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The Sopranos Trivia Quiz
The Sopranos follows Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mob boss juggling two families — his crew in the DiMeo crime organisation and his wife and kids at home — while secretly seeing a psychiatrist for panic attacks. Over six seasons the HBO drama blends gangster violence with dark comedy and family dysfunction, redefining what television could do.
Q1. What sends Tony Soprano to therapy?
Answer: Panic attacks. Tony collapses after a panic attack and reluctantly starts seeing Dr. Jennifer Melfi. David Chase first imagined the story as a film about "a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother", and he modelled Melfi on his own psychiatrist and Tony's mother Livia partly on his own mother.
Q2. Which song plays over the opening titles?
Answer: "Woke Up This Morning". The theme is the "Chosen One Mix" by the British band Alabama 3. Almost every episode then closes with a different song, chosen by Chase himself with producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak. The show used almost no originally composed incidental music.
Q3. Which song plays as the series ends?
Answer: "Don't Stop Believin'". Journey allowed the song to be used on one condition: that the scene contain no violence or deaths. The ending still sparked years of controversy. In 2022 Chase directed a Super Bowl ad with Meadow and A.J. that deliberately echoed the finale's mystery.
Q4. What is the name of Silvio's strip club?
Answer: Bada Bing!. It is a real club, Satin Dolls, on Route 17 in Lodi, New Jersey, which kept trading during the eight years of filming; only the back room was a set. The owner was "very gracious" as long as filming did not clash with business hours.
Q5. What is the 2021 prequel film called?
Answer: The Many Saints of Newark. Written by Chase and Lawrence Konner and directed by Alan Taylor, it is set in the 1960s and 70s around the Newark riots. James Gandolfini's son Michael plays the young Tony, and Alessandro Nivola plays Christopher's father, Dickie Moltisanti.
Q6. Lorraine Bracco plays Dr. Melfi, but which role was she first offered?
Answer: Carmela Soprano. Bracco had played mob wife Karen Hill in Goodfellas and wanted something different, so she chose the highly educated Melfi as the bigger challenge. In 2001 the American Psychoanalytic Association honoured her for "the most credible psychoanalyst ever" on screen.
Q7. Steven Van Zandt plays Silvio, but which part did he audition for?
Answer: Tony Soprano. Chase spotted the E Street Band guitarist, who had never acted, inducting The Rascals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. HBO wanted an experienced actor as Tony, so Chase wrote Silvio Dante for him. Van Zandt's real wife, Maureen, plays Silvio's wife, Gabriella.
Q8. What was removed from the opening titles after 11 September 2001?
Answer: The World Trade Center towers. In the first three seasons the towers appear in Tony's side mirror as he leaves the Lincoln Tunnel. From season four the shot was replaced. Chase said the drive was there to show this was a New Jersey mob show, not another New York one.
Q9. The Sopranos shares 27 actors with which film?
Answer: Goodfellas. Main cast members Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli and Tony Sirico all appeared in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film. Chase said he wanted Imperioli as Christopher because of his performance in it, though Imperioli thought Chase's poker face meant he was not getting the part.
Q10. What is the slasher film Christopher makes in season six?
Answer: Cleaver. Christopher and Little Carmine pitch it as The Godfather meets Saw and fail to sign Ben Kingsley in Los Angeles. When it is released, Carmela is upset that its mob boss, clearly based on Tony, sleeps with an underling's girlfriend, which strains Tony and Christopher's relationship further.
Q11. Which network loved the crime but asked, "Does he have to go to a psychiatrist?"
Answer: CBS. Chase and Brad Grey pitched to several networks. Fox showed interest but passed after reading the pilot script, and CBS balked at the therapy. HBO's Chris Albrecht financed the pilot in 1997, and Chase directed it himself before HBO ordered a full 13-episode season that December.
Q12. Who is the series named after?
Answer: High school friends of David Chase. The family's story is partly inspired by real New Jersey mobs, the Boiardo family and the DeCavalcante family, and by Chase's own Italian-American upbringing, but the surname came from friends he went to school with.
Q13. What is the name of the racehorse Tony and Ralph own?
Answer: Pie-O-My. The horse wins several races before dying in a stable fire. Tony comes to believe Ralph started the fire to collect $200,000 in insurance, and their confrontation in season four ends with Tony strangling Ralph to death.
Q14. In which year did The Sopranos become the first cable series to win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama?
Answer: 2004. It had lost in 1999 to The Practice and in 2000, 2001 and 2003 to The West Wing. It won again in 2007, the first drama to win after finishing its run since Upstairs, Downstairs in 1977. The series won 21 Primetime Emmys in total.
Q15. Where was Satriale's Pork Store actually filmed?
Answer: A leased storefront in Kearny, New Jersey. In the pilot the pork store was Centanni's Meat Market, a real butcher in Elizabeth. Once HBO picked up the series the producers leased a building in Kearny and renamed it Satriale's for the rest of production. It was demolished after the show ended.
