The Sopranos is considered one of the best series ever made. Created by David Chase, this award-winning drama series will leave you completely hooked from the first to the last episode.
The show follows the life of a mafia boss and family man Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), who, after a panic attack, seeks professional help.
With Dr Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), he discusses his intimacy and life in crime, who helps him deal with his problems and “family business”.
In addition to his wife Carmela Soprano's (Edie Falco) discomfort with his activities, the Italian-American mobster from New Jersey tries to protect his children, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) and Anthony Junior (Robert Iler), during a federal investigation and the possible betrayal of a family member.
The story also features several prominent characters among Tony's family colleagues, members and rivals.
If you're a crime series enthusiast with plenty of intrigues, suspense and betrayal, you won't want to miss the list of 8 shows like The Sopranos we have prepared for you!
From complicated Mafia families between to the story of an English family who lives off of robberies, extortion and gambling, there's plenty to keep you entertained.
Enjoy hours of entertainment with our list, and don't forget to leave us your opinion in the comments below.
OUR LIST OF SHOWS LIKE THE SOPRANOS
Narcos
Get yourself ready for a cocaine-fuelled story that is seriously addictive to watch. Narcos follows the rise and fall of the Columbian cartels, the incredible wealth generated and the horrific lengths that they will go to keep it.
Peaky Blinders
Meet the Shelby Family in this hard-hitting British gangster drama set in the period just after the Great War. Think of a Victorian Sopranos that is based in Industrial Birmingham then mix it up with some historical truth and you have Peaky Blinders,...[Read More]
Bad Blood
How difficult is it to obtain and keep power? Bad Blood is based on the real Mafia boss, Vito Rizzuto and his ruthless hold on all crime throughout the city as well as southern Quebec and Ontario. A superbly acted crime show that is more Sopranos tha...[Read More]
Gomorrah
Gomorrah was originally commissioned for Sky Atlantic, so everything about this production is high quality. It's similar to 'The Sopranos' but it has more grit and is faster moving. Gomorra is not a run-of-the-mill gangster story - it's totally origi...[Read More]
Black Mass
Black Mass is a hard-hitting gangster movie based on a true story, set in Boston in the 1970's. This is a movie packed full of talent providing a powerful performance. If you are a fan of Goodfellas this movie has a similar feel - well worth watching...[Read More]
El Chapo
In his time Joaquín Guzmán (El Chapo) was the most the most powerful Drug Lord on the Planet. This super villain has legendary status and for good reason, to say El Chapo was super violent is an understatement. If you liked Narcos, you will love El C...[Read More]
Good Morning Veronica
Good Morning Veronica is an intense, dark, and brilliant Brazilian crime show that follows police officer Veronica Torres as she finds herself embroiled in trying to solve two unrelated crimes.
Mindhunter
Based on a true story about the early days of criminal psychology, Mindhunter is a fascinating and addictive crime drama starring Jonathan Groff and directed by David Fincher.
Why Is The Sopranos So Popular?
The Sopranos is considered one of the best series ever made for TV. It pushed creative and moral boundaries along with audience expectations and has since influenced a great deal of prestigious television.
First of all, the series was unlike any other that came before. The Sopranos was the first show to break all the rules and still become a massive and lasting success and a widely used role model.
Besides the story wrapped around the Mafia, The Sopranos also portrays disguised real-life situations of parents fighting with children, betrayal, loyalty, love, guilt and revenge.
Tony as a boss, is monstrous and murderous, reasonable and pragmatic. Still, outside of work, we see him involved in an extramarital relationship yet having a tender heart with his wife or children and baring his childhood pain to his psychiatrist. Almost every other person also comes across as a multidimensional human being.
Although graphically violent, with many moments of high drama, The Sopranos has also been described as a dark comedy. The scripts are generously lightened with wide and subtle humour.
Characters fight and joke, sometimes over minimal details, with irony and contradiction, spot-on literary references, and mafia misappropriations. Even some of the more horrifying moments are so exaggerated that they may tease you to laugh.
The series has attracted some criticism with a greater awareness of race and gender issues. The mobsters' racism is often displayed as they throw casual slurs or try to attribute their crimes to African Americans. In addition, Italian-American groups have criticised the show for promoting ethnic stereotypes, where it is always Italian Americans who rob, beat or kill.
However, The Sopranos became one of the most famous series ever, and according to WarnerMedia, the show's popularity resurged in 2020 during the pandemic.
How Many Seasons Of The Sopranos?
First aired in January 1999, The Sopranos has a total of 86 episodes, spread over six seasons.
Ending in June 2007, the series also won several awards, including the Peabody Awards for its first two seasons, twenty-one Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globes.
In addition to being acclaimed, the series has also received critical analysis, controversy and parody. The Sopranos has already generated books, an electronic game, soundtrack albums, and extensive merchandise.
Several cast and crew members from the series, previously unknown to the public, have had successful careers after the series ended.
The Writers Guild of America named The Sopranos the best-written TV series of all time, and The Guardian considered it the best TV series of the century.
To top that, TV Guide and Rolling Stone ranked it as the best TV series of all time!
Is Tony Soprano Based On A Real Person?
Anthony John Soprano is the series’ protagonist, portrayed by James Gandolfini. The Italian-American character is fictional, conceived by series creator David Chase.
Despite this, the character is loosely based on real-life New Jersey mobsters Ruggerio “Richie the Boot” Boiardo, head of the Genovese crime family of North Jersey, and Vincent “Vinny Ocean” Palermo, a former head of the DeCavalcante crime family.
