Sopranos Creator David Chase Reflects on Show's 25th Anniversary: 'The Best Thing I Probably Will Ever Do' (Exclusive)

When The Sopranos premiered on Jan. 10, 1999, the mobster drama transfixed audiences as it brought to life the seedy world of New Jersey Italian American crime boss Tony Soprano.

Twenty-five years later, The Sopranos’ fandom remains as strong as ever — a feat that isn’t lost on show creator David Chase, whose TV producing and writing credits also include The Rockford Files and Northern Exposure.

“I still feel this tremendous sense of gratitude that it's still going on,” he tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I can't remember this happening with any other television show ever.”

The Sopranos wasn’t a sure thing. Broadcast networks, including Fox, initially passed on it before HBO saw Chase, 78, had something special. Looking back, Chase says it would have been a “disaster” if a network had aired the show.

“[The networks] were really not going to be able to deal with this, and I wasn't going to be able to deal with what they want,” he explains, adding that HBO granted him total creative freedom “to be honest to the subject matter.”

Chase’s fascination with the mob goes back to his childhood when he and his father Henry, a hardware store owner, watched The Untouchables every Thursday.

“What really made the show come alive was the gangsters — Frank Nitti, who had been Capone's assistant, Frankie Yale — all these psychopaths was what really made that show popular. That’s when I got into it,” he recalls. “At the same time, I was old enough to understand that part of Italian-American culture was this subculture called La Cosa Nostra [the mafia], and because I was Italian-American and lived in a very Italian-American household, that all bled together.”

His lifelong interest eventually became the basis for an idea about a mobster in therapy, which he initially wanted to develop as a film with Robert De Niro as the lead, but once Chase decided to go the TV route with The Sopranos, he auditioned many actors to play Tony. With James Gandolfini, however, Chase quickly realized the seasoned stage and film actor was the right man for the role.

“Look at the show, and there you see it. It’s a cliché to call that stuff magic, but he was totally inhabiting that fictional creature,” Chase says.  

The Sopranos earned 21 Emmys, five Golden Globes and two Peabody Awards during its six season run from 1999 to 2007 — its success due, in large part, to Gandolfini’s star-making turn as the menacing yet darkly funny Tony.

When Gandolfini died in 2013 at age 51 of a heart attack, The Sopranos had been off the air for six years, but there was no doubt the show — and its complex, iconic protagonist — had secured a lasting legacy. Better yet: new viewers continue to discover the show, as many did during the pandemic.

“It's the best thing I've ever done,” Chase says. “It’s probably the best thing I ever will do.”

For more on David Chase and The Sopranos, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here. 

The Sopranos is available to stream on Max.