Book Review: Actors Bring Readers Back to ‘The Sopranos’ Set | Arts

This question can certainly lead to heated debate, but in “Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of The Sopranos,” writers Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa argue for his place at the top of television mountain. Of course, Imperioli and Schirripa approach the subject with a certain bias since they both starred in the series – Imperioli as Christopher, Tony Soprano’s beloved nephew, and Schirripa as Bobby Baccalieri. They also host a podcast, “Talking Sopranos”, from which much of the oral history of “Woke Up This Morning” is taken.

Whether or not “The Sopranos” is the greatest show of all time may be debatable, but its lasting impact on the medium is not. So Imperioli and Schirripa can be forgiven if they sing his praises to this day, as they have both been involved and made a name for themselves on one of the greatest TV shows of all time. In addition, the money they made from the show was not insignificant.

For those who may not be familiar with the New Jersey mafia-based drama, “The Sopranos” ran for six seasons on HBO between 1999 and 2007 and was nominated for 111 Emmys and won 21 statues, including three each for the main actors James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) and Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano).

The book is designed as an ongoing dialogue between the two podcast hosts and is divided into chapters detailing each season, as well as supporting storylines like the importance of music on the show. (Producers have already paid $ 100,000 for the use of a Led Zeppelin song in an episode.)