27 Years Ago, The Sopranos Broke The Rules Of Character Writing And Became A Legend

The Sopranos has such a legacy among HBO's greatest TV shows that it is sometimes easy to forget that the show broke virtually every rule in the TV writing book. Since the show aired, The Sopranos has inspired countless other TV series, from Mad Men to Breaking Bad, and even its polarizing ending has, in hindsight, been recontextualized. Being drastically different from the more explosive and action-packed crime TV shows popular in the 1990s made The Sopranos hard to get into at first, but the series soon won fans over, becoming a show that is endlessly rewatchable.