Why Was Tony Soprano Such a Welcome Guest in American Homes?
When television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz speak about HBO’s legendary series The Sopranos, they can say without fear of contradiction: “We told you so.” From The Sopranos debut on January 10, 1999, both longtime television critics consistently evangelized about the show’s acting talent and production quality.
By February 2, 1999, Seitz had already pronounced James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano “one of the richest roles in TV history—maybe as rich a role as any actor has ever had.” After 20 years, bold statements like that will look ridiculous or brilliant. Seitz called that shot.
“It’s easy to put Gandolfini on TV’s Mt. Rushmore,” Sepinwall told The Daily Beast, with Andre Braugher or Bryan Cranston, but he rose above. Right from the start of The Sopranos, “what he was doing was so special, so unique, so powerful.”