I think if instead of Tony being the boss of NJ.He should of been a capo in NY and then in the later seasons he should of become boss.I just feel like NY is much better to do a mob series.

Why do you feel that New York is a better place to do a mob series?

chicago is better for a mob series

i think it was perfectly set in NJ. although sometimes i think they made the smaller NJ family out to be a little stronger than it could ever be. but then again it was tv and it was great tv

well said phatmatress. I totaly agree

Just the feel of brooklyn plus the NY families r stronger so them making johny sack bow down to tony would of been more realistic if T was a New yorker

I agree one of the few things i didn't like about the sopranos is that they made the jersey family out to be just as strong as the New york Families. Hell they made them beat the new york family in a mobwar despite being half the size of the new york family. I'm not a mob expert but I have read many books about the mafia and talked to some investigators I know and there is no indication of jersey being this strong. In reality jersey mafia(decalvacante} prettu much did whatever the new york families told them to do. John gotti called the jersey mob the farm team and it was one of the only times he was right about something. I know tony is the main character so they have to make him took like Michael corleone but i think they could have done a better job.

Been there, done that. David Chase based The Sopranos loosely on the Decavalante Family in NJ. That is why it was so good, it brought life to the rumors that the Mafia exsits where there is a buck to be made. It also ties in how the NY families work with other families.

I think the setting is perfect. A smaller family with less members makes it easier for the viewer to know who's who. A New York setting would probably make it too complicated.

this is a good point sonny. The setting may have been better if the soprano's were the jersey based crew for the lupertazzi family. Tony would have been the capo and answered to the guys in new york

Not to mention the fact that there's been a million movies and what not done on the mob in New York. Doing one that was initially based on the DeCavalcantes over in Jersey was a fresh idea.

I say "initially" because, while the idea of a small, indigenous family in Jersey is obviously based on the DeCavalcantes, it's obvious the writers took ideas from New York as well.

The Sopranos were great as they were, but doing a show about a capo in NY is definitely something I'd be interested in watching, especially if it's on HBO. The elements in NY are just too exciting.

It has to do with the writers ambitions and buget shooting in new york would not have sold to th e HBO originally because they didnt KNow how successful it would become . The writers wanted a disfunctional family that they found in the Decavalcanted viiny ocean was based on tony soprano or vise versa

actually it was because david chase grew up in jersey. garfield new jersey. he was obsessed with oc as a kid. collected news clippings from newspapers like other kids collected baseball cards. he wanted to represent his home state. this is what it stated in the collecter's series of the sopranos. ya know the big huge one that cost like $600 when it first came out....i ran out and bought it like an idiot! but im sure you are correct as well. the budget to shoot around north cadwell, kearney and lodi nj than in any of the 5 boroughs.

For me, a guy who doesn't live in the States, it was great for it to be set in NJ. So many US shows are set in NY, so it was good to see a different area and it actually made me want to see New Jersey in person!

where do u live nickyscarfo?

Perth Australia so couldn't be further away from New Jersey LOL

There is a story line going on "The Young & The Restless" soap involving an Aussie mob boss and his family. Pretty lame I must say - compared to "General Hospital" and the whole Sonny Corinthos mob stories. I know, I know - I get asked this all the time..."Do you REALLY watch The Young & The Restless?!?" My answer is always; "Have you seen some of the hottie actresses on Y&R?!? - Fuhgeddaboutit!!!"

Haha the funny thing is there actually is some mob guys down under!

I think joe peshi shouldaa been in the sopranoes as a bilotti doberman character for johnnie sac or carmine sr and then phils consigliere

they tried to get ray liota to play ralph but he turned it down

Wow that would have been a disaster....Pantoliano was perfect as Ralph. One of the great villains in TV history

yeah but liota is such a great actor i think he could have done very well with it. Pantoliano did a fabulous job tho.

I'm a little biased (being from jersey) ... New York City was / is at the heart of it all - the center of most activity... most of Jersey's wealthy inhabitants get their money from interests in NYC - or they commute there.

The idea of The Sopranos was that they were just like your typical suburban family BUT Tony was a sociopath (except when it came to close family & friends). I think that was the underlying story.... Here's a hard core criminal, living in beautiful surroundings just like doctors, lawyers & wall st execs... with all of the family issues & challenges of those same families - against a backdrop of hard core crime, overindulgence, etc....

\perfectly put manhatten u sure know how to place ur words