Q16. What was Tony Sirico's one condition for playing Paulie Walnuts?
Answer: Paulie must never be a "rat". Sirico, who had a criminal history, signed on as long as his character would never turn informant. He had originally auditioned for Uncle Junior with Frank Vincent, but the part went to Dominic Chianese. Sirico later played Paulie in Denny's adverts, a nod to "Pine Barrens".
Q17. In his coma dream after Junior shoots him, whose identity does Tony mistakenly take?
Answer: Kevin Finnerty. In season six Tony dreams he is a salesman on a business trip who swaps his briefcase and ID with a man named Kevin Finnerty. After recovering from the shooting, he tries to change his ways, but the pressures of business and family soon return.
Q18. Why did David Chase hire Matthew Weiner as a writer?
Answer: He was impressed by Weiner's Mad Men script. Weiner wrote the Mad Men pilot in 2000 and Chase offered him a job straight away. Weiner, who wrote for seasons five and six, later said working with Chase changed how he approached Mad Men, because Chase took real human behaviour so seriously.
Q19. Which car brand's 2022 Super Bowl ad brought back Meadow and A.J.?
Answer: Chevrolet. Chase directed the ad as a continuation of the story, with former director of photography Phil Abraham filming. It recreates the opening titles with Meadow driving a Silverado EV past landmarks like Satriale's to meet A.J. at Bahrs Landing, leaving open who they are meeting.
Q20. What did a federal jury decide in 2007 in the lawsuit claiming a prosecutor helped create the show?
Answer: It dismissed all of his claims. Robert Baer, a New Jersey prosecutor and municipal judge, said he had introduced Chase to a restaurateur with alleged mob ties and a homicide detective whose stories inspired the show. He won the right to a jury trial over payment as a consultant, but in December 2007 the jury rejected everything.
The Sopranos quiz answers and explanations
Every question from the quiz above with its correct answer, the story behind it, and where the fact comes from.
-
What sends Tony Soprano to therapy?
Answer: Panic attacks. Tony collapses after a panic attack and reluctantly starts seeing Dr. Jennifer Melfi. David Chase first imagined the story as a film about "a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother", and he modelled Melfi on his own psychiatrist and Tony's mother Livia partly on his own mother.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Which song plays over the opening titles?
Answer: "Woke Up This Morning". The theme is the "Chosen One Mix" by the British band Alabama 3. Almost every episode then closes with a different song, chosen by Chase himself with producer Martin Bruestle and music editor Kathryn Dayak. The show used almost no originally composed incidental music.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Which song plays as the series ends?
Answer: "Don't Stop Believin'". Journey allowed the song to be used on one condition: that the scene contain no violence or deaths. The ending still sparked years of controversy. In 2022 Chase directed a Super Bowl ad with Meadow and A.J. that deliberately echoed the finale's mystery.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
What is the name of Silvio's strip club?
Answer: Bada Bing!. It is a real club, Satin Dolls, on Route 17 in Lodi, New Jersey, which kept trading during the eight years of filming; only the back room was a set. The owner was "very gracious" as long as filming did not clash with business hours.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
What is the 2021 prequel film called?
Answer: The Many Saints of Newark. Written by Chase and Lawrence Konner and directed by Alan Taylor, it is set in the 1960s and 70s around the Newark riots. James Gandolfini's son Michael plays the young Tony, and Alessandro Nivola plays Christopher's father, Dickie Moltisanti.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Lorraine Bracco plays Dr. Melfi, but which role was she first offered?
Answer: Carmela Soprano. Bracco had played mob wife Karen Hill in Goodfellas and wanted something different, so she chose the highly educated Melfi as the bigger challenge. In 2001 the American Psychoanalytic Association honoured her for "the most credible psychoanalyst ever" on screen.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Steven Van Zandt plays Silvio, but which part did he audition for?
Answer: Tony Soprano. Chase spotted the E Street Band guitarist, who had never acted, inducting The Rascals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. HBO wanted an experienced actor as Tony, so Chase wrote Silvio Dante for him. Van Zandt's real wife, Maureen, plays Silvio's wife, Gabriella.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
What was removed from the opening titles after 11 September 2001?
Answer: The World Trade Center towers. In the first three seasons the towers appear in Tony's side mirror as he leaves the Lincoln Tunnel. From season four the shot was replaced. Chase said the drive was there to show this was a New Jersey mob show, not another New York one.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
The Sopranos shares 27 actors with which film?
Answer: Goodfellas. Main cast members Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli and Tony Sirico all appeared in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film. Chase said he wanted Imperioli as Christopher because of his performance in it, though Imperioli thought Chase's poker face meant he was not getting the part.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
What is the slasher film Christopher makes in season six?
Answer: Cleaver. Christopher and Little Carmine pitch it as The Godfather meets Saw and fail to sign Ben Kingsley in Los Angeles. When it is released, Carmela is upset that its mob boss, clearly based on Tony, sleeps with an underling's girlfriend, which strains Tony and Christopher's relationship further.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Which network loved the crime but asked, "Does he have to go to a psychiatrist?"
