The Sopranos large cast of characters, many of whom get significant amounts of character development—regardless of level of importance. Some only appear in certain seasons, while others appear (sporadically or constantly) throughout the entire series. All characters were created by David Chase, unless otherwise noted. Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) is the series' protagonist. Tony is one of the capos (and the unofficial underboss) of the New Jersey-based DiMeo crime family, at the beginning of the series; he eventually becomes its undisputed boss. He is also the patriarch of the Soprano household. Throughout the series, Tony struggles to balance the conflicting requirements of
The Sopranos (The Sopranos episode) production being shot on a weekly basis, HBO acquired an abandoned auto parts store in Kearny, New Jersey which became Satriale's Pork Store for use in future episodes. David Chase won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series for his work on this episode and a Primetime Emmy Award for Joanna Cappuccilli for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series. It was also Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for David Chase. The Sopranos (The Sopranos episode) "The Sopranos", also known as "Pilot", is the