The guard rail Tracee was killed on, behind the Bada Bing was made of styrofoam. They finished at 4 AM in the morning.
Frederico Castelluccio originally starred in the soap operas, Guiding Light and As the World Turns.
David Chase's father wanted him to be a labor negotiator in South America.
In the episode Army of One, the bedroom scene with Gloria Trillo, Tony's cigar gets bigger, smaller, bigger and smaller.
There were portable air conditioning units brought into Satriale's when filming was done during warm weather.
HBO was worried that the title of the series would make the audience think it was about music. That is why the gun image is in the title logo. The network also considered other titles for the show such as "Made in New Jersey".
The cemetery in the opening credits is located on Route 7 in North Arlington, New Jersey.
In the final script for Livia Soprano's funeral, Tony finds a card on the flowers which says, 'The Yog'. Later on, Uncle Junior explains to Tony that when Livia was younger, Yogi Berra was a romantic contender for Livia's affections. The scene was cut out.
Dominic Chianese and Dan Grimaldi (Patsy Parisi) do not wear glasses in real life.
John Ventimiglia (Artie Bucco) is a good cook in real life.
There are several singers in the Sopranos: John Ventimiglia (Artie Bucco), Vincent Curatola (Johnny Sack), Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior), Jamie Lyn Sigler (Meadow), Steve Van Zandt (Silvio Dante), John Fiore (Gigi Cestone), Al Sapienza (Mikey Palmice).
The airline Blue Jet names their planes, one of the most popular is #534. It's name is Bada Bing Bada Blue!
Meadow's soccer coach in season 1 came back as an FBI agent in Season 3.
The "Green Grove" retirement community is based on, and filmed at, the Green Hill retirement community in West Orange, New Jersey.
The "Bada Bing" strip club is actually a go-go bar in Lodi, NJ, called Satin Dolls. It used to be a nightclub called Tara's. Before that it was a diner called Hearth 17.
Originally, creator David Chase was going to call the key character Tommy Soprano. He later changed it to Tony.
David Chase was a longtime fan of Steve Van Zandt's music and had always wanted to write a role for him. When Chase saw Van Zandt induct 'The Young Rascals' into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he invited Van Zandt to audition for Tony Soprano even though he had never acted before. Van Zandt did not want to take a role away from a real actor, so Chase wrote the role of Silvio Dante for him.
Grace Johnston was first choice for the role of Meadow but she turned it down to finish school.
Before David Chase chose "Woke Up This Morning" by UK band Alabama 3 (from their 1997 debut album "Exile on Coldharbour Lane"), he originally wanted to use a different song in every episode's opening sequence. HBO executives convinced him that viewers needed to be able to identify the show with a theme song.
In January 2000 the Coalition of Italian-American Associations issued a joint statement condemning the show for perpetuating negative Italian-American stereotypes.
Struggling screenwriter Christopher Moltisanti is portrayed by screenwriter Michael Imperioli.
Silvio Dante (Steve Van Zandt) is based on a character of the same name in a short story that Van Zandt wrote and showed to series creator David Chase.
Steve Van Zandt and David Proval originally auditioned for the role of Tony Soprano.
Michael Rispoli originally auditioned for the role of Tony, but David Chase liked Rispoli's audition so much that he adjusted the role of Jackie Aprile Sr., originally a much older character, to fit Rispoli's age.
Lorraine Bracco was originally asked to play the role of Carmela Soprano, but she felt that the part was too similar to her character in Goodfellas (1990). She decided the role of Dr. Melfi would be more challenging.
David Chase had planned a major story line for the third season concerning Tony's efforts to prevent Livia from testifying against him in court. But Nancy Marchand's death caused Chase to revise a large portion of the season.
The Sopranos live at 633 Stag Trail Road, North Caldwell, New Jersey. The house used in exterior shots is actually located at 14 Aspen Drive in North Caldwell.
Jamie-Lyn Sigler was credited as 'Jamie-Lynn DiScala' in Season 5 due to her marriage to A.J. Discala, but took back her maiden name in Season 6 due to her divorce.
During seasons 2 and 3, Steve Schirripa had to wear a fat suit, in order to play Bobby Baccala.
David Chase claims the relationship in the story between Tony and his mother Livia is based on his relationship with his own mother, who was also named Livia.
