network for additional money to shoot another 45 minutes and turn it into a feature film. Chase was also pressured by another, completely new development deal offered to him by another network, which he kept postponing until he heard HBO's verdict on "The Sopranos". Right before Christmas of 1997, David Chase received a phone call and learned that HBO did like the pilot and ordered a full season, all of which happened about two hours before the deadline for accepting the other network's deal. Chase was
Made in America (The Sopranos) than bringing the series to a close, that blackout made "The Sopranos" live forever." Tim Goodman of the "San Francisco Chronicle" characterized the finale as "[a]n ending befitting genius of "Sopranos"" and wrote that "Chase managed, with this ending, to be true to reality [...] while also steering clear of trite TV conventions." Frazier Moore of the Associated Press called the episode "brilliant" and wrote that "Chase was true to himself." Kim Reed of Television Without Pity gave "Made in America" the highest score of A+ and praised it for staying true to the show. Alan Sepinwall of "The Star-Ledger"