The Sopranos without murders is almost unthinkable.
The graphic portrayal of life in the mob was one of the things that made the show so gripping – but that was a world away from what creator, David Chase originally had in mind for the series. Indeed, his initial vision was of a dark comedy with no bloodshed whatsoever.
In the original pilot for the show, Chase said “there were no murders”, an idea he described as “a real innovation” that “subverts…television’s mainstream blood lust” and its representation of “the criminal element”.
From the get-go, Chase was at odds with what Fox (for whom he wrote the first pilot) wanted. While the network expected a TV version of The Godfather, the writer was of the view that there was no point replicating something that already existed.
Instead, he wanted to write a mob comedy movie in which the lead character had a difficult relationship with his mother. When his agents poured cold water on that idea, Chase wondered whether it would work as a TV show instead.
The script he wrote didn’t really generate much interest. But months later, he did get a call from a woman who told him the network had no plans for a Mafia show but “as a human being” she had read his script and thought it was “really good”.
The phrase ‘as a human being’, Chase said, “blew my mind” and made him realise he needed to dehumanise the show. So, he added in a murder and HBO took it.
And yet when, in episode 5 of season 1, Tony Soprano committed the first of 8 murders viewers would see him commit over the course of the show, the network weren’t impressed.
“You’ve created one of the most dynamic characters of the past 20 years,” they told Chase, “and you’re just going to ruin him.” Chase’s response was that Tony was a mobster who just found a guy who was a rat. “If he doesn’t kill that guy,” Chase argued, “the show’s over.”
The network relented. Tony Soprano became the protagonist of a show as well as a murderer. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Over the course of its 6 seasons, The Sopranos built up a huge body count and it soon became clear that nobody was safe. In the end, even Tony was bumped off.
