1x01 The Sopranos

**Trivias**

+James Gandolfini's voice is distinctly different in this first episode than it would be in future ones. After this episode, Gandolfini used a dialect coach to sound more like a mobster from Newark, New Jersey.

+This pilot was filmed in the summer of 1997. The show was picked up for series a year later.

+In this episode, the pork store used as the mob's hangout is named Centanni's Meat Market, an actual butcher shop in Elizabeth, New Jersey. But producers soon after found an abandoned location in Kearny, NJ, converted it into the fictional Satriale's Pork Store, and used that site throughout the rest of the series. But mistakenly--or indifferently--a quick image of Satriale's, not Centanni's, is included in this pilot's opening montage, as it also would be for the next eight years of the "Sopranos".

+In the pilot episode, Father Phil is portrayed by Michael Santoro, but in all future episodes, he is portrayed by Paul Schulze.

+As the show's creator and executive producer David Chase is also given a writer's credit for every one of the "Sopranos"'s 86 episodes. Chase also directed two of these episodes: this original pilot and the highly controversial series finale over eight years later.

+Michele DeCesare, who plays Meadow's friend Hunter, is the daughter of series creator David Chase.

+The main reason James Gandolfini was cast instead of Michael Rispoli, who was also considered for the role of Tony Soprano, is that David Chase felt that, while both actors were likable and could make that work for Tony, Michael was a much more lighthearted person than James. Chase felt the elements of self-darkness would be a better fusion into the character of Tony.

+This marks the only episode in which the scenes shot inside the famous Soprano home, were filmed inside a real house in North Caldwell, New Jersey. After this episode, a replica of the inside house was built and used to film the rest of the series.

+Tony's complaint to Dr. Melfi about the loss of the Gary Cooper "strong silent type" in American culture becomes an oft-repeated regret in the series.

+On the episode commentary, David Chase says he regrets adding the song, "I Wonder Why", during the scene where Tony chases the man who owes him money.

+Tony is referred to here as "the boss" as well as "the Don of New Jersey". Yet in the next episode, new character Jackie Aprile is the (acting) boss and Tony is only one of many crew captains, or a capo, though he is considered the heir apparent.
+In the pilot, Tony Soprano's Jersey accent is much less pronounced than in his "final" character. He speaks more softly and in general, seems to be a little more "gentle".

+The role of Uncle Junior, played by Dominic Chianese, almost went to Robert Loggia who had been seriously considered for it. Loggia would appear later in four episodes of the series as Michele "Feech" La Manna. Chianese is also the show's only cast member who had played a featured role in The Godfather: Part II (1974), as Johnny Ola.

+While Tony and Livia are visiting the nursing home, a group of elderly people is shown watching The Rockford Files (1974) on TV. Creator David Chase got his big break in television as a writer and producer on that show.

+In the pilot episode, Tony's Russian goomah, is played by Irina Peltsin is portrayed by Siberia M. Federico, but in all future episodes, she is portrayed by Ukrainian actress Oksana Lada.

+This episode is titled "The Sopranos" on the DVD release and the show's official site. But it was titled "Pilot" when originally aired and is still titled as such in reruns.

+James Gandolfini earned the first Emmy nomination of his career for this episode.

+The appearance of Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow) changes from this episode compared with the rest due to an obvious nose job she had. She also lost significant weight before the second episode was filmed as she was suffering from a serious eating disorder.

+The date on the newspaper Tony opens at the beginning of the episode is Wednesday, June 17, 1998.

+The episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Series.

+Drea de Matteo appears in the pilot as a hostess but was not cast as Adriana La Cerva until later. The Sopranos: Denial, Anger, Acceptance (1999), they reference her working as a hostess to explain her appearance in the pilot.

+The song played during the final scene and over the credits is, "The Beast in Me", by Nick Lowe.

+Father Phil (Michael Santoro) asks Carmela (Edie Falco) what Tony (James Gandolfini) thinks about Goodfellas (1990). Tony's (James Gandolfini) shrink Dr. Jennifer Melfi played by Lorraine Bracco starred in Goodfellas (1990) as Karen Hill. Michael Imperioli who stars in this show as Tony's cousin Christopher, also appeared in Goodfellas (1990).

+The song played during the scene where Tony first passes out is Giacomo Puccini's "Chi il bel Sogno di Doretta". This song is also played at the end of The Sopranos: Irregular Around the Margins (2004).

+The theme song for The Rockford Files (1974) is heard in the nursing home. David Chase wrote 20 episodes of the show.

Goofs
-Character error
At 47 minutes the character Meadow Soprano (played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler) refers to the character Silvio Dante as Mr. Van Zandt which is the name of the actor and not the name of the character.
-Continuity
At the barbeque at Tony's house, in the end, Christopher is seen sitting, holding a nearly full beer bottle, yet when Tony picks him up a few seconds later and Christopher drops the bottle, the sound it makes is that of an empty bottle.
-Crew or equipment visible.
Whenever the ducks are swimming in Tony's pool they begin to flap their wings as if trying to fly. Just as Tony yells for his kids to come to witness it, someone can be seen slamming their foot down near the edge of the pool where the ducks are swimming to scare them into flapping their wings and flying away.
-Factual errors
1)When on the footbridge with Alex, Hesh and Pussy, Alex is wearing a cast over his pant leg. A cast would never be applied over clothing.

2)The ducks in Tony Soprano's swimming pool in the pilot episode are all female. There are several remarks about the group of ducks being a family. No male ducks are within that group.

-Revealing mistakes
Tony runs down the guy in the park with Christopher's Lexus and the Lexus has damage, but only to the headlamp - the park and signal lamp is only dangling with no damage to the bumper surrounding them. The damage is staged, likely having removed the screws that hold the park and signal lamps in place and pulled them out by hand, allowing them to rest on the wiring harness.