Nowadays, TV is filled with series upon series upon series that are always praised extremely high from critics. However, back in 1999 TV was very different, as movie reruns and certain programs dominated the scene. That was always the case, until the hit TV show, The Sopranos came along and was an instant hit.

The series followed New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano and his life within the mob and the psychological struggles that come along with it. This show and a lot of it’s success can be attributed to director David Chase and the man who plays Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini. Gandolfini in this show would have never guessed the influence that his character would have on writing as he would set the standard for the way antiheroes would work on TV from here on out.

The show and it’s success paved the way for characters like Walter White in the hit series Breaking Bad, which created a stage for morally equivocal protagonists who audiences root for despite the flaws that they possess. Tony Soprano, with all of his physical and psychological problems, sets the bar for what it means to be an antihero.

The Sopranos revolutionized writing when it first came out, when it decided to have a killer as the lead which was never done on television around that time. The Sopranos really redefined what people are willing to watch and what people decided to watch in the comfort of their home.

Before The Sopranos, crime dramas were mainly focused on law enforcement and villains were rarely given a big role. The Sopranos changed that by placing a criminal as the focal point of the story and demanded the audience engage with Tony’s life.

Tony was a man who could express his love for his family while justifying his brutal actions in the mafia. Tony was selfish, manipulative, and violent, yet he was charismatic which led to viewers finding themselves feeling sorry for him. This feeling brought on to audiences became a tension that is commonly used throughout the foundation of the prestige TV era.

David Chase, proved that audiences were willing to put their focus on characters who are not necessarily likable. This sparked what would be considered as an golden age of television, where networks and streaming services sought out stories centered on morally complex main characters like Dexter Morgan in Dexter. One of Chase’s most significant contributions to the character of Tony was his portrayal of Tony not being just a gangster, but instead a human being.

Tony’s mental struggles with anxiety and depression gives the audience a character to relate to and realize that someone out there is struggling with the same demons as someone else out there. Unlike previous crime dramas, Tony is a vulnerable character who is constantly battling with the idea of change and whether one day he can truly become a better person.

By the time The Sopranos ended in 2007, it had altered the idea of television forever. The famous cut-to-black ending left many audiences mad, but also debating the fate of Tony Soprano. Without The Sopranos, television would have most likely been dominated by the same characters on mainstream services. The antihero, which was once a rarity on television, was the sudden norm for shows to come in the future.

Today, some of the most praised TV shows continue to explore characters and their battles with their morals, like Bojack from Bojack Horseman and Saul Goodman from Better Call Saul. Chase’s masterpiece of a show forced audiences to battle their own morals and confront the reality that we the audience, root for the bad guy the most sometimes.