The Sopranos’ Opening Credits and Super Bowl Commercial 2022

The Sopranos

The Sopranos was an incredibly successful HBO series that ran from 1999-2007. It became a cultural touchstone.

This year is the 25th Anniversary of The Sopranos.

It is considered by some critics to be the greatest television show of all time.

According to Urban Pitch:

At its heart, The Sopranos was a story about a brooding mob boss who does whatever he feels is necessary to accomplish his agenda including steal, cheating, and killing all while trying to balance a regular home life with his family. Through thought-provoking conversations with his psychiatrist, we were offered deep insight into his psyche and what ultimately drove his actions.

Contrary to the expected mafia depiction, Tony Soprano was a flawed, three-dimensional character who displayed a full range of emotions as well as the day-to-day challenges beyond a glamorized lifestyle routinely seen in mob films. In addition to gaudy suits and middle-of-the-night takedowns, we also witnessed his fears and failures, which were often mulled over during tired mornings in a bathrobe and boxers — and it was all fascinating.

There is a wonderful Life Magazine issue devoted to the Sopranos. About the impact of the Sopranos according to this Life Magazine special issue, The Show That Changed Television:

For the uninitiated—those who aren’t “made” viewers, so to speak—Chase’s saga follows Tony Soprano, the bearish boss of North Jersey’s DiMeo crime family and patriarch of his own upper-middle-class household, and how he balances (or doesn’t) an often-violent “professional” life with the dynamics of his family.

The series was set and filmed mostly in New Jersey and New York.

They were filmed in REAL places in the New Jersey and New York areas.

Here are some for Season 1:

Multiple companies are STILL giving Sopranos location tours.

Opening Credits For The Iconic Show

The opening credits are about the main character Tony Soprano leaving New York through a tunnel and driving down the New Jersey Turnpike toward Tony’s home in upscale North Caldwell.

The opening theme song “Woke Up This Morning” was by written and performed by the British music group Alabama 3. The song had originally been written as a response to a murder case in England.

This became one of the most famous credits in television history and led to many parodies.

One of my favorites is the Simpsons parody utilizing characters from that great series:

The original locations in the opening credits were filmed in 1997.

A lot had changed by 2021, including the destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11) the building of One World Trade Center – formerly called the Freedom Tower.

This video was edited with updated footage by Red Hawkins Road:

Super Bowl Commercial

To promote the 2022 Super Bowl, Chevrolet decided to promote their all-electric Silverado with a commercial based on The Sopranos’ opening theme and scenes.

I think it was very well done!

At the end of the commercial, Meadow ends at hugging her brother at Bahrs Landing.

According to Variety:

Sigler, who played Meadow Soprano for more than eight years on the iconic HBO series “The Sopranos,” stepped into the role again Sunday for a Chevrolet commercial that aired during NBC’s telecast of Super Bowl LVI. The ad updated, shot for shot, the show’s opening montage, which used to feature James Gandolfini’s  Tony Soprano driving a Chevy truck. On Sunday night, it was Meadow Soprano doing the driving — in an electric Chevrolet Silverado, billed as a vehicle for “a new generation.”

Rolling Stone Magazine comments:

The involvement of Chase (and, for that matter, original Sopranos director of photography Phil Abraham) may not exactly place the Chevy Silverado commercial into official Sopranos canon, but it’s as close to a sequel to the iconic HBO gangster drama as we may ever get.

Behind The Scenes Of Making The Commercial

Further Reading

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