I give this episode a 8 out of ten. it had great detail and is a great way to start out a series!

After having rewatched this show once more last night, I have to put that special "10" on it. True, some of the character and lines don't mesh with the continuity of the rest of the series, but then again - this was the pilot, shot and edited long before the show became what it was. Already in the next episode, things are put right.

And this episode includes almost all of the special Sopranos flourishes - it has action with the car chase and the fire, it has the familial thing between Carm, the kids and Tony, not to mention Tony and his mother and Tony and Uncle June. About the only one missing is perhaps Jackie Aprile (and there is that weired scene early when Sil shows up to the Pork Store and acts like it is a surprise for him to be there.) This episode even has scenes between Tony and Artie and Artie and his wife. And especially, the Melfi scenes. In short (too late) - this episode has it all, up to and including the great closing music over the credits. It's a special one. Thus - a 10.

An 8 sums it up perfectly. Chase lays the groundwork very well, and as good as the acting is, it hasn't come close to hitting it's stride yet. This is especially true with Gandolfini as it's clear he literally and figuratively doesn't have the voice of Tony Soprano yet.

This was the one that got me started. It's gotta be one of the best.

In my hometown, they have altered the soundtrack to make it OK for kiddies. Ugh!!

It's too painful to listen to shows when the original soundtrack has been altered to make it child friendly. How can you watch The Sopranos when all the hardcore curse words have been replaced with stupid words like "fudge" and "shut"?

It's just not The Sopranos anymore. How can it be? It's a lilly-livered pretend version and I hate it!!!

The Pilot was written around October 1995 and shot in 1997. Originally, Tony was named ''Tommy.''
For about a year afterward, Chase shopped the Pilot around to various networks--such as Fox. At the time, however, the show wasn't called the Sopranos, it was called "Made in New Jersey." This is why the name of the pork store in the Pilot is Centanni's whereas in the opening title sequence of the pilot and later episodes (which was shot later) it has the name Satriale's.
HBO picked up the show sometime in 1998 and the rest of the episodes were written and filmed during that year, with the Pilot finally airing in it's original form in January 1999. Between the Pilot and 46 Long, you can see a great deal of differences. Gandolfini is much heavier and much balder by the second episode and beginning to speak in the ''Tony voice'', AJ appears much older and some of the interiors shots of the house seem different.

Detective Hunt wrote:Post

I agree with pretty much everything you said, 100%, DH.

I saw the vast majority of the series before ever seeing the pilot episode, actually. My dad had recorded all the episodes on to VHS (well before we had the DVDs, or a DVD player, for that matter), and so the first time I saw all of the episodes up until halfway through season 5 was on VHS. However, he seemed to miss recording the first two episodes of the series, and I had to figure out was was going on from episode three. Didn't see the pilot until long after, when we finally got the DVD sets.

Still one of my favorite episodes of all time. I've rewatched the whole series many, many times, but in the off-periods when I'm not committing myself to watch them in order, the pilot is one of the episodes that I pop in to watch by itself most often.

10.

phillyesq1 wrote:Is it just me, or is Irina played by a different actress in the A&E vesion? I also thought that the actor that played Father Intontola (sp?) was different. Or am I losing my mind?

You're also not losing your mind if you noticed that Satriale's has a different name in the Pilot

JoeyBagadonuts wrote:You're also not losing your mind if you noticed that Satriale's has a different name in the Pilot

There are some inconsistencies in the Pilot, which is understandable. See OldManDiMeo1997's post (above).

The character of "Chris" seemed like such an unpolished kid in the pilot.