Answer: CBS. Chase and Brad Grey pitched to several networks. Fox showed interest but passed after reading the pilot script, and CBS balked at the therapy. HBO's Chris Albrecht financed the pilot in 1997, and Chase directed it himself before HBO ordered a full 13-episode season that December.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Who is the series named after?
Answer: High school friends of David Chase. The family's story is partly inspired by real New Jersey mobs, the Boiardo family and the DeCavalcante family, and by Chase's own Italian-American upbringing, but the surname came from friends he went to school with.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
What is the name of the racehorse Tony and Ralph own?
Answer: Pie-O-My. The horse wins several races before dying in a stable fire. Tony comes to believe Ralph started the fire to collect $200,000 in insurance, and their confrontation in season four ends with Tony strangling Ralph to death.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
In which year did The Sopranos become the first cable series to win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama?
Answer: 2004. It had lost in 1999 to The Practice and in 2000, 2001 and 2003 to The West Wing. It won again in 2007, the first drama to win after finishing its run since Upstairs, Downstairs in 1977. The series won 21 Primetime Emmys in total.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Where was Satriale's Pork Store actually filmed?
Answer: A leased storefront in Kearny, New Jersey. In the pilot the pork store was Centanni's Meat Market, a real butcher in Elizabeth. Once HBO picked up the series the producers leased a building in Kearny and renamed it Satriale's for the rest of production. It was demolished after the show ended.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
What was Tony Sirico's one condition for playing Paulie Walnuts?
Answer: Paulie must never be a "rat". Sirico, who had a criminal history, signed on as long as his character would never turn informant. He had originally auditioned for Uncle Junior with Frank Vincent, but the part went to Dominic Chianese. Sirico later played Paulie in Denny's adverts, a nod to "Pine Barrens".
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
In his coma dream after Junior shoots him, whose identity does Tony mistakenly take?
Answer: Kevin Finnerty. In season six Tony dreams he is a salesman on a business trip who swaps his briefcase and ID with a man named Kevin Finnerty. After recovering from the shooting, he tries to change his ways, but the pressures of business and family soon return.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Why did David Chase hire Matthew Weiner as a writer?
Answer: He was impressed by Weiner's Mad Men script. Weiner wrote the Mad Men pilot in 2000 and Chase offered him a job straight away. Weiner, who wrote for seasons five and six, later said working with Chase changed how he approached Mad Men, because Chase took real human behaviour so seriously.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
Which car brand's 2022 Super Bowl ad brought back Meadow and A.J.?
Answer: Chevrolet. Chase directed the ad as a continuation of the story, with former director of photography Phil Abraham filming. It recreates the opening titles with Meadow driving a Silverado EV past landmarks like Satriale's to meet A.J. at Bahrs Landing, leaving open who they are meeting.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
-
What did a federal jury decide in 2007 in the lawsuit claiming a prosecutor helped create the show?
Answer: It dismissed all of his claims. Robert Baer, a New Jersey prosecutor and municipal judge, said he had introduced Chase to a restaurateur with alleged mob ties and a homicide detective whose stories inspired the show. He won the right to a jury trial over payment as a consultant, but in December 2007 the jury rejected everything.
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
The Sopranos by the numbers
- Seasons
- 6
- Episodes
- 86
- First aired
- 10 January 1999
- Last aired
- 10 June 2007
- Primetime Emmys
- 21
- Golden Globes
- 5
- Main studio
- Silvercup Studios, New York
- Prequel film
- The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
Source: Wikipedia: The Sopranos
About the The Sopranos quiz
The Sopranos changed what television drama could be, and its history shows how close it came to not happening. Networks liked the mob story but not the therapy, roles were cast in unexpected ways, and the real New Jersey locations became attractions. The show also left a long trail of later events, from a prequel film to a lawsuit and a Super Bowl advert.
Questions cover all six seasons — Tony, Carmela, Christopher and the crew, Dr. Melfi's therapy sessions, rivals like Phil Leotardo and Richie Aprile, classic episodes, and the famous cut-to-black ending — testing both casual viewers and devoted fans.
What this The Sopranos quiz covers
The quiz follows Tony from his first panic attack to the diner, but it skips the stock mob-quiz questions. You get the turning points of the story, the real New Jersey places behind the Bada Bing! and Satriale's, the casting surprises, the networks that turned the show down, its Emmy history and what came after: the prequel film, the lawsuit and the Super Bowl ad. Each answer below explains the story behind it and links to the source.
How to play
Tap an answer to see the right one straight away, with the story behind it, and check your score at the end. Play Again resets the quiz.
The Sopranos quiz — frequently asked questions
Do I need to have watched the whole series?
It helps. A couple of questions are about the final scene, and others touch late-series events.
Is it about the crime or the family?
Both, plus a lot about the production: casting, locations, music and the networks that turned it down.
Does it cover The Many Saints of Newark?
One easy question names the prequel film. The rest is about the series.