HBO was worried that the title of the series would make the audience think it was about music. That is why the gun image is in the title logo. The network also considered other titles for the show such as "Made in New Jersey".
Max Casella, who plays Benny Fazio, originally auditioned for the parts of Matt Bevilaqua and Jackie Aprile Jr. Both characters were only lasted one season but Benny remained until the final episode.
Steve Schirripa, who plays Bobby Bacala originally auditioned for the role of F.B.I. agent Skip Lipari.
Joe Pantoliano was told when he first took the role of Ralph that the character would only last two seasons.
In Season 5 a story about Feech La Manna was told, concerning his killing a New Jersey longshoreman for refusing to give up his favorite seat in a bar. This story was based on a true-life incident involving former Philadelphia/Atlantic City crime boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.
The first cable-television series to win the Emmy award for Outstanding Drama Series.
Many local New Jersey businesses are used as locations in the series. In the opening credits, we see a shot of a pizza shack known as Pizza Land. They get calls for pizza orders from all over the country as a result. In one episode, an actual sporting goods store was portrayed as going out of business. So many people thought the real store was closing, the store owners had to place ads to explain they were still open!
The character 'A.J. Soprano' was ranked #10 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 10 Biggest Brats" (27 March 2005 issue).
Drea de Matteo had to spend four hours in hair and makeup before shooting each episode in order to achieve her "mob girl" look. It took two hours to prepare her hair, and in the instances in which her arms, legs, and/or torso were uncovered, an hour and a half to apply makeup to cover her tattoos.
Joseph R. Gannascoli (Vito Spatafore) was originally cast in season one cameo as Gino the bakery customer, when Christopher shot the worker in the foot. He was then recast as Vito Spatafore in season two and continued in the role until the end of season six, part one.
In Season 5, the race track they go to is actually Riverhead Raceway in Riverhead, Long Island. In the episode it was sold, but in real life it wasn't. So many people called the track wanting to know if it had been sold that the owners had to put a sign up saying that they hadn't sold.
During several episodes a high-pitched squealing sound can be heard in some outdoor scenes. That is the sound of the Elevated #7 train going around a turn one block from the studio where the indoor and some outdoor scenes are filmed in Queens, NY.
Ray Liotta was the top choice to play Tony Soprano but he turned it down stating he did not want to commit to a television series.
The show was originally going to be a cable series on FOX starring Anthony LaPaglia before HBO picked it up.
The cast was #9 on the annual Forbes magazine Celebrity 100 list in 2006.
Paulie's first name is Peter. Paul is his middle name.
Tony, A.J. and Junior all have the middle name John. Silvio's middle name is Manfred.
Six of the regular cast members appeared in Goodfellas (1990): Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore, Frank Vincent, and Joseph R. Gannascoli. Ten recurring cast members also appeared in the film: Nicole Burdette, Tony Darrow, Tony Lip, Frank Pellegrino, John 'Cha Cha' Ciarcia, Suzanne Shepherd, Paul Herman, Marianne Leone, Daniel P. Conte, and Frank Albanese. Eleven one-time guest stars also appeared in the film: Nancy Cassaro, Anthony Caso (as Martin Scorsese), Chuck Low, Tobin Bell, Gene Canfield, Gaetano LoGiudice, Vito Antuofermo, Frank Adonis, Anthony Alessandro, Victor Colicchio and Angela Pietropinto.
Christian Maelen was David Chase's second choice to play Christopher Moltisanti. He later provided the voice of Big Pussy's son, Joey LaRocca, in The Sopranos: Road to Respect (2006) (VG).
The expression "oogatz" is occasionally used throughout the series. It derives from "un cazzo", a very vulgar way to say "like hell" in Italian. The phrase literally means "a dick".
In the First Season the word "fuck" is said 437 times. Tony (134), Sil (20), Paulie (25), Christopher (61), Carmela (5), Others (192).
In the Second Season the word "fuck" is said 715 times. Tony (264), Sil (34), Paulie (31), Christopher (68), Carmela (9), Others (309).
In the Third Season the word "fuck" is said 604 times. Tony (169), Sil (19), Paulie (81), Christopher (72), Carmela (3), Others (260).
