Why you can't miss 'Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos'

Algorithms know everything, it seems like, so it’s no surprise that the suggested Facebook’s Stories in my feed are often clips from “The Sopranos.”

Ha. About half of that sentence wouldn’t have made sense to anyone when “The Sopranos” was actually on the air, from 1999 to 2007. But it makes sense that the clips find their way to me — my list of the best TV shows is in constant flux, but most of the time I think of “The Sopranos” as the greatest TV drama ever made.

Thus, it’s no surprise that I am the absolute bullseye in the target audience for Alex Gibney’s outstanding new HBO two-part documentary, “Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos.” Although even a huge fan of the show, a violent portrait of a New Jersey mob boss named Tony Soprano who is secretly in therapy as he navigates problems with both of his families, might reasonably ask if there is anything new to say about a series that went off the air 17 years ago.

What else is there to say about 'The Sopranos?'
There is. Sort of. At least there’s something fascinating in the way it’s said. The documentary covers some well-trodden ground, like how every broadcast network passed on the show before HBO bit, how Chase was never truly satisfied with the massive success of the show because he wanted to direct films, how he based much of it on his own life (especially Season 1 in which Livia Soprano, Tony’s mother, wreaks havoc), how volatile an on-set presence the otherwise brilliant James Gandolfini could be, etc...more
https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/movies/billgoodykoontz/2024/09/02/wise-guy-david-chase-sopranos/74966049007/