David Chase

By Joseph Pistone

As a former FBI special agent who lived the Mafia lifestyle for six years in deep cover as Donnie Brasco, I can vouch for the authenticity of The Sopranos, the HBO phenomenon created by David Chase. I lived day and night with the Bonnano crime family of New York City, interacting with wiseguys and their families, attending Mob weddings, funerals and family get-togethers. Chase understands their subtleties, from the emphatic hand gestures to their unwritten code of honor.

At first glance, the story lines of Mafia hit men, power and treachery seem as if they will follow crime-tale formulas, but The Sopranos turns out to be as unpredictable as real life. Its popular and critical acclaim reflects Chase's ability to flesh out lifelike characters and his knack for assembling a cast with the energy to play them. He makes viewers identify with made men by making them human. You empathize with Tony Soprano whether he's whacking a guy in the afternoon or arguing with his abrasive Ivy League daughter at dinner, because Chase gets the details right.

Chase is an Italian American, and he understands that rich culture with all its ethnic eccentricities, from its love of food to the boisterous ways of communicating. Growing up in northern New Jersey, which had no shortage of wiseguys, gave him an early introduction to the ways of Mob etiquette. But the producer knows his audience too. Both the 9-to-5 factory worker and the bill-by-the-hour lawyer get vicarious thrills from watching Tony Soprano and his crew live large in suburbia, indulging all the appetites the average person keeps under wraps. After all, who doesn't want the best table at a restaurant, the unconditional respect of underlings, fancy cars and girlfriends on the side without recrimination?

But while the story line centers around Mafia life, the issues that the show deals with could just as easily be played out by characters who work at IBM, AT&T or K Mart. Jealousy, sibling rivalry, greed and infidelity are familiar to everyone. This is the key to The Sopranos' success: viewers relate to characters like Carmela, Paulie Walnuts and Uncle Junior because they have their own disobedient, ungrateful children, nagging spouses or demanding mothers.

There will inevitably be Sopranos knockoffs on television as producers attempt to capture Chase's magic. But Chase has created an original, and my advice to all others hoping to make a move on Sopranos turf: Fuhgeddaboutit!

Joseph Pistone was the subject of the movie Donnie Brasco and the CBS television series Falcone