The Sopranos (season 1) latter site reporting the critical consensus as, ""The Sopranos" smartly runs an emotional gamut, offering detailed character work and riveting suspense while displaying a flair for both comedy and drama." James Gandolfini was widely hailed for his performance, with Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" praising his "magnificently shrewd, wary performance" as Tony Soprano. "Deseret News" expressed approval for the show's clear insight into the "modern incarnations of family and mortality and ambition." Marvin Kitman of "Newsday" wrote, "It's a great show, the best new series of the year. It's so - dare I say it? - original. It catches you
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