In the Fourth Season the word "fuck" is said 425 times. Tony (155), Sil (12), Paulie (18), Christopher (48), Carmela (10), Others (182).
In the Fifth Season the word "fuck" is said 600 times. Tony (195), Sil (8), Paulie (20), Christopher (94), Carmela (12), Others (271).
In the Sixth Season, Part 1 the word "fuck" is said 452 times. Tony (125), Sil (13), Paulie (48), Christopher (65), Carmela (8), Others (193).
In the Sixth Season, Part 2 the word "fuck" is said 306 times. Tony (110), Sil (6), Paulie (38), Christopher (17), Carmela (5), Others (130). This makes the total of 3539, Tony (1152), Sil (112), Paulie (226), Christopher (425), Carmela (52), Others (1537). In the whole series Tony cheats on Carmela on screen with 11 women.
The large mugshot on the wall of the Bada Bing back office is of a 23-year-old Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was arrested and charged with "seduction".
Chris Moltisanti's horror gangster movie is called "Cleaver".
Tony's boat is called "The Stugots". "Stugots" derives from the Italian phrase "questo cazzo" meaning "this dick"
Ranked #3 on Empire magazine's 50 Greatest TV Shows Of All Time (2008).
The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti
Plot hole: Chris is in a bakery and he is overlooked for a guy that walks in. The characters name is Gino, but later in the series the same character shows back up as Vito Spatafore. They get into an altercation but if Vito was a wiseguy then Chris would have recognized him.
A Hit is a Hit
Audio problem: In the first long shots of Visiting Day playing at the club, the lead vocal is heard, but the singer is standing well back from the mic and does not appear to be singing.
Isabella
Factual error: During Tony's assassination attempt he struggles with one of the "hit men" for control of a pistol. One can see that the pistol does not contain a magazine.This would limit the shooter to 1 shot, providing the pistol is not equipped with a "magazine disconnect" if it is than it can not be fired at all. It seems unlikely that a "hit man" would be so ill prepared.
A Guy Walks Into A Psychiatrists Office
Revealing: Christopher is seen sniffing some lines of coke, but he is just moving the dollar bill up and down not sniffing anything at all.
Plot hole: In this episode Tony tells Janice that he has just put their mother's house on the market. In season one, the sale of the house was already progressing.
Big Girls Don't Cry
Visible crew/equipment: Right at the beginning of the episode, Chris pulls over in front of the Bahama Skies tanning salon to pick up his pay. The shot shows him in the car. As he exits the vehicle, the cameraman can be briefly seen in the reflection.
House Arrest
Visible crew/equipment: When the camera lifts up on the last shot, you can see a lighting screen reflected on the right glass wall.
Knight in White Satin Armor
Continuity: In the scene where Janice is trying on her wedding gown with Carmela, her tattoo is gone. However, in all the other shots, her tattoo is ABOVE her cleavage line between her boobs. It's no where to be seen in the wedding dress shots.
Revealing: While Christopher and Furio are dismembering Richie Aprile on a meat saw, you can see that the blade of the saw is still, but the blood is splattering all over the place and you can hear the sound of the meat saw cutting through flesh.
Revealing: Noticeable blood pack under Richie's shirt when he's shot by Janice.
For All Debts Public and Private
Continuity: When AJ reads the newspaper, his part of the table changes completely: The napkin changes position, the orange juice comes closer to his arm, the spoon in the bowl changes positions, and a mug in front is replaced for a load of papers.
No Show
Revealing: When Patsy knocks down the black guy with the iron pole, the pole breaks in half like a piece of plastic. When it cuts, the pole is intact.
Two Tonys
Continuity: After the bear breaks the table, the first shot shows the table parts straight. Frame later it is shaped like a "V".
Rat Pack
Continuity: When Tony has breakfast with Corrado, a plastic bag next to T's arm appears and disappears between shots.
All Happy Families
Continuity: Tony, Carmela and AJ are meeting with AJ's college tutor. Partway through the meeting AJ is asked to leave. When AJ stands up he is wearing beige coloured trousers, but as the shot changes to show him walking out the door, he is now wearing black trousers.
Source: moviemistakes.com
Pilot
Tony insists calling Green Grove a "retirement community" throughout the episode. This becomes a running joke throughout the series.
