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Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: March 28, 1999
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The Sopranos, “Isabella” (Season 1, Episode 12) [Stream on HBO GO]
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Tony Soprano had a real rough go of it in the first season of The Sopranos. I mean, he had a rough go of it in other seasons too, but by then he’s done enough terrible things that it’s impossible to feel all that bad for him. The fatal flaw in all that hubbub over whether or not Tony died at the end of The Sopranos‘ last episode is that it’s hard to care whether Tony lives or dies, because by that point, death is probably what he deserves.
Back at the end of season 1, though, Tony was a complicated character but not a despicable one. We’d seen him kill, but on a trip to take his daughter to look at colleges. We’d seen him treat his wife poorly and cheat on her. Mostly, though, we’d seen Tony terrorized by his passive-aggressive — but deceptively treacherous — mother, Livia. Nancy Marchand’s Shakespeare-by-way-of-New-Jersey performance as Livia was one of the early hooks of the series, and looking back, she does not disappoint.
Livia did most of her overt scheming through Uncle Junior, with Dominic Chianese giving yet another performance that hides true operatic intent behind a mask of cantankerous old crankdom. And yet, these two wrinkled and resentful old crones very nearly take Tony down and out. He survived the hit against him, yes, taking the blinders off his eyes at last. It was one of many moments that had The Sopranos leveling up and raising its own expectations. Something they’d continue to do for seasons to come.
