It's not TV, it's HBO.

In 1996, the pay cable network started using this iconic slogan which they would carry

through the first decade at the 21st century.

In 1997, shortly after adopting this intentionally elitist marketing approach, HBO ordered a one-hour

crime drama pilot from David Chase, a veteran of network dramas like The Rockford Files and

Northern Exposure.

Originally envisioned in Chase's words as, quote, more like a live action Simpsons, once

he came to develop it, he settled on a darker, gritty ear tone, chronicling the dueling

domestic and professional worlds of Mafia crime boss Tony soprano.

The January 10th 1999 premiere date of the sopranos would become the equivalent of zero

AD in the era of prestige TV, making a star out of character actor James Gandalfini.

With modern series dominated by brooding anti-heroes who wreck up body counts, it's difficult

to convey how shocking and intriguing it was to audiences over the time, used to the black

and white morality of network procedures, to depict the show's protagonist relentlessly

cheating on his wife and personally committing brutal murders.

The series also pioneered pay TV's high-low approach to gaining an audience, combining

precise writing and artful filmmaking with graphic violence enough to gratuitous female

nudity.

Behind the scenes, Chase's heavily hands-on borderline mega-mal-up, I picked that up.

Behind the scenes, Chase's heavily hands-on borderline Megaloma Niakulp approach TV production

became the template for modern showrunners, as he personally rewrote every script for

the series.

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